OnePlus 5

OnePlus established a solid reputation by offering the performance of high-end phones at a fraction of the price. With their latest release, prices have crept upwards. However, they’re still far lower than the flagships sporting similar specs.

Does the phone keep its value with the higher price tag? Reviewers have had time to check out this new release and are weighing in on the good and the bad.

Let’s see what they’re saying!

The aluminum chassis of the OnePlus 5 had many reviewers making comments about the iPhone 7. However, even those that didn’t think the design was original liked the way the curved edges and solid design felt in the hand. Trusted Reviews said, “The curved back fits perfectly in your palm, while the 3D Gorilla Glass 5 on the front also curves slightly. This multitude of curves make it super-slim, but also easy to fish up from a table.”

OnePlus also includes a dedicated sound profile switch on the side of the phone to make it easy to silence your phone without having to look at the screen. Other design features include a front-mounted fingerprint scanner and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Head around front and reviewers loved the 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED screen. Most considered the default color calibration odd. But you’ll find options to switch that in the device settings. Android Authority used the phone to play games and stream movies, declaring, “Despite only being 1080p, the screen looks absolutely gorgeous and is probably the best Full HD panel ever to grace a smartphone.”

Performance reviews are positive. With a 2.45Ghz octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor, the phone packs the same power as many of 2017’s flagship phones. Paired with 6 or 8GB of RAM, reviews indicate that the phone screams. All without overheating or killing the battery.

Looking to compare performance to other recent releases? Android Police said, “To offer some frame of reference, the OnePlus 5 puts the Galaxy S8 to shame in terms of raw speed. It makes much better use of the Snapdragon 835 SoC in this respect. However, the OnePlus 5 doesn’t feel quite as consistent as the Pixel.”

The phone runs the latest version of Android at the time of writing (7.1.1 Nougat) with the OxygenOS skin. Reviewers appreciated the subtle touches added, with Trusted Reviews saying, “’Less is more’ is the software approach OnePlus has taken, and it works. There’s barely any needless bloatware and the apps that are pre-installed are designed within Google’s Material Design guidelines, so they look and work really nicely.”

With 64 and 128GB models available, you shouldn’t run into issues with storage space. However, there is no microSD support. So plan ahead before buying.

OnePlus made a big deal about their dual rear cameras. Reviews show that the hype is mostly true. Some reviewers complained that using the secondary “zoom” lens resulted in noisy shots. But otherwise, reviews are positive. The front-facing 16MP lens also received rave reviews for selfies and video chat.

The portrait mode was a mixed bag. When it worked, most loved the results. However, getting it to trigger properly fared tricky for reviewers.

Battery life reviews are stellar on the OnePlus 5. The 3300mAh battery offered enough juice to get reviewers through the day while the Dash Charging offered a full refill in just over an hour.

The only complaints we found for the phone related to the speaker. While it gets loud, it’s also tinny and distorts at higher volumes.

In all, it appears that OnePlus has upgraded their experience and with it the costs. All while managing to still undercut the competition by a big margin. GSM Arena summed up overall opinions well, saying, “The OP5 is doing again what OnePlus does best – deliver cutting-edge hardware at an unbeatable price. It may be the most expensive phone by the company to date, but still good value for money regardless.”