One day with the OnePlus 3 (plus benchmarks)


OnePlus 3 Review

I’ve never really been a mobile phone gamer, but as I write this the super-smooth 3D rendering taking place while AnTuTu goes through its paces on the OnePlus 3 is making me think twice.

The OnePlus 3 is a phone none of us didn’t know much about. Consequently, I wasn’t too hyped about this phone (especially after getting to see it from all angles well ahead of its launch). That said, there’s always the excitement quotient that comes along with every OnePlus phone, and the OnePlus 3 is no exception.

I was surprised by a PR representative that decided to drop by last evening, with a rather large box. (And I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve never seen a phone box this humongous — click here if you really want to know how big). It turns out OnePlus have designed special media boxes (with a Dash Charger for the car, and 5 cases) – nice touch.

It was, as always, a rather fulfilling experience opening up the OnePlus 3 packaging. The actual retail box is a rather standard one, with the usual contents (plus some OnePlus stickers) inside.

Let’s talk about the phone for a bit?

It’s exactly how it looks in the renders. Nothing surprising right? Well, if you said a ‘yes’ to that, you haven’t been paying attention to renders lately. Phone companies (sadly, Chinese, especially) seem to believe a bit too much in the YMMV mantra. (In other words, the phone and its renders are two very different things, usually.)

Gizchina News of the week


Coming back, the OnePlus 3 is a rather slim phone. If you’ve been using the OnePlus 2 especially, it will take you a little while getting used to the OnePlus 3 and its metal and its slim body.

The home button on the OnePlus 3 (the OP3 here on) is the exact same design (in terms of working) as that on the OP2; a capacitive button with a metal ring around (and of course a fingerprint sensor embedded inside).

Speaking of, the fingerprint sensor on the OP3 is among the fastest I’ve seen. I daresay it is as fast as the one on the new iPhone (what is it called, again?).

OnePlus 3 Photos.

Before running benchmarks (which sucks up quite a bit of battery all at once), my unit of the OP3 was running on a 35% charge… after a hefty 4.5 hours of screen on time. This is no way shabby, especially for a 3000mAh phone.

I haven’t used the camera too much to share any samples yet, but from what I can tell already, the focusing and shutter are extremely enjoyably fast.

Here’s some benchmark scores:

Needless to say my first day with the OP3 has been rather enjoyable. More on Monday. Meanwhile, let us know below if you have any questions (let’s make this an AMA). Also, let us know if you plan to get one. Two GizChina staff — Andi and Martin — already have a bullet between their teeth!

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20 Comments

  1. LiczySieDystans
    June 17, 2016

    Could you check situation with RAM managment? It was reported that despite 6GB OP3 tend to reload apps instead of keep them in memory.

    • June 17, 2016

      Yep, keep hearing that. Have had no issues of that sort yet. Had actually planned to include that bit in the write up bit it slipped from my mind.

      • LiczySieDystans
        June 17, 2016

        Beside that I am mostly interested in camera performance and how it’s comparable to devices like P9 from Huawei and others. RAM management it’s not a deal breaker at least not for me. I am planning to buy OP3 though still waiting for more information from real users

        • jolu
          June 17, 2016

          I’m also very interested in a camera comparison between the OP3 and the Huawei P9.

          • LiczySieDystans
            June 17, 2016

            Currently P8 is my daily driver and I was considering upgrading to P9. However there are plenty of choices on the market these days and OP3 it’s naturally great option. But I would like to have at least these same class camera as in P8

            • jolu
              June 17, 2016

              Personally i believe the P9 has a great camera setup if you know how to handle it. It might be à great shooter but to get really awesome pics you probably need some skills and technics which photographers know but others may not have those skill.

              I believe the P9 holds a better camera than the OP3 (optimization may change this)

  2. tuki
    June 17, 2016

    Yash, may I ask you to check GPS strength & fix for us, please? With no SIM in, location set to “Device only” 🙂 Wondering how fast and accurate it is. Thank you 🙂

  3. June 17, 2016

    Let us know how is the sound from headphones and the time it needs for gps locking.

  4. Nolan
    June 18, 2016

    Now that’s an impressive score!

  5. fido futte
    June 18, 2016

    Before geting any OP3 , check this youtube video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYv8YQJbJaQ -OP3 turns out even slower than old Mediatek MT6735@1.0Ghz phone, dispite amation Antutu score ??- What went wrong One Plus ???

  6. fxhj
    June 18, 2016

    can you measure max screen brightness on auto mod and on manual ? thanks.

  7. xi7
    June 18, 2016

    oneplus 3 need better kernel update…. 1080p antutu low score.
    lg g5 get 143k

  8. Francois F
    June 19, 2016

    Do you plan to compare the OP3 “PR” version with one purchasesd without the Gizchina label ?
    I would like to know if your version is specificaly “optimised”.
    Thanks

    • June 20, 2016

      Nope. it’s not optimises or anything. If they could optimise, they’d do it to all phones.

  9. Allanitomwesh
    June 20, 2016

    I’m very interested in how well the battery stacks up compared to OP2 which has a bigger one

    • June 20, 2016

      so far the OP3 is miles ahead

      • Allanitomwesh
        June 23, 2016

        That’s good to hear,so far am only seeing people report its only mildly better

  10. PhoneFix
    June 20, 2016

    i hate camera design ..taken from mate 7

  11. Alexey D
    June 24, 2016

    singl led flash useless, ruined the whole phone. ppl who invent singl led flash should burn in hell