Track the varied and compelling history of OnePlus, from the OnePlus One in 2014 to its most recent releases.
OnePlus only appeared on the scene in 2014, but since then it’s been responsible for some of the very best phones on the market – its tactic of selling well-specced and well-designed phones at affordable prices has been a hit with buyers, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Looking back on the history of OnePlus phones is to take a tour through the history of phones in general. You can track all the developments of recent years, from the arrival of 5G, to the appearance of the notch and the ever-improving quality of phone cameras. Here we’ll take you in detail through all the phone releases that OnePlus has ever put out, from the flagship killers of its early days through to the super-budget handsets that it’s recently launched. The company’s handsets have had quite a history, as we’ll explain. And you can also see the approach that OnePlus is taking to the market changing over time too: the smartphone and gadget scene today is very different today than it was back in 2014, and like all the other top-tier device makers, OnePlus has adapted accordingly. OnePlus burst onto the smartphone scene in 2014 with the original flagship killer, the OnePlus One – close-to-flagship specs for a much cheaper price. It’s easy to forget now, but the impact of such a powerful phone at such a low price was huge. Add in the Google Nexus 5 from the previous year, and for the first time we began to realize that great phones didn’t necessarily have to cost a massive amount of money. The OnePlus One had a starting price of $299 in the US and £229 in the UK, not far off half the price of the other flagship phones at the time. The phone was initially pushed out to customers through a special invite system, adding to the exclusive feel of the handset and confirming that we did indeed have something special on our hands – even if the limited supply was somewhat frustrating. In terms of specs, the phone came with a 5.5-inch,1080 x 1920 pixel LCD screen, and was powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor,3GB of RAM and either 16GB or 64GB of internal storage. Around the back, there was a single-lens 13MP camera. Back in 2014, those were very impressive specs indeed, and in our review we described the performance-to-price ratio as « one of the most impressive we’ve ever seen in a smartphone » – and OnePlus was only just getting started. When you’ve had a hit like the OnePlus One, what do you do for a follow-up? The OnePlus 2 didn’t actually change too much, with OnePlus obviously wanting to repeat the same success of the original OnePlus phone with a similar formula. The specs got a boost, as you would expect: in 2015 the phone was up to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU, and the 64GB storage model got an upgrade to 4GB of RAM, but the rest of the specs were otherwise largely the same. The screen size and resolution stayed the same, but OnePlus did improve the camera, and upgrade some of the materials on its second handset for a more premium feel: the addition of a metal frame around the sizes of the phone was a welcome touch. Once again the price was very appealing, with the OnePlus 2 originally going on sale with a starting price of $329 / £249, just slightly up from its predecessor. And in our review it was the price that really made the phone stand out: it was « a price tag that puts the rest of the mid-to-high-end mobile market to shame » we wrote at the same, and OnePlus was fast earning a reputation as a manufacturer that could make top-tier phones at mid-range prices. Once again, OnePlus had made a stunning smartphone. If you thought that OnePlus only became interested in sub-flagship phones in 2020 with the OnePlus Nord, then you’ve forgotten all about the OnePlus X that followed the OnePlus 2 in 2015. The specs weren’t quite as good, but the price got lower still with the X edition: this smartphone went on sale for a mere $249 / £199 when it first appeared. It was a smaller phone, with a screen size of 5 inches and a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, but the display was upgraded to the superior AMOLED technology rather than LCD. In terms of performance it was really only on a par with the original OnePlus One, but you still got plenty for your money – « producing a phone of this quality, for this price, is quite an achievement by OnePlus » we wrote in our review. OnePlus went back to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 for the OnePlus X, with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage the only configuration option. The rear camera was a single-lens 13MP affair, as it had been on the previous two OnePlus phones, though the OnePlus handsets were still lacking certain premium features like wireless charging and waterproofing.2016 brought the OnePlus 3, the first metal unibody smartphone from OnePlus – even at this early stage there were signs that OnePlus was eventually going to move towards fully featured, full-price flagships with all the bells and whistles of the high-end devices that the company had originally been trying to undercut. At $399 / £329, the OnePlus 3 was still very affordable, just not as affordable as its predecessors had been. The phone came running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and an impressive 6GB of RAM, and with 64GB of internal storage. The camera was upgraded to a single-lens 16MP model, but as well as confirming the switch to AMOLED for the display tech, the screen size stuck with the standard OnePlus 5.5 inches, with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. In our review we described the OnePlus 3 as a phone that « goes toe-to-toe with the high-end flagships of 2016 » despite cutting a substantial chunk off the price. At the time it was undoubtedly the best OnePlus phone to date, and something of a return to form after the slightly underwhelming response to the OnePlus 2. With the OnePlus 3 and its new metal housing, OnePlus was starting to find its feet properly. The year 2016 was also the year when the now familiar T versions of the OnePlus phones first got started.
