So, finally I get around to writing my review for the OnePlus One.

The package arrived in the afternoon when I could hardly wait for it anymore. The packaging is really epic (but I forgot to take photos).

Since I’ve had it for a few weeks now, I’ll keep my first impression brief (there are already enough reviews out there) and describe how the smartphone performs in daily use.

First Impression

Incredibly beautiful and elegant packaging that showcases the phone nicely. Additionally, the device feels quite high-quality. I have the 64GB version, which has a pretty cool “Sandstone Black” finish on the back.

The cable is epic. It’s a red flat cable with gold-plated USB 2.0 connectors. Interestingly, my computer recognizes that the device also supports USB 3.0. Here’s the cable:

Picture of the OnePlus One Cable curled up on a desk

I also ran a benchmark using AnTuTu which led to a funny message at the end:

Screenshot of the AnTuTu result screen, showing "your device is incomparable" as result

The OnePlus One in long-term use

I’ve divided this section into two parts, starting with the issues.

Problems

The biggest problem is the battery. Not because it doesn’t last long enough. The battery lasts a whole day and is charged every evening anyway. The problem here is that the phone has a lithium-polymer battery that goes into a protective mode when it’s completely discharged, which requires you to reset it manually.

Another problem is the reception. I had read beforehand that the LTE capability is limited to frequencies that are rarely used in Germany. But it’s really annoying that I don’t have any reception even in the supermarket.

The last really annoying problem is some graphic glitches that occur from time to time. This ranges from small glitches to flickering, but might as well be the result of my tinkering.

Daily Use

The OnePlus One can score with its brute performance in everyday use, I haven’t seen any performance-related lag so far. Additionally, I found a very stable build of Cyanogenmod 12 or Android 5.0.1 pretty early on, which makes the phone even more epic.

All in all, the smartphone is more than suitable for daily use, and it’s almost a shame that you rarely take advantage of its full performance.

Final Thoughts

A high-end phone for only 299€. You’re almost forced to take it. The device seems to be of high quality and has brute performance. With 64GB of storage and 3GB of RAM, all resources for smartphone standards are almost in abundance.

Plus, it looks and feel beautiful and I can now use this incredible epic boot animation. This wasn’t possible with my S3 because the screen is too small. (The animation requires a Full-HD display)

Note: I found this post in an archive of my old blogs and decided to republish it here