Should You Buy The OnePlus One Smartphone?

If you are looking for a budget phone but don’t want to compromise on high-end specs, then the OnePlus One could be the smartphone for you. I know it seems unbelievable that a handset with great specs could be cheap but let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons and you can decide for yourselves whether its false economy.

The Pros

1. THE PRICE

It seemed logical to start with the price seeing as in this case it’s the most appealing feature. The OnePlus One costs just $299, yet many of the specs are just the same as more expensive models like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2 and the HTC One M8. Another thing to note is the price difference between the 16 GB version and the 64GB. Apple will charge you an extra $200 if you want more storage for the iPhone 5S, yet OnePlus will charge you just $50.

2. SCREEN

Most budget handsets fall down on screen quality but with a 5.5-inch full HD display, this is not the case with the OnePlus One. For the price you pay you are getting a good quality screen that gives you a high-level of detail.

3. NOT JUST ANY OLD ANDROID

Not only does the OnePlus One come with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, Google’s latest version of its mobile platform, it is also part of the community driven program CyanogenMod 11S. This allows for more personalised settings, enabling you to really make the phone your own.

4. POWER

The handset sports a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU. Handsets that cost more than double the price of the OnePlus One are on a par with this, so why pay the extra cost?

5. GENERAL FEATURES

Of course the specs continue much in the same fashion as any other smartphone. So you also get a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front facing camera, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, 4G and a 3100mAH battery. Not bad considering you are only spending $299!

The Cons

1. WHO ON EARTH IS ONEPLUS?

So when you next march into the bar and proudly announce to your friends that you have a new phone, obviously they are going to ask what have you got? When you answer ‘a ONEPlus One’, you can only imagine the puzzled looks on their faces as they reply, ‘What?’.

So to prepare you for this eventuality, OnePlus is a Chinese firm that was set up by ex-employees of another mobile company. Although at the moment OnePlus seem to be doing ok, there is a concern that in the cut throat world that is mobile manufacturers, it just won’t last. By purchasing a OnePlus One smartphone you are taking a risk because the company is producing a high-spec phone for such a low price, so should the company fold, there would be no future support for the handset. However, like I said, for now that doesn’t seem to be an issue but it’s worth bearing in mind.

2. STORAGE

Unfortunately with the OnePlus One there is no microSD slot. So if for example you have the 16GB “Silk White” model of the phone, you actually only get 12GB once the operating system has been loaded on and there is no way of increasing it. Even if you opt for the 64GB version, there is no option to have the flexibility of expandable storage that comes from a microSD.

3. SIZE

At 5.5-inches the OnePlus One is rather large. Even if you have hands that are considered on the large size, you may still struggle to navigate your way around the handset.

From what I can see the pros seem to outweigh the cons. It would appear that plenty of others think the same as OnePlus had to re-evaluate its roll out plan after it received more demand for its phone than anticipated. The company has confirmed that by the end of June there will be good general availability, so if you want one, you should be able to get your hands on the One.

In conclusion, the question begs to be asked: Why are the well-known mobile phone companies charging so much for their handsets?

[Image via OnePlus]