The OnePlus One Review
Part One: Hardware
OnePlus hasn’t been a company for very long. But in their short time of existence, they have already managed to shake up the industry in both a positive and negative manner. With bold marketing campaigns, shady invite systems, and unrivaled confidence that their device is the best that you just couldn’t buy yet. OnePlus was set to bring the entire Android market down. Once we could get our hands on the device, that is. Now with the device in hand, there is plenty to talk about. Does the OnePlus One live up to the “Never Settle” hype that has been surrounding it? Or does it fall into the growing chasm of unremarkable Android devices destined for irrelevancy?
Look and Feel
Upon taking this phone out of the box, my first reaction was simply,
“wow”
As I examined the phone, feeling the “Sandstone Black” of the 64GB variant. One thing was remarkably clear: OnePlus has made an impeccably designed device with the One. This phone is big, period. It has a 5.5” display; vaulting it clearly into “phablet” territory. The screen is slightly raised away from the rest of the device, much like a Nokia Lumia device. A metal band wraps around the front frame. Which gives it an appealing, high quality glisten in the light.
The back of the device has curves that slope ever so slightly to contour to your hand as you hold it. Though it doesn’t add much in terms of comfort for me, because of the sheer size of the device, it is a nice touch. While we’re talking about the back of the device, let’s talk about the “Sandstone Black” finish that is draped over the back of this phone. It. Is. Fantastic. It is unlike anything I have ever felt on a phone before. If I could compare it to anything, it would be something akin to sandblasted velvet. It’s smooth, yet rough. Soft, but slightly grippy. It is an anomaly, and a great one at that.
DBrand says it loud and clear on their site, Do not cover the back of the Black OnePlus One.
When a company that specializes in covering the back of your phone for grip and aesthetics decides to come out and tell you not to buy a skin for the back of this phone. You know you have done something right. I can’t get over how great the back of the Black OnePlus One feels in the hand in terms of comfort and grip. It also looks absolutely fantastic. The back of the Black OnePlus One is one of the absolute high points of the entire device, it’s simply that good.
This phone has a good amount of heft to it as well, which isn’t a bad thing, as I prefer solid feeling devices. The One feels solid all the way through, but still manages to feel nimble in the hand during one and two handed use.
Because the phone is in the phablet realm, OnePlus chose to be conscientious in designing where the Power and Volume buttons lie on the device. On the right side of the device, the power button lies just above halfway. On the left, the volume rocker rests the same. This adds incredible ease of use while using the rather large phone that is the OnePlus One in one hand. Most other things, though, are difficult to use in one hand. But this is to be expected with a device of this size. Along the top right of the device is your headphone jack. On the bottom lies the charging port via MicroUSB. Also along the bottom are your speakers and one of the three microphones. The other two microphones are located on the back of the device to the right of the camera, and on the top left. The camera and dual LED flash reside centered above the OnePlus logo. The front facing camera is on the left side of the device, with the LED indicator on the right, close beside.
As far as logos go, it’s as simple as any iDevice or Nexus line. Underneath the camera we have the OnePlus logo recessed in glossy black. Towards the bottom of the device on the back is the Cyanogen logo as well as “Cyanogen” text in grey. For the front of the device, there is nothing but screen and speaker grille. Which is a huge plus for me. Who personally loves understated design that allows the experience to melt into the device.
When it comes to build quality, weight in the hand, and thoughtfulness of design. OnePlus has hit the nail on the head, hit the ball out of the park, or any other cliche you want to tack on. OnePlus has seriously outdone the likes of nearly every other phone manufacturer on the planet with this device in terms of design. The OnePlus One is an absolute pleasure to use from a look and feel perspective.
Specs
What a stat sheet for a phone company’s first try, am I right? This phone has the specs that go up against every single flagship on the market. The current gen Snapdragon 801 improves upon the Snapdragon 800 found in previous gen flagships. The Adreno 330 GPU powers the graphical side of things. Games played fantastic on it, with absolutely no lag or dropped frames.
A friend asked me, if it was “flagship” quality. As far as specs go, it absolutely is. Those internals alone will normally cost $650-$700(see Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One M8). Yet the OnePlus One comes in at a staggering $350 for the 64GB model. For reference, the 32GB Nexus 5 is $400. The 16GB iPhone 5S with a new 2 year service agreement is $200. You cannot buy this phone through a carrier, it’s only available off contract. So, that is $350 off contract for flagship level hardware.
We have stepped into a realm where top tier devices cost less than $400, and fantastic mid range devices are less than $200. The OnePlus One falls right into the top tier category, and earns it.
Screen
The OnePlus One has a 5.5” 1080p display, coming in at 401ppi. While, it’s not as pixel dense as a Nexus 5, S5, or One M8(Which are all 5-5.1” Displays), it is still incredibly crisp.
There were murmurings of a manufacturing issue with the OnePlus One in relation to the screen having a yellow light bleed issue. Most reviews were conducted on the 16GB Silk White model, I have the 64GB Sandstone Black model and can confirm I’ve yet to see any out place yellow light. It seems that it was fixed, or nonexistent on the Sandstone Black OnePlus One.
The colors on the OnePlus One are very accurate, not oversaturated at all. In my video test of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, I noticed that colors came across ever so slightly muted when compared to other displays. But without a side by side comparison to fall back on, it is unrecognizable. It is an IPS display, meaning viewing angles are fantastic as well. The display has great brightness, too. Even in direct sunlight.
Speakers
The OnePlus One has two bottom firing speakers. While most would prefer front facing speakers much like the HTC One M8. But these speakers do their job and do it pretty well. They can get loud, very loud. But with small speakers, at louder volumes the sound can become tinny and distorted. At louder volumes for the One, music definitely becomes more washed out. I found the sweet spot to be at around 70-80% volume for fairly accurate sound. As for sound reproduction, highs and mids are good, and low end is decent, but not as great as the aforementioned highs and mids. In my use with smartphone speakers, I normally avoid them at all costs. Opting for either headphones or using Chromecast and pushing content to a larger screen.
Call Quality
Now, for a phone to be able to exist as a phone and not a tablet; it needs to be able to make phone calls. In my time with the OnePlus One, the phone quality has been as clear as most other phones. I could hear them, they could hear me.
Battery Life
Adorned with a 3100mAh battery in a svelte 0.35in frame, the One has some seriously impressive battery life. Take the giant battery and the Snapdragon 801, you have some serious endurance capabilities. But that’s just on the hardware end of the spectrum, adding CyanogenMod 11’s power saving features can add some more juice as well. But we’ll dive into that later.
In my initial rundown test, in which I used my phone as I would on a normal heavy use day, the One managed fifteen hours and thirty minutes on battery before hitting 10%. During those fifteen hours, I managed four hours and sixteen minutes of screen on time. This phone has marathon class stamina that could last for two days if you tried hard enough(One thing to note, this is without any of CM11’s power saving features enabled such as: CPU frequencies and governer’s. Those will be covered in full in the Software Review).
For standby time, I left the phone on and unplugged overnight after a full day of use. During the 8hrs it was unused, the battery depleted 4%.
This device also charges incredibly fast. The OnePlus One charged from 5% to full in a little under two hours. That’s impressive for a device with a battery at a whopping 3100mAh.
Overall Hardware Experience
OnePlus has really made something special in their first attempt at a smartphone. It isn't perfect, but it’s nearly as close as you can get in terms of design. Thoughtfulness and practicality ooze out of the device. From the slightly raised screen, the wonderful back texture, all the way to the power and volume rocker placements. The OnePlus One is a marvelous device from a hardware perspective. It feels solid in the hand, has a great screen, and good speakers. This phone, in terms of hardware, lives up to and exceeds the “Never Settle” slogan.
