OnePlus sure likes a contest and while some of them have been a little questionable over the past year or so, this latest is really intriguing and in some ways almost admirable. OnePlus has partnered with Ultimaker, the company behind 3D printing machines and this time around, they’re encouraging people to create something in order to enter. To do this, OnePlus has released the 3D model of the One in order to give contestants the needed equipment to properly enter the tournament, and generally go crazy when creating accessories for their smartphone.
This latest contest is all about creating an accessory design for the One, those interested in entering will need to have experience in 3D printing or at least what goes into creating a CAD file. This forum post from OnePlus states that those looking to enter should upload their designs to YouMagine and do so in STL and STEP file formats, with the CAD software’s native format available as well. OnePlus is generously giving their 3D model of the One, in STL format, away for free. This is a pretty big deal, as few companies do this, which makes it very difficult to accurately design 3D-printable cases and accessories. With the exact measurements and such, this contest should be much easier than otherwise.
There are prizes for finalists, with the first twenty getting an invite to purchase a 64GB Sandstone One, third place winners get a choice of either JBL E1+ Earphones or 3 spools of Ultimaker filament, with second place getting a free 64GB One. Meanwhile, the first place winner gets a 3D printer as their prize, an Ultimaker 2 no less. All the rules can be found at the above forum post.
Do you have 3D printing experience? Is 3D-printing your own cases or accessories something you’d be interested in? It’s great to see OnePlus foster creativity like this and we hope that this is one contest that other manufacturers take note of. Having an STL file from the manufacturer would make it much easier for people to 3D-print their own accessories and foster further creativity.