After 10 years with OnePlus phones, these are my favorite 3

Because the OG of community-led manufacturers, OnePlus would possibly’ve had renegade origins and lofty beliefs to vary the smartphone establishment. Nonetheless, the OnePlus of 2023 is an entire completely different beast. Whereas worth positioning continues to be a core facet of the corporate’s market technique, it isn’t all that OnePlus is about anymore. Right now, the model has a smorgasbord of choices throughout worth segments. It ranges from telephones just like the reasonably priced Nord sequence and reasonably priced look-alikes of flagships with the R-series to a true-blue flagship foldable.

As a day-one OnePlus fan, I’ve tried out virtually each cellphone the corporate made. Alongside the best way, I’ve had experiences, good and dangerous, of units that genuinely modified the smartphone business, innovated with pop-up cameras and unimaginable design, and, ever so typically, missed the mark with missing software program. Ten years later, these three OnePlus telephones stand out as my favorites.

The primary OnePlus One was outstanding for its stability of energy, worth, and the community-first Cyanogen Mod-based Android working system. It additionally wasn’t a very polished gadget. If the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 have been a peek into the corporate’s plans to vary the smartphone panorama and advertising and marketing, the OnePlus 3 sequence was the end result of all that effort. The OnePlus 3 and, much more so, the OnePlus 3T constructed upon a wonderful base and delivered a spectacular smartphone that might’ve taken on most different flagships when it launched in 2016.

Whereas the cellphone eschewed the beloved sandstone end, every little thing else concerning the OnePlus 3T was an improve. The steel building, sapphire glass on the digicam, and stunningly slim profile made it stand out amidst the competitors.

Launched as a mid-cycle refresh, the OnePlus 3T smoothed over among the foibles of the OnePlus 3 by bumping up the bottom storage to 128GB and going for a Snapdragon 821 processor. The latter proved to be a really vital improve so far as effectivity was involved. Efficiency, too, improved, however Qualcomm’s efforts to reinforce the cellphone’s day-to-day longevity paid dividends.

However whereas an upgraded chipset was glorious, probably the most noticeable enhancements got here by way of software program refinement. Bear in mind, these have been the early days of Oxygen OS, and the software program was nonetheless principally inventory Android. And extra importantly, the competitors was nonetheless delivery supremely bloated software program. I fondly bear in mind the OnePlus 3T as one of many quickest units in day-to-day usability. The truth is, once I reviewed it again within the day, I went so far as saying that the OnePlus 3T was so good it made different telephones really feel unusable to me.

Staunch OnePlus supporters would possibly hold forth at me for dismissing the stellar OnePlus 5T and even the 7T, however hear me out. The OnePlus 7 Professional was the place the corporate took of venture in the direction of establishing management.

The cellphone was not only a piece of fantastic {hardware} at an excellent worth. With the 7 Professional, OnePlus stretched itself and delivered a stellar show with no cutouts. It achieved this feat utilizing a pop-up selfie digicam — a development I sorely miss.

The corporate’s first cellphone with a Professional moniker, the OnePlus 7 Professional, had all of the bells and whistles like a flagship processor, ultrafast charging by 2019 requirements, and cameras that have been completely good, albeit not the very best within the enterprise.

In his long-term assessment, Android Authority’s C.Scott identified that the OnePlus 7 Professional was his all-time favourite Android cellphone. I concur. As a reviewer and tech fanatic, I hardly ever use a cellphone for over a couple of months, however the OnePlus 7 Professional was distinctive. It’s the uncommon smartphone I held onto for nearly three years due to its unmatched, uninterrupted show and beautifully polished software program. Magnificence is within the eye of the beholder, however I genuinely consider it’s nonetheless one of many best-looking smartphones ever made.

When OnePlus introduced its plans to launch a foldable smartphone, it was anticipated that the corporate would shake up the section with an reasonably priced, high-performance foldable. OnePlus didn’t do this.

As an alternative, OnePlus constructed a press release piece. The OnePlus Open competes in the identical worth bracket as Samsung’s foldables however comes outfitted with the very best {hardware} but on a foldable cellphone. Bringing out the large weapons, OnePlus took a kitchen sink method and tossed full-specced cameras, ultra-fast charging, and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset on the cellphone. Heck, it even contains an IR blaster — a rarity in typical flagships, not to mention foldables.

Nonetheless, the selection of facet ratio sealed the deal for me. I’ve used all of the Samsung foldables, and the tall facet ratio by no means actually clicked. The OnePlus Open, alternatively, is wider, each closed and open. This lends itself to traditional smartphone-style one-handed use. When open, the bigger display screen is successfully two smartphone shows positioned subsequent to one another — good for multitasking.

Add to that probably the very best software program integration for working a number of apps concurrently, and also you’ve bought the makings of what I believe is the primary foldable smartphone that genuinely enhances productiveness and encourages you to multitask. Positive, it’s costly, however OnePlus has managed to sneak in a little bit of its trademark worth proposition by doubling the quantity of storage supplied out of the field and offering higher {hardware} throughout. It’s not fairly a steal, however worth could be discovered right here.

OnePlus is amongst the uncommon breed of smartphone manufacturers that also evokes a rollercoaster of feelings amongst its fan following. Regardless of the large outroar concerning the model dropping its identification over time, it nonetheless manages to evoke curiosity and intrigue by providing stellar {hardware} for the cash. Has OnePlus settled? For some followers, maybe. However by turning into the beast it tried to conquer, OnePlus is now a stable different to Samsung’s close to monopoly within the Android world.

Having used virtually each OnePlus flagship made over the past 10 years, I consider the corporate’s present course is the pure trajectory for any self-sustaining, profitable enterprise. Nowhere is the model’s progress seen than within the transition from the OnePlus 3T to the OnePlus 7 Professional and the OnePlus Open. These three telephones finest characterize the model coming of age, making an attempt to be modern, and delivering a true-blue flagship. I can’t wait to see what the following ten years at OnePlus seem like.