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Open Thread: What do you expect from the OnePlus 2?

Yash GargJuly 15, 2015

It’s hard to believe the OnePlus 2 is only the second smartphone from upstart OnePlus. The first outing may not have gone as per plan, but its no denying that the OnePlus One was a phone you’ve wanted to own (and probably have).

A year has passed, and it’s now time for the next-generation phone to take over — the OnePlus 2. The marketing plan has been pretty much the same, i.e., build hype. In fact, OnePlus are also hashtagging their posts with #HYPE; call it ironic.

Nonetheless, it’s time for an open thread on GizChina, and what better to discuss about than the next big thing in the Chinese tech industry. What we’ll do here is simple — we’ll list what we know about the OnePlus 2, and then ask you for your opinion on what you expect from the phone.

What we know about the OnePlus 2

In typical OnePlus fashion, the company has given away some crucial spec info about the OnePlus 2 so far. This includes the following.

Fingerprint scanner

Chinese phones with fingerprint scanners have been popping up left, right and center. OnePlus could ill-afford not having one on the OnePlus 2, and the company has gone with pop-wisdom.

Snapdragon 810 v2.1 SoC

This one’s the tricky bit. MediaTek have proven they can do high-end (and in style), but for some reason OnePlus have decided to stick with Qualcomm for their chip supply. The OP2 will have a cooler, underclocked version of the Snapdragon 810 64-bit SoC, but will it be good enough? Or would the Helio X10 have been a wiser choice?

4GB RAM

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3GB RAM phones are selling for as low as US$170 in the international Chinese smartphone market, so it would only make sense to include 4GB RAM on a 2015 flagship. We believe this is one bit where most of our readers would agree with OnePlus.

13 mega-pixel laser autofocus camera

Contrary to releasing specs via social media updates, this bit was revealed by OnePlus via star YouTuber MKBHD. He revealed that the OnePlus 2 will have a 13 mega-pixel camera with an f/2.0 aperture and laser autofocus for super-fast focus.

3300mAh battery

Among the non-rugged, non-battery centric Android phones, the OnePlus One with its 3100mAh battery is still among the best battery performers. OnePlus have upped the battery capacity to 3300mAh for the OnePlus 2.

Sub-$450 price tag

The OnePlus One was sold for a base price of US$299 which turned it into an instant success. Pete Lau and Co. started in a similar fashion about pricing for the OnePlus One, saying it would be sold under US$500, then US$400 and ultimately launched the phone for US$299.

Other

Pete Lau also teased a metal build for the OnePlus 2, and announced that it would be smaller in footprint than the OnePlus One, which honestly didn’t have the best screen-to-body ratio.

What do you expect from the OnePlus 2?

We’ve given you all the facts in one place. Sit back, with a cup of coffee perhaps, and let us know in the comments section below what you expect from the OnePlus 2. Be it pricing, availability or the fact that you think that the Snapdragon 810 is in fact the right choice — let us know.

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About the author

Yash Garg
Yash is a blogger by profession, builder of things by passion and foodie by birth. You'll usually find him talking about technology, music, travel and the game of cricket on the streets of Pune when not busy writing or speeding his way through the country! Read more on retro handheld gaming on RETRO91
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Andrew P
July 15, 2015
First of all I hope to see decent availability. I am not going to beg for invite in forums to take my money, especially when there are enough of great alternatives in the market.
Secondly, obviously it should not overheat. If it will overheat, customers will feel fooled after their statement that they worked to solve the problem.
Metal build is not a adventage for me either, I don’t understand why it is being praised so much. Phone gets heavier, slippery, and more sensitive to temperature changes(like overheating or cold in the winter).
Overall, after camera capabilities were announced, I am somewhat disappointed. But hey, probably the price will compensate that.
- balcobomber25
  July 15, 2015
  I agree with everything except the metal build. It all depends on the alloy they use. There are several aluminium alloys that are actually lighter and stronger than the typical poly carbonate plastics used in most phones. The also can be very good at managing heat and can be polished/coated to not be slippery.
- JakobSWE
  July 17, 2015
  I would also rather see a plastic build. It would be both cheaper and sturdier. Also better in the harsh swedish winters.

Manjurul Islam
July 15, 2015
Does it really matter what fans want? We asked for a better camera with f/1.8 aperture, look what they r giving for $450. Some asked for 2k display, but I guess it will be HD only. And the SoC is troublesome, if oneplus solves the heating issue, then it will be obviously compromising the performance. I guess oneplus will be beaten by top mediatek chip.

MaxPower
July 15, 2015
I’ve been critical about this phone (for what we know so far) and I’ve been pointed as a spoiled kid.
the more we get close to its release the more i find critical opinions.
the reasons are pretty recurrent:
SD810 v 2.1 is it going to work?
they claim they found a solution, but didn’t they say the same about the yellow screen?
No CyanogenMod (one of the reason of their previous success)
average camera (for a flagship phone)
price is going to go higher: true,we don’t know how much yet but I’m guessing 399$.
they have been trying to raise the hype with things that really didn’t catch my attention (usb c, 4gb ram) except for the fingerprint scanner.
i don’t think this one is going to sell as good as the OPO
- balcobomber25
  July 15, 2015
  - MaxPower
    July 15, 2015
    - Yeti hand
      July 15, 2015
- pa5t1s
  July 15, 2015
  They really have to move their a***s if Huawei Nexus happens to be what leaks are made of…
  - MaxPower
    July 15, 2015
    exactly, i don’t get the hype.
    bring us some HiFi audio, wireless charging and we can start talking

Michael Ogbonnaya
July 15, 2015
I am not really expecting anything specific from the device. There is nothing that 1+2 will have that no other phone till date has not had.
Whatever they bring to table is OK provided they do not overprice the device. Thats the only thing I want …. a $299 price tag for the base model.

balcobomber25
July 15, 2015
What do I expect? Absolute failure. I have been incredibly critical of OPO and their shady marketing practices over the past year. But the One was a very good phone, and one of the most influential phones in Android history. Not because it offered flagship specs at a low price, Xiaomi and Meizu did that before OPO existed. It was influential because it was the first phone that got the west to really pay attention to Chinese phones.
The main reasons the OPO was so successful was for two main reasons: CM + Price/Performance ratio. Not having CM is a huge loss, most people in the tech community bought it specifically because it had CM. With an expected price of over $400 and the specs only slightly upgraded there is no compelling reasons to buy it. Hardcore OPO fans will still buy it, and it will still sell decent but no where near what the One did. And no where near what they could have done with the hype they had.
- Adam Irvine
  July 15, 2015
  Here here!
- joe montdsad
  July 16, 2015
  This is true, having actually decent software goes a long way. Either open your roms to modding or hire a third party company to develop software for you.

realjjj
July 15, 2015
I don’t care anymore, even got doubts about them surviving this device.
First thing they should have done was confirm that the price is not going up and take a shot at others that up prices (like Xiaomi). Second they shouldn’t have used SD810 and it’s so much worse using it this late.And third, they should tease something that actually matters but it doesn’t seem they got anything like that.
If they are trying to lower expectations, they went too far lol, they should have stopped before damaging their image.
Then again ,if they don’t have microSD they could pay me and i still wouldn’t use it.
It’s ok the world doesn’t end with OPO, we’ll have other things to look forward to.
- Bailey
  July 19, 2015
  The difference between Xiaomi and OPO is that Xiaomi have phones accross all price points opo only has the one. People need to get real you cant have cuting edge internals and great build quality without it costing more. Even when the price does go up it is still cheaper than most top end phones on the market

pa5t1s
July 15, 2015
In no special order…
1-Screen size >=5.5 (5.7?)
2-Bezel-less
3-Metal body is cool
4-Original design (that is, not a dull chocolate bar with a ridiculous round button at bottom of the screen)
5-removable battery + back cover
6-Decent OS, stock Android (Lollipop or M?) would be fine, if choice available…
7-Decent battery life (>=2 days)
8-Bamboo or Wood back cover
Well, anybody can do that, so my last point is:
9- an incredible low price for the specs 🙂
- MaxPower
  July 15, 2015
  - pa5t1s
    July 15, 2015
    Nope, this is not something I find usefull for the moment: you cannot use a SD card on Android with the same ease you use an ‘external drive’ on Windows for example: no way to install apps on it, no real way to ‘manage’ where to save your files on the fly… I do prefer a large regular internal storage (64GB is fine on OPO)
- Marlon
  July 15, 2015
  It’s going to be 5.5 in a smaller body, so that takes care of 1) and 2);
  Not metal, they made this clear to everyone already. Up to 5 style swap covers at launch;
  You’re never getting #5, don’t even ask
  - balcobomber25
    July 15, 2015
    I’ll believe the swap covers are available when I see them. I seem to remember them offering a lot last year too but then saying it wasn’t cost effective and canceling them all except Bamboo which they offered as a special edition.
  - pa5t1s
    July 16, 2015
    Thanks for the infos about SwapStyle covers 😉
AneynAmiYani
July 15, 2015
Suicide flagship with SD 810. No, thanks!
Yury
July 15, 2015
1) 5.5” QHD with very small bezels, and light, metal frame
2) snap 810 + 4gb ram + 32/64/128 rom + sdcard + 2sim + good cameras (13+5mpx, maybe even dual main cameras) + hifi chip + big battery >3000
3) flagship in 2015 must have fingerprint scanner, nfc (trend)
4) nice OxygenOS + CM (but it will not happen)
right market price for this is 2299 yuan for 32gb (better 1999 to be really hot!)
and is better to have 2 versions of OnePlus 2 – second is slightly smaller screen -> 5.2” 1920×1080/snap 810/4gb ram/2sim/good cameras/hifi/big battery even with the same price tag.