The smartphone market is always on the lookout for a disruptive technology or a device that changes the whole scenario. Over the years we have had amazing devices which have caused fans to eagerly await their launches. The OnePlus 6 is one such device.
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The OnePlus recipe has always been simple; great specifications and a low price tag. OnePlus has religiously stuck to this principle despite their competitors selling products at twice and often thrice its price. But 2018 is not going to be easy for OnePlus. With Xiaomi’s Mi8 coming soon and Honor launching the Honor 10, the market has much better options than it did say in the year 2014.
With the OnePlus 6 launch, we felt it was the right time to reminisce the older OnePlus phones. Before we get started, if you prefer visuals storytelling as opposed to text, then scroll down to the neat little infographic which summarises this post created by Topcut. Let’s dive in.
Turn back the calendar to 2014, the market is grim with overpriced devices with terrible software and average specifications. The cream of the crop is priced beyond most people’s budget. Enter the OnePlus One, a device crafted with the soft to the touch sandstone body, a flagship 801 processor, a superb Full HD screen, a developer and root friendly Cyanogen OS and best of all an easy on the wallet price of $300. All the factors combined, the OnePlus One was a huge success worldwide with sales crossing more than a million units. Also, do note the number is for a small startup which did not at that time possess the manufacturing capabilities of giants like Apple and Samsung and had to resort to an invite-only sales model. But the OnePlus One definitely left a mark; it showed that you don’t have to pay a lot to get the best experience.
After the OnePlus One, people had much higher expectations from the OnePlus 2. OnePlus themselves had hyped the OnePlus 2 with a special VR event that could be viewed from the OnePlus Cardboard VR. The event was a success and the OnePlus 2 launched. It had a lot of important updates that have remained till date. Updates like the USB-C, fingerprint sensor and the all-important alert slider. Features included the top of the line Snapdragon 810 processor and 4GB of RAM. However, the phone received a lot of criticism for its slow charging, lack of NFC and a processor that was hot to handle. While these were minor niggles it showed that people expected a lot more from OnePlus.
The OnePlus X was launched a few months after the OnePlus 2. Planned as OnePlus’ foray into the budget phone segment, the X used most of the internals of the OnePlus One and added an AMOLED screen and a few other improvements with a new price of around $250. The OnePlus X didn’t do as well as the other OnePlus phones and the whole series was promptly scrapped.
With the lessons learned from the first three phones, OnePlus did a lot more homework before launching the OnePlus 3. The OnePlus 3 was a masterpiece. It took all the great features of the OnePlus One and 2 and added a lot more to the mix. It used the Snapdragon 820 processor – a great performer without any heating issues. The screen was Samsung sourced Super AMOLED panel. The RAM was bumped to 6GB and for the first time, the phone used a sleek metal body. But best of all, with a little help from the boffins at Oppo, OnePlus managed to provide an impressive fast charging solution – Dash Charging. This made the OnePlus 3 one of the fastest charging phones. OnePlus also finally dropped the invite-only sales tactic and sold the OP3 via open sales to the relief of many.
OnePlus then did something which did not go down well with most people, especially OnePlus 3 users. They launched an upgraded OnePlus 3T within 5 months of the OnePlus 3 launch. The 3T had a slightly more powerful Snapdragon 821 processor which brought along support for Daydream, the selfie camera got a megapixel bump to 16Mpx, the battery was beefed up by 400mAh and there was now a 128GB variant. Despite being a minor update it was an update. OnePlus fans were not very happy.
The calendar turned to 2017 and the OnePlus 5 was due. The OnePlus 5 went down the halls of OnePlus’ history as the last of their older style of phones with a 16:9 display, front-facing fingerprint sensor and capacitive buttons. The OnePlus 5 was also quite the powerhouse with a Snapdragon 835 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM and a dual sensor camera. The camera was also tuned with the help of DXO which even earned them a respectable score of 87 on DXOmark’s smartphone ranking beating even the iPhone 7.
But, OnePlus was not quite done launching phones that year and soon launched the OnePlus 5T. A mid-cycle update to the OnePlus 5. It got a newer 18:9 screen, wider aperture rear camera and face unlocking. This was again something that not many people liked. OnePlus, however, had a trick up their sleeves with the Star Wars edition which was ragingly popular. A move that made OnePlus go from the dark side to the light.
And with that we come to the present. We now have the latest iteration of the OnePlus smartphone, the OnePlus 6. The OnePlus 6 which is actually the eighth phone in their lineup has a mix of some great and not-so-great decisions. The Snapdragon 845 processor, optically stabilized camera, Dash charging and the retention of the headphone jack are the great decisions. The move to a notched screen, lack of true waterproofing and wireless charging are the not-so-great decisions. But still, the OnePlus 6 is off to a great start with great reviews from critics and fans literally standing in lines for their OnePlus 6.
For a TDLR version of the OnePlus journey have a look at this infographic and let us know in the comments section which OnePlus device is most dear to you.
The hot newest 6 phone can be found on Amazon.
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