Should You Buy the OnePlus 2?

After months of leaks, speculations, announcement and hype, the OnePlus 2 is here, and like many, we had to watch the launch without the VR Cardboard, which was more like seeing a footage shot with fish-eye lens with motion sensors. Anyway, OnePlus says that the OnePlus 2 is going to be the flagship killer and with the price of Rs. 22,999 for the 16GB variant and  Rs. 24,999 for the 64GB variant. To help you decide whether the phone is worth a hole in your pocket, let’s take a look at the main factors made while purchasing a phone – performance, display, camera and notable features.

OnePlus One was criticised for overheating quickly and this time, the company seems to have taken care of it. The new OnePlus 2 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, which combined with thermal gel and graphite in the phone should take care of the overheating problem. The 1.8GHz octa-core 64-bit processor combined with 4GB of RAM is fast enough to run Facebook, Twitter and Clash of Clans simultaneously at the same time.

Although the processor is capable of 4K streaming, you won’t be able to view any 4K in its native resolution. The phone sports a 5.5 inch display with a 1080p resolution. While it is natural to expect a 4K display in this age, it is also important to note that a 1080p display is more than enough at 5.5 inch. Higher resolutions are better experienced on large screens, such as TV or computer displays. The picture may be clearer at 4K but even 1080p provides good viewing experience.

The phone uses the Type-C USB port, which is good because it is a reversible port that can take care of power, data transfers, and display output. Being slim and compatible with almost every device with standard USB ports relieves customers of four or six connecting ports. It reduces the demand of the system’s space and gives manufacturers freedom to trim down the size of machines and, hence, weight. Moreover, OnePlus 2 uses a lightweight aluminium alloy, so the phone should not feel like a clunky device in your hands.

OnePlus 2 sports a 13MP rear camera with sensor pixel size of 1.3 micron pixels. While OnePlus has retained the same megapixels, by increasing the sensor size it has improved the quality of the image. Put it this way, iPhone 5S used a sensor with 1.5 micron pixels and most standard phones use a sensor with 1.12 micron pixels.  Thus, your images will be captured faster, will be less blurred and even if you capture a photo in a dark environment, it won’t be a monstrosity. For selfie lovers, there is a 5MP front camera.

The phone can be customised using OnePlus’ StyleSwap covers available in four variants – Bamboo, Black Apricot, Rosewood, and Kevlar. According to reviews so far, the covers can be swapped without any hassle. Also, there is a new feature called the ‘alert slider’. It is a button on the side of the phone that toggles between three notification profiles – ‘None’, ‘Priority’ and ‘All’. The button was added on the suggestion of a Reddit user. The phone has a 3,300 mAh non-removable battery and runs on Android 5.1 with OxygenOS.

For those disappointed with the display, do not worry. Adding 4K resolution would’ve only added to its cost and moreover, streaming 4K content consumes a lot of data. Given that OnePlus has improved the overall design of OnePlus 2, it is worth its value.

The OnePlus 2 will be available in India from August 11.