The OnePlus 3 in many ways is a return to form for the Chinese company OnePlus, especially after the disappointment that was the OnePlus 2 (and the OnePlus X). The OnePlus 3 with its completely redesigned aesthetics and a spec sheet that offers top-notch hardware normally seen in phones that cost almost a double, represents a new phase in the company's time-line. One where OnePlus wants its product to do the talking, simply because it is pretty awesome.
The OnePlus 3, if we were to put it in one sentence, is for someone who's a hardware (and software) fanatic and wants only the best in class, but does not want to shell out Rs 50,000 for it. That, the OnePlus 3 does a fair amount of justice to its neat spec-sheet is even better.
The OnePlus 3 is by no means perfect, and has its share of negatives. That said, it's very hard to pin-point them out unless you're judging the phone with a microscope. That's right, it's like one of those rare cases where it's hard to find a catch, simply because there isn't any.
5 reasons why you should buy the OnePlus 3:
- The OnePlus 3 has a gorgeous 5.5-inch fullHD AMOLED display with a 1920x1080 pixels resolution. A QuadHD resolution screen would seem a step forward on paper, since both the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 came with fullHD screens. The OnePlus 3 may have retained the screen resolution of its predecessors, but it's a different display panel altogether. OnePlus calls it Optic AMOLED. The screen of the OnePlus 3 is significantly richer and brighter than the ridiculously dim (and somewhat washed-out) screens of the OnePlus One and the OnePlus 2. Xiaomi's Mi 5 is still brighter in comparison, but the OnePlus 3 is not far behind.
- The OnePlus 3 is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor coupled with Adreno 530 GPU and whopping 6 gigs of RAM. You get 64GB of internal memory straight off the bat. That's frankly as high-end as it gets in today's tech world. As expected, its performance is at par (even better, courtesy its near stock user experience) with top-tier phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5 and HTC 10, at half the price. And it manages heat dissipation better, much better than the OnePlus 2. 6 gigs of RAM inside a smartphone may seem like an overkill, since there's only so much that you can do on a smartphone. But, Android is known to be harsh on RAM and it is always nice to have some RAM free on the system. Even more so, at its price who's complaining?
- The OnePlus 3 runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based OxygenOS version 3.1.2. OxygenOS sticks dangerously close to stock Android and offers an almost bloat-free experience out-of-the-box. Think of it as a third-party Nexus. Even though OxygenOS stays true to Google's OS, it has added a few in-house features that although more a novelty, are useful nonetheless. Key among them is Shelf, a home screen that holds all your recent apps, quick contacts, custom widgets, memos and reminders, all in one place. A system wide Dark theme, manual Night mode and gesture support are other notable inclusions. OxygenOS may not offer many customisation options, but the OnePlus 3 more than compensates for it by offering an unlocked bootloader. This means you can root it, ROM it as and when you like and it won't void the phone's warranty.
- Both the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X had terrible cameras. The OnePlus 3 is better, much better in this regard. It comes with a 16-megapixel camera -- Sony IMX 298 sensor -- on the rear with PDAF, f/2.0 aperture and Optical Image Stabilisation. The rear snapper is capable of recording time-lapse, 4K video and RAW file format. The OnePlus 3 is quick to focus and shutter speed is also good. The camera app is bare-bones but you eventually get used to it. This is because the phone does point-and-shoot very well, at least most of the time. The phone is capable of shooting some excellent photos in well-lit and indoor lighting situations with good dynamic range and little or no metering issues.
- The OnePlus 3 is the company's first phone that supports its in-house fast charging technology - or fast charge in general -- called Dash Charging. The accompanying Dash Charger is capable of charging the phone to up to 60 per cent in just 30 minutes. And it does. 45 minutes or so is all it takes to fully charge the phone. Moreover, the Dash charger has been built in a way that shifts most of the power management processes from the phone to itself so the phone doesn't get hot while charging. And it doesn't. The OnePlus 3 stays surprisingly cool even when charging. This means you can continue to use the phone even while it's charging.
5 reasons why you should not buy the OnePlus 3:
- The OnePlus 3 ditches the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2's iconic sandstone finish design for a more premium, lighter and thinner experience. It's an all-metal smartphone, a first for OnePlus. Unlike its previous phones that were chunky in almost every sense of the word, the OnePlus 3 feels nicer. And more refined. But, it's certainly not flaunting the most original designs around. The OnePlus 3 looks like a mashup between the HTC One and the OnePlus 2. It's also a little slippery to hold. Not OnePlus X-kind slippery, but more like HTC One M9-kind slippery, which means it won't slide off a gentle slope like the former, but it would most certainly fly off your hand like the latter if you're not careful.
- The OnePlus 3 comes with 64GB of internal memory with no expandable storage option. At Rs 27,999 the OnePlus 3 may seem quite a bang-for-buck for all the top-notch hardware inside, but frankly speaking, a microSD slot (or even 128GB base memory) would have made this phone unbeatable.
- The mono speaker setup on-board the OnePlus 3 is average at best. If you're looking for good speakers in a smartphone, the OnePlus 3 is definitely not the one for you. Audio output through headphones is fine though.
- The OnePlus 3 is backed by a 3,000mAh battery, which is smaller than the one inside the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2. The OnePlus 3 has decent battery life (above-average), if not the best. Moderate to extreme usage saw us charging the phone twice on a working day. There are phones with bigger and better battery life in and around this price point. Also, the phone's Dash Charging feature works only with a proprietary charger and USB Type-C cable, both made by OnePlus. In case either one of them is missing, the phone switches back to regular charging.
- The most glaring concern is whether or not the company will be able to offer timely software updates.
About One plus:
OnePlus is Chinese smartphone manufacturer founded in December 2013. It is headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Apart from mainland China, the company serves 42 countries and regions around the world as of March 2016.
OnePlus was founded on 16 December 2013 by former Oppo vice president Pete Lau (刘作虎) and Carl Pei. According to the Chinese government's documentation, the only institutional stockholder in OnePlus is Oppo.
