As promised Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus officially unveiled its next flagship today, the OnePlus 5.
The company's latest features a 5.5-inch, 1080p AMOLED display (1,920 x 1,080 pixels, 401 PPI) that supports the sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces and is coated in Corning’s 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor and Adreno 540 graphics alongside up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM (that’s a lot for a phone) and as much as 128GB of two-lane universal flash storage (no microSD card slot for expansion, it’s worth noting).
The anodized aluminum chassis, measuring 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.25 mm, houses a pair of rear-facing cameras: a Sony IMX 398 wide-angle, 16-megapixel shooter with f/1.7 aperture and a Sony IMX 350 which is a 20-megapixel telephoto part with an f/2.6 aperture lens. For those curious, the selfie cam uses a Sony IMX 371 sensor with 16-megapixel capabilities and an f/2.0 aperture.
A 3,300mAh non-removable battery keeps the action coming and with Dash Charge technology, OnePlus claims you can get a full day’s worth of power with just a 30-minute charge. It runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat with OnePlus’ own OxygenOS (version 4.5) layer atop.
(Image courtesy Chris Velazco, Engadget)
OnePlus seeded a handful of review units to various publications under embargo which has just lifted.
David Pierce from Wired speaks on the OnePlus 5’s performance:
As you might expect from the specs, the OnePlus 5 screams like a French metal band. I played games, watched movies, shot high-res video, opened every app on the phone simultaneously, and then made a video call. Nothing slowed it down. The fingerprint reader below the screen works so insanely fast I almost wonder if it actually reads my print. (OnePlus assured me it does.) My review unit, with 8 gigs of RAM, offers way more power than most people need. And even with all that juice, the battery still lasts a full day. With OnePlus’s much-touted quick charge tech, a quick top-off while getting dressed will last through the evening.
Vlad Savov with The Verge discusses the elephant in the room – the phone’s familiar design:
How do you feel about plagiarism? Your answer to this question will be essential to deciding how you feel about the OnePlus 5’s design. This is basically a slightly smaller iPhone 7 Plus that runs Android. Every physical feature of this phone will be instantly familiar to iPhone users: the curved antenna lines are the same; the dual-camera module, microphone, and LED flash on the back are in the exact same positions; and the power button and volume rocker are also placed as they are on the iPhone.
Around the front, the selfie camera is in the same position as the iPhone, the bezels are almost identical, and the home button serves as the fingerprint scanner. The cheaper version of the OnePlus 5 also comes in Space Slate Gray. The only way the OnePlus 5 could be more “inspired” by the iPhone is if it lacked a headphone jack, which, mercifully, it does not.
(Photo courtesy Amelia Holowaty Krales, The Verge)
Engadget’s Chris Velazco discusses the phone’s software:
As always, the OnePlus 5 runs a custom version of Android called OxygenOS (version 4.5 now). Think of it as "stock Android plus" — it's built atop a clean version of Android 7.1.1 Nougat and loaded with a host of helpful tweaks and options to give power users more control. You can, launch apps by drawing symbols on the screen or swipe into a "shelf" to the left of your home screen to quickly check the weather and leave yourself memos. Want to switch to a dark theme or inject some pink highlights into the interface like I did? Done and done.
The settings app is rife with modifications that both expand Android's usefulness and make it feel more personal, but all of this stuff is hidden under the surface. If you just want a smooth Android experience, you could very easily ignore it all. These broad strokes will be all too familiar to current OnePlus fans, but there are plenty of new touches as well.
Sam Rutherford from Tom’s Guide was impressed with the OnePlus 5’s cameras:
At the Bronx Zoo, results were even closer. In a shot of sea lions relaxing on some rocks, the OnePlus 5 produced a stunning shot that easily kept pace with the Galaxy S8. A close look reveals a bit more sharpness from the S8's pic — especially along the waterline — and a more neutral color balance, but the OnePlus 5 isn't far off.
In front, the OnePlus 5's selfie cam is fantastically sharp. It caught all the tiny details in my hair and face, while also doing a nice job of not blowing out the details in the background. And in case you might want to try to hide some imperfections, there's a built-in beauty mode, too.
(Photo courtesy Amelia Holowaty Krales, The Verge)
BGR's Zach Epstein praises the handset's battery life and recharging technology:
OnePlus’ proprietary Dash Charge technology is also present on the OnePlus 5, and it’s just as impressive as it has been in the past. OnePlus markets it with the tag line “a day’s power in half an hour,” meaning that a 30-minute charge will give the user enough power to last the day. I didn’t use a stopwatch to time each charge during my testing, but I can assure users that this tech is just as fast as any leading technology on the market right now, if not faster.
In my unscientific tests, Dash Charge was far faster than the Galaxy S8 and possibly even a bit faster than the Moto Z2 Play. According to OnePlus, the OnePlus 5 charges from empty to full 98% faster than the Galaxy S8 and 52% faster than the Google Pixel with the displays on.
The OnePlus 5 starts at $479 and will be available for the masses to order beginning on June 27 although if you can’t wait that long, check out the “Early Drop” offers and discounts to get a jump on the action.
https://www.techspot.com/news/69795-oneplus-5-gets-official-here-what-early-reviews.html
