-
After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.
Anyone owning or considering a OnePlus One....
- Thread starter funkylogik
- Start date
-
- Tags
- oneplus one
shalemail
Android Expert
Review.
I found a guy on Craigslist here in town that had the sim adapter pack for 5 bucks, so I grabbed one and tried out the oneplus.
I will most likely get slaughtered for this, but.... not a fan. It's fine, I like the build quality, felt good in the hand, but it's still big. I am not a huge fan of big, that's why I like my Moto-X. I am not a power user, the whole cyanogenmod thing is not huge for me. Really, the X is more intuitive for MY needs.
It was fine, it ran smooth enough though not nearly as quick or as snappy as I expected with 3GB of Ram and the snapdragon 801 processor. Maybe a tad clunky.
Overall, 7 - 7.5 out of 10. My Moto X I'd rate at an 8 or 8.5, so it's back in my pocket waiting for the X2.
Just my 2 cents, I know others love it, maybe I am crazy.
I found a guy on Craigslist here in town that had the sim adapter pack for 5 bucks, so I grabbed one and tried out the oneplus.
I will most likely get slaughtered for this, but.... not a fan. It's fine, I like the build quality, felt good in the hand, but it's still big. I am not a huge fan of big, that's why I like my Moto-X. I am not a power user, the whole cyanogenmod thing is not huge for me. Really, the X is more intuitive for MY needs.
It was fine, it ran smooth enough though not nearly as quick or as snappy as I expected with 3GB of Ram and the snapdragon 801 processor. Maybe a tad clunky.
Overall, 7 - 7.5 out of 10. My Moto X I'd rate at an 8 or 8.5, so it's back in my pocket waiting for the X2.
Just my 2 cents, I know others love it, maybe I am crazy.
robdam1001
Well-Known Member
*UPDATE after almost 2 full weeks with the OPO, I can honestly say that I LOVE THIS PHONE! 3GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, sexy design are all positives. The only downside is I'm having a difficult time using the phone one handed. I'm 6'2" tall with large hands. It's do-able but difficult. The pro's certainly outweigh the one negative, however.
fitzy73london
Lurker
The general consensus seems to be positive. I am looking at upgrading, as my M7 is coming towards the end of life. How is the plastic case issue? Anyone have more problems with the screen?
I'm getting a bit frustrated with the invite system though.. Seems completely random, and based on the number of posts you have on their forum.
I'm getting a bit frustrated with the invite system though.. Seems completely random, and based on the number of posts you have on their forum.
robdam1001
Well-Known Member
I don't have any issues with the sandstone case or the screen. I agree; the invite system is utter BS. I had actually given up hope on ever being able to purchase the OPO when one day, out of the blue, I received an email notifying me of my official invite. I didn't post much on the OPO forums at the time. Maybe 12 posts at most. I think the invites have been given out at random as you mentioned.
zipred
Android Expert
My OnePlus One arrived at 10 am yesterday. Having flexibility at work, I checked out and spent the next ten hours with it.
After performing my checklist of tasks designed to put my new smartphones through a rigorous test and evaluation routine, I declare the OPO a stellar performer. Personal preferences side, this is one very exemplary smartphone. Not a single fault, it's smooth, fast, and has a very good implementation of Cyanogenmod.
Now to my personal opinion, and this is where the situation becomes very challenging.
The phone is terrific, the company is soiled by its undying commitment to censorship, selective approach to customers and problems. Careful tracking on my part reveals their deliberate choice to ignore helping OPO owners with certain warranty issues.
Failure to have the courtesy to even return correspondence. Ignored emails are commonplace, even when the customers device is inoperable. Obscenely high prices are being charged (additional markup above the shippers fee) to return devices for warranty work in the rare instance when OPO does decide to honor their warranty.
Taking a page from the Steve Jobs Playboy Of Narcissistic Behavior, OnePlus is operating at their whim with a disturbing degree of "In Your Face" arrogance.
So there you have it. My thoughts / options are:
1) Violate my Personal Policies Of Ethical, Socially Responsible Behavior. Ignoring the egregious highly distasteful OnePlus Company and just use the phone.
OR
2) Be true to myself, one who finds censorship deplorable. One who believes in free speech, although I'm very aware that the region this phone comes from embraces a dramatically different culture. Therefore I revert to #1.
OR
3) Walk out to my workshop and enjoy the sounds of metal glass and plastic being crushed as I place it in my industrial strength metal crushing machine.
That's becoming the more attractive and compelling choice by the moment...
After performing my checklist of tasks designed to put my new smartphones through a rigorous test and evaluation routine, I declare the OPO a stellar performer. Personal preferences side, this is one very exemplary smartphone. Not a single fault, it's smooth, fast, and has a very good implementation of Cyanogenmod.
Now to my personal opinion, and this is where the situation becomes very challenging.
The phone is terrific, the company is soiled by its undying commitment to censorship, selective approach to customers and problems. Careful tracking on my part reveals their deliberate choice to ignore helping OPO owners with certain warranty issues.
Failure to have the courtesy to even return correspondence. Ignored emails are commonplace, even when the customers device is inoperable. Obscenely high prices are being charged (additional markup above the shippers fee) to return devices for warranty work in the rare instance when OPO does decide to honor their warranty.
Taking a page from the Steve Jobs Playboy Of Narcissistic Behavior, OnePlus is operating at their whim with a disturbing degree of "In Your Face" arrogance.
So there you have it. My thoughts / options are:
1) Violate my Personal Policies Of Ethical, Socially Responsible Behavior. Ignoring the egregious highly distasteful OnePlus Company and just use the phone.
OR
2) Be true to myself, one who finds censorship deplorable. One who believes in free speech, although I'm very aware that the region this phone comes from embraces a dramatically different culture. Therefore I revert to #1.
OR
3) Walk out to my workshop and enjoy the sounds of metal glass and plastic being crushed as I place it in my industrial strength metal crushing machine.
That's becoming the more attractive and compelling choice by the moment...
Out of pure curiosity, how do you feel about Foxconn? Since they have had several controversies over the past 5 years and since they have a part in almost all electronic devices, I would think out would be hard to follow your first option for other tech products.
Good writeup on experience and I'm happy you had none of the documented issues so far. Good luck with your decision
Good writeup on experience and I'm happy you had none of the documented issues so far. Good luck with your decision
CafeKampuchia
Android Expert
^^^ This.
Option #2 is inevitable, and chances are we're all doing it already. We believe that child labor is immoral and that everyone has a right to free speech, minimum wage and health benefits, but then we turn around and buy all our stuff from counties that can make it cheaper because they don't. The highest value in our culture seems to be low prices, not individual liberty. (I feel like a picture of unpopular opinion puffin should accompany my post.)
Edit:
Zipred, please don't take this as a commentary on you. I actually share your values and predicament. Just speaking my mind about the big picture.
Option #2 is inevitable, and chances are we're all doing it already. We believe that child labor is immoral and that everyone has a right to free speech, minimum wage and health benefits, but then we turn around and buy all our stuff from counties that can make it cheaper because they don't. The highest value in our culture seems to be low prices, not individual liberty. (I feel like a picture of unpopular opinion puffin should accompany my post.)
Edit:
Zipred, please don't take this as a commentary on you. I actually share your values and predicament. Just speaking my mind about the big picture.
K
KOLIO
Guest
Not a single mfg has earned the right to wear halos & wings,I've experienced similar w/companies (3) in the smartphone industry to varying degrees.
Since we own the phone already,the best one can do to be a good steward for the 1+ community & fellow man/woman in general is to act accordingly based on your experience.
If you've truly been hosed by 1+,then by all means necessary,go nuclear & let the world know what's going on w/your experience.
On the other side of the coin,if all is well,I think 1+ at least deserves 1/4 of that same effort for a good experience.
Competitors have been known to troll & make the competition look bad,not to mention the individuals who have nothing better to do than troll.
Believe me,anyone who's visited the 1+ forums is well aware of the muck & trolling prevalence.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.Not as bad as a casual observer may see,but,1+ could step up their game in the service department.
Thing is the end consumer usually has no dealings with Foxconn. You have a problem with your iPhone or iPad, you go to Apple. You have a problem with your Xbox, you go to Microsoft. You have a problem with your laptop, you go to Dell, HP, Sony or whatever.
Seems to me that OnePlus has really pared their phone prices to the bone. Which is maybe why support and warranty service apparently sucks, and charging high prices for everything else they can, like shipping prices.
CafeKampuchia
Android Expert
True enough, but that doesn't solve the ethical problem Zipred is getting at.
I guess that's the problem of making things on the cheap in China, instead of making them ethically and much more expensively in the USA.
K
KOLIO
Guest
Both good points.
The status quo of the mega corps such as Apple/Samsung/Motorola/etc.....
Is a very convenient tool for them to distance themselves from the inexpensive mfg that is contracted & to absolve thmselves of any culpability in the reports of the practices the outsourced companies use.
It "Gets them through the day & enables them to sleep at night",so to speak.
Albeit not as such a drastic situation,many state jobs where I work were recently contracted out to the private sector,all in the name of cost-cutting & winning votes @ election time.
The only people that won out on that were the parties that negotiated the deal,everyone else took the hit.
Guess where the $ savings is coming from......
So,this sort of thing isn't unique to certain parts of the world,it happens everywhere.
zipred
Android Expert
Excellent question, I find Foxconn quite deplorable. Thanks for the well wishes.
Kudos for an excellent post, your points are very well expressed.
Another thoughtful well composed post addressing these very challenging issues. Your points are in line with my thinking and well taken.
It's posts like this that, along with others here, bring to the forefront just how big the issue and related challenges are.
Special Thanks To:
confed
CafeKampuchia
KOLIO
mikedt
Your responses and contributions to this topic have been exemplary. Informative, thoughtful and a stellar example of why I find Phandroid -Android Forums my absolute favorite forum of those I participate in.
Cheers
K
KOLIO
Guest
I think we're all on the same page here zipred. :thumb:
Perhaps the best we all can do is to act locally & support your community/family/neighborhood by giving back in some way to help out,in the short-term/immediate future.
Could be anything from monetary donations to volunteerism for your favorite cause,whatever it may be.
As for what has been hashed around here,I think a more long-term,grass-roots effort of some kind is best.
Even if we don't see the immediate effects,perhaps the groundwork/seeds can be planted for others,even future generations,to take it to the next level.
In a nutshell,call it KARMA,if you will.
Perhaps the best we all can do is to act locally & support your community/family/neighborhood by giving back in some way to help out,in the short-term/immediate future.
Could be anything from monetary donations to volunteerism for your favorite cause,whatever it may be.
As for what has been hashed around here,I think a more long-term,grass-roots effort of some kind is best.
Even if we don't see the immediate effects,perhaps the groundwork/seeds can be planted for others,even future generations,to take it to the next level.
In a nutshell,call it KARMA,if you will.
THE W
Android Expert
we're all disappointed with the customer service offered by oneplus and we should be as it's simply not good.
however, it has very little if anything to do with how they have priced the phone. google did not have horrible customer support issues with the nexus despite it being in the same price range. same with other long established chinese brands selling at a similar pricepoint.
this is a brand spankin' new company and despite their affiliation with oppo, they're not handling oneplus' customer support, their logistics, or giving them their parts. if you have a problem with your 1+1, your cannot go to oppo as they won't help you. you have to deal with a company that does not yet have the infrastructure that other much bigger and longer standing companies have.
they can and will get on the same page as apple and other billionaire companies but it's gonna take some time(certainly longer than less than a year). apple, sammy, LG, and even Xiaomi did not come on the seen 9 months ago. those companies have been around for decades. to compare oneplus to these companies in terms of infrastructure is simply being dishonest. it should also be noted that this wouldn't be any different if they charged $600-700 for the ONE. in fact if they did, they wouldn't have even made it this far.
growing pains. apple went through it, sammy went through it, oppo went through it, and oneplus has to go through it too.
however, it has very little if anything to do with how they have priced the phone. google did not have horrible customer support issues with the nexus despite it being in the same price range. same with other long established chinese brands selling at a similar pricepoint.
this is a brand spankin' new company and despite their affiliation with oppo, they're not handling oneplus' customer support, their logistics, or giving them their parts. if you have a problem with your 1+1, your cannot go to oppo as they won't help you. you have to deal with a company that does not yet have the infrastructure that other much bigger and longer standing companies have.
they can and will get on the same page as apple and other billionaire companies but it's gonna take some time(certainly longer than less than a year). apple, sammy, LG, and even Xiaomi did not come on the seen 9 months ago. those companies have been around for decades. to compare oneplus to these companies in terms of infrastructure is simply being dishonest. it should also be noted that this wouldn't be any different if they charged $600-700 for the ONE. in fact if they did, they wouldn't have even made it this far.
growing pains. apple went through it, sammy went through it, oppo went through it, and oneplus has to go through it too.
CafeKampuchia
Android Expert
Carl @OnePlus said:
Source: Invites in August | OnePlus Forums
Translation: they are between a rock and a hard place. People want phones now, so they are under intense pressure to produce and ship. That, however, creates the problem of scaling their business accordingly (including the customer support department) since shipping a bunch of phones is ultimately much easier than hiring & training good people. They can't win either way.
THE W
Android Expert
yep, just read this one today.
goes back to them thinking they would make a flagship caliber phone with great design for half the cost of the competitors and no one was gonna want it.
mind-boggling stuff..
Actually Xiaomi has been around for about 4 years. But here's the thing though unlike OnePlus, who seems to me has been trying to conquer the world at launch, 16 countries I believe, Xiaomi established just in China first, built their brand and got in with the carriers, and then has been gradually expanding on a regional basis, like country by country, giving a good and full service. No invites, no phone smashing, no bullshit.
THE W
Android Expert
what oneplus set out to do was make the best phone possible while believing that a good product would spread through word of mouth. they succeeded in that respect. the customer support side takes time. i'm sure Xiaomi didn't have it all together their first 9 months either.
the contests were about promotion and getting the word out. they have succeeded in that respect as well.
FYI, 12 of the 16 launch countries are in europe.
Xiaomi didn't even have a phone for the first year, they had a ROM which became popular, and then they launched the M1 with China Unicom. Initially only available in China. AFAIK good customer service and support has never been a problem for them.
OnePlus had their launch contests, but I think unless you'd been reading tech sites like Gizchina or Engadget, you'd likely never heard of it. My father and sister never heard of it. When Xiaomi launches in a country, you can buy them from Vodafone, T-Mobile, etc.
It's 4 months since the OnePlus One was launched, and even here in China I would still have to go through the invite shenanigans to hope to get hold of one. Didn't bother and just bought an Oppo F7, which is very comparable and has good support and service. .
zipred
Android Expert
While in a good number of articles they've been painted as a Start-Up, fact is that one of the principles has more than one start-up under his belt, and was the lead principle responsible for creating OPPO.
Therefore he's got sufficient experience to have been able to prepare the company for a variety of scenarios such as great demand for the product. Beyond that it's the arrogance and blatantly selective and variable ways they treat some customers compared to others that seems quite unacceptable.
Therefore he's got sufficient experience to have been able to prepare the company for a variety of scenarios such as great demand for the product. Beyond that it's the arrogance and blatantly selective and variable ways they treat some customers compared to others that seems quite unacceptable.
THE W
Android Expert
so it seems Xiaomi started off real small and grew into things over time. my point was everything wasn't there right from the start. they didn't even have a device yet.
tech enthusiasts, that was oneplus' target. they hit their target. becoming a household name will happen later.
from what i'm aware of you can buy the chinese version from various official retailers(oppomart being one of them). the invite system is for the INT/CM version.
THE W
Android Expert
haven't read anything about peter lau or carl pai being founders of oppo. peter lau was VP and carl was also an executive there. still, this is a different animal in that they don't have oppo's resources other than them being their OEM. but, again, that doesn't count for their CS, logistics, and parts and repairs.
zipred
Android Expert
The only reason I have factual data regarding Lau, is as a result of my decades long involvement in the tech industry at the level of large scale international operations. Working within a company so vast that I've been exposed to a very robust circle of notable contacts over the years, my colleagues and I know, or have had contact with most of the major industry players over the years, young and old.
That said I have a full appreciation of the challenges OP faces, it's only their approach and current execution or lack thereof that I find rather distasteful.
Personally? It doesn't matter to me.
It's just another company and another product.
If not for my genuine interest in my fellow enthusiast, and the general public's experience, I wouldn't even bother posting my thoughts, knowledge and opinions.