The OnePlus 5 was just launched globally, after months of rumours hinting at the new flagship¡¯s specifications. The smartphone is already up for pre-order in certain countries, with shipments beginning today. India, meanwhile, will see a special launch event on June 22, with purchases available starting the same day.
The OnePlus 5 is available in Slate Gray with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage for $479 (India Price Rs 32,999), while the Midnight Black version with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage is priced at $539 (India Price Rs 37,999). The question is, what makes the OnePlus 5 a worthwhile buy?
OnePlus, it appears, has no qualms about mimicking the looks of the incredibly popular iPhone 7 Plus. With its aluminium body and rounded edges, not to mention the placement of the rear dual cameras and antennae lines, the resemblance of the new flagship is uncanny. Of course, if there¡¯s one thing Apple does well it¡¯s design good looking devices, so while OnePlus 5 maybe accused of being unoriginal, that doesn't necessarily mean not being a looker.
The OnePlus 5 sports a dual camera setup, one the company is called the ¡°highest resolution dual-camera system on a smartphone today.¡± It¡¯s comprised of a 16MP f/1.7 primary camera, supposedly able to capture 34 percent more light than the OnePlus 3T, as well as a 20MP f/2.6 secondary telephoto lens.
OnePlus also claims the OnePlus 5 has an autofocus 40 percent faster than the 3T. The rear camera also features a dual-tone LED flash, and 4K recording. What¡¯s important to note here, is that the OnePlus 5 promises capabilities similar to the iPhone 7 Plus, with a bokeh effect (a special visual effect with out-of-focus areas in the image, seen in professional camera lenses) and a new Pro mode that features manual ISO, shutter speed, and white balance, as well as RAW image editing.
The OnePlus features the all-new Snapdragon 835 processor, which is the first to use 10nm FinFET technology, and compatible with the new Bluetooth 5.0 standard. Not only does this make the processor itself smaller, it also promises 25 percent better power efficiency than its predecessors. Coupled with Qualcomm¡¯s Adreno 540 GPU, the device is also expected to offer 20 percent faster image processing, making for faster capturing and editing of photos. Added to all that, the OnePlus is also only the second smartphone to offer 8GB of RAM, after the Asus Zenfone AR.
One new feature OnePlus boasts of is something called App Priority. The device learns from your usage habits, and automatically preloads certain frequently-used apps on startup, while prioritising others lower on the list. This should ideally make for fewer latency issues, something that¡¯s been a thorn in the OnePlus 3 and 3T¡¯s sides.
The OnePlus 5 actually has a smaller 3300mAh battery that the OnePlus 3T's 3400mAh. However, OnePlus claims that, with the new Snapdragon 835 processor, LPDDR4 RAM, and software optimisations, the new flagship should deliver 20 percent more battery life than its predecessor.
Oxygen OS
The OnePlus 5 runs on the company¡¯s OxygenOS, powered by Android Nougat 7.1. A few new interesting features are on the way, including a special grayscale reading mode, a translucent, slide-up app drawer, and quick launch gestures. Another interesting new feature is ¡®Gaming Do Not Disturb¡¯. This mode turns off the hard buttons on the device, so you don¡¯t accidentally exit a game you¡¯re in the middle of playing. Additionally, the new Secure Box lets you encrypt and password protect any private files on the device, to keep it away from prying eyes.
Another factor to be considered is that, if the OnePlus 5 is priced in India similar to its US announcement, that'll make it quite the deal -- which the leaked pricing pretty much confirms. A premium flagship Android for Rs 35,000 puts the OnePlus 5 helps it maintain its flagship killer price.
Now all you have to do is snag one online before stocks inevitably sell out in 10 minutes.