OnePlus, the Chinese upstart that seemingly came out of nowhere to challenge devices from the likes of Samsung and co has come a long way since then. Their recent flagship, the OnePlus 2 is an excellent device for the money, and they just recently launched yet another device in the from of the OnePlus One, a device that has been receiving something of a mixed reception over the past week or so. Today, the company is introducing something that a number of their competitors, such as HTC and Motorola have been offering for some time now; extended device insurance and warranty. Both the OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X will be eligible for this coverage, but it sadly won’t be made available for already existing customers.
OnePlus is calling this On-Guard protection, and will be provided in conjunction with a company called simplesurance. Costing €39.99 for 12-months or €64.99 for 24-months, both the OnePlus X and OnePlus 2 will offer this extended coverage. The bad news however is spelled by OnePlus themselves: “Unfortunately, the policy is not available for OnePlus One, or OnePlus 2 purchased prior to this.” Basically, the policies can be applied to your final total (once you have your golden ticket, naturally) at checkout which means that only new customers will be able to take advantage of these new insurance plans. This is a shame, as it means that many of the early-bird customers of the OnePlus 2 won’t be able to get access to this sort of coverage, even though they’re paying for it.
Those in India will be able to get coverage similar to this through the “B2X OnePlus Service2 and Protect2” programs and OnePlus have said that they’re working on something similar for the United States and Canada. Needless to say, should it launch with the same giant asterisk as it has done in the EU, it’s possible that it won’t take off all that much. Should OnePlus be able to part with their invite system for the OnePlus 2 however, and we could see some more people taking them up on the offer, but the whole idea of the OnePlus smartphone is to be cheap, so an extra $50 – $100 might not sound all that appealing.