Through posts on its social media accounts on Wednesday evening, OnePlus announced it will be offering a Rs. 2,001 ($33) discount on the 64 GB Sandstone Black variant of the company’s first generation flagship, the OnePlus One. The discount however, will only be applicable on Thursday, June 18th. The phone is normally listed at Rs. 21, 999 ($360), and the temporary price reduction will bring the price-tag down to Rs. 19,998 ($330) for the day. The company however, has not reduced the price of the 16 GB Silk White variant, which continues to be listed at Rs. 18,999 ($310). OnePlus sells the smartphone exclusively through Amazon in India. Just two days ago, the company announced it will be extending by three months, the warranty on all its current and future smartphones especially for buyers in India. The price reduction meanwhile, comes close on the heels of fellow Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi reducing the price of the 64 GB variant of its Mi 4 smartphone to Rs. 19,999 in India just last week.
OnePlus has had a busy week, holding contests for its fans, giving them the opportunity to win the company’s upcoming flagship, the OnePlus Two. The company held two contests, one for budding photographers, titled “Photo Mania 2015”, and another for aspiring filmmakers titled “My OnePlus Story”. The winners are scheduled to win an OnePlus Two each, and will also get to fly to the OnePlus HQ in Hong Kong to take part in the unveiling of the company’s next-generation flagship, where according to OnePlus, they’ll “get to play a pivotal role in a secret project we have planned for the OnePlus 2 launch”. The company is said to launch not one, but two phones this year, which will include a mid-ranger along with the aforementioned flagship.
As a refresher for all would-be buyers, the OnePlus One comes with a 5.5-inch 1080p panel and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 SoC. The phone comes with 3 GB of RAM, and is offered in two storage variants – 16 GB and 64 GB. The rear-facing camera on the device is a 13-megapixel sensor, while the front facing camera comes with a 5-megapixel sensor. The phone originally came with Android 4.4 KitKat-based CyanogenMod 11S, but the company has since pushed out its own Android Lollipop-based Oxygen OS, after an acrimonious split with Cyanogen Inc. The phone however can still be updated to CyanogenMod 12S, giving users the option of using either ROM with their device.