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OnePlus 5 is official! Specs, new features, UK release info and more

The OnePlus 5 has officially launched, offering impressive value for money as always. Here’s all of the essential info, including the OnePlus 5’s full specs, UK release info and all of the best new features.

OnePlus has been pretty consistent with its flagship phones to date, offering top-end specs and killer performance for a price that undercuts most rival handsets. The OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, both released in 2016, proved to be the best mobiles the Chinese company has launched so far. In fact, the OnePlus 3T even impressed us enough to be billed as Recombu’s Best Phone of 2016.

We expected to see a OnePlus 4 in 2017, but the manufacturer has skipped straight to the OnePlus 5 instead – for a very unusual reason. Today the OnePlus 5 officially launched, updating the OnePlus 3T with a dual lens camera, improved specs and some interesting new features. 

Check out our OnePlus 5 vs OnePlus 3T vs OnePlus 3 comparison to see how the new phone stacks up against the older models.

OnePlus 5 official specs

Phone OnePlus 5
Screen size and type 5.5-inch AMOLED
Screen resolution Full  HD (1920×1080)
Water resistant? No
Processor Snapdragon 835
Memory 6/8GB
Storage 64GB/128GB
microSD? No
OS Android 7.1
Battery 3300mAh with Dash Charge
Rear camera Dual-lens 20/16MP
Front camera 16MP

OnePlus 5 design

The OnePlus 5 doesn’t look massively different from the OnePlus 3T, although several refinements have been made.

The all-metal unibody frame is impressively slim at 7.25mm, with an iPhone-style banding above and below. We like that new subtle Horizon curvature, although there’s only two colour choices which are rather similar in appearance – silver and black. No vibrant hues so far.

The OnePlus 5 isn’t water resistant either, unlike many other flagship phones.

You once again have an alert slider on one edge, which can be used to quickly put the phone into silent mode. A fingerprint sensor is built into the home button, just beneath the screen. Expect this to be just as responsive as before.

OnePlus 5 features and OS

As with previous OnePlus phones, the OnePlus 5 comes packing the latest version of Android. In other words, Android Nougat 7.1. On top of this will come OnePlus’ own Oxygen OS overlay, which adds some bonus customisation and some other nifty features.

OxygenOS is now more powerful than ever, with lots of small refinements compared with the OnePlus 3T. More on these soon.

OnePlus 5 display and media

OnePlus has stuck with a 5.5-inch display for the new OnePlus 5 – not a surprise as every single flagship since the OnePlus One has done the same. This will once again be an AMOLED panel, for pleasingly vibrant visuals. No edge-to-edge finish or Quad HD resolution, which would have ramped up the cost. That’s fine by us as the image reproduction is as stunning as ever.

Of course, that does mean that obsessive media lovers have more reason to grab an LG G6, Sony Xperia XZ Premium or Galaxy S8, which offer HDR support and sharper visuals. Those handsets will also better suit VR fans, offering a more immersive experience.

Still, the OnePlus 5 can automatically adjust the colour temperature of the display at any time, using the ambient light sensor. This feature (called Reading Mode) will automatically filter blue light when you hit a darkened environment, for instance. Kind of like a souped-up version of the standard Night Mode.

OnePlus 5 performance and battery life

Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 chipset is packed inside the OnePlus 5, a processor only found in a handset of premium machines like the HTC U11 and Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium.

The Snapdragon 835 offers support for some seriously next-gen VR experiences, including full hand mapping and freedom of movement in a virtual environment. In addition, you’ll get improved performance over many existing flagships, as well as better power efficiency and faster connectivity, for super-smooth media streaming.

A whopping 6 to 8 gigs of RAM is stuffed inside the new handset, which helps to make the new OnePlus proper bloody quick. Especially as the memory is now up to 20 percent more efficient than on the OnePlus 3T. The black model comes with 8, while the grey sticks with 6. Still not exactly shabby.

A 3300mAh battery will hopefully give up to two days of life between charges, to match the Huawei Mate 9 and Honor 8 Pro. Android is more efficient in its latest incarnations, so we can only hope. The latest version of Dash Charge also means the OnePlus 5’s battery fills up in no time at all, while keeping the battery cool and safe.

You get 64GB of fast storage built into the grey model, which should help to keep your apps running quickly and give you plenty of space for apps and media. The black model upgrades this to 128GB. Neither has a microSD memory card slot, however, so there’s no physical expansion.

OnePlus 5 camera

OnePlus’ camera tech has always been solid if not remarkable, offering strong everyday snaps but not quite reaching the gorgeous results of rivals from Samsung and Sony.

However, that all changes the OnePlus 5. The company’s latest smartphone boasts a tailor-made Sony sensor and camera tech that was crafted in collaboration with optics expert DxO Labs.

DxO Labs is a French firm specialising in cameras, with a particular interest in mobile photography. The DxOMark Mobile test is widely regarded as an accurate indicator of a smartphone camera’s strengths and weaknesses, putting each big handset through its paces to see which is best.

The OnePlus 5 sports a dual-lens camera: one 16-megapixel wide-angle, the other a 20-megapixel telephoto. These work together to produce clear, detailed photos, complete with a bokeh effect in the new Portrait Mode. The f/1.7 standard lens should capture crisp photos in low light, comparable to the Samsung Galaxy S8, while the telephoto secondary lens gives you a closer look at your subject and helps to keep your photo sharp.

Full manual controls are again on offer, with RAW capture if demanded.

With OnePlus’ optimised image stabilisation tech on board, you can definitely expect smooth, good-looking video results too. Up to 4K video resolution video recording will of course be available, as it has from the very start.

Question is, will the OnePlus 5 be as good as the HTC U11 – currently topping the league with its excellent UltraPixel 3 camera? Check back soon for our full OnePlus 5 camera review.

OnePlus 5 UK price and release date

€499 is the European price of the OnePlus 5, which translates to £449 here in the UK. That’s for the slightly trimmed grey version. If you want the beefy midnight black model, that’ll cost you £499.

You can grab the OnePlus 5 from June 27 direct from OnePlus here in the UK.

You can grab the OnePlus 5 exclusively from O2 here in the UK, from £34 per month (or £36 for the Midnight Black version). Pre-order now and you will receive the phone from June 22.

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