OnePlus phones are spun out of viral marketing. Without all the social media posts and clickybaity claims, OnePlus would be nowhere.
As the result of a million bits of hyperbole compressed into a brick of phone, the OnePlus 3 should be rubbish. It should be annoying. It should be the ‘sponsored’ Facebook link you feel bad for clicking on. However, it’s not.
The OnePlus 3 is the best phone buy in the world right now, and deserves to be at the top of your list if you want a great smartphone, but can't quite afford those flagship prices. At £309, this phone deserves to cost Samsung and Apple at least a few million sales.
OnePlus 3 design: A shiny new suit
One of the biggest changes for the third-gen OnePlus flagship is confidence. The OnePlus 3 doesn’t try so hard to look different. The OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 attempted, and succeeded, to stand out with a ‘sandstone’ finish that feels akin to very soft sandpaper. Like a lobster shedding its old skin, the OnePlus 3 has a new look. And it’s fresh, but familiar.
The OnePlus 3's shell is made from anodised aluminium, looking a lot like the HTC 10 but perhaps even a bit simpler and more attractive. Shock horror, right? Previous OnePlus phones were never the most beautiful phones in the universe, but they didn’t need to be. The OnePlus 3 still doesn’t need that glam-factor at £309, but has it anyway.
OnePlus has provision in place for those sandstone lovers and people who think plain metal is boring. When you buy a OnePlus 3 online you can stock up on ultra-slim cases that alter the finish while only adding to the thickness a tiny bit. A sandstone cover will cost you £15.99, while various woods and carbon fibre-style ones are £20. This phone is a bargain, but OnePlus doesn’t half give you the chance to spend a bit more if you want to.
In your hand or sat on a table, the OnePlus 3 seems just as fancy as a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge or iPhone 6s Plus. The curves and ultra-slim 7.4mm thickness make it a bit easier to handle than the OnePlus 2, too.
Back to functional bits, the OnePlus 3’s finger scanner is quite a lot like last year’s one. It’s great. It sits below the screen, and while it’s not a clicky button it can act as a Home soft key if you want it to, is super-quick and can be used when the screen is off too.
Some of the same people might be tempted to turn their nose up at the screen a bit too. The OnePlus 3 has a 1080p screen instead of an ultra-high density QHD one, but the perceptible difference isn’t vast and only the Vodafone Smart Platinum 7 offers a higher-res screen in a new phone at the price.
It uses an OLED panel as well, meaning contrast and black levels are fantastic. It’ll do the job as a late night bed-bound mini cinema. This is the first ‘flagship’ OnePlus phone to use an OLED too, after the OnePlus X adopted the tech last year.
Like that phone, colour reproduction is not exactly chilled out and natural, though. While not as overblown as the OnePlus X, colours still appear significantly lighter/brighter than they should be. Next to my calibrated MacBook screen and the Samsung Galaxy S7 (set to the most accurate Basic mode), the Google Chrome app looks different, the red bit almost flopping over into orange territory.
The OnePlus 3 has no way to change saturation levels either. You can change the temperature a bit, though, giving the phone a slight blue or orange tint. Besides, most high-end phones have slightly oversaturated colours these days. I don’t find this screen a huge change from the OnePlus 2 day-to-day, but unless you’re after a super-chilled screen, that’s no big issue.
OnePlus 3 smartphone was launched in June 2016. The phone comes with a 5.50-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels at a PPI of 401 pixels per inch.
The OnePlus 3 is powered by 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and it comes with 6GB of RAM. The phone packs 64GB of internal storage cannot be expanded. As far as the cameras are concerned, the OnePlus 3 packs a 16-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies.
The OnePlus 3 runs Android 6.0.1 and is powered by a 3000mAh non removable battery. It measures 152.70 x 74.70 x 7.35 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 158.00 grams.
The OnePlus 3 is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, 3G, 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, and Gyroscope.
The OnePlus 3 is powered by 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and it comes with 6GB of RAM. The phone packs 64GB of internal storage cannot be expanded. As far as the cameras are concerned, the OnePlus 3 packs a 16-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies.
The OnePlus 3 runs Android 6.0.1 and is powered by a 3000mAh non removable battery. It measures 152.70 x 74.70 x 7.35 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 158.00 grams.
The OnePlus 3 is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, 3G, 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, and Gyroscope.
GENERAL
| Release date | June 2016 |
| Form factor | Touchscreen |
| Dimensions (mm) | 152.70 x 74.70 x 7.35 |
| Weight (g) | 158.00 |
| Battery capacity (mAh) | 3000 |
| Removable battery | No |
| Colours | Graphite, Soft Gold |
| SAR value | 0.78 |
DISPLAY
| Screen size (inches) | 5.50 |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Resolution | 1080x1920 pixels |
| Pixels per inch (PPI) | 401 |
HARDWARE
| Processor | 1.6GHz quad-core |
| Processor make | Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Internal storage | 64GB |
CAMERA
| Rear camera | 16-megapixel |
| Flash | Yes |
| Front camera | 8-megapixel |
SOFTWARE
| Operating System | Android 6.0.1 |
| Skin | OxygenOS 3.1.1 |
CONNECTIVITY
| Wi-Fi | Yes |
| Wi-Fi standards supported | 802.11 a/ b/ g/ n/ ac |
| GPS | Yes |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v 4.20 |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared | No |
| USB OTG | Yes |
| Headphones | 3.5mm |
| FM | No |
| Number of SIMs | 2 |
| SIM 1 | |
| SIM Type | Nano-SIM |
| GSM/ CDMA | GSM |
| 3G | Yes |
| 4G/ LTE | Yes |
| Supports 4G in India (Band 40) | Yes |
| SIM 2 | |
| SIM Type | Nano-SIM |
| GSM/ CDMA | GSM |
| 3G | Yes |
| 4G/ LTE | Yes |
| Supports 4G in India (Band 40) | Yes |
SENSORS
| Compass/ Magnetometer | Yes |
| Proximity sensor | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes |
| Barometer | No |
| Temperature sensor | No |
About OnePlus
OnePlus is a Shenzhen-based start-up and producer of smartphones founded in December, 2013. The company's claim to fame is its bid to offer flagship-level specs in its smartphones, at affordable prices. OnePlus initially sold its smartphones only through an invite system where customers would be sent an invite to purchase smartphones and they had to make the purchase within a fixed time frame. Of late the company has held open sales of its smartphones too.
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