OnePlus 2: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

OnePlus has come up with a winner at an affordable price but this one's definitely not a flagship killer, says Rajesh Mascarenhas.

Photographs: Uday Kuckian/Rediff.com

When OnePlus One was launched, it was rightly called the flagship killer. Those days, 13 MP cameras were rare and were seen only in flagship devices. The most high-end processor was Snapdragon 801. The screen resolution of flagships was 1920 X 1080. Essentially, OnePlus One offered everything that a flagship device did and more, at half the price. It also had more RAM than top-end devices and had Cynogen operating system.

OnePlus 2 carries forward the legacy of its predecessor in terms of hardware but it's definitely not a flagship killer. It still remains a phone that offers tremendous value for money. We had the phone for review for 15 days to evaluate the good, the bad and the ugly side of OnePlus Two.

The Good

The phone we got was the one with 64GB ROM and 4GB RAM (price Rs 24,999). The feature that stood out was the fingerprint scanner.

It was a breeze to add fingerprints and then use it to unlock the OnePLus 2. It's quick and does the job well. But we would like to add that it still not as 'great' as the one on iPhone. Apple's fingerprint scanner is too smooth to be true.

The 4GB RAM makes the phone a performance best. We went to the extent of opening up 40 applications on it and played 12 games simultaneously -- pausing each one and going to the next. But there was no performance issue.

The phone also comes with a metal frame, which gives the device a premium look compared to its predecessor.

The 64-bit chip coupled with 4 GB RAM and Adreno 430 GPU make every activity on the phone fun. The web pages on OnePlus 2 load faster than many other phones because of this hardware. The pinch and zoom effect gives an instant response.

The back cover of OnePlus 2 is replaceable -- you can change it as per your style. The quality of sandstone back cover too seems to be better. Thankfully, the company maintains sandstone finish, which is now synonymous with OnePlus.

The images captured from the 13 MP camera with optical image stabilisation, laser autofocus and dual-LED flash, were clear. There wasn't any colour loss, tinge or excessive saturation. If you use the HDR mode, the images look even better.

There is also a button on the left that allows users manage notification settings. It has three setting -- all notifications on, priority only, and all notifications off. This is of great help for those who have time only for 'priority' notifications.

The new Oxygen 2 OS, based on Android Lollipop 5.1.1, is smooth. It is similar to stock Android. There are only few customisations added to it. This ensures fewer bugs and glitches unlike the Oxygen 1. Many users were unhappy with the earlier OS and the update was much needed.

The Bad

The phone's battery remains outstanding with 3,300 mAh pack though the fast charging option is absent. It took around two hours to charge the phone completely from a drained out battery. But once fully charged, you can use it for the entire day with heavy usage. The company could have kept the option of wireless charging that's common in all flagships.

Many were expecting that the display to be an improved one over the previous generation device. OnePlus has not made any changes in this space. It can be a good thing, though.

Full HD displays consume lesser battery than power-hungry Quad HD ones. The viewing angles on the phone continue to be good and the company has used Gorilla Glass 4 to make the screen robust. The glass is reflective and will require an anti-glare screen protector.

Many are also disappointed that OnePlus 2 comes without the NFC. There are expectations that the company might launch back covers with NFC built in. But this can be a rumour.

While the Oxyden OS retains stock Android features, we did come across a few minor bugs. When we were downloading 5-6 files simultaneously in Google Play, the app crashed twice. These were not frequent though and users don't really need to worry about it.

The camera also appeared slow compared to other flagships, such as Mi4, which also uses laser technology to focus. It felt as if the camera takes time to process images, especially when in HDR mode.

After clicking photos we tried to use the pinch to zoom feature but couldn't in the device we received. We had to get out of the camera app and open the picture in an image software to zoom in and out.

The speakers are placed next to the charging area. The output is clear but could have been better. When playing games the sound is muffled with fingers, as you hold the phone horizontally from both ends.

The Ugly

The phone heats up when doing graphic-intensive activities. Initially we experienced the phone warming around the camera even when playing YouTube videos. That somehow didn't happen after a few days. But when playing games the phone heats up pretty fast though it doesn't get too hot to handle. This is more of a problem with Snapdragon processor than with OnePlus' assembling capabilities. Only once did the phone get excessively hot. That was when we continued playing Plant vs Zombie while keeping the phone on charge.

Verdict

Is this a deal breaker? Definitely, not.

OnePlus has come up with a winner at an affordable price but this one's definitely not a flagship killer.

Also Read: OnePlus 2 is not a 'flagship killer'