OnePlus’ marketing team is seemingly always on overdrive, especially when it’s gearing up to launch the company’s next big phone. Starting from humble roots of selling more phone for less price than anyone else, OnePlus has made a name for itself over the years not just by offering a comparable phone for less money, but also by being one of the most controversial players in the market. This time around the design of the OnePlus 5 is clear; they’re not just gunning to replace many of the other China-based companies that have come into the market over the past few years, they’re aiming for the biggest players around. Designed clearly after Apple’s latest iPhones, the OnePlus 5 features some rather unoriginal design language on the back, while the front remains similar to the last few phones from the company.
Despite outward appearances, the OnePlus 5 does offer plenty of points that differentiate it from the rest of the smartphone pack so far in 2017. Packing the latest in mobile processing power, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, the OnePlus 5 retails for quite a bit less than many other big-name flagship phones, all while meeting or exceeding the specs of those phones. $479/€499 will net you a Slate Grey color complete with 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Paying a bit more, $539/€559, will upgrade both the RAM and internal storage space, with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB of internal storage on the more expensive version, also coming in a distinctive Midnight Black color too. Both of these models ship with Samsung’s own UFS 2.1 grade internal storage, meaning the absolute fastest storage you’ll find anywhere.
In addition to this, OnePlus has outfitted both models with a new dual camera system, one that, according to OnePlus, takes clearer photos. We found this to be true often enough in the review period, and while it tended to deliver inconsistent results, the camera overall is pretty incredible in most respects. A new portrait mode features a super shallow depth of field for clear subjects and blurred backgrounds, while the 2X lossless zoom mode brings things closer without compromising on quality. Just how good is the OnePlus 5? Find out in our review below, or the full written review for even more details. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for regularly updated content too, and never miss out on a good video!