OnePlus X Champagne edition hands on and impressions

OnePlus are now part of the mid-range phone wars with the OnePlus X, a phone that shares the market with the LeTV 1S, Xiaomi Mi4c and other phones. Here are my first impressions of theOnePlus X Champagne edition.

I’ve been using the OnePlus X Champagne edition since the OPX officially launched in China, but today it was revealed that the OnePlus X Champagne edition would launch internationally so I thought I would repost my hands on and impressions of the phone.

The OnePlus X is the third phone from OnePlus and the 2nd device from the company this year. Interestingly this is also the 2nd OnePlus to get a Snapdragon 801 chipset, a fine processor no matter what anyone says.

OnePlus X Champagne edition hands on and first impressions

While the OnePlus 2 is a flagship phone designed for crunching numbers, snapping photos as fast as possible and generally being a bit of a powerhouse, it isn’t as stylish as some phones on the market, and with its focus on hardware it doesn’t really attract casual phone users.

The OnePlus X is basically OnePlus take on of the iPhone, and they are wanting to attract the same market share with this phone. People who want a phone that looks good, is easy to handle and female users. This is also the same market Vivo and Oppo aim for with some of their models too.

So with a focus more on the design and quality side of things, OnePlus have created a glass and alloy phone, that is super slim and has a screen size of just 5-inches. That compact body does actually feel really nice in the hand, and you will barely notice it in your pocket (at least compared to the bulkier 5.5-inch OP2).

Along the front and rear of the white model I have been sent for review are 2.5D glass panels, and in between is a nicely machined alloy chassis finished in champagne, its hard wearing and in my months of use I have yet to mark it.

The front houses the 5-inch FHD AMOLED display. The screen is designed to give the impression of as little bezel as possible, but once the screen is on there are borders all around. We’re not talking Elephone levels of bezel, more like the LeTV Le1s.

Below the display are gold icons for navigation, but if you like you can choose to use onscreen navigation if you prefer.

Gizchina News of the week

Join GizChina on Telegram

The chassis has grooves machined all the way around for added grip, and while it’s all a little ‘bling’ for me my wife absolutely loves the look of champagne metal and white glass together.

If we go in a little closer we can also find machining on the power and volume buttons (both of which feel really well made), and there is a 3 position notification switch (like the OP2) on the left.

In the top there is a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microphone. In the base dual speakers and a standard micro USB plug. So far I found the audio through the external speakers to be below what I was expecting, i.e not as good as the Vivo X5 Pro or Lenovo Vibe X3. It’s also a little annoying for me that the OPX has a standard micro USB while most of my other phones now have a Type C plug.

The rear is very simple, completely white with a champagne OnePlus icon, 13 mega-pixel camera and single LED flash. The camera on the OPX is good, but not as good as the OP2. The lack of laser focus makes it a little slower and the F2.2 aperture is a little noisy in low-light situations.

You can see how the OnePlus X camera compares against the Xiaomi Mi4C and LeTV Le1s in my shootout here.

My version of the OPX came from China with Hydrogen OS, but it is a simple process to install Oxygen on to the phone (instructions how to install Oxygen OS on the OnePlus X here). As I found with the OP2, the OPX really comes to life with Oxygen OS, and it’s no surprise that the ROM runs fast and smooth on the Snapdragon 801 chipset and 3GB RAM (similar to the OPO specs).

As already mentioned above, I have used the OnePlus X Champagne edition as my daily phone since it arrived a month or so ago (remember both colours were available in China at launch). Performance all round is really good, the camera is more then adequate and the battery life is impressive, it is so good I’ve not touched the OnePlus 2!

For more read Yash’s OnePlus X review here, and I may also post my own full review of the OnePlus X Champagne edition in the coming days.

‌

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author

Andi

- - - Lars
      November 7, 2015
      EU Direct is shipped from within Europe so the package doesn’t have to go through customs with the risk of extra costs (taxes). However it’s more expensive so you could gamble and let it ship from China which is quite a bit cheaper but has the risk of extra costs. The latter will also take longer to deliver I guess. Most resellers put a low value on the box and lie about the contents to avoid taxes but I have no idea how GizChina handles this.
      - PerixXPro
        November 7, 2015
        Thanks. That’s a really useful information. I even thought going cheaper with the Letv 1s, but the ROM support is holding me back.
        I will wait till the OPX be on EU Warehouse.
        
        Lars
        November 7, 2015
        Well I just received my invite for the OnePlus X. It’s only 270€ if you buy it from OnePlus but I don’t know if there are any shipping costs.
        It seems quite easy to get your hands on an invite, I only subscribed a week ago. Most people I know have already received one or more invites.
        I’ll be trying to get my hands on the Honor 7 this Wednesday with the discount but if the black one is out of stock again I have about two hours to use my invite for the OPX before it expires. Gonna be a close one :).
        Tajwar
        November 7, 2015
        Who’s going to win the race?…iphone of course.
        Let me know what you got(that’s if you want of course)
        
        PerixXPro
        November 8, 2015
        I’m not going to buy it, but someone in EU will buy it from me. I don’t want him to buy it from an Invite, since it might just frustrate him. Maybe he is used to just create an account and buy it…
        Lars
        November 9, 2015
        Apparently there is an additional shipping cost of 20-25€.
        Lars-Peter Dijkstra
        November 7, 2015
        The ROM support of Letv is perfect: I use the Experience ROM and it is updated every week 😉
  - Tajwar
    November 7, 2015
    Gizchina shop is super fast using EU Warehouse, placed my order on the 4th and on the 6th it was already at my doorsteps. Excellent service and the extra money was worth it.
    For anyone wondering it was a Letv le One(x600)
    - PerixXPro
      November 7, 2015
      That’s slick. Great device you have.
      What do you think about the ROM support? I dont like the ROM it comes with.
      - Sprime
        November 7, 2015
        I got mine from Tinydeal, and the ROM was unusable. The BB72 ROM however is pretty close to being perfect, and is constantly updated (for now). :3
      - Tajwar
        November 7, 2015
        The ROM needs more refining, less “appleness” and community above all, so only then it may stand up to the mighty MIUI
    - Nektarios Orfanidis
      November 7, 2015
      - Tajwar
        November 7, 2015
        Yea the phone is smooth and snappy, great picture quality, the ui is not quite at MIUI level, battery life’s very decent…
        But the fun ended next day, as I brought the phone for my mother.
        Although I don’t resent it as I am back to my trustworthy Xiaomi Mi3 (2013!!!)
        A macro from the Letv le One:
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8df42ebfdc6c4886f5324a3aa706df2a7506025aef34a20caf8884b5130c4d09.jpg
        Simon
        November 8, 2015
        Are you running MIUI 7 on your Xiaomi Mi3 ?
        Tajwar
        November 8, 2015
xi7
November 6, 2015
- - xi7
    November 11, 2015
    after home sensor lag , cpu burn as hell, O.S very slow, battery drain drain drain drain…. never more oneplus. But solve problem with AK Kernel, better performance. antutu 68k….69k. very good but not solve all problem
PerixXPro
November 7, 2015
- Andi Sykes
  November 7, 2015
  now: http://shop.gizchina.com/oneplus/oneplus-x-3gb-ram-16gb-rom-black-smartphone-568.html?utm_source=related-products
- PerixXPro
  November 7, 2015
  Thx.
  What’s the difference, for someone in France, to buy using the EU Direct, or the normal Giz Store?
- Lars
  November 7, 2015
  EU Direct is shipped from within Europe so the package doesn’t have to go through customs with the risk of extra costs (taxes). However it’s more expensive so you could gamble and let it ship from China which is quite a bit cheaper but has the risk of extra costs. The latter will also take longer to deliver I guess. Most resellers put a low value on the box and lie about the contents to avoid taxes but I have no idea how GizChina handles this.
- Tajwar
  November 7, 2015
  Gizchina shop is super fast using EU Warehouse, placed my order on the 4th and on the 6th it was already at my doorsteps. Excellent service and the extra money was worth it.
  For anyone wondering it was a Letv le One(x600)
- PerixXPro
  November 7, 2015
  Thanks. That’s a really useful information. I even thought going cheaper with the Letv 1s, but the ROM support is holding me back.
  I will wait till the OPX be on EU Warehouse.
- PerixXPro
  November 7, 2015
  That’s slick. Great device you have.
  What do you think about the ROM support? I dont like the ROM it comes with.
- Sprime
  November 7, 2015
  I got mine from Tinydeal, and the ROM was unusable. The BB72 ROM however is pretty close to being perfect, and is constantly updated (for now). :3
- Nektarios Orfanidis
  November 7, 2015
  Are you happy with this phone?Camera photos (day and night?)
- Lars
  November 7, 2015
  Well I just received my invite for the OnePlus X. It’s only 270€ if you buy it from OnePlus but I don’t know if there are any shipping costs.
  It seems quite easy to get your hands on an invite, I only subscribed a week ago. Most people I know have already received one or more invites.
  I’ll be trying to get my hands on the Honor 7 this Wednesday with the discount but if the black one is out of stock again I have about two hours to use my invite for the OPX before it expires. Gonna be a close one :).
- Lars-Peter Dijkstra
  November 7, 2015
  The ROM support of Letv is perfect: I use the Experience ROM and it is updated every week 😉
- Tajwar
  November 8, 2015
  Yea the phone is smooth and snappy, great picture quality, the ui is not quite at MIUI level, battery life’s very decent…
  But the fun ended next day, as I brought the phone for my mother.
  Although I don’t resent it as I am back to my trustworthy Xiaomi Mi3 (2013!!!)
  A macro from the Letv le One:
- Tajwar
  November 8, 2015
  Guess what it is on the upper right corner
- Tajwar
  November 8, 2015
  The ROM needs more refining, less “appleness” and community above all, so only then it may stand up to the mighty MIUI
- Tajwar
  November 8, 2015
  Who’s going to win the race?…iphone of course.
  Let me know what you got(that’s if you want of course)
- Guest
  November 8, 2015
  Are you running MIUI 7 on your Xiaomi Mi3 ?
- Tajwar
  November 8, 2015
  Nope, at the moment I’m trying out Cyanogenmod 12.1 nightlies
- PerixXPro
  November 8, 2015
  I’m not going to buy it, but someone in EU will buy it from me. I don’t want him to buy it from an Invite, since it might just frustrate him. Maybe he is used to just create an account and buy it…
- Lars
  November 9, 2015
xi7
November 7, 2015
- Why?
- xi7
  November 11, 2015
  after home sensor lag , cpu burn as hell, O.S very slow, battery drain drain drain drain…. never more oneplus. But solve problem with AK Kernel, better performance. antutu 68k….69k. very good but not solve all problem

Ahmed Nofel
November 7, 2015
Lars
November 7, 2015
From XDA’s hands on: ‘The camera has been improved and seems much faster than the Oneplus 2, images were handled well without any over-exposure and long pressing on the screen allowed for exposure adjustment at any time. Video quality was acceptable however audio quality did seem to be lacking much in the way of low end.’ (http://www.xda-developers.com/a-hands-on-with-the-oneplus-x-a-humble-leap-in-the-right-direction/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+xda-developers%2FShsH+%28xda-developers%29)
So one person says the camera is faster than the OP2 and the other one says it’s slower. You do seem to agree on the audio quality which I find a bit disappointing from the OPX. I do tend to believe you Andi since you actually have the phone while the XDA person just had a hands on.
- November 8, 2015
  Focus is slower than the OP2. This is especially notable when trying to take a photo of an active baby. The OP2 laser focus locks on so fast you don’t even see it adjust. I would say still photos are as good as each other in daylight, but for night photos or moving objects the OP2 is better.
  - Faisal Shaharyar
    December 18, 2015
    I think both of them have different rear camera sensor rules of image quality will change.
    OPO uses IMX214 sensor from SONY and aperture is f/2.0 whereas OPX uses
    the Samsung sensor 3M2 CMOS ISOCELL sensor and aperture is f/2.2..The
    pixel size in both sensors is 1.12um
    Low light photography: Is dictated by both pixel size and aperture,
    since pixel size is same and aperture is more (i.e f number is less) for
    OPO hence OPO will perform better in low light conditions.

Tajwar
November 7, 2015
- Andi Sykes
  November 8, 2015
Lars
November 7, 2015
From XDA’s hands on: ‘The camera has been improved and seems much faster than the Oneplus 2, images were handled well without any over-exposure and long pressing on the screen allowed for exposure adjustment at any time. Video quality was acceptable however audio quality did seem to be lacking much in the way of low end.’ (http://www.xda-developers.com/a-hands-on-with-the-oneplus-x-a-humble-leap-in-the-right-direction/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+xda-developers%2FShsH+%28xda-developers%29)
So one person says the camera is faster than the OP2 and the other one says it’s slower. You do seem to agree on the audio quality which I find a bit disappointing from the OPX. I do tend to believe you Andi since you actually have the phone while the XDA person just had a hands on.
- Andi Sykes
  November 8, 2015
  Focus is slower than the OP2. This is especially notable when trying to take a photo of an active baby. The OP2 laser focus locks on so fast you don’t even see it adjust. I would say still photos are as good as each other in daylight, but for night photos or moving objects the OP2 is better.
- Faisal Shaharyar
  December 18, 2015
  I think both of them have different rear camera sensor rules of image quality will change.
  OPO uses IMX214 sensor from SONY and aperture is f/2.0 whereas OPX uses
  the Samsung sensor 3M2 CMOS ISOCELL sensor and aperture is f/2.2..The
  pixel size in both sensors is 1.12um
  Low light photography: Is dictated by both pixel size and aperture,
  since pixel size is same and aperture is more (i.e f number is less) for
  OPO hence OPO will perform better in low light conditions.
Tajwar
November 7, 2015
- people would kill for this in 2014 at this price
- Tajwar
  December 21, 2015
  That’s for sure
VMortens
November 8, 2015
“The camera on the OPX is good, but not as good as the OP2. The lack of
laser focus makes it much slower and the F2.2 aperture is a little
noisy in low-light situations” … and I stopped reading there. For some reason most produces still believe that smaller, 5in model must be given a weaker (or diferent) camera than something they already tested to work fine. Even if they don’t intend to sell it cheap …
BTW. I don’t consider using Snap801 a weakening.
- Faisal Shaharyar
  December 18, 2015
  it always has to be on the implementation of sensor; sensor is only one part the other is software and how well it can communicate with sensor
  - balcobomber25
    December 18, 2015
    The third part is the optics, the 4th part is the app used to take the pictures. 5th is the SoC and GPU. There is a lot of parts that go into a camera phone.
    - Faisal Shaharyar
      December 18, 2015
      correct its on sensor then lense then app then soc. but i am not sure if gpu plays any part in image. although if the cpu or soc offloads the work on gpu then we can say it uses gpu as well.
      the best example is AMD APU’s.
      - balcobomber25
        December 18, 2015
        In a smartphone the CPU/GPU is an all in one solution and the GPU is often used by the phone for image processing.

VMortens
November 8, 2015
“The camera on the OPX is good, but not as good as the OP2. The lack of
laser focus makes it much slower and the F2.2 aperture is a little
noisy in low-light situations” … and I stopped reading there. For some reason most produces still believe that smaller, 5in model must be given a weaker (or diferent) camera than something they already tested to work fine. Even if they don’t intend to sell it cheap …
BTW. I don’t consider using Snap801 a weakening.
- Faisal Shaharyar
  December 18, 2015
  it always has to be on the implementation of sensor; sensor is only one part the other is software and how well it can communicate with sensor
- balcobomber25
  December 18, 2015
  The third part is the optics, the 4th part is the app used to take the pictures. 5th is the SoC and GPU. There is a lot of parts that go into a camera phone.
- Faisal Shaharyar
  December 18, 2015
  correct its on sensor then lense then app then soc. but i am not sure if gpu plays any part in image. although if the cpu or soc offloads the work on gpu then we can say it uses gpu as well.
  the best example is AMD APU’s.
- balcobomber25
  December 19, 2015
  In a smartphone the CPU/GPU is an all in one solution and the GPU is often used by the phone for image processing.
Ivan Kolev
November 8, 2015
Im waiting for the full review. Don’t forget to test the battery life properly. That’s the only one thing i worry about this device, the relatively small battery of 2525 mAh. Thanks in advance ☺
Ivan Kolev
November 8, 2015
Please don’t forget to test the battery life properly. That’s the only one thing i worry about this device, the relatively small battery of 2525 mAh. Thanks in advance ☺
- Faisal Shaharyar
  December 18, 2015
  it can give 3-3.5 hours of screen on time, not revolutionary but can be manageable when using light to moderate. you will definitely need to charge it once a day.
Ivan Kolev
November 8, 2015
Please don’t forget to test the battery life properly. That’s the only one thing i worry about this device, the relatively small battery of 2525 mAh. Thanks in advance ☺
- Faisal Shaharyar
  December 18, 2015
  it can give 3-3.5 hours of screen on time, not revolutionary but can be manageable when using light to moderate. you will definitely need to charge it once a day.
Steven
November 9, 2015
Is the gold really as glossy as it looks like in the pics? Was hoping for a nice shade of gold like the iphone
Steven
November 9, 2015
Is the gold really as glossy as it looks like in the pics? Was hoping for a nice shade of gold like the iphone
ptica0605
November 10, 2015
Hello, Did you noticed that on anttutu of this phone it says snapdragon 800 NOT 801 !???
- balcobomber25
  December 18, 2015
  The 801 is just an updated version of the 800, they are built on the nearly the same exact architecture. Both are built on 28nm, Quad Core Krait 400 chips that use the Adreno 330 GPU and 933mhz DDR RAM. Many benchmarks can’t tell the difference between the two, most consumers wouldn’t be able to either.
ptica0605
November 10, 2015
Hello, Did you noticed that on anttutu of this phone it says snapdragon 800 NOT 801 !???
- balcobomber25
  December 18, 2015
  The 801 is just an updated version of the 800, they are built on the nearly the same exact architecture. Both are built on 28nm, Quad Core Krait 400 chips that use the Adreno 330 GPU and 933mhz DDR RAM. Many benchmarks can’t tell the difference between the two, most consumers wouldn’t be able to either.
balcobomber25
December 18, 2015
I actually love the design of this phone, it’s like a cross between Mi4, S6 and iPhone.
- Faisal Shaharyar
  December 18, 2015
  - balcobomber25
    December 18, 2015
    Always loved the looks of Xperia phones (and that they are waterproof) but hate the Xperia software.
- Bailey
  December 18, 2015
  I have been using mine now for about 3 weeks and really love the screen is excellent. Your right when you say it it has Mi4 elments because its about the same size only difference one is made of plastic and the other metal and glass. I did have to put a d-brand skin on the back as it like i wet bar of soap without it. But for the price and the fact that i get Lte in the UK its a great phone.
lemsi_86
December 18, 2015

OnePlus X Champagne edition hands on and first impressions

Gizchina News of the week

Andi

Today in Home