OnePlus Cell Phones

OnePlus is a Chinese manufacturer of smartphones. The company is owned by BBK Electronics which also owns the brands Oppo and Vivo. OnePlus was founded at the end of 2013 by former Oppo executives Pete Lau and Carl Pei. Almost all OnePlus aircraft are premium high-end flagships for a very competitive price. In addition to telephones, the company also makes various telephone accessories including headphones (the Silver Bullets and Icons).

OnePlus models

OnePlus' phones can be recognized by a number that is increased by one with each model. Since the OnePlus 3, OnePlus has switched to two releases per year. That second model gets the addition -T and is usually announced at the end of the year. The unveiling of the main model usually falls in the middle of the year.

OnePlus history

The first OnePlus aircraft was announced in April 2014. The OnePlus One was only available by invitation and was given the slogan "Never Settle". It was a high-end smartphone with modern components for a low price. From the OnePlus 3 the invitation system was abandoned and everyone could buy a copy.

Never Settle

The company's slogan is 'Never Settle'. In a blogpost Carl Pei explains what he means by that. It wants to close the gap between a good product and a great product. By paying attention to the smallest details, a high-end premium product must be created.

The slogan went wrong in 2018 when OnePlus, after many times criticizing other manufacturers for omitting the headphone port, removed the beloved port itself at the OnePlus 6T. It did so because of a lack of space, as it turned out later, but it goes against the 'never settle' principle.

Flagship killer

The products of OnePlus are often described as 'flagship killers'. This is due to offering phones with equivalent specifications at a lower price. However, we see the term less and less often. On the one hand this is because the starting prices of OnePlus phones are getting higher every year and the prices of competitors are getting lower and lower.

Cyanogen, OxygenOS and Hydrogen OS

OnePlus applied the CyanogenMod operating system based on Android for the first generation of phones. This choice caused problems for OnePlus right from the start. For example, it was banned from India because another company had exclusivity for phones with Cyanogen. OnePlus developed its own custom ROM which was called OxygenOS. It is also Android-based and follows the same design principles. The name OxygenOS was invented by a Belgian following a competition organized by OnePlus. In China, OnePlus uses another operating system called HydrogenOS.

Collaboration McLaren

In 2018 OnePlus announced a partnership with McLaren Racing, the company behind the Formula 1 team of the same name. This collaboration resulted in the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition. That unit was equipped with carbon fiber, an extra fast charger and more working memory. Inside the box is an exclusive book on the history of McLaren Racing and a piece of carbon fiber from the 2018 McLaren MCL33.