ONEPLUS

OnePlus was founded on 16 December 2013 by former Oppo vice-president Pete Lau

and Carl Pei. According to Chinese public records, OnePlus' only institutional

shareholder is Oppo Electronics. Lau denied that OnePlus was a wholly owned

subsidiary of Oppo and stated that Oppo Electronics and not Oppo Mobile (the phone

manufacturer) is a major investor of OnePlus and that they are "in talks with other

investors", although OnePlus has confirmed it uses Oppo's manufacturing line and

shares part of the supply chain resources with Oppo. The company's main goal was to

design a smartphone that would balance high-end quality with a lower price than

other phones in its class, believing that users would "Never Settle" for the lower-

quality devices produced by other companies. Lau explained that "we will never be

different just for the sake of being different. Everything done has to improve the

actual user experience in day-to-day use." He also showed aspirations of being the

"Muji of the tech industry", emphasizing its focus on high-quality products with

simplistic, user-friendly designs. Continuing Lau's association with the platform from

the Oppo N1, OnePlus entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Cyanogen

Inc. to base its products' Android distribution upon a variant of the popular custom

ROM CyanogenMod and use its trademarks outside of China. The company unveiled

its first device, the OnePlus One, on 23 April 2014 which was intended to capture

market from the Google Nexus series. In December 2014, alongside the release of the

OnePlus One in India exclusively through Amazon, OnePlus also announced plans to

establish a presence in the country, with plans to open 25 official walk-in service

centers across India. In April 2014, OnePlus hired Han Han to help market its

products in mainland China. On 9 March 2014, the company expanded its operations

to the European Union. On 16 December 2014, The Supreme Court of India and Delhi
High Court banned the import and sale of OnePlus One phones following a lawsuit by

Micromax alleging it has exclusivity for shipping phones with Cyanogen OS software

in India. On 21 December 2014, the ban was lifted. The device continues to be

shipped with Cyanogen OS; however, a customized version of Android specially

designed by OnePlus and named OxygenOS has been released, allowing later

OnePlus devices to be sold in India. OnePlus made its products available in Southeast

Asia for the first time, partnering with Lazada Indonesia on 23 January 2015 and was

expected to expand during that year throughout the region. In June 2016, OnePlus

decided to pull out of the Indonesian market due to local regulations for imported 4G

smartphones restricting sales of the OnePlus 2. At the launch event of the OnePlus 6

on 17 May 2018, OnePlus announced it would be opening five new OnePlus

Experience stores in India, as well as 10 new service centers. According to market

research firm Counterpoint Research, OnePlus topped the Indian premium

smartphone market last year with a 33 percent share, beating Samsung Electronics

with 26 percent. In the IDC survey, OnePlus ranked third in India's market with more

than $500 in the first quarter of this year after Apple and Samsung Electronics. And it

ranked second after China's Vivo in the 300-500-dollar market. On 16 October 2020,

Carl Pei resigned as director of OnePlus. In 2021 Oppo and OnePlus combined their

hardware research teams via OPlus. In July 2021 OnePlus merged OxygenOS With

Oppo's ColorOS, Both companies’ software remained separate, continuing to serve

their individual regions (OxygenOS for OnePlus phones globally, ColorOS on

OnePlus and Oppo devices in China) but share a common codebase, which OnePlus

says should standardize its software experience and streamline the development

process for future OxygenOS updates.

Early phones were only available through a system whereby customers had to sign up

for an invitation, which OnePlus called an invite, to purchase the phone at irregular

intervals. The system was claimed to be necessary for the young company to manage

huge demand. OnePlus ended the invitation system with the launch of OnePlus 3 on

14 June 2016. Announced via an interactive VR launch event, the OnePlus 3 initially

went on sale within the VR app itself. OnePlus touted the event as the world's first VR

shopping experience. The phone was made available for sale later that day in China,

North America and the European Union on the OnePlus website, and in India on

Amazon India. On 23 April 2014, OnePlus began its "Smash the Past" campaign. The

promotion asked selected participants to destroy their phones on video in an effort to

purchase the OnePlus One for $1 (US). Due to confusion, several videos were

published by unselected users misinterpreting the promotion and destroying their

phones before the promotion start date. OnePlus later revised the rules of their

promotion by allowing consumers to donate their old phones. There were 140,000

entrants in the contest with 100 winners. The company's first product was the

anticipated OnePlus One. It was unveiled on 22 April 2014, and was claimed as the

"2014 Flagship Killer".The smartphone had comparable, and in some ways better,

specifications to other flagship phones of the year, while being sold at a significantly

lower price at $299 for the 16 GB version or $349 for the 64 GB version. Criticisms

of OnePlus One included the omission of the microSD slot. Lack of storage

bottlenecked the system and lack of a removable battery gave a frustrating experience

to some users. Input inconsistencies such as a flawed voice control system and

oversensitive gesture shortcuts also thwarted the experience. Some units had an issue

where a yellow band would appear at the bottom of the display. This issue was not
covered under warranty. The OnePlus 2 was the successor to the company's

successful first phone. It was unveiled a little over a year after the OnePlus One, on 27

July 2015. The company promoted it as the "2016 Flagship killer". There were very

high expectations for the second generation OnePlus phones, partly because the

company managed to create a high amount of hype for the upcoming phone. The

OnePlus 2 had specifications comparable to other flagship phones of the time,

including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, though OnePlus had decided to leave out

an NFC chip, as it didn't see mobile payment being an essential feature at the time.

The phone was also one of the first Android devices to use a USB-C port over the

older micro USB port. In advance of the OnePlus 2 launch, OnePlus assured

customers that obtaining invites would be easier, and handsets would ship a lot

quicker than with the OnePlus One. However, in a public apology, Carl Pei admitted

the company had "messed up" the launch, and that OnePlus "only began shipping

meaningful quantities nearly a month after the initial targeted shipping date." Despite

promising 24 months of software updates, and telling consumers that the OnePlus 2

would be updated to Android 7 "Nougat", it was eventually confirmed that this was

not to happen, leaving the device on the older Android 6.0.1.

The OnePlus 7T was officially presented in New Delhi on September 26, 2019, and

was available to order on September 28. The OnePlus 7T Pro was unveiled two weeks

later. The OnePlus 7T is the successor to the 7 that was released 5 months prior for

the European and Asian market, and to the 6T for the American market where the

OnePlus 7 wasn't sold. It features a new form-factor compared to its predecessors,

with a 20:9 aspect ratio instead of 19.5:9. This allowed for OnePlus to make the

phone slightly taller than the older 6T and 7, while keeping the same width. OnePlus

also included the 90 Hz Fluid AMOLED display previously found on the OnePlus 7
Pro. While OnePlus did keep the resolution at 2400×1080 pixels, the screen was one

of its primary selling points. While the OnePlus 7T is considered a significant upgrade

compared to the 7, the 7T Pro is a subtle upgrade over the 7 Pro. It features the same

display, same body, same camera system; the main changes being faster charging,

faster processor and a slightly quieter pop-up camera. Both phones are powered by

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855+ SoC and feature the same in-display fingerprint

scanner found on the OnePlus 7 Series. Only one variant was available for each

phone: 8 GB RAM with 128GB storage for the 7T (with another 256 GB storage

variant for the Indian market only), and 8 GB RAM with 256 GB storage for the 7T

Pro. Both have a slightly superior battery compared to their predecessors, the 7T

included a 3800 mAh non-removable battery (4085 mAh for the 7T Pro) alongside

Warp Charge 30T technology, which allows them to be fully charged in just under an

hour. The OnePlus 7T had a new camera system, featuring the same primary and

wide-angle lenses, though adding a third 2x telephoto lens (instead of 3x for the 7 Pro

and 7T Pro). Both also feature a new macro mode, allowing them to capture pictures

up to 2.5 cm from to the subject. The more affordable OnePlus 7T is available in 2

colors, "Frosted" silver or "Glacier" blue, and the 7T Pro in "Haze" blue, all being

matte glass finishes. Both were the first phones to ship with Android 10 and

OxygenOS 10.0 out-of-the-box. Both phones are powered by the Qualcomm

Snapdragon 865 processor and Adreno 650 GPU. The battery capacity has been

increased to 4300 mAh on the 8 and 4510 mAh on the 8 Pro. Storage and RAM

options are shared between the two, with 8 or 12 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of

non-expandable UFS 3.0 storage. The 8 has LPDDR4X RAM while the 8 Pro has

faster, more efficient LPDDR5 RAM. The camera system has been changed to further

differentiate the 8 and 8 Pro. The 8's camera array consists of a 48 MP wide sensor, a
16 MP ultrawide sensor, and a 2 MP macro sensor, while the 8 Pro's camera array

consists of a 48 MP wide sensor, a 48 MP ultrawide sensor and an 8 MP telephoto

sensor, with an additional 5 MP "Color Filter Camera" that enables one- or two- color

filters within the standard shooting mode. On 19 May, OnePlus announced that they

would temporarily disable the colour filter camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro in China with

an upcoming software update, for creating privacy concerns online. Unlike the 7T, the

8 does not have a telephoto camera or autofocus on the ultrawide camera, which are

now exclusive to the 8 Pro. The front camera on both uses a 16 MP sensor. Along

with facial recognition, the optical in-display fingerprint scanner is carried over from

the 7 series and 7T series. Both are available in Onyx Black (glossy) and Glacial

Green (matte), while the 8 Pro has its own Ultramarine Blue (matte) finish. The 8 has

two additional colors, a Polar Silver (matte) finish exclusive to the Verizon model and

an Interstellar Glow (glossy) finish exclusive to the T-Mobile model. Like the 7T

series, they ship with Android 10 and OxygenOS 10.0 pre-installed.

RECEPTION

The OnePlus One has received a positive reception, not withstanding occasional

technical issues and lack of support. The design was unique compared to other

smartphones, with the rear panel's "crisp smooth plastic or the sandpaper-like texture

feels good regardless of your preference", while "the front panel is also beautiful

because of its minimalist style and lack of visible hardware buttons".There was much

praise for the One's hardware, shared with contemporary devices that often cost up to

twice as much. Tests found that the One usually performed as well as or even better

despite being half the price of its rivals, not only due to its specs but also attributed to

its largely bloatware-free CyanogenMod OS. In addition, its CyanogenMod operating

The OnePlus One was one of the fastest phones upon its release and its specifications

have aged well after a couple of years. The OnePlus One was generally considered

superior to its closest competition. The similarly-priced Nexus 5 was more widely

available and had more guaranteed updates from Google, however it suffered from

some design compromises including mediocre battery life and camera quality to keep

the price low, plus its internal hardware was aging. In terms of specifications and size,

the OnePlus One could be compared to the much pricier 5.5-inch LG G3 whose

screen was higher resolution but inferior quality. Similar to the Google Nexus line of

devices, the One has expanded the trend of high spec but mid-priced Android devices;

by 2015 when the succeeding OnePlus 2 was released there was competition from

numerous affordable flagships including the Moto X Pure and Asus ZenFone 2. The

OnePlus One's original distribution via an invite-only order system made the device

difficult to acquire, so some reviewers decided against recommending it. The OnePlus

One, in retrospect, has been considered one of the best-supported community

developer phones, with a wide variety of ROMs and custom kernels. The succeeding

OnePlus 2 and subsequent OnePlus phones have not amassed such third-party

support, furthermore their pricing has risen to mainstream. The Nord has a plastic

frame with a metallic coat applied to the plastic to give the appearance of real metal.

It also has a raised plastic frame around the display. The device measures 158.3 mm ×

73.3 mm × 8.2 mm (6.23 in × 2.89 in × 0.32 in) and weighs 184 grams (6.5 oz). It is

considered a premium flagship-like build with a polished chassis between the front,

made of Gorilla Glass 5, aluminum buttons, and a gloss finish and iridescent back.

The smooth glass design of the phone means that sometimes it can be slippery. On 27

July 2020, it was reported that the device chassis was susceptible to bending under
pressure. The pressure caused cracks to appear near the volume and power button and

the display to die in extreme situations. The OnePlus Nord design is similar to the

design of the Realme X50 Pro. There are rumors that the OnePlus Nord is just a

rebadged Oppo Reno4 5G smartphone. In addition to the 6.44-inch (164 mm)

touchscreen, it has a metallic power button located at the right side, the metallic alert

slider just below it, metallic volume up/down button at the left side, and USB-C (USB

2.0) port, mono speaker and the plastic SIM card slot on the bottom. There is no

3.5mm headphone jack. The Nord does not have a curved display. The OnePlus Nord

does not sit flush because of a camera bump in the left corner, raising the phone a few

millimeters from the surface. The OnePlus Nord has two choices of colours: Blue

Marble and Gray Onyx. There could be a third choice for future carrier launch, which

is Gray Ash.