The OnePlus One smartphone may not have all the rage similar to that of its big-time Android rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2, HTC One M8 and even LG G3, but this handset does not in any way fall short of superior specs comparable, if not better, than all those.
The OnePlus handset sports an impressive 5.5-inch 1080 HD display on its smooth and ergonomic body. It boasts a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor IMX214 rear-facing shooter and a decent 5-megapixel selfie-snapper. The 3100 mAh battery promises to sustain all day use.
The "2014 Flagship Killer" packs a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with Adreno 330 graphics complemented by 3 GB of RAM, which flounces all other mainstream devices. The One runs on a special Android KitKat OS known as CyanogenMod 11S for a chock-full of customization. However, it will get an Android Lollipop upgrade three months after Google's official release of the new OS.
That's not even the most intimidating part because OnePlus One is actually the most affordable of the bunch. For the price of one of the abovementioned handsets, buyers can get two OnePlus One handsets already. In the market, the 16 GB model costs only $299.
OnePlus initially made One available for purchase through invitation only. However, the process was wedged in disorder rooting to the confusion on how to get invites.
"This was not a planned side effect of the invite system, and we recognize that it is counterproductive to the great user experience of buying a OnePlus smartphone that we're aiming for," OnePlus stated via PC Advisor.
OnePlus addressed the situation by having the phone pre-ordered. For an hour, between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. GMT on Oct. 27, OnePlus launched the pre-order trial system to "provide a pain free and time efficient way for busy people to buy" the device. OnePlus is working to make the system available sometime soon.
For the orders that were placed within the limited time window imposed, OnePlus guarantees to ship immediately as long as there is available stock. Should supply run out, OnePlus will declare the order as a pre-order.
"No matter what, we'll always tell you our best approximation for when it will ship before you submit the payment authorization (we'll reserve the payment and charge you when we ship)," OnePlus explained in a blog post via PC Advisor.
An India-specific invite system was also promised by the corporation through a OnePlus forum.
"As with our current launch countries, Indian users will be able to purchase the One with an India specific invite," a OnePlus representative wrote.
"Invites have been immensely helpful for us thus far in our current launch countries. They allow us to control our inventory, scale our team and support services to grow along with demand and create an overall better experience for those users with the One. As this is our first experience with the Indian market, we didn't want to be too ambitious," the representative continued.
For now, people who like One for themselves can join the Storm of Invites competition hosted by OnePlus in all its social media outlets. It only requires early fans to provide Facebook email address to score an invite.
The OnePlus One is slated to launch in the middle of 2015.
