The Nexus Killer

Everything you need to know about the ONEPLUS ONE, I know its long but trust me, it’s worth it.

The release of the Nexus 5 caused a stir in the mobile industry because it formed a new benchmark for the mid-range phones. With its sleek black (or white) design and its affordability, it definitely encouraged consumers to go for this top-tier mobile phone. Moreover, Google’s extensive marketing and publicity for the Nexus 5 made this phone a sought after buy.  However, now in April 2014, a new smartphone similarly priced has been unveiled.

Oneplus One, probably a weird choice for a name but, on their website they have a far better name, short and powerful. Behold the Flagship Killer.

 Take a minute to look at this beauty. Observe how it curves around the edges, this gives a more comfortable feel when you hold it. Done drooling? Then check out these features because I’m sure they’re gonna blow you away – 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 CPU, 3 GB of RAM, 5.5 inch screen, 3100 mAh battery, 13 megapixel camera, plus it supports 4g and as a bonus it runs stock CyanogenMod 11S which by the way is based on Android 4.4 (KitKat).

Now there is more good stuff to come - this beast comes in two variants, 16 GB at $299 (18,000 rupees approx.) and a larger 64 GB variant at $349 (21,000 rupees approx.). Like seriously, that’s a pretty awesome deal for phone with those specs. For the sake of comparison, the Nexus 5 comes out at around $399 for their 16 GB variant, that’s right the OnePlus One’s 64 GB version is cheaper.

I feel if this phone takes off, it has the potential to completely change the mobile industry. Probably give Samsung and Apple a run for their money. Why?  These features are enough for the majority of mobile consumers, that’s you and I. Below, I will further discuss the features of on this phone and show how it stack up against other phone. Click here for a hands on video 

CPU

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 is a beautiful processor. It is a quad-core processor which clocks at 2.5 GHz compared to its predecessor – the Snapdragon 800 which also was quad-core but clocked at 2.3 GHz. The Samsung S5 is the only phone that I know which beats the OnePlus One’s processor, moreover the S5 has a Snapdragon 801 processor as well. However, it has an octa-core processor, which means that it has 8 cores whilst the OnePlus One has only 4 cores.

It’s worth mentioning that the average price of these smartphone (excluding the OnePlus One) is $784 US dollars and about 47,000 India Rupees.

RAM

RAM is a frequently over looked factor when consumers buy budget smartphones. RAM stores temporary memory in your phone and allows you to access apps faster in your phone, essentially the higher the RAM the smoother your phone will run.

Here are a list of popular budget phones for you to compare with: Samsung galaxy grand 2 has 1.5 GB of RAM, the Nexus 5 has a 2 GB of RAM, the Moto g has 1 GB of RAM, the Lumia 820 has 1 GB of RAM and the Sony Xperia SP has 1 GB of RAM. Let that sink in…. To remind you again the OnePlus One has 3 GB of RAM!

Screen Size

The screen…. This is one more aspect of the phone which doesn’t cease to amaze me. It’s a 5.5 inch full HD LCD screen. Now the display is built with LTPS technology which I’ll get to in a minute. This is an IPS screen and it uses TOL (Touch on Lens) technology which reduces the distance between the touch sensor and the display panel. Moreover the shatter proof gorilla glass 3 on this ensures that it would survive falls from you’re hand, believe me, I have gorilla glass 3 for my phone and it’s never broken.

Now, to explain LTPS technology. LTPS (Low Temperature Poly Silicon) is faster and more integrated then other LCD screens. The Poly Silicon grains in the screen allow electrons to travel 100 times faster. In English this allows for higher resolutions (perhaps even 4K resolution) and higher speeds. This technology that is going to going to replace the poplar AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light emitting Diode) completely 2020.  And the only other phone rumoured to have this tech incorporated in their screen is the iPhone 6. 

Battery 

 In my opinion this is the most important feature of a smartphone because a dead phone is useless. Most smartphones last about 12 hours while using 3G or less on 4G that is excluding iPhones which have battery lives of around 10 hours on 3G. The OnePlus One houses a non-removable Li-Po 3100 mAh battery. Also a 3100 mAh (milliamps hour) battery is something unheard of, that to one that is Li-Po (lithium polymer). The fact that the OnePlus One uses a Li-Po battery explains why the manufactures managed to keep the phone this slim. This website further explains the difference between Li-Po battery and the traditional Li-Ion battery.

Camera


The phone comes with a Sony EXMOR IMX214 16 megapixel camera plus a 5 MP front camera, seems like an overkill for a $300 dollar phone. The back camera boasts a six lenses setup which can take 4k pictures, the exact resolution for is 4128 x 3096 pi for the back camera and 1080 pi for the back camera. In addition the phone uses a dual LED flash to allow users to take beautiful low light pictures. You can view the camera and video samples at gsm arena’s website.            

CyanogenMod

With the OnePlus one due to release in two months more people are beginning to discover this new operating software. But what is CyanogenMod? CyanogenMod is an open-sourced software built upon Android firmware, the Current version of CyanogenMod is built upon Android 4.4 (KitKat).

The phone on the top runs CyanogenMod 11 while the phone below it  runs on Android 4.4.2. As you can see there is very little difference in the way both phones look, however CyanogenMod gives the user more freedom to personalise his/her device. I won’t get into too much detail because CyanogenMod is too vast a topic to discuss in on blog. However, if you are interested in learning more about CyanogenMod you can view it here.