The OnePlus3: Is this the best budget smartphone you can buy?OnePlus
OnePlus joined the smartphone market in 2014 by offering flagship specs for a budget smartphone. Inadvertently achieving celebrity status thanks to an exclusive invite-only ordering scheme. The latest OnePlus 3 smartphone comes with flagship features yet has the price of a budget phone. With 5.5inch, the device became a phablet kicking its competitors off the road with the price of £309.
Key specifications:
- Screen: 5.5inch, Full HD (1080p) AMOLED, 401 pixels-per-inch
- Cameras: Front 8 megapixel, rear 16 megapixel
- Processor: Snapdragon 820, quad core (2x 2.2GHz, 2x 1.6GHz) with 6GB RAM
- Storage: 64GB
- Software: OxygenOS based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- Measurements: 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm. Weighs 158g
- Colour options: Graphite and Soft Gold
- Price: £309
OnePlus 3 review: Design
OnePlus 3 feels wonderful on the hand because of its unibody aluminium design. The chamfered edges and ceramic fingerprint sensor in front indicate that the smartphone costs less than half the amount of top and bestselling flagship phones. The looks of the smartphone are inspirational. The smartphone is as light as 158g, making it one of the lightest phablets and as slim as 7.35mm making it one of the slimmest too. So far, so good.
OnePlus 3 review: Specs
The OnePlus 3 claims one of the most impressive specs among smartphones, including a market-leading 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM. With the Snapdragon 820 chip with quad-core Kyro (2x2.2GHz, 2x1.6GHz) processors gives it a rugged engine to process your work. The internal storage is as large as 64GB and there is no room for expandable storage. The OnePlus 3 supports super-fast charging called Dash Charge, which can provide a full day's worth of use in 15 minutes. This works with its supplied charger. Other features include dual sim and responsive fingerprint sensor.
OnePlus 3 review: Display
The OnePlus 3 screen spec is 5.5inch AMOLED is a Full HD (that's 1080p) rather than 2K as seen on the likes of the Galaxy Edge, HTC 10 and BlackBerry Priv. Its resolution isn't as crisp and colours aren't as punchy, but it’s not noticeable unless you are using the smartphone for VR. 1080p is more than adequate for movie-watching on your commute.
OnePlus 3 review: Camera
The OnePlus 3 camera quality is as sharp as 16MP Sony lens on the back and 8MP front-facing camera, both with OIS. The camera quality is still better than that of OnePlus 3, Nexus 6P, and Galaxy 7 Edge. The camera lens of the phone is prone to scratches when dropped on surfaces due to its position and its case does not protect the camera from scratch as well.
OnePlus 3 review: OS
The OnePlus 3 runs a modified version of Android Marshmallow (6.0.1) with its OxygenOS over the top. It's a breath of fresh air compared to some UIs and it's a simplified, it contains widgets, recent apps and contacts in one place by swiping right on the home screen. It's a quick OS too and comes with power-saving function.
So far so good OnePlus 3 is a genuine contender. Its price is fantastic for such a fantastic smartphone. You peers who own Galaxy and iPhone will be afraid of you because you have something better than theirs, though you have a budget smartphone yet OnePlus 3 is a got the specs.