OnePlus 5 with 8GB RAM and dual cameras launched at $479. Will Indians buy it?
After months of leaks and scrutiny, the wait is finally over. The OnePlus 5 is officially here. OnePlus 5 is carrying on the company’s motto of being a true “flagship killer” legacy. The phone was launched through global launch event - which streamed online - which was better executed than Apple iPhone launches.
Similar to its predecessors, the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, the OnePlus 5 brings high-end specifications in an affordable package.
Coming in at just 7.25mm, the OnePlus 5 is the company’s slimmest smartphone till date. It has got a metal unibody design with a fingerprint sensor – which the company is claiming can unlock in just 0.2 seconds - built into the home button on the front bottom. There’s the Alert Slider – allows for the toggling between ring, silent and do not disturb profiles - on the top left.
The smartphone flaunts a 5.5-inch full HD Optic AMOLED display with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 layered on top. It’s got three cameras. A dual camera setup on the rear - a 16MP main and a 20MP telephoto shooter – and a 16MP autofocus shooter on the front with the option of a screen flash.
The rest of the specs
#OnePlus5: If you care about specifications, then here they are: pic.twitter.com/8b2rX0HQC3
— Sahil Bhalla (@IMSahilBhalla) June 20, 2017
Unlike the OnePlus 3T before it, the OnePlus 5 comes with OxygenOS based on the latest version of the Android operating system, Android Nougat 7.1.1. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s latest processor, Snapdragon 835. It has two RAM and storage configurations - 6GB + 64GB and 8GB + 128GB.
Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t come with a microSD card slot. The connectivity options are all standard - 4G with VoLTE, dual-SIM, USB Type-C, NFC and GPS – on the phone. What’s new is the inclusion of Bluetooth 5.0, something unseen in other flagship phones.
The company took a dig at Apple before revealing that the phone has kept the 3.5mm headphone jack. Under the hood is a 3,300 mAh battery that comes with the same Dash Charging support all OnePlus users have come to love.
Price
The Oneplus 5 will be available to buy starting 27 June at a price of $479 (Rs 30,972 at 21 June exchange rate) in the USA. There are only two colour options. Slate Grey (6GB RAM + 64GB storage configuration) or Midnight Black (8GB RAM + 128GB storage configuration).
Will Indians buy it?
With the Indian launch being a day away, all 'leaks' of the price are mere rumours. Let's take it with a pinch of salt. Reviews from across the world (India has an embargo till the 22nd) have been mixed on the new dual-camera setup on the OnePlus 5. With the rumoured price of Rs 33,000 for the 6GB RAM configuration and Rs 38,000 for the 8GB RAM configuration, this phone is being priced right next to LG's newest flagship LG G6.
For just a couple thousand more, one can get the Google Pixel (a phone that released in October of 2016), and when there are discounts, an iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S8. Those phones pride themselves on the camera, something which the OnePlus team did during the launch. Comparing this to the OnePlus 3T, there isn't much different. The screen is the same, most of the features are similar and the Dash Charge feature has been left untouched.
So, when your only selling point to customers thinking of upgrading from the OnePlus 3/3T is the dual-camera and it misfires, then you've lost out on most of those customers. Sure, new customers will not find a phone with such 'flagship specifications' in a cheaper phone but the price tag of the phone is blurring the line between a "flagship killer" and a "truly flagship" phone.
Only time will tell whether customers pick it up or not. Maybe, in the end, this phone will get sucked into the "Good windows, bad windows" cycle where every alternative model is good and the other is bad.
First published: 21 June 2017, 12:58 IST
