Finally, the much awaited successor to the immensely popular value-for-money phone The OnePlus One, was launched as OnePlus 2. The OnePlus 2 is also a value-for-money phone but costs just marginally more than the original OnePlus One. The 16GB version of OnePlus 2 will cost Rs. 22,999 and 64GB version will come for Rs. 23,999 in India.
But for OnePlus it’s not just about the price tag. We expect quality phones from OnePlus at an affordable price. OnePlus 2 might look a tad expensive to you but it is worth every penny of its asking price.
The Hardware
The OnePlus 2 sports a metal design and as OnePlus has revealed in its various teasers, OnePlus 2 comes in 2 variants differing in internal memory and RAM size. The 16 GB version will come with 3 GB of LPDDR4 RAM while the 64 GB model will come with 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM. Whichever variant you’ll choose to go with, you’ll never run out of RAM for running more apps.
Coming to the display, the phone features a 5.5-inch full-HD display (1920×1080 pixels) in contrast to what the rumours were suggesting (2K display). This display is said to be much better than what was there on the OnePlus One.
Talking about the performance side of things, let’s first see what ticks inside the OnePlus 2. The phone features the controversial 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 SoC. But it packs the Snapdragon 810 v2.1 which is clocked at 1.8 GHz and is supposed to run much cooler than what we have heard about the original 810 chip. Adreno 430 GPU will be in charge of graphics.
The OnePlus 2 features a 13 MP rear camera supporting OIS, dual-tone flash, AF, f/2.0, and a laser focus system that can focus on any object in a snap. Its pixel size is fixed at 1.3 microns, and it also supports 4K video recording while being of capturing images in RAW format. You also get a 5 MP front camera for taking great selfies.
OnePlus 2 supports 4G on both its Nano-SIM slots (dual-SIM dual standby) and also supports the latest USB standard- USB Type-C. Besides being able to transfer more current than all the older USB standards, USB Type-C has same connectors on both ends.
The phone also sports a hardware alert slider on its side which lets you switch between all, priority and no notifications. A 3300 mAh battery will power all the things on the phone as far as I can guess, that would be more than sufficient for a single day of light-medium usage.
The in-built fingerprint scanner can recognize up to 5 stored fingerprints in its database and will let you unlock the phone in under 0.5 seconds.
The phone will also be launched with StyleSwap covers available in 4 materials – Bamboo, Black Apricot, Rosewood, and Kevlar.
OS & Features
OnePlus 2 runs on OnePlus’s own OxygenOS based on Android 5.1 Lollipop. Some of the main features of OxygenOS are:
User’s ability to set app permissions, a new camera app with super resolution mode, slow motion, and time lapse, Swiftkey, gesture support, customization for on-screen navigation keys and LED indicator, support for icon packs, dark UI mode, file manager, etc.
Availability & Price
Much like the OnePlus One, the OnePlus 2 will also be available via an invite system but the company has stated the buyers won’t have to wait much longer this time due to more inventory. You can get on OnePlus 2 reservation list by entering your email ID. As of writing this, over 400 thousand users are in the reservation list. Also, check the official blog post on how you can easily obtain a OnePlus 2 invite.
“The future battleground for all things innovation and technology has begun and OnePlus with its latest offering is all set to lead the next generation of smartphones. India is an important market for us and our fans are sure to get their hands on OnePlus 2 simultaneously with the rest of the world,” announced Vikas Agarwal, GM at OnePlus, India.
OnePlus 2 will be available for sale in India, China, U.S., Canada, and some select EU regions on 11 August 2015.
OnePlus also plans to open its stores across 9 different cities where the users can experience the phone, ask their doubts and can also get a chance to win an invite. The 9 selected cities are New Delhi, Bengaluru, Jakarta, Milan, Berlin, Paris, London, New York, and San Francisco. The first 50 visitors to these stores will get a gift bag, More information about these pop-up events can be found here.
The 16 GB model (with 3 GB RAM) will be available in the later part of this year with a price tag of Rs. 22,999, while the 64 GB version having 4 GB RAM will come with an asking price of Rs. 24,999 on Amazon India. The OnePlus 2 will be priced at $329 and $389 for 16 GB and 64 GB models respectively in The U.S.
OnePlus 2 seems to be interesting phone and the company has already termed it as ‘2016 Flagship Killer’. Well, I sincerely believe that it would be too early to say that, but there is no denying the fact it will change the VFM phone market once again.
