Third time's a charm, right? Well that's what OnePlus will be hoping with its third-generation flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 3.
True to its 'Never Settle' mantra, OnePlus is pushing forward with its 'flagship specs for half the price' game plan, and with the new OnePlus 3 the signs are positive.
After the initial breakout success of the OnePlus One in 2014, the follow up from the Chinese outfit was a little lackluster, with the OnePlus 2 failing to reach the same heights as its predecessor.
If anything, OnePlus was a victim of its own success, as expectations for its second installment went above and beyond what the still-small firm was capable of.
Design
The single biggest advancement from the OnePlus 2 to the OnePlus 3 is the design. I forgave the original OnePlus One's polycarbonate looks because the phone offered such fantastic value for money, but when the OnePlus 2 came round many people, myself included, wanted more than what was on offer.
Thankfully OnePlus has answered fan's calls for a more premium design, delivering its first metal uni-body smartphone in the OnePlus 3, cut from a single slab of aluminum.
The result is pleasing. The metal chassis signals the evolution of OnePlus brand from a slightly shaky Chinese startup to a brand that knows what it's doing, and knows what people want. It doesn't break any new ground in terms of looks, with flashes of iPhone, HTC and Samsung, but it's great to eyeball and hold in the hand.It's a shame that OnePlus hasn't taken smartphone design in a new direction, but a quick look at the top phones across all the major manufacturers shows that there's a fair amount of – how shall I put this – 'borrowing' when it comes to styling.
Front-on the OnePlus 3 isn't anything special – it's a relatively standard black slab coated in Gorilla Glass 4, with the main feature being the indented fingerprint scanner-come-home-button oval below the display.
The fingerprint scanner is much quicker at recognizing your digits and unlocking the OnePlus 3 than it was on the OnePlus 2, with a quoted time of just 0.3 seconds. While I can't vouch for the exact speed I can see that it's impressively quick, and I didn't have any issues when using it. OnePlus says it's faster than Apple's Touch ID, and I'm inclined to agree.
Either side of the scanner you'll find touch-sensitive navigation keys which are only visible when tapped, with a single white LED illuminating for a couple of seconds before disappearing into the bezel.
These are responsive and easy to hit, and you can program them in the settings menu, enabling you to perform extra functions with a hold action rather than a tap. You can also swap them round – so if you prefer your back key to be on the right rather than the left you can do just that.
As well as the toughened Gorilla Glass on the front of the phone, OnePlus has also included a factory-fitted screen protector to prevent scratches, but it's a little annoying. It doesn't cover the whole screen, and at times I could see the edge of the protector running down each side of the display, which distracts from the on-screen action.
Fortunately you can remove it pretty easily, and it doesn't leave any nasty residue on the glass – but you're unlikely to get the bubble-free finish if you try to re-apply it, so make sure you really want it gone before peeling it off.
Along the left side of the 7.35mm-thick OnePlus 3 are the volume rocker and notification slider. The latter has three positions: all notifications, priority notifications and silent, enabling you to quickly adjust the setting without waking the screen.
It's a hat-tip to Apple's mute switch on the iPhone, and it's something I found very useful during my time with the OnePlus 3 – especially when it came to quickly muting the phone during meetings and cinema trips.
On the other side is the power/lock key, which sits below the dual-SIM tray. Yes that's right – the OnePlus 3 can handle two SIMs. On some other devices, such as the Huawei P9, the second SIM slot also doubles as a microSD slot, but that's not the case here – as mentioned, there's no expandable storage option.
The explanation given to me by OnePlus's Pei for why the company continues to shun expandable storage comes down to user experience.
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