As a person who loves technology people often expect me to have the latest and greatest devices. But just like a lot of things I spend money on, I want the best I can get for the lowest price. Just because you pay more doesn’t mean you’re getting more. The more expensive product often comes with an “image” or “lifestyle” which means you’re going to pay more. People want what they think is cool because it “will make them cool”. Well, the OnePlus 5 certainly looks cool. It also has all of the features I need and more. All of that comes packaged at a reasonable price!
OnePlus vs Other Phones
If I could do a review on the OnePlus 2, I would but that time has passed and I’ve moved on to a newer phone now. After planning to try a new brand like Huawei or Xiaomi, I found that they just didn’t meet up to what you get with the OnePlus. Again, it came down to how much I’ll get for how much I pay.
The Spirit Behind the Product
Stay with me here. This is not a spiritual experience. Rather, its the idea behind the making of these phones.
Back when Google released the Nexus 5 I bought one right away. It was such a great deal and I could take it to any carrier I wanted! The Google Pixel was not made with the spirit of the Nexus 5. The spirit behind the Nexus 5 was freedom to get a quality phone and take it anywhere you want, to any carrier, anywhere in the world. When I started looking around a couple of years ago to replace my Nexus 5, I found the OnePlus 2. The OnePlus phones are definitely made with the same spirit of the Nexus 5. You get a quite amazing phone for a reasonable price.
Under the Hood
When you buy a car, you want it to look nice… but you also want it to to run. You also want it to last. What is under the hood makes a difference. The same is true of a phone. After looking around at the newer phones from Huawei and Xiaomi I thought I would be switching over to one of those phones. After looking into the hardware they use, I found that the phones didn’t have the same power under the hood. Other brands have phones with just as much or more power but they were more expensive. After checking out multiple phones at the same price point, it turned out that the OnePlus had the best hardware under the hood for the best price.
Software
When you buy a phone from a carrier like AT&T or Verizon, you get a bunch of their apps pre-installed. You probably will never use those apps but the phone carrier made it so you cannot uninstall them. This is called “bloat”. Its a bunch of extra stuff that takes up space on your phone. The only way to get rid of it is to install a custom system, called a ROM. Most people don’t know how or don’t want to do that. Fortunately OnePlus doesn’t burden you with all the bloat. It comes with a few of their pre-installed apps which you can completely uninstall if you don’t want them. Amazing!
If you are the type of person who wants to install/flash a custom ROM, the OnePlus is by far one of the easiest phones to do this with. To flash a custom ROM on most phones, you need to use a “hack” that someone on the internet made for bypassing the manufacturer’s software. Fortunately, OnePlus lets people use their device any way they want. You can unlock the bootloader
Security
When you get a phone from a carrier, they rarely release updates. When a security vulnerability or exploit is discovered the updates to fix it are usually made pretty quickly for Android. Although carriers usually don’t release updates soon enough or ever. OnePlus releases updates regularly and promptly. This is because phones are the product they need to worry about while phone carriers are just concerned with providing cell coverage and locking people into using their service.
Conclusion
The OnePlus 5 (and other versions) pack some good hardware for a reasonable price. You can take them anywhere in the world on almost any carrier. Since they get updated often they have an advantage when it comes to security. At this price point, you’re paying less and still getting a quality phone. Compared to other phones at this price point, you’re getting more power under the hood. These are quality phones and will last you for the long haul.