OnePlus, the company that makes the One phone, just turned one year old today. With all my posts about OnePlus, you’d be forgiven to think that my blog has become a OnePlus fan page. It isn’t. The One is a really unique phone, and there are indeed some newsworthy developments to share, particularly if you are interested in the One phone.
If you’re looking to buy the One, and missed out on all the previous pre-orders, free invites, and direct purchase opportunities, you’re in luck. As part of their first anniversary celebrations, OnePlus has announced you can now buy the One, no invites needed. Head over to the One product page now.
You also enjoy 11% off all accessories now.
Next, OnePlus has also unveiled their upcoming Power Bank. It’s a dual USB port 10,000 mAh battery pack that sells for just US$14.99. Alright, Xiaomi’s 10,400 mAh battery pack, albeit with just one USB port, sells for even less, at S$13.99, and you don’t even have to worry about freight forwarding. However, the OnePlus Power Bank still remains a great value compared with many others, plus it also sports a very nice classy design, more so than Xiaomi’s already reasonably good looking one.
Read more about OnePlus anniversary promotions. Also, OnePlus’ Carl Pei’s blog post reflecting on the company in the past year.
The OnePlus One has picked up quite a number of accolades, including:
- Gizmodo’s best overall in the Best Cheap Smartphone
- Stuff Gadgets Awards 2014 readers’ gadget of the year
- Lifehacker Best Android Phone 2014
I’m sure this has been a really exciting year for OnePlus, particularly for a small company (though linked to a larger company) to achieve so much. They have struggled with scaling production volume, lousy customer support, but hopefully they are beginning to turn things around for the better.
OnePlus’ success seems to have recently been dampened by Cyanogen Inc’s deal with Micromax to exclusively support the latter’s Yu brand in India. Talk about Open Source, and the spirit behind it, it’s sad to see such deals taking place. It sounds like OnePlus has been betrayed. Notwithstanding, OnePlus continues to work on their launch in India, but in just breaking news, it turns out the Indian court has banned the sales of OnePlus One.
A setback, definitely, but hopefully things will turn out positive for OnePlus. I’m sure customers are going to be significantly concerned about where things are headed. One of the big plus with the One is the preloaded CyanogenMod ROM. Now, what is Cyanogen Inc’s intention with respect to their partnership with OnePlus?
The One is a great piece of hardware engineering, yet selling at a bargain price. Whether it be the One, or some other company, I hope OnePlus has set the direction for how smartphones will be engineered and priced. It’s getting ridiculous paying what Apple or Samsung are asking for their respective flagship smartphones.
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