The OnePlus One is sort of a mythical device at this point. While it was announced “way back” in April, what seems an eternity in the land of smartphones and tablets that are often launched just a few days or weeks after their initial announcement, the dream has finally been realized. OnePlus actually just posted a new entry into its blog series “The Story of OnePlus” talking about how most flagships take 2 months or more to actually be released worldwide, which is exactly what OnePlus is aiming to do. Over the weekend we saw the first invites for the OnePlus One go out, and I was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky recipients of this first batch of invites and promptly ordered what very well could be the phone of the year when taking the whole package in.
So how was my experience? Pretty flawless to be completely honest. Below you’ll see what the invite email looks like, which comes from [email protected] if you’re curious. It’s a simple email letting you know that you’ve been invited to order a OnePlus One, an ordering choice that has come into question many times, and a referral link. Click the referral link and it’ll take you to a page asking you to sign in with your OnePlus forum account. If you haven’t signed up on the OnePlus forums yet, now is your chance and basically one of the only ways you’re going to be able to get a OnePlus One at this point anyway. Once you’ve signed in you’ll be able to attach the referral code to your account, unlocking the order button on the main page of OnePlus.net. Right now the only model available is the 64GB Sandstone Black, which is likely the phone most people are going to choose anyway.
From here it’s a pretty straightforward order process, continuing to the cart and adding your payment, billing and shipping addresses, and of course choosing your shipping method. I have to say I was incredibly impressed at how cheap it is to ship the OnePlus One to the US given that it comes straight from the manufacturer all the way over in China. There were two shipping methods, standard at $4.99 and express at $8.99, both of which are bargain prices. There’s no tax at all, likely since it doesn’t come from the US in my case, making this exactly $349.00 plus shipping out the door. When will my phone arrive? I’m hoping this week for sure but I still haven’t received a tracking number for the shipment, as the order still lists pending. All this adds up to an excellent experience and one I’m hoping is reflected in the product I’m about to receive.
The mythical OnePlus One isn’t so mythical anymore, and while it’s still going to be more difficult than it probably should to score an invite over the next couple of weeks know that OnePlus is actually shipping these devices out and it’s not just a paper launch product that will never see the light of day outside of a few product announcement videos and hands-on reports. Not familiar with all that the OnePlus One offers? Check out all our stories on the OnePlus One and find out what it’s about and who this new company is!
