The OnePlus One Review
by Joshua Ho on November 19, 2014 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Android
- Mobile
- OnePlus
Final Words
The OnePlus One is quite possibly the most interesting phone I’ve seen in a while, and reviewing this device was extremely difficult due to how frustrating some aspects of the device were. OnePlus itself is a company that seems to come from nowhere, although it’s evident to some extent that OnePlus and Oppo are currently quite close in the production of these devices as a great deal is shared with the Oppo Find 7A. Aside from this, the One is a critical device as it seems to be the phone that could be the first to kill the concept of a 650 USD flagship smartphone. In order to figure out whether OnePlus has succeeded, it’s important to revisit all aspects under review before passing any final judgments.
To start, OnePlus really has nailed the industrial and material design of the One. While it certainly isn’t an aluminum unibody, it’s a far cry from the glossy plastic designs that are often quite popular with OEMs. The entire design clearly has had a great deal of thought put into it, from the earpiece to the sandstone finish. It’s often said that there’s a right way and a wrong way to do a plastic phone. In this case, OnePlus has definitely done it right. The minimal design is definitely appreciated, as is the in-hand feel from the shape and materials of the device. Unfortunately, this phone is just far too big for one-handed use. If the LG G3 was on the edge of one-handed usability, this goes just a step further. The larger bezels and more angular shape of the OnePlus One make it extremely difficult to use with one hand, and is therefore best compared against phablets.
One of the main justifications for pushing the limits of size so much with “phones” is because this makes it possible to push larger batteries and therefore more battery life. In this regard, the OnePlus One definitely justifies its larger size. The battery life of the OnePlus One is class-leading, and it’s really unlike anything else on the market today. The OnePlus One also manages to post impressive sustained performance scores, which speaks to the larger surface area and efficient thermal design of the One. Surprisingly, despite the large battery the One charges almost as quickly as phones with QC 2.0 fast charging.
The other high point worth talking about is the display. Despite the low price, the display on the OnePlus One is decidedly high end. The color calibration is almost as good as it gets for a smartphone, with high brightness and relatively high contrast. There are some issues with viewing angles, but these are generally quite minor in nature.
OnePlus has also managed to deliver a high-end SoC for a decidedly mid-range price. While it’s disappointing to see benchmark cheating, it seems that this behavior is isolated for the most part. The Snapdragon 801 in the One performs identically to everything else with the same SoC, which is definitely good to see. In the same vein, it’s great to see OnePlus shipping incredibly fast NAND in this device with reasonably-priced storage tiering.
However, the OnePlus One is far from perfect. While the hardware is great for the most part, the camera and the camera experience are deeply disappointing. While the Nexus 5 didn’t have the best camera in the world, it managed to ship with some sort of noise reduction and hot pixel removal to improve final image quality. The OnePlus One shipped with approximately none of these things and a rather painful camera application. While one can get by with using this application, it’s much easier to use Google Camera instead of the Cyanogen camera. Despite this and updates to add image processing, I’m still not all that impressed by the camera. This update has also made it effectively impossible to take photos off-hand in low light, as the 1/6 second shutter speed is far too long for a camera without OIS.
Unfortunately, these issues with the camera UI can be seen in the software experience as a whole. There is a strong and consistent focus on presenting as many options and features as possible to the detriment of user friendliness. While I appreciate the extent of customization available throughout the OS, it feels as if it’s still very much the same XDA ROM with a serious lack of polish. I suspect that this has little to do with OnePlus though, as Cyanogen is the one that seems to be driving UI decisions more than anything. Regardless of where the fault lies, it’s critical for these issues to be resolved for the OnePlus Two.
Overall though, the OnePlus One isn’t a bad phone by any means. It remains one of the cheapest devices with Snapdragon 801 on the market, and the hardware on offer is really something great. However, there is a disappointing level of polish in this product. This doesn’t make the OnePlus One a bad phone, but it this does mean that it won’t kill the flagship model any time soon. There are too many issues to directly compare this phone to other high-end smartphones without bringing the price of the phone into the equation. However, taking into account the extremely low price the OnePlus One is well worth comparing to other high-end devices. The OnePlus One has compromises like every other device. Whether these compromises are acceptable is up to the buyer to decide.
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ttremeth - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
Agreed.grayson_carr - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
I owned one for a while and this comment is truth.DanD85 - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
Definitely not agree! As someone who had purchased 3 of OPO phone, I can tell you that all the phones I had purchased were & still are excellent. If you are calling yourself a techie than with this complaining act of yours, you are not deserve to call yourself that. I myself also received a DOA charger from OnePlus and the feedback from them has been great. I received a replacement unit not so long after I filed my report with them. No complaint from me so far. Haters like you go around the web and spreading bad rep about OPO and I would recommend those who still on the fend buy one and try for yourself. You won't find a better deal anywhere else period! The price to pay for those living in the USA is actually even lower than China! Which phone you can buy now can have that?augiem - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
Why is there always someone out there who tries to make things personal? You have no right to tell me what I deserve to call myself or not and have no right or reason to label me as anything. I have done the research and there are _many_ others who would agree with me. Read the OPO forums. I will not defend myself to you. God! EVERY single time. You people need to get a life and stop making tech your own personal religious war.srkelley - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
*claps*Harry_Wild - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
I just got done reading the feedback on OnePlus.net forum and cancel my order too. To much of a hassle if something happens to go wrong with the One!I rather spend a little more and have good customer service!
K_Space - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link
I do not honestly know if Oneplus originally intended this a phone to the mass market; even though for all intends and purposes it is now. The clue should be the invite system.I propose this was originally aimed as a 1st edition phone designed semi-exclusively for techies so that it irons out all the hardware, software buggy features. To this effect, the invite system would have worked pretty well with invites being sent out to developers, and android fans who not only are able to come to term with minor bugs but also tackle them in their quest to nourish their problem-solving addiction. It also gives OnePlus an accurate assessment of their customer care (or lack thereof). Unfortunately, the phone has become the victim of it's own popularity and when the phone landed with the non-intended target audience they rightfully complained about how unpolished it feels; the inviters should be a lot more cautious with their invitations. Joshua has done a splendid job reflecting his opinion regarding the suitability of the phone for the mass market, but if he received this as a developer phone I am certain he'd be extremely pleased.
If I was a phone producer; this is probably what I'd have done. Indeed all tech companies do this with their pre-alpha or alpha builds but to a much narrower base. Think Glass or Project Ara. OP just went global and now they are reaping their harvest (both good and bad fruits). I'm sure the Oneplus Two will be a far more polished and probably more expensive phone.
mrex - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
"Even people who are extremely happy with the phone consistently live with problems always expecting them to be fixed in the next patch"No problem, im happy, not waiting a fix. No crashing or so. Works perfectly. Yellow banding issue? yes, and that cannot be fixed (it is in hardware). I could have sent the phone back and got mobey back. But the yellow gloe can be hide with an app changing the colour hue of that area. So it doesnt bother me because i cannot see it at all. I only know it is there, and that bothers me, lol. For me this is the best phone i have had. I could buy another if i needed. I knew that the screen may have a yellow bottom before i bought this and i decided to keep this, because it was only visible in certain situations and i was able to fix it with an app though. Disappointed? Sure. Customer support prooably sucks - althought i got an answer on the next day, but i know many complains about it.
Battery is great. No signal lost. No crashing apps (i do have "only" paid apps, so i dont know if free apps have serious bugs.) No touchscreen lockups. Earpiece failures?? What kind? First time i hear about this.
Your reply was basicly just an assumption based on opinions from people who have had problems. How about making the same kind of assumption based on opinions from people who dont have problem? Or better, bash the phone when you actually have one to bash.
Could you show me the extremely buggy software topic? Im running official 44s without any problems at all.
johnny_boy - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
I just picked up an Honor 6 for nearly 100 euros cheaper (!) than the OnePlus One goes for on Amazon. (The European version of the Honor 6 is only available from Amazon.) Given the price difference, the more preferable screen size on the Honor 6, the better CPU performance of the Honor 6 and its expandable memory, seems like a no-brainer to me. If I were to get a Chinese smartphone, it wouldn't be the OnePlus One. (Also, what's up with the stupid sexist promo they had and the invite-only way to buy the thing?)ttremeth - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
I have one and was a little naive caught up in overwhelming positive reviews. Yes, head over to the OPO forums where people beg for invites. I bought one from China (identical except some LTE frequencies) and then got one of these elusive invites a few weeks later. Someone got very upset that they did not get my invite. It is absurd behaviour for adults begging and being so “nice” to get someone to give them an invite to buy the phone.Then if you read through their forums you will see many complaints of non-existent customer service and RMAs taking months as well as some hideous problems. Of course you need to weigh people’s comments against common sense but the Flagship killer is definitely not what it claims to be. However, I do like the phone personally.