The OnePlus 3 Review
by Brandon Chester on June 20, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- OnePlus
- OnePlus 3
GPU Performance
GPU performance is one of the areas where Snapdragon 810 actually tended to do quite well. It's also the case that GPUs generally see larger performance gains year over year than CPUs. We already saw how Adreno 530 performs in the LG G5 review, but the device being compared to was the LG G4, which used Snapdragon 808. The OnePlus 3 represents an opportunity to compare a Snapdragon 810 device to its successor using Snapdragon 820.
The OnePlus 3 does very well in 3DMark Sling Shot. In both the physics and graphics tests it trails the LG G5 slightly, but the gap isn't anything truly significant. Exynos 8890 is still not something I can compare to until our Galaxy S7 review is posted, but barring that it's clear that Snapdragon 820's Adreno 530 gives the fastest smartphone performance in this test, and when looking at the graphics performance the performance is over two times faster than the OnePlus 2.
In BaseMark ES 3.1's on screen test the OnePlus 3 manages a significant lead over the LG G5 as a result of its lower resolution. In the off screen 1080p test both phones have essentially the same performance, which is what you'd expect. It looks like Adreno 530 doesn't make the same gains in this test that it does in some others, and it's not clear whether this is just the result of driver optimizations or something about the benchmark that is able to perform batter on other GPU architectures, which could be contributing to the iPhone's lead even in the off screen test.
In GFXBench Car Chase the performance of the OnePlus 3 is in line with the LG G5. On screen performance is significantly higher due to the lower resolution display, while off screen performance at 1080p is about the same as the G5 and exactly the same as the on screen result. As far as absolute GPU performance goes, both of our Snapdragon 820 devices are at the top of the chart for absolute performance, and that's good news for anyone playing games or using software that benefits from a powerful mobile GPU.
NAND Performance
The OnePlus 3 moves to a UFS 2.0 NAND solution, which OnePlus claims is three times faster than the eMMC storage used in the OnePlus 2. In more realistic testing you probably won't end up achieving speeds three times faster than the OnePlus 2 since it actually wasn't slow at all by eMMC standards, but there should be a decent uplift in NAND performance nonetheless.
The move to UFS 2.0 brings healthy gains over the OnePlus 2's storage performance, although as I said, the OnePlus 2 didn't perform poorly at all by the standards of eMMC devices. Sequential read and write performance is actually the best that I've measured so far on an Android device. We're still not looking at anything close to what you get for sequential performance on iOS devices, but there are some other factors at play like the fact that the iPhone was a 128GB unit while our Android devices are usually 32GB or 64GB devices. In any case, the OnePlus 3 doesn't present any problems with storage performance, and you certainly won't run into the same issues that you can with budget smartphones at the $200-300 range where the eMMC solutions can be exceptionally slow.
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Buk Lau - Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - link
You are missing one important factor, Samsung gave out an sRGB option out of the box in their settings. They didn't tell you, and they don't necessarily have to tell you just like how they don't have to tell you that you can uninstall/disable 80% of the junk that came with TouchWiz. However, it is an option that came by default, while I agree it is bs for not actively notifying the user of it, you can still turn it on. More importantly, if you are reading AT's review, then you know what they are using right? So if you read their review and learned that they claim the display is good, you should have already known what settings they are using to get those metrics. So no, AT doesn't have to test the default option if AT tells you that they are using sRGB mode. You as the reader should have known after reading the review, just like when you look at any data you have to first understand how the test is setup. If they don't tell you that, then that's their problem. 1+ straight up had no other options, and the problem itself may not be even fixable with a software update, that's the differenceKepe - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
The difference between other reviews and this one is that the others just look at some pictures on the screen and then write that the colors are very vivid and bright and they "pop". Anandtech measures the picture quality using proper tools instead of just looking at the screen with the naked eye and then saying something vague and subjective. And I'm glad they do, because I don't want a phone that skews colors on the screen. I do more image editing on my phone than on my computer. If the screen is inaccurate, the pictures will look very wrong to others when they look at them on their phones.zodiacfml - Tuesday, June 21, 2016 - link
Right. I have a Nexus 5 and the grays just pop out because of quality.Now though, I'm itching for Samsung's displays as it will give the best contrast and best late night viewing.
ssiu - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
Nobody here interested in Daydream VR? I may not want to shell out hundreds for "is it just a gimmick" VR but I want my next phone upgrade to be Daydream VR compatible, I'll pay ~$100 incremental cost for a VR headset.I believe ZTE Axon 7 is a "flagship spec at midrange price" phone that is Daydream compatible and "coming soon".
tipoo - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
I wonder if Daydream solves positional drift though. Since smartphones have no fixed reference points for VR, they were just approximating movement with the accelerometer and gyro, leading it to "drift" from your heads actual position. I hoped Daydream would solve that, but it seems the headset adds no extra sensors and is still a fancier "dumb" headset like Cardboard.dezonio2 - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
I don't really care about Daydream, but ZTE Axon 7 seems to address all the shortcomings of the One+ 3.5.5" 1440p AMOLED (hopefully more accurate) and SD card slot seem like benefits worth paying the extra $50 for. And personally I'd rather see the review for the Axon 7 than the HTC 10 or the part 2 for the S7. Or even the GTX 1080. (runs away from the angry mob)
Eden-K121D - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
Galaxy S7 review not out yet sometimes Anandtech is too lethargiccoder111 - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
Just for a record- OnePlus has TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SUPPORT.DO NOT BUY if you want to receive decent warranty service.
I have a broken OnePlus2 which I have sent to service center twice. First time they sent it back without any repairs. Second time it took 10 days just to get the shipping label to send it to a different repair center. It has been there for 2 weeks now without any notice of what's going on or if I'll get my phone back in working order or when.
In between all this it takes a long time to get response from the customer support team. They often copy-paste canned responses without even reading what I have said in my ticket. There is now way to call someone and talk in person or at least have an on-line chat- everything is a ticket system where getting a response takes a day or several.
In short, my phone has been broken for 2 months, OnePlus is still to repair it or to send a replacement. I want my money back for experience like this.
fanofanand - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
This post reflects reasons #1, 2 and 3 why I will not consider a OnePlus device. The cost savings aren't worth it when the customer service is similar to what you would experience with an eBay purchase. This isn't an isolated experience, forums are filled with angry customers who have non-functioning phones and OnePlus ignores the situation.zodiacfml - Monday, June 20, 2016 - link
Not interested. Waste of $400. I Can't wait for the Nexus.