OnePlus


One Plus Technology Co., Ltd., commonly referred to as OnePlus, is a Chinese smartphone manufacturer based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It was founded by Pete Lau and Carl Pei in December 2013. The company officially serves 34 countries and regions around the world as of 2018. They have released numerous phones, amongst other products. It is currently majority owned by Oppo as its only shareholder, which is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics along with Vivo and Realme. However, both OnePlus and Oppo denies OnePlus is a subsidiary and maintain they are independent companies, although OnePlus confirmed it uses Oppo's manufacturing line and shares part of the supply chain resources with Oppo.
OnePlus' headquarters is in the Tairan Building in Chegongmiao, the Futian District of Shenzhen.

History

OnePlus was founded on 16 December 2013 by former Oppo vice-president Pete Lau and Carl Pei. According to Chinese public records, OnePlus' only institutional shareholder is Oppo Electronics. Lau denied that OnePlus was a wholly owned subsidiary of Oppo and stated that Oppo Electronics and not Oppo Mobile is a major investor of OnePlus and that they are "in talks with other investors." The company's main goal was to design a smartphone that would balance high-end quality with a lower price than other phones in its class, believing that users would "Never Settle" for the lower-quality devices produced by other companies. Lau explained that "we will never be different just for the sake of being different. Everything done has to improve the actual user experience in day-to-day use." He also showed aspirations of being the "Muji of the tech industry", emphasizing its focus on high-quality products with simplistic, user-friendly designs. Continuing Lau's association with the platform from the Oppo N1, OnePlus entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Cyanogen Inc. to base its products' Android distribution upon a variant of the popular custom ROM CyanogenMod and use its trademarks outside of China.
The company unveiled its first device, the OnePlus One, on 23 April 2014 which was intended to capture market from the Google Nexus series. In December 2014, alongside the release of the OnePlus One in India exclusively through Amazon, OnePlus also announced plans to establish a presence in the country, with plans to open 25 official walk-in service centres across India.
In April 2014, OnePlus hired Han Han to help market its products in mainland China.
On 9 March 2014, the company expanded its operations to the European Union.
On 16 December 2014, The Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court banned the import and sale of OnePlus One phones following a lawsuit by Micromax alleging it has exclusivity for shipping phones with Cyanogen OS software in India. On 21 December 2014, the ban was lifted. The device continues to be shipped with Cyanogen OS; however, a customized version of Android specially designed by OnePlus and named OxygenOS has been released, allowing later OnePlus devices to be sold in India.
OnePlus made its products available in Southeast Asia for the first time, partnering with Lazada Indonesia on 23 January 2015 and was expected to expand during that year throughout the region. In June 2016, OnePlus decided to pull out of the Indonesian market due to local regulations for imported 4G smartphones restricting sales of the OnePlus 2.
At the launch event of the OnePlus 6 on 17 May 2018, OnePlus announced it would be opening five new OnePlus Experience stores in India, as well as 10 new service centres.
According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, OnePlus topped the Indian premium smartphone market last year with a 33 percent share, beating Samsung Electronics with 26 percent. In the IDC survey, OnePlus ranked third in India's market with more than $500 in the first quarter of this year after Apple and Samsung Electronics. And it ranked second after China's Vivo in the 300-500-dollar market.

Advertising and marketing

Invitation system

Early phones were only available through a system whereby customers had to sign up for an invite to purchase the phone at irregular intervals. The system was claimed to be necessary for the young company to manage huge demand.
OnePlus ended the invite system with the launch of OnePlus 3 on 14 June 2016. Announced via an interactive VR launch event, the OnePlus 3 initially went on sale within the VR app itself. OnePlus touted the event as the world's first VR shopping experience. The phone was made available for sale later that day in China, North America and the European Union on the OnePlus website, and in India on Amazon India.

"Smash the Past"

On 23 April 2014, OnePlus began its "Smash the Past" campaign. The promotion asked selected participants to destroy their phones on video in an effort to purchase the OnePlus One for $1. Due to confusion, several videos were published by unselected users misinterpreting the promotion and destroying their phones before the promotion start date. OnePlus later revised the rules of their promotion by allowing consumers to donate their old phones. There were 140,000 entrants in the contest with 100 winners.

Ladies First Controversy

On 13 August 2014, OnePlus hosted a contest to give invites, which were hard to come by at the time, to their female forum members. Users were asked to post a photo of themselves with the OnePlus logo, images would be shared in the forum and could be "liked" by other forum members. This received major backlash for objectifying and degrading women resulting in the contest being pulled within hours.

Brand Ambassador

In May 2019, OnePlus made a deal with ‘Avengers’ actor Robert Downey Jr. to endorse OnePlus 7 Pro. Before him, it was Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan who used to endorse OnePlus in India.

Customer support

The customer support at OnePlus was once the subject of strong criticism. In 2017, the company increased the number of customer service staff and set-up customer service and repair centers in Asia, Europe and the United States, greatly improving turnaround times for repairs and other issues.

OnePlus USB-C cable

After several weeks of customer complaints on OnePlus forums and on Reddit, Google engineer Benson Leung showed that the USB-C cable and USB-C-to-Micro-USB adapter offered by OnePlus at that time did not conform to the USB specification. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei on 26 November 2015 admitted that the cable and adapter did not conform to the USB specification, and offered refunds.

Products

Phones

OnePlus One

The company's first product was the highly anticipated OnePlus One. It was unveiled on 22 April 2014, and was claimed as the "2014 Flagship Killer." The One had comparable, and in some ways better, specifications to other flagship phones of the year, while being sold at a significantly lower price at $299 for the 16 GB version or $349 for the 64 GB version.
OnePlus One issue with yellow display band at the bottom of the screen which affected some units not covered under warranty.

OnePlus 2

The OnePlus 2 was the successor to the company's highly successful first phone. It was unveiled a little over a year after the One, on 27 July 2015. It was highly promoted as "2016 Flagship killer". There were very high expectations for the second generation OnePlus phones, partly because the company managed to create a high amount of hype for the upcoming phone. One of the marketing channels used was YouTube tech reviewer MKBHD who was sent a unit, which he covered in detail leading up to the launch.
The OnePlus 2 had specifications comparable to other flagship phones of the time, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, though OnePlus had decided to leave out an NFC chip, as it didn't see mobile payment being an essential feature at the time. The phone was also one of the first Android devices to sport a USB-C port over the older micro USB port.
In advance of the OnePlus 2 launch, OnePlus assured customers that obtaining invites would be easier, and handsets would ship a lot quicker than with the OnePlus One. However, in a public apology, Carl Pei admitted the company had "messed up" the launch, and that OnePlus "only began shipping meaningful quantities , nearly a month after initial targeted shipping date."
Despite promising 24 months of software updates, and telling consumers that the OnePlus 2 would be updated to Android 7 "Nougat", it was eventually confirmed that this was not to happen, leaving the device on the older Android 6.0.1.

OnePlus X

The OnePlus X was OnePlus' entrance to the budget phone market, at 5 inches instead of the One and 2's 5.5 inches. The phone was unveiled on 29 October 2015. The phone was sold for $249, and consisted mostly of the same internal components as the year and half old OnePlus One, but had an AMOLED display.

OnePlus 3

The OnePlus 3 was unveiled on 14 June 2016. The 3 was the company's first "metal unibody" phone. The phone launched with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of UFS 2.0 storage. The phone was well regarded amongst critics, mostly for its low price and high specifications.

OnePlus 3T

The OnePlus 3T was unveiled on 15 November 2016 as a minor upgrade to the still relatively new OnePlus 3. The upgrade consisted the use of a newer SoC; the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 was replaced with the Snapdragon 821. Also introduced were a higher-capacity battery, 64 or 128 GB of storage and 16 MP front-facing camera. The phone launched in the US on 22 November 2016 and in the EU on 28 November 2016.

OnePlus 5

The OnePlus 5 was unveiled on 20 June 2017 as the successor to the OnePlus 3, skipping the number 4. It launched with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, a dual-lens camera setup, up to 8 GB RAM, and up to 128 GB of storage. It was released in two colours: Midnight Black and Slate Gray. A third limited edition colour, Soft Gold was released on 7 August 2017. Another special edition colour was launched on 20 September 2017, in collaboration with Castelbajac.

OnePlus 5T

The OnePlus 5T was unveiled on 16 November 2017, as the successor to the OnePlus 5. It features the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC and storage options as its predecessor. Notable features include a larger 6" 18:9 display, a new "Face Unlock" facial recognition method, and an improved dual-lens camera.
The device which came out of the box running Android 7 Nougat recently received the last major update based on Android 10 Q.

OnePlus 6

OnePlus opened forums for the OnePlus 6 in April 2018 and launched the device on 17 May 2018 with sales starting on 22 May 2018. The phone notably features a display notch and water resistance. The smartphone was the first from the company to offer a 256 GB inbuilt storage variant. It has a 6.28 inches FHD+ Optic AMOLED Display. It comes with a 16 MP aperture primary sensor with OIS and EIS and 20 MP aperture depth sensor for portrait shots at the back and is able to record at 4K resolution 60 FPS video and 16 MP aperture front camera at the front with Electronic image stabilization. It features a lithium-ion 3300 mA⋅h battery and came with a 20 watts OnePlus Dash Charge. It was available in 4 colours, "Mirror" black, "Midnight" black, "Silk" white and red. It was powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and Adreno 630.

OnePlus 6T

The OnePlus 6T was unveiled on 29 October 2018. It launched with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, a dual-lens camera setup, up to 8 GB RAM, and up to 256 GB of storage. It also features a larger 6.41" 19.5:9 Optic AMOLED display with in-display fingerprint sensor, and launched with OxygenOS—based on Android Pie. The camera has a 'Nightscape' mode which uses a longer exposure time to capture better photos in poor lighting conditions.
OnePlus set a Guinness World Record title of "the most people unboxing a phone simultaneously" on the launch of OnePlus 6T.
This was the first OnePlus phone to come with an in-display fingerprint scanner. This is where OnePlus started to become a huge competitor against Apple Inc, but Apple have never had an in-display fingerprint scanner in any of their phones.
In the beginning, OnePlus 6T users reported unusual battery drain issue, which got fixed after a few days of usage. The reason to this is still unknown.

OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro

The OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro were launched on May 14, 2019 in Bangalore, New York, and London simultaneously and went on sale starting May 17. The OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 7 are the first phones to go on sale with Universal Flash Storage 3.0 storage. They are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 SoC and the Adreno 640. Like the predecessor, they come with an optical in-display fingerprint sensor. The front camera has a 16 MP sensor. They launched with Android 9.1 Pie and OxygenOS 9.5.0.
The OnePlus 7 Pro features a curved edge-to-edge 6.67" 19.5:9 FLUID AMOLED display with a 3K resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate. It comes in three variants: 6 GB RAM with 128 GB storage, 8 GB RAM with 256 GB storage and 12 GB RAM option with 256 GB storage. The OnePlus 7 Pro also features a 4000 mA⋅h non-removable battery along with Warp Charge 30 technology.
The budget OnePlus 7 which was launched with the flagship Pro version, comes in two colors, "Mirror" grey and Nebula blue. It is available in 6 GB RAM with 128 GB of internal storage, or 8 GB RAM with 128 or 256 GB of internal storage. It features a 6.41 inches FHD+ Optic Amoled Display. The rear camera has a 48 MP Sony IMX 586 primary sensor along with a 5 MP depth sensor.

OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro

The OnePlus 7T was officially presented in New Delhi on September 26, 2019, and was available to order on September 28. The OnePlus 7T Pro was unveiled two weeks later. The OnePlus 7T is the successor to the 7 that was released 5 months prior for the European and Asian market, and to the 6T for the American market where the OnePlus 7 wasn't sold. It features a new form-factor compared to its predecessors, with a 20:9 aspect ratio instead of 19.5:9. This allowed for OnePlus to make the phone slightly taller than the older 6T and 7, while keeping the same width. OnePlus also included the 90 Hz Fluid AMOLED display previously found on the OnePlus 7 Pro. While OnePlus did keep the resolution at 2400×1080 pixels, the screen was one of its primary selling points. While the OnePlus 7T is considered a significant upgrade compared to the 7, the 7T Pro is a subtle upgrade over the 7 Pro. It features the same display, same body, same camera system; the main changes being faster charging, faster processor and a slightly quieter pop-up camera.
Both phones are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855+ SoC and feature the same in-display fingerprint scanner found on the OnePlus 7 Series. Only one variant was available for each phone: 8 GB RAM with 128GB storage for the 7T, and 8 GB RAM with 256 GB storage for the 7T Pro. Both have a slightly superior battery compared to their predecessors, the 7T included a 3800 mAh non-removable battery alongside Warp Charge 30T technology, which allows them to be fully charged in just under an hour. The OnePlus 7T had a new camera system, featuring the same primary and wide-angle lenses, though adding a third 2x telephoto lens. Both also feature a new macro mode, allowing them to capture pictures up to 2.5 cm from to the subject. The more affordable OnePlus 7T is available in 2 colors, "Frosted" silver or "Glacier" blue, and the 7T Pro in "Haze" blue, all being matte glass finishes. Both were the first phones to ship with Android 10 and OxygenOS 10.0 out-of-the-box.

Concept One Smartphone

On January 7, 2020, OnePlus unveiled the Concept One smartphone at CES 2020. The OnePlus Concept One uses electrochromic glass to “hide” the rear-facing camera setup. The glass of the phone uses organic particles to create changes in transparency so that the glass covering the camera lenses can instantly shift from opaque black to transparent, presenting a clean, unbroken surface when not in use. OnePlus calls it a manifest of its ‘burdenless’ design philosophy. This optimal solution is called ‘Electronic CMF.' The rest of the design is inspired by the McLaren 720S supercar, with Papaya Orange leather on the rear of this concept phone and a sliver of glass right down the center of the rear panel of the device.

OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro

The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro were unveiled on April 14, 2020, and released on April 21 in Europe and April 29 in the United States. The 8 Pro is the first OnePlus phone to have wireless charging. All 8 Pro models have water resistance, although for the 8 it is present only on carrier models. The 8 and 8 Pro have a circular cutout in the upper left-hand corner of the display for the front-facing camera. This was necessary to achieve the IP68 rating, as the pop-up camera on the 7 Pro and 7T Pro did not allow for water resistance. Like the 7T series, both use Fluid AMOLED displays with HDR10+ support. However, a curved display is now used on both phones, whereas the 7T had a flat display and the 7T Pro had a curved display. The 8 has a 6.55-inch 1080p 20:9 screen with a 90 Hz refresh rate, while the 8 Pro has a larger 6.78-inch 1440p 19.8:9 screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate. 3D Corning Gorilla Glass feature has been given for the protection of the in
OnePlus 8.The 8 Pro is one of the first smartphones able to display 1 billion colors using a 30-bit panel.
Both phones are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor and Adreno 650 GPU. The battery capacity has been increased to 4300 mAh on the 8 and 4510 mAh on the 8 Pro. Storage and RAM options are identical between the two, with 8 or 12 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of non-expandable UFS 3.0 storage. The 8 has LPDDR4X RAM while the 8 Pro has faster, more efficient LPDDR5 RAM. The camera system has been changed to further differentiate the 8 and 8 Pro. The 8's camera array consists of a 48 MP wide sensor, a 16 MP ultrawide sensor, and a 2 MP macro sensor, while the 8 Pro's camera array consists of a 48 MP wide sensor, a 48 MP ultrawide sensor and an 8 MP telephoto sensor, with an additional 5 MP "Color Filter Camera" that enables one- or two- color filters within the standard shooting mode. On 19 May, OnePlus announced that they would temporarily disable the colour filter camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro in China with an upcoming software update, for creating privacy concerns online. Unlike the 7T, the 8 does not have a telephoto camera or autofocus on the ultrawide camera, which are now exclusive to the 8 Pro. The front camera on both uses a 16 MP sensor. Along with facial recognition, the optical in-display fingerprint scanner is carried over from the 7 series and 7T series. Both are available in Onyx Black and Glacial Green, while the 8 Pro has its own Ultramarine Blue finish. The 8 has two additional colors, a Polar Silver finish exclusive to the Verizon model and an Interstellar Glow finish exclusive to the T-Mobile model. Like the 7T series, they ship with Android 10 and OxygenOS 10.0 pre-installed.

OnePlus Nord

The OnePlus Nord was unveiled on July 21, 2020, and will be released on August 4 in Europe and India. The Nord is the first midrange smartphone from OnePlus since the OnePlus X. It does not have wireless charging or water resistance, but supports Warp Charge 30T. Additionally, the Nord has a single loudspeaker without Dolby Atmos in place of the 8 and 8 Pro's stereo loudspeakers. The Nord has a display cutout in the upper left hand corner like the 8 and 8 Pro, which is elongated to accommodate the dual front-facing cameras. It uses a Fluid AMOLED display with a 1080p 20:9 resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate like the 8, however it has a compact 6.44-inch screen with a flat display and it does support HDR10+.
The Nord is powered by the Snapdragon 765G, Adreno 620 GPU and supports 5G. The battery capacity is slightly lower than the 8 at 4115 mAh. It is available in three non-expandable storage configurations, 6 GB RAM / 64 GB UFS, 8 GB RAM / 128 GB UFS, and 12 GB RAM / 256 GB UFS. The 6 GB RAM / 64 GB UFS variant is exclusive to Indian market.
The camera array consists of a 48 MP wide sensor, an 8 MP ultrawide sensor, a 5 MP depth sensor, and a 2 MP macro sensor. The front has a 32 MP wide sensor and an 8 MP ultrawide sensor. Facial recognition and an optical in-display fingerprint scanner are present as well. It will be available in Blue Marble and Gray Onyx, and ships with Android 10 and OxygenOS 10.5 pre-installed.
The OnePlus Nord price starts at €399.

Variants

Wireless earphones

OnePlus Bullets Wireless

At the launch event of the OnePlus 6, the company also announced the OnePlus Bullets Wireless earphones. The earphones have the company's Dash Charge technology with a USB-C port that allows five hours of playback for 10 minutes of charging. The earbuds feature a weather-resistant design and operates on Bluetooth connectivity with aptX technology. The Bullets Wireless earphones also supports Google Assistant from a button click. They went on sale at their website for $69.
OnePlus released the Bullets Wireless 2 alongside the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro on May 14. The primary improvements to this 2nd generation are the sound quality, better battery life and charging speed, as well as a new design which removed the need of earhooks, while still fitting comfortably in the ears and not falling on their own.
In the month of May 2020, OnePlus introduced a less expensive version of the predecessor OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 in the form of OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z, in India.The major highlight of this product is 10 minutes of charging powers 10 hours of playback time. The overall playback time is 20 hours.

OnePlus Buds

The OnePlus Nord's announcement was accompanied by the release of OnePlus Buds earbuds. The Buds have an entirely plastic design with a case similar to AirPods. The case allows for ten hours of playback for 10 minutes of charging; the earbuds have seven hours with a total playback of thirty hours.
The earburds support Warp Charge and the charging case has Type-C port.
The Buds have an IPX4 water resistance and support for Dolby Atmos. They are priced at $79 on the OnePlus website.

Wireless Chargers

OnePlus Warp Charge 30 Wireless

With the release of the OnePlus 8 Series, the company also announced the OnePlus Warp Charge 30 Wireless. This is the first ever wireless charger manufactured by OnePlus, and it is able to achieve a peak output of 30W when charging the OnePlus 8 Pro. The company promises that it can charge 50% of the phone's battery in under 30 minutes, making it the fastest wireless charger available in the market. The Warp Charge 30 Wireless is also compatible with regular Qi devices, although at a slower rate of 5W. It was initially released at a starting price of $69.95 for the pad and $79.95 for stand.

TVs

OnePlus TV

In September 2018, the company confirmed it plans to venture into the smart TVs market with the OnePlus TV. The new division will be headed by the company CEO Pete Lau. OnePlus has later specified that the OnePlus TV will run a version of Google's Android TV operating system and that it will cost less than competing televisions.
Series
OnePlus TV Q1
OnePlus TV Q1 features 55-inch 4K-resolution QLED panels. The OnePlus TV Q1 also has a rated sound output of 50W, but without the soundbar speaker. The televisions also support Dolby Vision and sound formats up to Dolby Atmos, along with support for the HDR10 high dynamic range format. The OnePlus TV range has the Gamma Magic Colour picture processor, which is said to enhance picture quality.The OnePlus TV Q1 models also have a Kevlar-like finish at the back, and come with a unique stand design. The OnePlus TV Q1 can also be wall-mounted. The OnePlus TV Q1 runs on Android TV 9.0 that comes with some customization including OxygenPlay, a curated content service built into the TV. OnePlus has also released the OnePlus Connect app that can be used with the OnePlus TV.
OnePlus TV Q1 Pro
The OnePlus TV Q1 Pro has 55-inch 4K-resolution QLED screen with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels. The 55-inch 4K panel has slim borders all around, and a small, discreet OnePlus logo in the middle of the bottom bezel. There are four HDMI ports, two USB ports, an Ethernet port, a Toslink port for digital optical audio, and a single AV-in socket that can be used with an included adapter for connectivity with older non-HDMI devices. OnePlus TV Q1 Pro has the motorized soundbar. The 50W soundbar has eight front-firing speaker drivers - two woofers, four full-range drivers, and three tweeters. When turned on, the soundbar rolls forward and extends outwards below the screen. The OnePlus TV runs on Android TV, but does have minor software customization, including OxygenPlay, and enhanced smartphone integration through the OnePlus Connect app. OxygenPlay is the biggest addition to the interface. This puts a host of curated content from multiple streaming services on the home screen, and gives an easy access through the remote.

OnePlus TV Y series

The affordable OnePlus TV Y series, the televisions are available in 32-inch and 43-inch sizes, with prices and features that will appeal to budget buyers. These smart TVs include access to features such as Oxygen Play, OnePlus Connect, and more, promising users an enhanced smart TV experience at competitive prices. It runs on Android TV 9 Pie with access to Google Assistant, Google Chromecast, and the Google Play store to download apps and games. Users can also use the Oxygen Play interface for a content-centric view. The Y series has a rated sound output of 20W with Dolby Audio tuning.

OnePlus TV U series

OnePlus TV U series is available in a single size variant of 55 inches, with a 4K LED screen and support for up to the Dolby Vision HDR format. The TV is also has 93 percent colour gamut on DCI-P3, which is the standard used in most cinema halls around the world. The OnePlus TV 55U1 has a thickness of 6.9mm near the edges, a screen-to-body ratio of 95 percent, and access to Oxygen Play and the OnePlus Connect app for easier connectivity with a smartphone. It runs on Android TV 9 Pie with access to Google Assistant, Google Chromecast, and the Google Play store to download apps and games. Users can also use the Oxygen Play interface for a content-centric view. The remote gives access to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video through short keys, and can also be used to communicate with Google Assistant. U series has a 30W four-speaker setup, support for Dolby Atmos audio, and the ability to use the television as a wireless speaker in Bluetooth stereo mode.