In January, it was announced that community Android version CyanogenMod would be pre-loaded on an upcoming new phone from a Chinese startup called OnePlus. The company was promising big things, and boasting former Oppo VP Pete Lau as its CEO. Today, the OnePlus One phone has been launched.
The announcement, back in January, has since made for some intriguing speculation. "What’s coming is one of the most popular mobile operating systems specifically developed for the best hardware, with a unique twist," Lau said in the press release.
The noises coming out of of Cyanogen were positive too. "Upon hearing Pete’s vision for OnePlus, it was clear we had found the right partner," extolled Steve Kondik, CTO of Cyanogen. "By combining our software expertise with Pete’s background in hardware and design, we’ll develop a phone that will exceed both of our expectations."
The phone will initially be available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the UK and the US. A 16GB Silk White version will retail for for US$299 and a 64GB Sandstone Black for $349.
For those prices you'd be forgiven for assuming that the One will be a mid-range device, however, OnePlus is putting the One out there as a "2014 Flagship Killer." In short, it's taking aim at devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M8 – and its specs list appears to back up all the big talk.
Here are the headlines: Like the HTC, the One is powered by a 2.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. As OnePlus points out, that's currently the world's fastest available smartphone processor. it will also feature 3 GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Adreno 330 graphics processor.
Moving on, a 5.5-inch Gorilla Glass 3 screen delivers 1080p full HD, and users will be able to capture 4K video for upload to the cloud for storage. OnePlus boasts that a 13-megapixel Sony camera with f/2.0 aperture, six physical lenses and dual LED flash will take "amazing shots day or night." The firm also promises that users will get "more than a full day of use" out of the phone's 3100 mAh battery. Also included is 4G connectivity.
Until we get our hands on one, if you'll excuse the pun, we can't say how the device will perform. On paper, however, this is a very impressive piece of hardware. What's more, the CyanogenMod 11S version that will be loaded onto the One is based on Android KitKat and is said to be tuned especially to take advantage of the phone's hardware. OnePlus promises a simple user experience with no "unnecessary bloat." A few useful features are touted such as waking the phone via voice command or by drawing pre-set gestures on the sleeping screen.
The first OnePlus One handsets will be available from Friday, with the first 100 applicants able to buy a device for $1 in return for smashing their current handset(!). Time will tell if OnePlus has a fair stake to its claimed mantra, "Never Settle," but the initial signs are exciting and it looks like we won't have to wait long to find out.
In the meantime, you can see a little more of the OnePlus One in the rather epic video below.
Source: OnePlus
5.5 inch display vs 5.1 on S5 5 MP front facing camera vs 2.1 MP 3100 mAh battery vs 2800 3072 MB RAM vs 2048 MB RAM
Time will tell if CyanogenMod was a good idea but it was probably a lot cheaper to use it than roll their own. It won't be available in the US but it's still impressive that they can come in and offer a competing product for half the price.
This can't be good news for some of the mobile companies (HTC, Nokia, Blackberry) that were just barely hanging in there as is.
This phone does sound very impressive, and it's not mentioned here, but I think it'll eat into the Apple market rather than Samsung. Apple users are seeing competitors on Android outperform them, and at a significant discount. Same with the ipads now - so whereas we are currently an Apple 'home' (2 iphone 5's and an Ipad 4), I would predict that our next upgrades will be to non Apple products, as the cost simply isn't justifiable.
No Stylus like samsung note....this mobile has the best specs in the market for this dead cheap price...
I wish you would see this as a $299 mobile...your expectation is frankly high...who knows in near future every expectation of yours might be fulfilled by this company...Never Settle..:P :P LOL
I have nothing to do with social media (read Facebook, Twitter) or YouTube or the like, even on the desktop. All I need I are the basic utilities like voice and messaging, + FREE voice and messaging, (Whatsapp and Viber) to maintain connections with my family spread across the globe. Don't need 3G / 4G either.
At the listed price point, believe me they could survive on Indian market alone.
Interesting nobody has made any comments on the fact that CyanogenMod will be used. I have a crappy spare old Huawai 'holiday' phone that I take places where I would not rather take a more expensive phone. A year back I upgraded it to CyanogenMod 2.4 (which is now very outdated), and it was a huge boost in performance for both responsiveness and the way apps ran.
Taking this reasoning to its conclusion, if OnePlus is using this OS with those hardware specs, it will be an absolute beast, and possibly quicker then vanilla Android. What remains to be seen is how well it sheds heat under load. This is where the new metal HTC might beat the rest.