The quick take
OnePlus is finally ready to join the big leagues with the OnePlus 3. Gone are the days of justifying missing features with a cheap price, and no longer can we give it a pass for its upstart-style of operation. The OnePlus 3 is the real deal, ready to be compared and evaluated as the flagship phone that it is. It isn't going to wow you with oodles of new features or headline-grabbing, never-before-seen experiences — it's just a downright great smartphone, and that's precisely what most people are looking for.
The Good
- Excellent hardware and specs
- Fast, smooth software
- Good camera
- Finally sold without an invite
The Bad
- Slippery body
- Legitimate worry about software updates
- No real "wow" factor
- Sub-par vibration motor
The real deal
OnePlus 3 Full review
In a marketplace flooded with great, affordable, high-end Android phones, it's easy to scoff at the disproportionate amount of attention that OnePlus has commanded for the past couple of years. Invite-only sales, questionable quality control, weak customer support and marketing blunders galore have gotten in the way of presenting the company's phones for what they were — really good hardware, backed up by solid software and prices that almost seemed too low.
After the breakout hit of the OnePlus One, the somewhat-forgettable OnePlus 2 was affected most by the company's predisposition for shenanigans, quickly falling off the radar; and the mid-cycle affordable OnePlus X was almost forgotten altogether, even though it was a great phone for the money.
Whether you believe OnePlus has gotten its house in order, you can't deny that the company is no longer a fad nor a flash in the pan ... it's the real deal, and the best example of that is sitting right here in my hand: the OnePlus 3. No longer are we looking at a phone that's "good for the money" or downplaying shortcomings in light of the phone as a whole — the OnePlus 3 is aiming to just be a top-end phone, before you discuss the price or the company behind it.
Does it succeed in that quest? We answer that question here in our complete OnePlus 3 review.
About this review
I (Andrew Martonik) am writing this review after 10 days using the OnePlus 3 on T-Mobile in Seattle and San Francisco in areas with good network coverage. The phone arrived on software version A3000_16_160525, and was updated via a 260MB OTA on the final day of the review to A3000_16_160606. The phone was provided to me for review by OnePlus.
Spectacular execution
OnePlus 3 Hardware
Looking at the full history of OnePlus phones, you see a very nice progression of materials. After the plastic OnePlus One, there was a metal-framed swappable-back OnePlus 2, which really stepped up the game, followed by the solid metal-and-glass OnePlus X. Now, we've gone full aluminum with the OnePlus 3.
OnePlus went with what has become a very popular design
With its fourth phone, OnePlus has chosen what has become a very popular design — a minimalist lightly textured silver all-aluminum body, broken only as necessary by solid antenna lines across the top and bottom. Viewed from the back, it's pure minimalism, things aren't much different on the other side. A sheet of Gorilla Glass 4 covers the entire front, save for a small speaker at the top and fingerprint sensor below, curving subtly down to the sides. If you look close you'll see ever-so-subtle shiny chamfers along the edge of the screen, fingerprint sensor, and camera protrusion around back.
The theme continues along the sides — nothing will particularly catch your eye. A standard oblong power button sits below a SIM card tray on the right side, with a volume rocker on the left accompanied by the OnePlus standard textured three-stage Alert Slider. The bottom has six nicely-drilled holes for the loudspeaker, along with a USB-C port and headphone jack.
You have to applaud such critical hardware execution throughout the phone.
It's understandably difficult to get excited about a phone with a design and materials that we've seen used a countless number of times in the past two years (the HTC One M8 and iPhone 6 perhaps kicking that off). The OnePlus 3 isn't breaking any barriers in design, or trying anything that's particularly new — but the one thing you can say about the way OnePlus has done it is just how precisely it nailed the manufacturing. You can't pick out a single place where it isn't absolutely spot on. Every edge, every join of materials, every cutout, every transition from curve to flat — every placement is perfect. This precision is hardly exclusive to OnePlus nowadays, as just about any manufacturer can now do things with metal and glass that were previously reserved to multi-billion-dollar companies just a few years ago. But just because you can do it now doesn't mean every phone is built as well as the OnePlus 3.
That precise manufacturing comes across in how the phone feels when you pick it up every single time. With a 5.5-inch display the OnePlus 3 is hardly small, but it nestles into the crook of your palm and the flat sides give you just enough to wrap your fingers around to get a sense that the phone isn't going to slide around much. The smooth and gently curved back, which maxes out at 7.35 mm in thickness, isn't ever going to be as easy to grip as the Sandstone-backed OnePlus 2, but this phone in return isn't nearly as harsh on your hand.
It's a pleasure to hold, look at and use.
Display
In a continuing theme, for the third straight year OnePlus has stuck with a 5.5-inch 1920x1080 display. But as is often the case, the numbers don't really tell the story — we're now looking at an AMOLED panel as a successor to the washed-out and lackluster IPS panel used last year, and the benefits are immediately apparent.
This is a really great display — 1080p resolution isn't an issue.
Even without increasing the resolution, OnePlus has dramatically improved things by going with a nicer panel this time around. Gone are the washed-out colors and poor visibility in sunlight, and while the panel isn't quite up to the quality of those selected by Samsung for its own phones — particularly in direct sunlight visibility, because Samsung is tops there — this is a display anyone would be happy to have. It offers good viewing angles and great colors right out of the box, but if you'd like to tweak a little bit OnePlus offers a color balance slider in the settings as well.
And before you try and argue that 1080p isn't high enough of resolution, let's be real — 400 pixels per inch on a screen is plenty; and as I'll get into in further detail in this review, it definitely has benefits when it comes to performance and battery life. At some point you have to consider all aspects of the display, not just focus on resolution, when evaluating it.
The AMOLED screen also plays into the aesthetic of OxygenOS, which has lots of dark colors that really look great on this type of the screen — something anyone who has a OnePlus X can tell you. That goes a step further if you choose to enable the dark mode in the settings and turn on the ambient display mode (familiar to Nexus users) to glance at notifications when they arrive on your sleeping phone.
On the inside
| Width | Height | Thickness |
|---|---|---|
 |
6.01 in 152.7 mm |
 |
| 2.94 in 74.7 mm |
0.29 in 7.35 mm |
|
| 5.57 oz 158 grams |
- Display:
- 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED
- 1920x1080 resolution (401 ppi)
- Gorilla Glass 4
- Cameras:
- Rear 16MP f/2.0, OIS
- Front 8MP f/2.0
- Battery:
- 3000 mAh
- Non-removable
- Dash Charge
- Chips:
- Snapdragon 820 CPU
- 6GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage
- NFC
Underneath the aluminum shell, the OnePlus 3 is filled with plenty of the highest specs you'd expect to see from a top-end phone this year. It all starts with a Snapdragon 820 processor and 6GB of RAM, along with 64GB of storage and a 3000 mAh battery powering it all. There's 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 on-board, and we have NFC again, the first time since the OnePlus One — I used Android Pay as soon as I got the phone.
More: Complete OnePlus 3 spec sheet
The OnePlus 3 is a touch narrower than the OnePlus 2 and OnePlus One, and also thinner, but is just barely taller than its predecessor. It's also the lightest OnePlus flagship so far at 158 grams, about 10% lighter than the OnePlus 2.
The official cases
If the all-metal build of the OnePlus 3 has you longing for the good 'ol days of the swappable backs, or you just want to have some protection and extra grip from time to time, OnePlus has you covered with a set of protective cases that are built using the same materials previously available on the OnePlus 2. You can pick up a wood veneer case in Rosewood, Black Apricot or Bamboo varieties, or go with a synthetic material in Sandstone or Karbon.
All five cases are form-fitting and minimal in their coverage, but they can all add style, protection and a little extra grip to the aluminum OnePlus 3. Expect to pay about $20 to $25 per case on the OnePlus website. There are also black, grey and sand color variants of a flip cover, which go for $20 each.
OxygenOS as we know it
OnePlus 3 Software
With every Android phone launch, there's a very vocal group of people who point to the software as a reason for not considering the phone. Customized non-standard interfaces, carrier-imposed bloatware and delayed updates are always cited as downsides of buying most non-Nexus phones, and this is one area where OnePlus has excelled since it moved away from Cyanogen and to its own software experience called OxygenOS.
Knowing its target audience, OnePlus has crafted software that does what all of the enthusiasts are asking for: it takes a "stock" build of Marshmallow, adds a few features and opportunities for customization, and sends it on its way to the phone. What you get in OxygenOS on the OnePlus 3 just about precisely mirrors the Marshmallow update that just hit the OnePlus 2 — and that's a good thing for those who enjoy a simple, powerful software experience.
If you enjoy what Google has done in terms of design and interface in Android 6.0, you'll love the OnePlus 3 — on the whole, the experience isn't any different from what you'll find on a Nexus phone today. What has changed are a grouping of subtle but powerful features, most of which started as staples in the custom ROM community years ago, and many others introduced or popularized by various other Android manufacturers.
A handful of small features and customizations add up to a great experience.
The bigger changes come in the form of quick customizations of the interface that normally would be set in stone on other phones. You have the ability to edit the quick settings toggles, the status bar icons, the color of the operating system theme, the notification light and the color balance of the screen. If you choose to use the OxygenOS default launcher, you get a nice set of customizations there, from changing icon sizes and app drawer grid sizes, to enabling quick gestures and changing the look of the search bar on your home screen. There's also built-in support for third-party icon packs.
Further, OxygenOS includes a batch of small additional features. You still have the choice of using on-screen or off-screen capacitive navigation buttons and can rearrange them and reassign long-press actions as you like. You can also turn on four different gestures to perform actions when the screen is off.
OnePlus includes its own Launcher, Camera, Music, Gallery and Files apps, but otherwise includes the stock Google apps for their default functions. You can also disable every one of the OnePlus apps if you wish — that means you don't have to bother with disabling a pile of unwanted apps or dealing with duplicates because the default system app can't be removed.
And of course if you aren't satisfied with what OnePlus has created, you can blow it all away and install something else thanks to an unlockable bootloader.
On software updates
The only thing to really be concerned about here is software updates ... or, the lack thereof. Since moving to in-house software development OnePlus has done quite well in shipping phones with solid software and keeping them updated with small bug fixes and even some monthly security patches (albeit not every month right on time). But it hasn't been up with the leaders in terms of getting large platform-jumping updates out there. As I write this review in the middle of June, the OnePlus 2 that was launched in August 2015 just got Marshmallow two weeks ago. The OnePlus X from November 2015 still doesn't have the latest version of Android.
OnePlus surely has every intention of getting large platform updates out to its phones in a timely matter. It has even previously committed to time frames for updates ... only to miss them badly. The problem right now is that nothing in the past has shown us that OnePlus can quickly and reliably get large updates out the door to its customers. That's a little worrisome as I watch the progression of the Android N Developer Preview, which will be ready for a full consumer release very soon.
None of the worry about updates should take away from the exceptionally positive view I have of the current software that actually ships on the OnePlus 3, but it's hard to ignore the past here. For as much as I like the software now, I know I'll be itching to have Android N in short order after it's finalized.
Sum of its parts
OnePlus 3 Daily use
Using the Galaxy S7, Nexus 6P and OnePlus 2 interchangeably the past couple of months, the transition to using the OnePlus 3 for this review was smooth as can be.
Using the OnePlus 3 as my only phone, taking on every single task, I never experienced any stutters, slowdowns, hiccups, app force closes or reboots. The combination of the Snapdragon 820 and 6GB of RAM meant every single app opened quickly, and I can't recall a situation in which an app was forced out of RAM and needed to be reloaded unnecessarily. Every time I checked my memory usage in the settings, my average was just 3GB ... leaving plenty of runway for additional apps.
Setting the OnePlus 3 next to a couple of other modern phones and opening up apps, multitasking and doing a few basic things, my anecdotal experiences were confirmed — this phone is just as fast, or faster, than anything else on my desk right now. There are just a few other things that factored into my daily use as well.
Software performance is right there with the best phones out.
One thing that OnePlus has absolutely cornered the Android market on is with its Alert Slider — this clever little three-stage hardware switch that lets you quickly move between all, priority and no notifications without touching the screen or tuning the phone on. You can explicitly choose what happens in the "priority" and "none" positions, from who can call you, whether media, alarms or events make a sound, and more. It's one of the little tweaks OnePlus has made that improves the experience of using the phone every single day.
Another part of the phone that has been of use every single day is the speaker, where the offerings in other phones can be rather hit or miss. The OnePlus 3's speaker performs admirably even though it's using a single small speaker at the bottom of the phone. It's louder and clearer than the similarly-sized and positioned speaker on the Galaxy S7, and even though it comes up short of the front-facing speaker setups on the Nexus 6P and HTC 10, it's loud enough for what I use it for and doesn't distort at higher volumes.
With over a week of experience under my belt I only found two unexpected software bugs — one where the capacitive navigation keys were inexplicably enabled after a reboot (and subsequently back to normal after a reboot), and another where the on-screen "back" navigation button would take a few presses to actually perform the intended action. I assume these two issues are related, and they were so sporadic that I couldn't nail down any one cause. The software I've been using for this review wasn't entirely final, and I received an update on my final day of writing that sized up at 260MB. Presumably this last-minute tune-up will sort out these two random — and honestly not in any way bothersome — issues.
Battery life
Any time the battery size shrinks from one generation to the next it's an understandable reaction to be worried about battery life. Even though the OnePlus 2 on Marshmallow was very much a fantastic performer in this respect, a drop from 3300 mAh to the 3000 mAh non-removable battery in the OnePlus 3 isn't the direction most of us wanted to see the phone go. But of course, there's more to battery life than just the size of the cell inside.
Through a combination of factors — not the least of which is a more efficient Snapdragon 820 processor and AMOLED screen — the OnePlus 3 continues to have great battery life just like its predecessor. My average day with the phone, which includes plenty of social networking, dozens of photos, podcast listening, emails and all sorts of typical smartphone uses, left me with about 25% battery after 15 hours. I used the OnePlus 3 just as I would any other phone, with near-max brightness, automatic syncing in every app, full location services and everything else turned on fully — I don't punish the phone, but I don't back off on its capabilities in order to extend battery life.
A 10% decrease in battery size didn't lead to a big drop in battery life.
On a more relaxed day, such as this Sunday that I'm sitting writing this review, at 8:45 p.m. over 12 hours after I unplugged the phone I'm sitting at 58% battery remaining. With several opportunities to take advantage of Marshmallow's battery-saving Doze mode and quite a long time on Wi-Fi today it's been an absolute battery champ.
After over a week of using the phone exclusively I only had a single day in which I needed to charge before going to bed at night — a day that I traveled to San Francisco that included hours of podcast listening, four hours of screen-on time and some hotspotting thrown in for good measure. I still made it from 7 a.m. to about 8 p.m. when I decided to plug in at 10% battery. That's a situation in which normally I'd be plugging in my Nexus 6P while I was on the plane in the late morning and again looking for a charger in the afternoon.
If you end up getting into a situation where battery is draining faster than you'd like, the OnePlus 3 still includes Marshmallow's stock battery saver mode, which will cut back on location services, background data and performance in order to eke out some extra life. You can toggle it on manually, or have it come on automatically at 15% or 5%.
Dash Charge
Though most of us have been using some sort of quick charging feature on phones for the past few years, OnePlus is for the first time shipping a phone that offers its own quick charging capabilities. Rather than stick with the most widely accepted standard, Qualcomm's Quick Charge (and its compatible derivatives from the likes of Samsung, Motorola and ASUS, among others), OnePlus has what it calls "Dash Charge" in the OnePlus 2. The idea is that you can still get that quick boost even while you're continuing to use the phone.
The only potential downside here is incompatibility with existing Quick Charge plugs.
A Dash Charge wall plug is included in the OnePlus 3's box (as it should be), and it's rated for 5V/4A, which is higher amperage than most other chargers out there (though the new Moto Z Force Droid Edition will ship with a massive 6V/5A charger).
When you plug in this charger to a OnePlus 3, it can add 60% to the battery in just 30 minutes (and then slows down a bit thereafter), which is a pretty impressive feat. OnePlus says that most of the smarts are in the charger itself, rather than on the phone's end, which purportedly helps with heat management so much that charging speeds don't need to be throttled back even when you're playing a game on the phone. The phone also charges just fine off of any other charger, but you won't get the Dash Charge speeds with a Quick Charge 3.0 charger or the 5V/3A charger from the Nexus 6P.
The Dash Charger comes with a standard USB-A to USB-C cable — with a little "Dash" logo on it — that has a slightly different design from its previous offering. The cable feels quite a bit more robust now, but unfortunately isn't flat like the last one, which I was particularly fond of — it also doesn't have a reversible plug on the USB-A end. Bummer.
You can also pick up a Dash Charge car charger for $30, which is small and offers a single USB output that can charge your OnePlus 3 as fast as the wall plug version. Additional Dash Charge wall chargers will set you back $20, and extra new USB-C cables are $15 each from OnePlus.
Fingerprint sensor
The OnePlus 3's fingerprint sensor, recessed a bit from the front glass underneath the screen, has worked just as well for me as the sensor on the OnePlus 2, Galaxy S7 or Nexus 6P. The sensor is always active so you can put your finger on the fingerprint sensor when the phone is sleeping and immediately unlock to the home screen. And of course with Marshmallow on the phone, any app that supports the operating system's standard fingerprint APIs can be unlocked with a quick tap of the sensor.
I'm not the biggest fan of having the sensor underneath the screen as opposed to in the middle of the back of the phone, but just like Samsung with its Galaxy phones' fingerprint sensors you can't blame OnePlus for keeping the positioning consistent from the OnePlus 2 to the next phone.
Odds and ends
There always are a few odds and ends that don't warrant a full review section but need mentioned regardless. Here we go.
- There are two SIM slots in the phone, along with dual standby support for incoming calls.
- Mobile network performance has been right on par with any other phone, as has Wi-Fi.
- Phone calls were clear and consistent.
- You don't get headphones in the box.
- There's a pre-installed screen protector, which you can choose to use or remove (as I did) if you wish.
- OxygenOS no longer includes MaxxAudio customizations.
- The vibration motor is pretty sub-par and rattles a little.
- VoLTE support on T-Mobile is included.
The best yet from OnePlus
OnePlus 3 Cameras
There's no shortage of smartphones with great cameras out there, from the Galaxy S7 to the LG G5 and Nexus 6P, onward down the line you'll find phones with quick, capable shooters. The increase in quality in the average camera sensor and availability of solid imaging components has been a rising tide lifting most phones to better and better photos, but the most difficult (and expensive) portion of this equation is often the processing software that handles the raw data taken in by those camera sensors.
The 16MP sensor has relatively small 1.12-micron pixels, and is backed up by an f/2.0 lens and optical image stabilization. On the video side, it can handle 4K at 30 fps, 1080p at 60 fps and 720p at 120 fps.
Quickly launching into the camera with a double-press of the power button, you're greeted by a very basic layout — quick toggles for flash, Clear Image and HDR are on top, and you can tap a settings icon to reveal toggles for grid lines, timers and image aspect ratio. Swiping on the viewfinder quickly toggles to video mode, or you can select one of several shooting modes — including a new full manual mode with ISO, white balance, shutter speed and focusing — from the left-edge menu.
The OnePlus 3 easily has the best camera the company has shipped, and it's even considerably better than the OnePlus 2, which for the money was very capable. Images are captured and processed quickly, and I was very happy with the quality — the resulting images leaned toward natural rather than overly punchy colors, and had the right balance of light for the scene. My only real complaint is that the OnePlus 3 sometimes focused a bit on the soft side, clearly missing the right point of emphasis in the photo.
Easily the best OnePlus camera to date, even if it's not the best in the industry.
Considering the relatively small size of the pixels on the rear camera, I wasn't surprised to see that shots in very low light (such as in the middle of the night) were a bit on the grainy side. But any scene with even a decent amount of light came out clear, whether indoors or out. Even really dark scenes were improved with the use of tap-to-focus and working the exposure manually.
I took advantage of the new auto-HDR mode and wasn't disappointed by the results. After dealing with the sluggish (to the point of uselessness) HDR mode on the OnePlus 2 and X, I was pleasantly surprised to see insanely quick capture times and no blur in HDR mode.
On the front, you have a basic 8MP sensor with the same f/2.0 lens but larger 1.4-micron pixels. The front-facing camera actually performed really well, considering it's a fixed-focus unit that can sometimes leave faces blurry if you get too close. There's also a neat feature to start a three-second countdown timer and capture automatically when the camera detects a person smiling in the photo.
Near-flawless execution
OnePlus 3 Bottom line
On its third attempt at a flagship, OnePlus has finally figured out the winning combination. Much of what made the OnePlus 2 popular is still here — a sizable screen, solid hardware, great internal specs, powerful software, fingerprint sensor, good battery life and the Alert Slider, just to name a few. Then it added plenty of other niceties — quick charging, NFC, camera improvements, advanced hardware design and a much better screen.
The OnePlus 3 is solid, fast, gets great battery life, takes awesome photos and isn't subject to any carrier bloatware or or other software cruft. It very much follows the Nexus model for making a phone.
If there's one knock you can put on the OnePlus 3, it's that the phone doesn't bring any individual feature or experience to the table that we haven't seen from other manufacturers this year. There's very little "wow" factor here. It has all of the same specs, strengths and base features that you can get on half a dozen other great Android phones out there today. Nope, the OnePlus 3 doesn't bring anything particularly new ... but what it does do is execute near-flawlessly on what it has.
And for all of the complaining we do about poorly implemented features, half-baked ideas and bloated software, we should be applauding a phone that simply does what it says it'll do, even if the list is shorter than what you get elsewhere.
Should you buy it? Yes
With all of the advancements in store this year, OnePlus has bumped up the price to a smooth $399. And even though it's more expensive than it's predecessor, I'm not sure how you can say that the OnePlus 3 doesn't justify its price. At the same time, it has skipped out on offering any sort of different SKUs with changes in RAM or storage — you can simply buy one model of OnePlus 3, and at launch you can only choose one color, silver. Later on, you'll have the choice of a light gold color as well.
OnePlus has finally ditched annoying but previously necessary invite system, and is actually able to take regular online sales for the OnePlus 3. Starting today, June 14, you'll be able to simply buy the phone directly from OnePlus — and sales are open in over two dozen countries to boot.
Reader comments
OnePlus 3 review: Finally all grown up
I have one major concern about OnePlus 3. On their website the specs list three international versions with almost not overlapping LTE bands. I travel a lot and I am worried that when I go to Europe or Asia I will lose LTE speed.
Why introduce multiple versions, this is awful, today new phone was announced at the same price (from company I never heard about - LeEco), and their phone has all LTE bands, with OP3 you need three phones?
Hope, they dedicate the same amount of effort to update the OP3 to Nougat 7. That would be awesome.
Sorry but can't trust them for updates or RMA worth a damn. Maybe it's better now but once bitten twice shy.
The reveiw sounds promising for OP3 but what I'm more concern is the battery life... I still have a note 2 and the original battery runs great after more than 3 yrs of service. it even runs better than any new chines ones which perfomes same as the 3 year old. I'm not Hi-tech mobile expert but if you're going to WOW Galaxy Note user's the battery will be a strong point as you can upgrade hardware upgrade software but at the end of the day if you're out of juce you're out of the game. smart phones should last 2-3 days under normal use... if it only gives you 1 to 1.5 day that makes no more difference than 4 year old technology.
no sd slot means this device is dead to me..... i swap 200 gb film and music cards [79 usd each] 200 movies and 30000 songs each ... it had potential until some idiot ceo tried dumb down ....applefy ....the device , which is very sad
i will not be buying this .... hello zenphone 3 256 gb and latest card slot !
hi all, can anyone please check with antutu benchmark stress check & note what temp its showing? mine is heating like oven..
Sub par vibration? My Nexus 6 and 6p nearly break my bones when they vibrate.
Kaiser
I really, really wanted water resistance . . . I mean, really wanted it. Instead, I'm stuck with Samsung (which I like quite a bit more than I used to).
I love the physical design of the phone. Good work on that, OnePlus.
In OnePlus 2 I heard Microsoft Exchange support was not built-in, does OnePlus3 support Microsoft Exchange/Office 365 mail configuration?
Grow up ? The first one was just amazing. Maybe the company did. We talk about price or compare to this and that. But let's face it if you on a tide budget what can you get? If I don't have 400$ what are my option? Getting a phone on contract than I can get what? Exactly not the one plus maybe a S6 edge from last year and still have a good phone that is the biggest problem all cheaper phones facing
Simply just bang for buck. If you don't have $400 there are still plenty of options. Just lower specs. Every flagship from Samsung is a ripoff. You can get a S6 from last year for a good deal as well but how long is that going to last?
Just choices and nothing changes the fact that OP3 is still a good buy for the specs they're offering.
Nexus 6P over the OP3 any day.
hilarious lolololol
Good read, curious if you ran into any management issues as reported by others? For reference: https://youtu.be/vYv8YQJbJaQ
Posted via the Android Central App
Can you lock apps individual on this phone?
Posted via the Android Central App
After so much of waiting and hypes I feel it doesn't satisfy me except with the specs. There is nothing in it which really test the hardware. The pricing is pretty high, no water resistance mentioned, no shock proof or in other words nothing extra ordinary but an average phone with pretty good specs and comparatively limited service support but overpriced. Or simply no value for money gadget.
"pretty good" specs. Exactly what are you going to buy at this price that has these specs?
VR? Really? That's what makes for a killer phone? VR is going to do to phones what 3D did for TV. VR is and will remain in the geek domain. A 3000mah battey that lasts for almost 2 days is a downgrade? What does HTC offer on it's phone for $300 more? Less built in storage, smaller battery, and camera that is on par with this. Wow! there's just no pleasing people. Go ahead and spend $800 on your next phone with the same specs as this .
The downgrade on battery capacity and bezel size from the previous iteration makes this just another mediocre flagship.
Coupling that with a lack of decent storage options and lack of VR resolution, puts it in the "budget flagship" space.
downgrade on bezel size? there's virtually no side bezel at all
"Budget flagship" is exactly what they're aiming for, thanks for pointing out the obvious?
VR is still young and doesn't need to be taken seriously at the moment. I mean seriously, VR?
I have to say that considering price they did good job. Phone does all one normal user does. Remember most people are normal user and not geeks. Price is good and it's really nice phone for the price and you get superb phone. You guys want phone to fly for 399$
lol, maybe not fly but at least get airborne for 15-20 seconds ... some people just enjoy complaining.
6p on Verizon
I can make it go airborne for a good 5 seconds.
Won't guarantee a safe landing, though.
The problem is most people ( at least in the usa) don't go shopping for unlocked phones online. They go to the carrier store and are sold whatever phone is being peddled at the moment. Whether that's an iphone or GS7 or an HTC it's just what the carriers are offering. People that are on this and other tech sites do their research know about oneplus, most people have never heard of them. This looks like a compelling device and at $400 makes you wonder why the other phones are $700-$900. If they had thrown in an sd card this phone would blow away the HTC 10.
The SD card is the only bad point, but for the price difference it definitely kicks the ass of the HTC 10
in how many colors it is available? http://www.androidcentral.com/oneplus-3
Silver at launch, but there's a "soft gold" coming soon.
the phone looks amazing
And OPO has FINALLY made a capable phone. The only thing that needs improvement is customer service
#TeamFrosty Nexus 6P
And yet, each time I see "full metal body" I just tend to feel like.... "move along"...
Let's all start thinking like full polycarbonate unibody is the new thing and all the advantages it has...
Imagine that polycarbonate is expensive as hell. Does it get your attention then?
(I'm referring to now one in particular)
This phone is less expensive then the OP2 was at launch and it's much improved.
I am interested in the OP3, but I am happy with my current phone at the moment. If I was searching for something to buy now however, this would be it.
Posted via Xperia Z5
Same thing here! The only phones that are better (and not much better) cost double the price of this one, really good job! The only problem is the SD card but 64GB should be enough
Come on Andrew Slippery body?
Isn't it weird that the only reason why this phone isn't on my shortlist of phones to upgrade to is because it doesn't have expandable storage?
64GB is way more than plenty for the typical smartphone user who doesn't store a lot on his/her device, but I store quite a ton on my phone, especially videos, so, yeah. Kinda need the expandability.
We have choice in the Android world, though.
Yeah. Quite weird in fact.
Can people just start getting a little bit more reasonable and do some cleanup on their phones from time to time?
Please explain to me (me that I'm on a 8GB Nexus 4 and on a 120GB Linux laptop with a Win 7 VirtualBox machine) how the hell a mind blowing 64GB on a smartphone (yeah... a phone!) isn't enough?
SD card? Expandable storage? Really?! Then come back here and say that this beast sucks because it's sluggish and you don't know why...
I mean... Really?!
Jeeeezaazzzz...
Different usage patterns, dude. ;)
I travel a lot, so I store lots of videos and also take a lot of photos and record videos, many of which are in 4K.
So for my usage pattern, I do need that expandability. But I know a lot of people don't, and that is a-okay. 64GB is way more than plenty for the usage pattern a typical smartphone user will experience, and if a phone does have a large amount of internal storage and even higher capacity options at reasonable prices, then I don't consider expandable storage a deal as huge as before. As for sluggishness, I used an LG G4 with a 128GB SanDisk Ultra UHS-1 Class 10 SD card and didn't really experience performance issues in regular use. Your mileage may vary, however, especially depending on the type of card you use.
Just my 2 cents.
One word of advice (if I may): Backup.
Of course. Never go without a solid backup.
I have 3. XD
R.I.P GPe program
do you really watch video on your phone though? isn't that what a tablet or your laptop is for? Or are you bringing something to cast your phone to the TV everywhere you go as well?
Actually I do watch enough movies and series on both my nexus 4 and lg g Pad 8.3. Streaming using kodi does the "trick". Magic, heim?!
Ah yes, streaming. I am sure everybody have unlimited data or access to free Wifi everywhere.
I don't store a lot of my own videos on my iPad (only iTunes purchases).
My laptop usually stays at home, and since my iPad holds my iTunes purchases, that leaves my phone.
that´s right! *0wnage
What dialer does this use? I'm hoping its not trudialer...
Basically just the AOSP "Phone" app.
That'd be the Cyanogen OS toting OPO. Truedialer was the only think I did not like about Cyanogen OS.
Neat hardware but still running a janky Android fork. Nah.
Since when has OxygenOS been janky? Have you actually been ... using it?
Oh no I'm just spouting off, lol. Doesn't change the fact that I never liked the one plus one (yes I did own one) but I'm just not interested in this phone nor OxygenOS. Simply much better options available.
You got me curious.
At this price... Can you throw some examples? Just for the fun of it?
I think he does not like fun!
Why do i even comment!
And they still couldn't put a microSD card in the darn thing.
There is absolutely nothing that sets this phone apart from the other 2016 flagships. It's got similar specs as every other phone that came out this year but no features that makes it stand out. Wait...scratch that. It doesn't even have a microSD card slot. It's already a fail.
Pass.
Affordable, dual sim and unlocked without carrier bloat.
Similar specs, great solid features ... $300 less. Think that stands out?
Ignored pricing.
Fail.
"Sold without an invite" should not be a positive factor.
But when the last 3 phones they sold required invites, that's a plus this time around.
Great Looking phone. Good job Andrew .
Well thanks!
Just my personal thing but no MicroSD means no sale. I carry around ridiculous amounts of media for travel. Audible books, music, movies. 90GB of it on my Note 4's MicroSD at present. Moving on...
You seem to have nailed it. A ridiculous amount...
Oh well... Moving on...
You should just put all your media on a flash drive and use a USB otg cable to use it on the phone
So there is no sd slot and they are still stuck at 64GB but they upped the ram to 6GB!?
Posted via the Android Central App
I love how people complain about lack of sd card on a phone with 64GB built in. Meanwhile Apple is still selling 16GB iphone se for the same price as the oneplus3. 64GB version of iphone 6s is $750! Some perspective would nice.
If this were priced at $350, It'd be a good price. However, at $400 it's way too close to the much superior Axon 7 which has dual front speakers, a bigger battery, smaller bezels, and an SD slot.
Posted via my Droid Turbo 2 that I wish were unlocked
except this is much closer to stock android. Sure, some of ZTE tweaks could be fixed with a new launcher, but I'd much rather use this
When the HTC One A9 came out, it was maligned as an iPhone clone. This one isn't far from the iPhone either, except for the sharper corners. No microSD slot? Not grown up at all.
LOL maybe the microSD lovers need to grow up and accept reality.
This
6p on Verizon
Macdonx - Well, about the iPhone clone deal; people are not jumping up and down and rallying around the barn with pitchforks and torches because this is not HTC. They get held to different standards, especially here.
Two phones that look like they could be something else, and only the HTC will get this called out in the headlines.
Two phones with the same size bezels, and only the HTC will get called out for big bezels.
Two phones with questionable utility apps, and only HTC will get beat down (and it will even be listed in the cons).
Two phones come out with near identical specs and wonderful build quality, and indeed some shootouts call comparisons a dead tie. And yet people will question why the HTC costs so much, while not even batting an eye at the more expensive phone that showed no clear advantage.
The list of double standards goes on and on...
Finally grow up? How? With just 3000 mAh battery and no sd card dues not sound to me like grow up at all. That is huge minus I believe to most of people.
3000 mAh battery that gets the best battery life of any flagship I have on my desk right now? The battery size hardly matters here — it's all about how long it actually lasts.
And with 64GB storage base, I don't see the need for an SD card. Some will absolutely need it, and they won't buy this phone ... most will be totally fine with 64GB and no SD card.
I'm a fan of removable storage, but with a generous 64 Gb at this price, I can't complain.
Posted via the Android Central App
How is the lack of a micro sd card slot not mentioned in the pro vs con tally let alone even mentioned in the review at all? I guess if it's not something that you care about it's not something you even think about?
Maybe a mention so people know for sure about it, would be worth it. But I would guess that since so many phones are going that way now, it's hardly something that will be huffed and puffed about in the spotlight.
Posted via the Android Central App
Hard for me to get mad about lack of microSD when the phone comes with 64GB storage base. Those who are stuck on having one will see in the spec sheet that it doesn't have it ... I honestly don't view lack of microSD card as a con here.
You have forgotten to mention the horrible color calibration of the display (oversaturated, blueish...). Or is yours well calibrated?
Mine seemed fine. I tweaked the color balance in the settings just a little to suit my eyes, and you can do the same.
T-Mobile WiFi calling support?
Nope, at least not right now. Presumably OnePlus could get certification, but out of the box there's no Wi-Fi calling. It does have VoLTE calling though.
Ewww. Nope, fail, not for me. I heavily depend on WiFi Calling.
The ZTE Axon 7 is waaaay better for $50 more. Not worth it
I agree with this. Not nearly as compelling as the first time we saw the OnePlus.
Is the ZTE Axon 7 for sale in the US yet?
Forgive me if I hold off on deciding which phone is waaaaay better until actual reviews are released for the Axon 7.
Exclusively not on Verizon. Nice.
Yeah, I consider no Verizon support to be a plus. Verizon requires some proprietary radio software and provisioning software to support their network, which is just bloat if you aren't a Verizon customer anyways.
Purchased. Not sure I need it, but purchased.
Posted via the Android Central App
Hah, pretty much the same here. Purchased, quite sure I don't need it, but I'm stupid that way.
On the other hand, it's fun being stupid sometimes....
Got mine ordered!!!! Can't wait, finally the combo i want in a phone. I never cared about the removable storage so that isn't a deal breaker for me like some people are saying.
Boring looks like every other chinese phone this year. Why would someone buy a htc 10 over this? At least moto/ lenovo is doing something different. Why does one plus even bother renaming their charger just call it the same as oppo your other company owned all by BBK electronics
I agree with the looks but Lenovo / Moto is trying to sell you standard features on a separate package.
Different? Maybe. But in a negative way. Then why bother.
I like the look of the new moto because it is so different. Also you could just attach a battery pack which would make it have excellent battery life
I can't leave Android N. If I could this would be my phone.
Posted via the Android Central App
Have you tried Android N? I like the way the s7 does split screen etc.. Is this better implemented in Android N?
Hey Andrew. I'm on the beta. I like it. I like both implementations of split screen. I came from an S7 Edge. If that's a feature that you like, I would stick with Samsung since they have been doing it longer.
Posted via the Android Central App
Picked one up. Unbelievably quick and easy checkout process, unlike past experiences with OnePlus non-invite sales I've been through. Delivery estimate on the 24th.
I did too. I was disappointed with the bugginess and instability of the software on the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2, but given that multiple reviews say the software on the OnePlus 3 is stable and they are offering to pay for return shipping should you decided to return, I figured I might as well give it a test run at least.
I had a few screen issues at one point with the OPO, but after software updates it's been great for me. first phone in a while to last me almost 2 full years
And yet, here I am almost totally happy on my Nexus 4 for almost 4 years... :-)
I bought it. Got the black apricot case coming too. Was between this and a 6P, but that thing is just too damn big (and I'm 6 ft tall, so no tiny hands). Only bummer is how long their shipping process is. 10 days? ah well, at least shipping was free
Good choice. 6P is annoying to try to use one handed
I REAAAAALY wish that Xiaomi Mi5 had North American LTE bands. That phone seems like it's the perfect size. Not sure why we can't get phones just a liiiiiiiitle bit smaller, but still with top notch specs.
Might be faster. In the past my actual delivery time from order from OnePlus was only 5 days. Crossing my fingers it will be faster than estimated.
my OnePlusOne took quite a while to get to me from what I remember, but that was almost 2 years ago. It's ok, the OPO is still functioning relatively well. Only the battery life has been an issue for me, which I can handle for another week or so
Just got a delivery confirmation from DHL. Coming Friday the 17th! That's only 3 full days from ordering on the 14th! Fast!
got my confirmation too, but not getting mine until Monday the 20th. Still, not too shabby. I'll take it
Wow Verizon users are hurting... Probably sucks to be on a network who dictates what phone you can use. Thank god for T-Mobile or AT&T.
Case in point, I bought a Nexus 6p and used it on Verizon for 6 months. Since Verizon's application suite wouldn't install on the 6p, I had no idea if I had voice mail or not. On top of that, Bluetooth on the 6p is a hot mess. Try going for a walk with a Fitbit, Android Wear watch and Headphones, all Bluetooth, and you'll see what I mean. Sold it for a good amount of money though, and replaced it with a Note 4 which has had zero issues and comes with all the Verizon apps. I'll take a look at the Note 6 or 7, whatever they're going to call it, when it comes out but it'll be hard to put down my zero problem Note 4. Increasingly, my priorities are shifting to reliability over newness.
"and comes with all the Verizon apps" ... that's a good thing? I've had my 6p on VZ since launch with 0 issues. I prefer using the most reliable network.
6p on Verizon
Meh, I'd rather be able to use the phone I can buy than be hampered by a sub-par network. Some of us care about the service and the phone, priorities shift as you grow up.
Outta be a performance beast with that hardware on 1080p.
Posted via the Android Central App
Is that home button an actual button or is it like the HTC? Am I missing something? I still think its weird to have software buttons and a fingerprint sensor on the front. Looks too busy.
It doesn't click, it's just a capacitive pad.
If you prefer hardware navigation, you can turn off the software nav and go with capacitive keys, with the home button being the fingerprint sensor.
How has GPS signal been with one plus phones?
Posted via the Android Central App
For the 2, X and 3, been good here.
Sweet! Good to hear. I pulled the trigger already anyway. Have you taken it inner city anywhere by chance?
Posted via the Android Central App
Throughout Seattle and San Francisco. Didn't notice any GPS wonk.
Cool, thank you.
Posted via the Android Central App
First off great review as usual! looks to be a great phone with a great price. I'm very very interested to see a comparison of the oneplus 3 and the axon 7 once the axon gets a wide release.
Dang, looks like a solid phone. Giz had issues with battery life though, worth looking into if you are looking to purchase the phone. I hate this company way less now that they aren't artificially inflating demand via a convoluted invite system. Still have some doubts about the company and their ability to update their phones in a timely manner though.
Weird, my battery has been amazing.
Yeah, I got that impression from your review! I mean, they really had issues with it, makes me wonder if it was a faulty device.
It seems that having bad battery life in the review is an outlier. Others I've seen have said it was solid as well.
Please can i ask that you do piece on starting a phone company. Because it seems like everyone thinks its a cheap business and thats including the people that write for Android central who keep on jumping on about the crap invite system that i was not a fan of the invite system but they had a reason. People seem to want a phone thats a great build with all the bells and whistles at a cheap price something has to give to alow that to happen whilst trying to stay afloat and make a small profit and hiring staff and paying them. I have been looking up some of the costs that can be involved and its not a cheap game
LOL, you think they are a new phone company, that is adorable. Do your research, they are not a startup, that is their PR and you latched onto it.
I never said they didn't have help. What I was implying is that even if Oppo is funding them there is a budget and there are real costs involved and as a new company you try and balance what you do. We all know the Oppo connection.
Posted via the Android Central App
I'll do your research for you, here.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Is-OnePlus-a-wholly-owned-subsidiary-of-O...
Posted via the Android Central App
Also, it seems that Dash Charge looks to be a renamed version of VOOC since both charge the phone at 4A with 5V.
And VOOC is by, you guessed it. Oppo.
Not that it's a bad thing. Just something to point out.
there is no invite system anymore...
really it was not an issue if you read it again...
I would like to argue the 1080p screen as not being a compromise. There is a big push with VR and while 1080p is plenty good for regular use, it is not good for VR use. With the big push on VR this screen resolution is a no go
That's what I found weird.
They seem to be pushing for VR in recent times, and a 1080p display doesn't seem to cut it for VR.
Then again, maybe they're waiting for the perfect time?
In my experience, QHD doesn't cut it for VR either. Even using the Gear VR with an S7 Edge, it looks very pixelated and isn't a great experience. So if it's not going to look good either way, might as well go 1080, right?
Glad to know that my eyes are not as bad as I thought. I've been trying to figure out why the damn GEAR VR screen still looked weird when using my S7 Edge with QHD resolution. Now I know... Thanks ☺
1080P isn't terrible for VR, and I imagine most consumers would rather have great day to day battery life than better VR.
Zero interest in VR here (can I have less than zero?). Loads of interest in a 1080 screen that helps with battery life.
That's very well the reason why they stuck with 1080p.
You still get a pretty good viewing experience in daily use while putting less strain on the battery.
Some may want to use their phone for VR, and for that small group of people 1080p doesn't make as much sense. A vast majority of people will enjoy the performance and battery life improvements of having 1080p.
Definitely a better marketing job than last year...
Posted via the Android Central App
Am iI theonly one who sees proprietary charging solutions as a deal breaker? USB power delivery, or QC 3.0. Those should be your only options
it's not proprietary though. A regular USB type C will work, just not as fast.
That's just incorrect. If you bought a car that advertised 50 miles to a gallon, but only drove 50 miles a gallon with a special fuel only available from the dealership, otherwise ran 5 miles a gallon with normal gas, it would be a non-starter, and could not even be advertised as running on the same gas as other cars. This phone needs a proprietary charger AND USB CABLE to charge at modern charging speeds! Otherwise, it charges at, best case scenario, 2A/5V, which feels downright archaic, but more likely 1A or 1.5A, which is the charging equivalent of dialup. Plus, you risk damage to your devices if you use this charger with any device other than a supported oppo model. Wow.
Seriously, how are you guys ok with this.
Your analogy falls apart ... the OnePlus 3 gets the same battery life no matter how you charge it. The only difference is how fast it charges back up. And it comes with the Dash Charger in the box ... how much can you really complain?
Because it still works...that's how. IF you plug in any other charger and it refuses to charge altogether, THEN I'd be pissed if I owned the phone. And seeing how I just bought it, I don't mind.
Why don't you go on Apple's fan sites and tell all the fan boys that they are out of their minds for buying that phone because literally no other charger will work for it? Instead you're on here talking about proprietary chargers when that's NOT the case...
Posted via the Android Central App
What a novel idea to make it available the same day of the announcement. I wish more manufacturers did that.
Seriously.
I wouldn't be surprised if OnePlus sold more OnePlus 3s than Lenovo sells Moto Zs, because by the time the Moto Z is actually available, especially if you aren't on Verizon, it will kind of seem old already after being announced so long before. Plus the Moto Z will have to compete with Note 7, iPhone 7, and Nexus launches in the fall.
That's what I think the biggest issue with the Moto Z is.
By the time it comes out as an unlocked device, it would have to compete with devices that are launched in the fall, many of which are the gorillas in the industry.
wow, actually looks like and sounds like a great phone. *adds to wishlist*
Oneplus.net has mentioned front camera as 8 MP, whereas your review says 5 MP.
Hm, looks like I carried over the OnePlus 2's 5MP to the 3's specs ... 8MP is correct!
No explination needed, OnePlus 2 + 5 = 8MP , clearly.
Does T-Mobile wifi calling work?
I hope so, i mean, I can/will live without it, but i'd like to have it. It may be like the Nexus line (i believe) and auto-enable it when you insert the sim.
I hope it does as well. It's a nice feature to have when traveling and when on a plane.
Well, Andrew said he tested it on T-Mobile, so he ought to be able to answer. The thing is, I was expecting a lower-spec'd option (say, 3/32gb) that'd still be a better deal than, say, the Nexus 5x. This phone still looks like a good deal for what you get, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give up the Nexus advantages if I'm going to end up having to pay more than I would for whatever replaces the N5X this fall. Damn - I was expecting to jump on this without having to think too much about it.
I am wondering the same but I am doubtful. WiFi calling, Band 12 support, and VOLTE will have to get T-Mobile certification. I am not sure One+ pursued that with T-Mobile.
I dunno. If VOLTE works out of the box, maybe wifi calling does, too. Let's hope so, because wifi calling on T-Mobile has been a great experience for me.
VoLTE works
Android Headlines: OnePlus 3 Does Support T-Mobile’s VoLTE Network. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw5_HDxyU
I believe Andrew mentioned that voLTE works. If they secured voLTE certification with T-Mobile I don't see any reason why they won't ensure that wifi calling works too.
J
Hey guys, noticed I'm blocked on your youtube channel, is there any reason for that? I didn't offend anyone did I?
This phone with a 5" screen, that extra 1/2" makes it so big. Why couldn't they make two versions of this phone, a 5.5" and a 5" for those who want size options. Sad, this is a flagship phone and if it were a 5", it would've been an incredible success with this price and horsepower and camera.
That's what she said ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Found the redditor
Posted via Galaxy S7 edge
"Sad, this is a flagship phone and if it were a 5", it would've been an incredible success with this price and horsepower and camera."
Says who? Big phones are the hot thing right now, don't conflate what you want from a phone with that the general phone buying public wants.
Because he's not part of the general phone buying public.
Because making two versions with two different screen sizes is expensive?
It's SO much more expensive and vastly impacts a companies bottom line. So many people have no idea of how impactfull it really is.
Posted via my Nexus 6P on fi
They got the price right. This is exactly where the HTC 10 should've been priced. Too bad it won't work on Verizon.
Posted via the Android Central App
agreed on all accounts. I'm tempted to open up a line on Cricket or Straight Talk just to use this phone :D
Nope. HTC would make no money from that. The price for the 10 was fine.
lol
the HTC 10 is overpriced as hell off contract, The proof is in the fact that this phone has basically the same net hardware and costs 400... Who are you kidding?
I purchased, and one still can, the Sprint HTC 10 for 24 monthly payments of $21 which is a total cost of $504 plus State sales tax where applicable. No contract required although one can only use it on Sprint and 'perhaps' their MVNOs. And one doesn't have to worry about warranty and updates. For $104 more than the OnePlus 3 seems like a great deal to me. And the HTC 10 can easily be considered a better smartphone based on QC 3.0 alone among other aspects such as a higher resolution display. The Verizon HTC 10 can be purchased directly from Verizon with 24 monthly payments totalling $549.
Ditto. Got my HTC 10 on Verizon for 24 months worth of payments at under $550. I didnt feel it was necessary to pay hundreds of dollars upfront again so soon for a phone after buying a Moto X Pure last fall that turned out to be very laggy/buggy. If I could've waited, I had planned on getting a Nexus down the line, but I'm very happy with the HTC 10. It's a great phone as I don't care about extra features that are useless to me.
I think you're confused on to how those monthly payments may work, unless both Sprint and Verizon do it differently than ATT. While you have the option to upgrade after 24 months, you have to turn that phone in. If you don't upgrade, you keep paying for that phone for another 12 months.
That's not how that works at all.
Sprint 24 months of IB payments and you own the phone (unless it's a lease and then you have a buyout if you want to keep it)
Verizon 24 months of IB payments and you own the phone
AT&T 24 months of IB payments and you can upgrade with giveback, or own the phone at 30 months. (AT&T also has a 12 months of IB payments plan to upgrade with giveback, or 24 months to own but it costs more)
You got that phone on sale from Sprint, if you want to do a real comparison, look at the full retail prices. $699 for the HTC 10 vs. $399 for the oneplus3. Yes, HTC gives you audio and an sd card but is that worth $300 more? No. Is it worth $104 more? Maybe. Don't forget you're also only getting 32GB on the HTC and you will have to add the additional memory and yes it's cheap but you will still need to get it and hope it doesn't crap out on you like the sd card in my moto G did. Also, this phone is just out and I'm sure at some point in the next 6 months this phone will go on sale for $350 or $329 or even $300. At that point it's a way better deal than HTC even at the discounted price you paid for it. Good luck with getting any updates on Sprint. While Oneplus is no Nexus, being unlocked and carrier free means it will more likely be updated quicker than your Sprint HTC.
Might want to check if you will owe a lump sum to pay off the phone on your last payment. My Sprint payment plan is $25 per month but I'm going to owe $75 on my 24th month to equal the $650 cost of my LG phone.
Posted via the Android Central App
Contracts are a robbery, you end up paying more.
So S7 is worth $300 more than the HTC 10? You're dreaming
Posted via Galaxy S7 edge
I would have to agree that the S7 is not worth $300 more than the HTC 10. Lots of shootouts call it a tie, and the is no way the OnePlus 3 is a match for the S7 or the 10.
Posted via the Android Central App
So does it work on Sprint and Verizon?
Looks like it's purely GSM
Posted via the Android Central App
Unlikely .... though I'd like to know about it too. Especially Verizon.
No.
"...for the first time we have NFC on a OnePlus phone as well — I used Android Pay as soon as I got the phone."
The OnePlus One had NFC, I used Google Wallet with it quite frequently.
And RIP to the Sandstone back. It was nice and grippy, didn't get scratched, and made the phone stand out.
You still have a sandstone back. Style covers.
True, but that's not quite the same as having it built in
correct! should've made the clarification of comparing to the OnePlus 2.
Am I the only one who thinks a cell phone review is incomplete without mentioning what carriers a phone like this supports? Having to look up the bands on their spec site as well as having to cross reference this info with the carrier info is doable, by why not include it in a review?
For Reference:
North American Model:
FDD-LTE: Bands 1/2/4/5/7/8/12/17
Europe/Asia Model:
FDD-LTE: Bands 1/3/5/7/8/20
TDD-LTE: Bands 38/40/41
China Model:
FDD-LTE : Bands 1/3/7
TDD-LTE: Bands 38/39/40/41
FWIW it seems like this would have some support for Verizon then, albeit it's missing band 13 support.
Takes a lot of space to give folks the full band list in a review, and is generally confusing to many.
We link to the complete specs page near the top of the review, which has all of the bands you list.
How's the brightness in direct sunlight? Thanks
I agree. I read through looking to see Verizon somewhere. That is some long and detailed review. It would take one sentence to list carriers it works on.
Grown up indeed!
Well - I guess they can try again next year. This isn't horribad, but it definitely isn't good.
It's very good, it's just not great.
But that's the tagline of this generation. Phones have plateaued.
It's best to assume I'm being sarcastic. if I'm ever serious I'll type "/s" to make it clear.
what is not good about it to you? I'm legitimately curious, not trying to start an argument (sad that you have to clarify stuff like that on the net these days)
I'm guessing no removable battery, no microSD slot, 1080, copycat aesthetics.
But those are complaints for last generation users.
Battery life seems OK, but not good. Big phones should have great battery life.
Lack of micro SD, although 64gb is a good trade off
1080p display
Its lacking, but overall it seems pretty good still. Especially for the price. But there are other phones like the zte axon 7 which looks to be similarly priced but be slightly better, front facing speakers, premium and relatively original design, etc.
According to their review, it last longer than the nexus 6p which has a 3450 mAh compared to this having a 3000 mAh one.
the battery life is not bad, considering how quickly it charges. in 35 minutes it is almost fully charged. I don't care mich about the battery at this point, as I am using the phone a lot and only 10000mAh would make a considerable difference to me.
the lack of memory card is.... well, perhaps I would be happier if the phone in fact supported microSD, although 64GB does the job.
the display... well, my previous phone was Note 4 and let me tell you - 1+3 has a GREAT display, and way better visibility in the direct sunlight than Note 4.
300 quid?? I'm going for it. Looks like a steal to me.
Goody gumdrops. Get us a cup of tea, will you, Errol?
400$
Also 309 GBP
You know what?
After seeing this phone and what it has to offer, it makes me a bit sad.
Mainly because this shows that OnePlus is capable of making a pretty solid phone that can compete with some of the best out there. It's just that all that seems to be masked behind some pretty odd marketing stunts, the most recent of which being the 'blind' sale, which kinda failed shortly after when Oppomart leaked the phone on its page.
Also, software updates. I'm not going into further detail on this, but I still think they should be more transparent.
Yeah, they've shown time and again they can make good phones. They seem to be cutting the bullshit and becoming a company that you can take seriously.
I agree completely about updates, and support in general. It they fix that, they could be a real player... If people can forgive them the ridiculous bullshit of the past.
It's best to assume I'm being sarcastic. if I'm ever serious I'll type "/s" to make it clear.
They've definitely been involved with a lot of BS, especially with the OnePlus 2. Maybe they would like to forget about its existence.
They seem to be doing a little better with the 3, but they really do need to keep those updates in order.
What the hell do you mean 'time and again'?
You talk like they made tons of phones.
Yeah your last line is getting real old and sucks.
Oh shoot that was quick :O!!!
Posted via the Android Central App
I'll be honest, when I'm just reading the comments, I always bleed into your sig, since it just looks like another sentence.
It's kind of annoying, but not a bid deal