Tech Talk! First look at the OnePlus: Flagship Killer and beyond

Tech Talk! First look at the OnePlus: Flagship Killer and beyond

FPJ BureauUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 08:02 PM IST
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OnePlus is a young smartphone brand when compared to the bigger ones like Samsung, Apple, LG or Google, but it has matured brilliantly over the last couple of years to become one of the leading smartphone vendors in the country. The company, started with an idea to disrupt the market and offer best value to the customers for the money spent, now draws support from a huge loyal community of users and geeks, alike.
From being the brand, which came up with “Flagship Killer” smartphones to launching a real flagship, OnePlus has indeed had an interesting journey. Its latest flagship phone, the OnePlus 7 Pro has been launched across the globe simultaneously in US, UK and India before its debut in China. The hype around this phone has been enormous, thanks to the users who want true flagship experience at a lower price compared to the smartphones leading brands as well as the unique viral marketing activities mastered by the company.


So, does the device lives up to its hype? Well, OnePlus has launched not one but two smartphones this time. The glitzy and glamorous OnePlus 7 Pro and the masterstroke in OnePlus 7. Let us talk about the Pro version first, it has got an all new large bezel less and notch less display, a pop-up selfie camera and a gradient designed glass back, a first for the company. OnePlus calls the tall 6.67-inches display as “Fluid AMOLED” display which comes with 90Hz refresh rate making it ideal for gaming. For those unaware, refresh rate on a display means the number of times a display’s image is refreshed per second, higher the better. Though currently not many games are compatible with such a display, but as of now we can only trust OnePlus to get this sorted out soon.
The phone drives power from a Snapdragon 855 SoC, the fastest processor available for Android devices as of now and has 6 GB/8 GB/12 GB of RAM and 128 GB/256 GB of storage and memory options to choose from. For the photography enthusiasts, there is a triple camera setup at the rear and a pop-up selfie camera setup at the front. There’s also a 4000 mAh battery with WARP charge support.
While moving parts in smartphones do not excite most purists, the company is claiming that this pop-camera can last up to 15 years of usage, if you use it for 50 times a day. Adding an extra layer of protection is the automatic fall detect feature which retracts the pop-up camera when the device detects a fall. Since OnePlus is foraying into real flagship smartphones the Pro version doesn’t come cheap and the price at Rs. 49,000 and goes all the way up to Rs. 58,000.
With all eyes and focus were on the OnePlus 7 Pro, the company also unveiled the base variant of the series, the OnePlus 7. This, not so fancy variant, doesn’t look much different from the previous generation OnePlus 6T but has updated internals like the latest processor and better camera setup. While it has a similar battery pack and similar display as the OnePlus 6T, its pricing is the key here. You can pick up the latest OnePlus 7 at a starting price of Rs. 33,000 which is lesser then the OnePlus 6T’s price and that’s the craziest part of the deal.


For a lot of people, OnePlus has been a brand which has offered flagship experience under a strict budget, hence the progression towards a true flagship smartphone have may come as a shock to them. However, the company had hinted it already. Now with this two-pronged strategy, not only has OnePlus made its entry felt in the flagship segment with the premium OnePlus 7 Pro but with OnePlus 7 it has already given a tough competition to the likes of Google Pixel 3A and other price disrupters. And while these specifications look great on paper and no matter how aggressively the company markets these phones, we will reserve the opinion till the time we take these phones for a spin. Till then, please stay tuned.

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