The OnePlus Two officially launched at 1am UK time, and it was well worth staying up for thanks to some seriously premium specs and features that defy its impressive asking price.
Update: Now read our full OnePlus Two review
The OnePlus Two effortlessly builds on the excellent foundations laid down by the original OnePlusOne, exceeding expectations for how much you can cram into a mid-range mobile.
OnePlus Two: Specs and features
For a start, the aluminum-magnesium alloy frame, combined with solid stainless steel, is a thing of beauty. And you can pick the OnePlus Two up in a variety of finishes, including some neatly patterned with woodgrain effects. At 175g it’s a hefty mother, and it’s pretty chunky too at close to 10mm, but that certainly won’t be putting us off.
That sexy frame holds a 5.5-inch LCD screen that packs a Full HD 1080p resolution, giving just over 400 pixels-per-inch. So while it isn’t quite as sharp as the LG G4‘s 5.5-inch panel, which packs Quad HD visuals, the OnePlus Two should still be an awesome media machine. Excellent performance in direct sunlight is promised, as are 178-degree viewing angles.
Camera tech is always a big one and the OnePlus Two seems to deliver, on paper at least, with a 13-megapixel f/2.0 camera packing six physical lenses. OnePlus has crammed in Optical Image Stabilistation and laser-guided focus (something also found on the LG G4), which should help to keep your subject sharp for photos and video.
There’s a dual LED flash for night shots but the OnePlus team also reckons it’ll be an awesome snapper in low light thanks to the sensor’s 1.3 µm light-collecting pixels, similar to the HTC One M8‘s wide-pixel sensor. We just hope that photos don’t suffer from a lack of detail like those taken on the One M8.
Selfie lovers, you’re taken care of too. The OnePlus 2 packs a 5-megapixel front-facing lens.
As already leaked by OnePlus itself, the new phone comes with a built-in fingerprint scanner that is apparently even better than Apple’s Touch ID sensor, working in just half a second to unlock your phone. On the side you’ll also find an ‘alert slider’ which can silence the OnePlus Two with a quick flick.
Our one concern with the OnePlus Two is the choice of processor, namely the much-maligned Snapdragon 810. The Snapdragon 810 is well-known for heating up to worrying levels but apparently the tweaked version used here isn’t quite so fiery and early word of mouth indicates that the OnePlus 2 doesn’t burn itself out like the Sony Xperia Z3+ does.
Finishing off the OnePlus Two features are dual nano-SIM slots, a bottom-facing speaker, Type-C USB and a 3300mAh battery. Missing is a microSD memory card slot, although at least the phone comes with a generous 64GB of storage, and NFC support. We personally won’t miss NFC too much considering the low price, although this does hamper mobile payments using the handset.
OnePlus Two: UK Price and release date
The OnePlus Two will cost a piddling £289 for the 64GB model, hitting the UK on August 11th – although you will need an invite, and here’s how to get one. A 16GB OnePlus Two model will be available later this year with a price tag of 239 Euros, which we’re hoping will translate to around £200.
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