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OnePlus started its smartphone journey by making affordable smartphones with top-of-the-line specifications and the tagline of being a ‘flagship killer.’ Over the years, the brand has matured a lot with a much wider portfolio thanks to the R and Nord series, along with other ecosystem products such as the OnePlus TVs, the OnePlus Buds, and OnePlus Watch. Still, OnePlus is best known for its ‘premium’ smartphones, and the OnePlus 11 launches tomorrow. Today, we will look at the previous OnePlus smartphones that democratised some of the features in the smartphone market, starting with the very first OnePlus One.
The OnePlus One was the very first smartphone from the company and it launched in India in 2014. The OnePlus One stood out for its specifications and affordable price tag and was termed ‘a flagship killer’ at the time. When compared to the rest of the competition at the time, the OnePlus One was unique and offered almost everything that one expected from a flagship smartphone back in 2014, except it started at a much lower price of Rs 24,999.
With the OnePlus One, the company found instant popularity amongst Android enthusiasts and also relied on an ‘invite-only’ system for the initial sales, which added to the interest and buzz around the phone. The OnePlus One was also one of the first mainstream smartphones to ship with custom CyanogenOS with a lot of customisation options.
The second smartphone from OnePlus had a lot of expectations, and the company did deliver some of them. The OnePlus 2 was one of the first Android smartphones to incorporate a USB Type-C port for charging and data syncing. Similarly, it is also the phone that introduced the iconic alert slider. However, the device didn’t get the reception OnePlus expected, mainly due to thermal throttling issues on the Snapdragon 810 SoC. As we noted in our one-month review back in 2015, the OnePlus 2 had some significant performance and battery issues. Overall, it was a device that even OnePlus would have preferred to forget.
OnePlus made a serious comeback with the OnePlus 3, which offered a premium look and an excellent camera as we noted in our review. It also came with 6GB RAM– something most flagships did not offer at the time– along with 20W Dash charge, making it one of the fastest-charging smartphones back in 2016. The OnePlus 3 and later the OnePlus 3T were truly the comeback smartphones for the brand as they saw mostly reviews and a good reception from users in India as well.
The OnePlus 5 was the first dual-camera smartphone from the company and was also priced higher at Rs 32,999. The OnePlus 5 was no doubt one of the best flagships one could buy at an affordable price as we noted in our review. With the OnePlus 5T, the company introduced a taller 18:9 display with a taller screen-to-body ratio instead of a 16:9 display With this, we also got to see features like a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and the company even launched a special Star Wars edition of the OnePlus 5T with a special package.
The OnePlus 6 series introduced a glass sandwich design with a metal mid-frame. With this series, the company improved the overall design to compete against other flagship smartphones of that time. This was also the first smartphone from the company to embrace a notch, similar to the one on the iPhone X. Similarly, the OnePlus 6T came with a more compact v-shaped notch with a higher screen-to-body ratio. In terms of pricing, OnePlus 6 came with a starting price of Rs 34,999.
The OnePlus 7 Pro (review) is one of the first smartphones to offer a curved QHD display with a higher 90Hz refresh rate. This is also the phone that came with a pop-up selfie camera, and that trend didn’t take off as everyone expected. Overall, with the OnePlus 7 Pro, the company positioned itself as a premium Android smartphone maker with a starting price of Rs 48,999.
The OnePlus 8 was more of an incremental update when compared to the OnePlus 7 series. The OnePlus 8 Pro (review) was one of the first smartphones in the world to feature a 2K 120Hz display with a curved finish. Instead of a pop-up selfie camera, the device came with a punch hole cutout with a higher screen-t0-body ratio.
While the OnePlus 8 series can be considered an incremental upgrade when compared to the OnePlus 7 series, the OnePlus 9 was one of the first camera-centric smartphones from the brand, and the OnePlus 9 Pro (review) came with a triple camera setup with Hasselblad branding. Similarly, the OnePlus 8 Pro is also the first smartphone from the brand with wireless charging and an IP rating for water resistance, at least in select markets.
The OnePlus 10 series had two models. The OnePlus 10 Pro 5G came with the Hasselblad brand as well on the camera and offered an excellent one when it came to this department. But the pricing was also on the higher side as well, starting at Rs 66,999. Clearly, the higher price was an issue as OnePlus later introduced the OnePlus 10T, which was slightly more ‘affordable’ given it started at Rs 49,999. But it also did away with some beloved OnePlus features like the alert slider and it did not come with the Hasselblad branding either.
