OnePlus 2 first impressions: 10 Things We Love!

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OnePlus has yet again proved that a flagship smartphone with high-end specifications does not necessarily have to be priced obnoxiously! After creating a lot of hype around the OnePlus 2, the company finally unveiled this much-anticipated smartphone globally on Tuesday in a unique kind of Virtual Reality event. As expected, the new-gen OnePlus smartphone maintains the specifications standards and benchmark that were set by the company's One smartphone.

 

Rating:
3.5/5

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

OnePlus 2 combines killer features with a good design, and has been launched at an aggressive price point. So you get a better display, improved version of the Snapdragon 810 octa-core chipset, imrpoved camera, higher RAM, Android-based Oxygen OS, a fingerprint sensor, an ‘alert slider', USB Type C connectivity, and more at price starting from Rs 22,999.

 

We went hands-on with the OnePlus 2, and here are our first impressions of the phone:

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

Design:

The OnePlus One was a good looking smartphone, and OnePlus has managed to make the 2 look even better by adopting metal to define the chassis of the latest flagship. The OnePlus 2 dons a magnesium alloy frame which gives it's a premium and sturdy look and feel.

Another key design-feature is the alert slider key that is placed on the left side of the phone. The slider allows user to toggle between notifications. So one can chose from All, Priority and None to enable all notification alerts, for getting notifications only from the contacts set as priority, and for disabling notifications alerts, respectively.

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

The phone is a lot more comfortable on hand, partially due to its back panel that is subtly curved from sides. The rear shell can be swapped to refresh the phone's look with other fancy rear panels, which OnePlus calls as StyleSwap covers. Apart from the black sandstone panel that is the default panel on the phone, the company is offering four alternatives which include Kevlar, bamboo, rosewood and black apricot.

Also, it houses a USB Type C port which was already revealed by One Plus CEO, Carl Pei. The USB Type C is a reversible port and offers higher data transfer speeds up to 5GBps. Another good part is that the phone comes with a dual-reversible, tangle-free USB cable given in the box.

The OnePlus 2 feels a little on the bulkier side, but that can be ignored considering its overall premium looks and design compared to the previous generation smartphone.

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

Display:

You may feel disappointed by seeing the same 5.5-inch LCD with a 1080p resolution on the successor as the predecessor, but the company has improved the display in terms of brightness and quality. The phone offers good viewing angles.

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

Processor and storage:

The OnePlus 2 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 octa-core 64-bit processor clocked at 1.8GHz, coupled with an Adreno 430 GPU. The company has added a 810 v2.1 cooler which works with the thermal gel and graphite used in the phone to keep the heating issues at bay. In our brief hands-on with the phone, we can't really comment on whether the phone would heat up or not, but are expecting the phone to work better.

The OnePlus 2 comes in 2 variants including a 3GB RAM and 16GB internal storage, and another 4GB variant with 64GB inbuilt storage.

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

Fingerprint scanner:

The phone comes with a fingerprint reader, which is a capacitive rectangular key placed right below the display, and between two other navigation buttons. The company claims that the fingerprint reader is much faster than that of the iPhone, and can unlock the device in merely 0.05 second.

When we tried, it did look accurate and work pretty smoothly for us. We unlocked the device within a friction of a second, but will still reserve our final take for a detailed review. Just to add, the phone can take up to five fingerprints.

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

Camera:

In the camera department, the OnePlus 2 flaunts an improved camera. So you get the same 13-megapixel Sony IMX214 sensor with f/2.0 as seen on the OnePlus One, but with additional features including higher pixel size. So you now get 1.3um instead of 1.12um.

The OnePlus 2 gets Optical Image stabilisation (OIS), and PDAF (Phase detection autofocus technology) or the Laser Auto Focus, both of which boost the camera performance, especially for shooting objects in motion. Aso, there is dual-LED flash.

Up front, there sits a 5-megapixel camera for selfie enthusiasts.

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

Software:

OnePlus 2 comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop based Oxygen OS, which is the company's native UI. The latest version of OxygenOS brings a lot of improvements, cleaner UI and new features. The UI looked pretty smooth to us during our hands-on of the phone. We have the review unit, and will give you more information about the interface and software in our detail review soon.

OnePlus 2 First Impressions

Conclusion:

The OnePlus 2 comes in 2 variants including a 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage priced at Rs 22,999, and another 4GB variant with 64GB inbuilt storage for Rs 24,999. With features like a metal chassis in favour of the cheaper plastic one; improved chipset, display and camera; and a handful of other interesting additions like USC Type-C port and Fingerprint reader, OnePlus 2 smartphone seems quite a powerful device for its price tag.

Here are ten things that we loved about the phone:

1. The phone is designed neatly and looks awesome with its metal chassis.

2. We can chose to change the look of the phone by swapping the back panel.

3. The 5.5-inch 1080p display is crisper, and brighter in comparison to its predecessor's. It is undoubtedly a visual delight!

4. Finally, we get 4GB of RAM!

5. The rear camera with all the additional features is quite impressive.

6. There is plenty of room to accommodate all those photos and songs and more on the phone. Thanks to the massive storage space!

7. The fingerprint reader is accurate and works actually pretty fast!

8. It has a USB Type-C port, and comes with the reversible cable!

9. The UI looks neater and has more features to explore.

10. For its price, it surely is a beast!

Over all, the phone does look promising and it will be interesting to see how it does against its competitors. However, the phone will be getting tough competition from the likes of upcoming Xiaomi Mi5 and LG Nexus 5 (2015 Edition).

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