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I think this is the 1st OnePlus One (OPO) Review in TAI. So have given more Pics. The Phone costs Rs. 22,000/- and can be bought from Amazon India site.
A. What is OnePlus One (OPO):
The OPO looks and feels premium. A single Micro-SIM phablet measuring 153 x 76 x 9 mm, weighing at 160g and released in June 2015 as a Flagship Killer by OnePlus, a Chinese Co. It has 4-band 2G, 5-Band 3G and 6-Band 4G with Cat4 LTE speeds. Three soft navigational keys are present below the screen. Check out the Specs Comparo with other Flagship phones.
This was in my Radar for some time, but not available in India. It is available thro’ Amazon India but buyer needs to have an Invitation to buy it, making it difficult to acquire Globally as well as in India. That’s one of the reasons I chose Asus ZF5 three months back. Things are changing now, as in the last week alone, three more OPOs landed in our Co; perhaps OnePlus has ramped up the production. How to get the ever elusive Invite ? Members interested in getting an India Specific Invite should go straight to Heading C.
B. Decision making:
It all started when I toggled Wi-Fi on 09-Jan-15 evening on my Asus ZF5. I learnt that I got an invite from OnePlus. AN INVITE ! Next 10-15 minutes, I was wondering, if it was worth to change the ZF5, because the ZF5 has impressed me THAT much in the 2+ months’ of use. Though ZF5 has just a HD screen, you’ve got to USE that to feel good. Resolution apart, the HD screen always impresses the user. On top of everything, the user interface of Asus Zen Launcher is too damn good. If at all I have to nitpick, the Rear Speaker is meek in loudness. But should I miss a chance to have the One in my hands? NO, it shall be BOUGHT.
C. Getting an India specific Invite and Amazon Experience:
Opened Amazon and Yahoo Mail, clicked on the link, it took me to OnePlus website, chose the Invite Sl.No, applied it in Amazon India only to know that it was a Global Invite which cannot be used in Amazon India. Crestfallen :-( But, the decision WAS already made to BUY IT. After polluting the environment for five minutes, decided to give it a try. Two minutes later I landed at https://forums.oneplus.net/forums/india-invites/ .
In another 20 minutes I could send PM to two members willing to share invite. Within 5 minutes both replied; one was free and the other was for Rs.300/- (to be paid to his friend’s bank A/c blah blah blah). After five minutes PM-ing, I had an India specific Invite from the 2nd one for FREE. Found it was Genuine and placed an order immediately for Rs 22,000/-. All this happened on 09-Jan-2015 night.
Next day around noon, in the middle of a 3 hour looong presentation, my Asus vibrated and I saw my friend silencing it. On a hunch, called the caller; it was a delivery man from Amazon ! B___s to the PPT; dashed out and had the OnePlus One in my hands 10 minutes later. It was an amazing “next half-day delivery” by Amazon under Free Shipping![[clap]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Clap.gif "Clap [clap]")
Note-1: You have to send them PM. Google to know how it is done there.
Note-2: Do NOT ever share your e-mail ID on those threads publicly.
Note-3: Paying a nominal amount for an Invite is at your discretion.
Setting up OPO and App Transfer:
I got it on 9th, charged battery fully but powered it on the next day due to some other engagement. Transferred ALL my Call logs and SMS Logs from ZF5 to OPO. Asus ZF5 did the “App transfer” from my Google Play A/c on its own, but all B-Folder Data was lost then. So, I preferred to do that manually this time taking some extra time.
The One Experience:
OPO is pretty fast to boot. It does everything fast and lag-free due to the 3 GB of RAM. About 54GB storage was available on first Boot. My ZF5 struggled with a photo heavy 50 slides PPT, but OPO was right at home with the same PPT. Out of the Box, it runs KitKat 4.4.4 (now in Jan 2015), with Cyanogen Mod 11S. Cyanogen Mod offers ways to customize Android which are integrated right under Settings. CM11S also has a search function built into Settings helping user to locate exactly what he/she is searching for. Customizing OPO is pretty easy and fun.
Pull down from Top Right for Notifications and Top Left for Toggles; same as in Asus Zen UI. We can change the size of toggles in OPO. It also provides a Ribbon under Notification where you can add toggles. Redundant though. You can add Camera in Toggles or in this Ribbon and Tap it to see a tiny camera view and Tap again to capture a Pic. Cool, but not needed for me. Yet I like Zen UI more, for its pleasing looks.
Double Tap on Notification area to send screen to Sleep (only works 50% times) and double Tap to wake it up. I have assigned “Screen Shot” capture to the Power button, so no struggles pressing Power and Volume buttons together. When screen is in Sleep mode, draw left or right to control Audio tracks. All time Battery level (in %) and Signal Level (in numbers say -65, -85, -98 etc,in dBm) can be brought on the display. Customizations Galore.
Call quality:
It is easy to force 2G/3G/4G/Combo modes. Monday morning, the first few calls thro’ the in-call speaker were pretty bad. A reboot and since then call quality is very good. The receivers reported no problem in hearing me either.
Apps:
OPO does not come preinstalled with any Games or bloat ware; No Adobe (?) and Office Apps either. OPO comes with its own 5-Band Equiliser which can be called up anytime. The default audio player if Google’s which I never liked. I’ve installed Kingsoft, MX Player (for videos),Rocket Player (for audios), All-in-1 Calc, ConvertPad, Merrium-Webster, ES file Explorer, Greenify, CPU-Z, StumbleUpon, GoogleKeep (Notes) etc. I am sticking with GMaps. 65 Apps are installed currently and 1.2GB RAM is available Free.
Camera:
I didn’t check the default Video Player, didn’t shoot Video but took only 3 sample Photos to see the low light capability and the Resolving power of the 1/3.06” sensor from Sony.For comparison, the point and shoot Cams have 1/2.3” sensor normally. The quality is much superior to any phone in the price band (of Rs 22,000/-), more than adequate for a Mobile Cam. The quality may be 95% of the Pics from Phones costing about Rs 40,000 and more. That is impressive.
Display:
The screen is too good with its FHD resolution, though one cannot compare it with AMOLED screens. Watching movies and videos on the 5.5” LCD is fantastic. I have to say something about the HD screen of Asus ZF5. It is difficult to fault it, even when compared to OPO’s FHD. I feel the touch response is better in ZF5 by 5%.
Loudspeaker:
There are two speakers at the base, which are not obstructed unlike my ZF5’s mono speaker (which is at the rear and gets obstructed easily). It is loud. On 80% volume, it is heard in every room in my 2000sq ft, 3BHK Apartment. The quality of output is very good for a mobile phone. I have nicknamed it “Tea-shop-Radio”. But because both speakers are next to each other, I don’t think I’m getting stereo effect from them. Yet to try a headphone.
Battery life:
Having a capacity of 3100 mAH and with good Stand-by times, this is easily a TWO working day Phone. My first proper observations was 1D 17H 45M. GSM Arena gave this a 66 Hours Endurance Rating.
Flip Cover:
Bought the official cover “designed by OnePlus” on Amazon for Rs.699/-. Even the packaging is good. With this Flip Cover, the thickness has increased by 2mm but the premium-ness feels enhanced much.
Problem:
Bluetooth pairing with my Verna is the only Problem now. Neither of them are seeing each other like a quarrelling hubby and Wify. This seems to be a known problem as per the Internet Forum. Though connection with my ZF5 or other phones is not a problem. As of now, not taking calls while driving.
Misc:
My phones since mid 2006. Nokia never could make thin phones and that's one of the reasons (other than joining Android Bandwagon) for their wipe out.
A. What is OnePlus One (OPO):
The OPO looks and feels premium. A single Micro-SIM phablet measuring 153 x 76 x 9 mm, weighing at 160g and released in June 2015 as a Flagship Killer by OnePlus, a Chinese Co. It has 4-band 2G, 5-Band 3G and 6-Band 4G with Cat4 LTE speeds. Three soft navigational keys are present below the screen. Check out the Specs Comparo with other Flagship phones.
This was in my Radar for some time, but not available in India. It is available thro’ Amazon India but buyer needs to have an Invitation to buy it, making it difficult to acquire Globally as well as in India. That’s one of the reasons I chose Asus ZF5 three months back. Things are changing now, as in the last week alone, three more OPOs landed in our Co; perhaps OnePlus has ramped up the production. How to get the ever elusive Invite ? Members interested in getting an India Specific Invite should go straight to Heading C.
B. Decision making:
It all started when I toggled Wi-Fi on 09-Jan-15 evening on my Asus ZF5. I learnt that I got an invite from OnePlus. AN INVITE ! Next 10-15 minutes, I was wondering, if it was worth to change the ZF5, because the ZF5 has impressed me THAT much in the 2+ months’ of use. Though ZF5 has just a HD screen, you’ve got to USE that to feel good. Resolution apart, the HD screen always impresses the user. On top of everything, the user interface of Asus Zen Launcher is too damn good. If at all I have to nitpick, the Rear Speaker is meek in loudness. But should I miss a chance to have the One in my hands? NO, it shall be BOUGHT.
C. Getting an India specific Invite and Amazon Experience:
Opened Amazon and Yahoo Mail, clicked on the link, it took me to OnePlus website, chose the Invite Sl.No, applied it in Amazon India only to know that it was a Global Invite which cannot be used in Amazon India. Crestfallen :-( But, the decision WAS already made to BUY IT. After polluting the environment for five minutes, decided to give it a try. Two minutes later I landed at https://forums.oneplus.net/forums/india-invites/ .
In another 20 minutes I could send PM to two members willing to share invite. Within 5 minutes both replied; one was free and the other was for Rs.300/- (to be paid to his friend’s bank A/c blah blah blah). After five minutes PM-ing, I had an India specific Invite from the 2nd one for FREE. Found it was Genuine and placed an order immediately for Rs 22,000/-. All this happened on 09-Jan-2015 night.
Next day around noon, in the middle of a 3 hour looong presentation, my Asus vibrated and I saw my friend silencing it. On a hunch, called the caller; it was a delivery man from Amazon ! B___s to the PPT; dashed out and had the OnePlus One in my hands 10 minutes later. It was an amazing “next half-day delivery” by Amazon under Free Shipping
Note-1: You have to send them PM. Google to know how it is done there.
Note-2: Do NOT ever share your e-mail ID on those threads publicly.
Note-3: Paying a nominal amount for an Invite is at your discretion.
Setting up OPO and App Transfer:
I got it on 9th, charged battery fully but powered it on the next day due to some other engagement. Transferred ALL my Call logs and SMS Logs from ZF5 to OPO. Asus ZF5 did the “App transfer” from my Google Play A/c on its own, but all B-Folder Data was lost then. So, I preferred to do that manually this time taking some extra time.
The One Experience:
OPO is pretty fast to boot. It does everything fast and lag-free due to the 3 GB of RAM. About 54GB storage was available on first Boot. My ZF5 struggled with a photo heavy 50 slides PPT, but OPO was right at home with the same PPT. Out of the Box, it runs KitKat 4.4.4 (now in Jan 2015), with Cyanogen Mod 11S. Cyanogen Mod offers ways to customize Android which are integrated right under Settings. CM11S also has a search function built into Settings helping user to locate exactly what he/she is searching for. Customizing OPO is pretty easy and fun.
Pull down from Top Right for Notifications and Top Left for Toggles; same as in Asus Zen UI. We can change the size of toggles in OPO. It also provides a Ribbon under Notification where you can add toggles. Redundant though. You can add Camera in Toggles or in this Ribbon and Tap it to see a tiny camera view and Tap again to capture a Pic. Cool, but not needed for me. Yet I like Zen UI more, for its pleasing looks.
Double Tap on Notification area to send screen to Sleep (only works 50% times) and double Tap to wake it up. I have assigned “Screen Shot” capture to the Power button, so no struggles pressing Power and Volume buttons together. When screen is in Sleep mode, draw left or right to control Audio tracks. All time Battery level (in %) and Signal Level (in numbers say -65, -85, -98 etc,in dBm) can be brought on the display. Customizations Galore.
Call quality:
It is easy to force 2G/3G/4G/Combo modes. Monday morning, the first few calls thro’ the in-call speaker were pretty bad. A reboot and since then call quality is very good. The receivers reported no problem in hearing me either.
Apps:
OPO does not come preinstalled with any Games or bloat ware; No Adobe (?) and Office Apps either. OPO comes with its own 5-Band Equiliser which can be called up anytime. The default audio player if Google’s which I never liked. I’ve installed Kingsoft, MX Player (for videos),Rocket Player (for audios), All-in-1 Calc, ConvertPad, Merrium-Webster, ES file Explorer, Greenify, CPU-Z, StumbleUpon, GoogleKeep (Notes) etc. I am sticking with GMaps. 65 Apps are installed currently and 1.2GB RAM is available Free.
Camera:
I didn’t check the default Video Player, didn’t shoot Video but took only 3 sample Photos to see the low light capability and the Resolving power of the 1/3.06” sensor from Sony.For comparison, the point and shoot Cams have 1/2.3” sensor normally. The quality is much superior to any phone in the price band (of Rs 22,000/-), more than adequate for a Mobile Cam. The quality may be 95% of the Pics from Phones costing about Rs 40,000 and more. That is impressive.
Display:
The screen is too good with its FHD resolution, though one cannot compare it with AMOLED screens. Watching movies and videos on the 5.5” LCD is fantastic. I have to say something about the HD screen of Asus ZF5. It is difficult to fault it, even when compared to OPO’s FHD. I feel the touch response is better in ZF5 by 5%.
Loudspeaker:
There are two speakers at the base, which are not obstructed unlike my ZF5’s mono speaker (which is at the rear and gets obstructed easily). It is loud. On 80% volume, it is heard in every room in my 2000sq ft, 3BHK Apartment. The quality of output is very good for a mobile phone. I have nicknamed it “Tea-shop-Radio”. But because both speakers are next to each other, I don’t think I’m getting stereo effect from them. Yet to try a headphone.
Battery life:
Having a capacity of 3100 mAH and with good Stand-by times, this is easily a TWO working day Phone. My first proper observations was 1D 17H 45M. GSM Arena gave this a 66 Hours Endurance Rating.
Flip Cover:
Bought the official cover “designed by OnePlus” on Amazon for Rs.699/-. Even the packaging is good. With this Flip Cover, the thickness has increased by 2mm but the premium-ness feels enhanced much.
Problem:
Bluetooth pairing with my Verna is the only Problem now. Neither of them are seeing each other like a quarrelling hubby and Wify. This seems to be a known problem as per the Internet Forum. Though connection with my ZF5 or other phones is not a problem. As of now, not taking calls while driving.
Misc:
My phones since mid 2006. Nokia never could make thin phones and that's one of the reasons (other than joining Android Bandwagon) for their wipe out.
![[frustration]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Frustration.gif "Frustration [frustration]")
![[confused]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Confused.gif "Confused [confused]")
![[:D]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Big%20Smile.gif "Big Smile [:D]")
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