On(c)e more

Vaibhav Sharma

One Plus is a young company looking to transition its devices from being flagship killers to legitimate flagships themselves. In the space of three years since it entered the arena, the company has established itself as the well-known no-nonsense Android OEM that packs the best specifications in a mouthwatering price. The fact that they don’t skin Android, and try and keep it as close to stock as possible also ensures that they ship new versions of the software quickly. 

The newly released One Plus 5 brings everything that you could possibly ask for and more when it comes to specifications. A whopping 8 GB RAM in the top model (6 GB otherwise), dual cameras, Snapdragon 835 processor and the latest version of Android, Nougat... The design is similar to its predecessor from the front; however, the back makes it look like an iPhone 7 Plus clone. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because the iPhone is a great looking phone. The antenna lines and the colour choices also closely follow Apple’s endeavours. Therefore, it should come as no surprise when the dual camera functionality also looks like a complete rip-off. One Plus has built a portrait mode that provides a bokeh like effect, and the second telephone lens also provides lossless zoom. Reviews, however, suggest that this functionality is not as well executed as some may have hoped and will require software updates to reach the level of finesse that Apple promises. 

All in all, you have a device that is super fast, looks good, runs the latest version of Android and packs features that devices costing a lot more carry. The full HD screen looks just as nice, super fast Dash Charging easily makes up for the lack of wireless options. This year’s model may not let One Plus remain as competitive on price, but the quality of the product still stands out. The One Plus 5 comes in ‘Midnight Black’ and ‘Slate Grey’, both dark, matte and mildly similar.

watch out

Display: 5.50-inch, 

1080x1920 pixels

OS: Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Oxygen OS 4.5.0

Battery: 3300 mAh battery 

with Dash Charging

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa-Core 2.45GHz Processor

Camera: Dual camera 16 MP + 20 MP with Dual LED Flash

Configuration: Rs 32,999 

(64GB + 6GB RAM), 

Rs 37,999 (128GB + 8GB RAM)