1. Great Specs for Good Price
The OnePlus does have NFC. On top of that addition, it comes with a list of great specs, including a 5.5″ FHD AMOLED display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 6GB of RAM, 64GB UFS 2.0 storage (no MicroSD slot, either), 3,000mAh battery, 16-megapixel camera, 8-megapixel front-facing camera, and OxygenOS running atop the latest publicly available version of Android.
For all of this greatness, which should easily last you until you decide to upgrade devices again, the price is set at just Rs 27,999.
An overall downside, if I had to come up with one, would be the lack of water resistance. Unlike the Galaxy S7, you won’t want to shower with this device.
2. Software Customization
As previously stated, the OnePlus 3 comes with OxygenOS. It’s by no means a stock version of the Android OS, but one filled with lots of tweaks and custom settings. The options include the ability to quickly add theme accents into your Settings menu, change between on-screen and capacitive buttons, and lots of lockscreen gesture commands you can enable. Keep in mind, though, at first glance OxygenOS UI looks just like vanilla Android, making it that much more appealing to us.
The custom software experience is one of my favorite aspects of the phone, and from my experience, it’s pretty smooth. For example, when changing up themes or toggling different system settings to be shown in your pulldown notification window, there are no bugs or jank to be found. The one issue I have come across is a non responsive “back button” problem that will hopefully be resolved in an upcoming software update.
To turn on your flashlight, draw a “V.” To begin music playback or to pause playback, with two fingers, draw a “Pause” symbol. These are small additions, but make using the phone a lot of fun.
3. Great Design
In-hand, the OnePlus 3 feels really good. It’s not too big and it’s not too small. It’s just right. Covered in an all-metal body, the curvature of the device offers a great grip, and importantly for us, the buttons are all in their right places. The power button sits on the right side, while the volume up and down rocker is placed on the left side, right below the Alert Slider. For a lot of people, this is the proper layout when it comes to hardware buttons.
In many ways, the OnePlus 3 is rather unsuspecting. There are no flamboyant markings or dressage on the device, just a single OnePlus logo on its backside. No carrier branding is always a plus, too. Along the bottom, you will find the USB Type-C port, external speaker, as well as the 3.5mm headphone jack. I suppose, if I was to design my ideal smartphone, it would end up looking a lot like the OnePlus 3.
In my mind, the OnePlus 3 is easily one of the better designed devices on 2016. Sure, it might look a little boring, but most importantly, it works and feels good while in-hand.
4. Solid Camera
The rear-facing 16-megapixel camera on the backside of the OnePlus 3 is solid. It takes good pictures if provided a good setting, something I believe we proved in our complete review. However, like all other smartphone cameras, if you have poor lighting and moving subjects, it might be tough to capture that shot you are after. The camera is quick to focus, already making it a good contender, and the shutter is quite fast. The combination of these two aspects will at least allow for the potential of a few really good shots. A lot of phones don’t even have that going for them.
5. Fast “Dash” Charging
Last year on the OnePlus 2, OnePlus tossed in USB Type-C, allowing them to market the device as one of the first with the envelope-pushing feature. Unfortunately for consumers, they neglected to toss in any type of fast charging technology. That sucked. This year, though, the OnePlus 3 is outfitted with Dash Charging, a comparable experience to Motorola’s Turbo Charging, Samsung’s Fast Charging, and Google’s Rapid Charging.
Dash Charging on the OnePlus 3 can technically grab a 63% charge in just 30 minutes time, according to OnePlus. What makes Dash Charging different from other fast charging solutions is OnePlus’ design to put the power management and heat dispersion in the actual charging adapter that plugs into the wall. This means your phone isn’t burning up, something you might experience typically when fast charging. So, while you’re charging your phone Dashingly, you can still game, record 4K videos, or do whatever else and not cook an egg on the backside of the device simultaneously.
