I have always had mixed feelings about OnePlus. They started out with the OnePlus One, one of my all time favourite smartphones, with a unique sandstone body and an excellent price to performance balance. It was rightly taglined “Flagship Killer” as it made all the flagship smartphones costing twice or thrice as much seem stupidly expensive at that time.
The OnePlus 2 was not as big of a hit as the OPO but it was still a fantastic performer which ticked most of the boxes, if not all.
And then there came the OnePlus 3 and 3T. I instantly fell in love with this smartphone. It had a premium aluminium body, an industrial no non sense design and unmatched performance. I know people who have been using this phone for an year now, with no complaints whatsoever. That’s the kind of experience OnePlus delivered with the 3 and 3T.
Fast forward an year and then came the OnePlus 5. When this product was unveiled, I had 2 initial reactions-
- It looks way too similar to the iPhone 7 Plus
- This is going to be one hell of a smartphone
When I finally got the opportunity to pop my SIM into one and start using it as my daily driver, I was left very, very unhappy. I loved the in hand feel of the device, it had rock solid performance and the cameras were quite an upgrade from the 3T. However, the one reason I just could not live with this phone was the jelly effect. Call me nit picky if you want to but I just couldn’t help noticing it all the time and that was not a pleasant experience. I really, really wanted to love the OnePlus 5, but I just couldn’t, and jelly effect is the one to blame for that.
Now, with rumours alit about the OnePlus 5T, I have extremely high hopes. For one, we know that OnePlus will nail the performance department. They have been doing it for years now, OnePus smartphones just never slow down. The cameras are already good enough in the OnePlus 5 and we can expect even more improvement with the 5T.
But what’s got me most excited is the rumour that this phone will come equipped with an edge to edge bezel less display. With the jelly effect mishap blown up, we can be sure that OnePlus would have definitely fixed that issue with the 5T. This combined with the other rock solid aspects of the OnePlus 5 and we have the ideal recipe for a killer smartphone.
Of course the price will creep up even further into the flagship territory and there will be tough competition from the likes of the Galaxy S8, iPhone 8 and the Pixel 2. But OnePlus has proven time and again that a big brand name is not the key to a great smartphone and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get away with it this time too.
The phone is rumoured to be unveiled on the 16th of November and you can expect full coverage of that event here on Technoyaar.
Featured Image Credits: Evan Blass
