OnePlus X is the third smartphone from OnePlus, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus, and Indian users have been quite lucky to get a hands on the device along with the other markets, but for now, we are looking at the standard Onyx variant that is available for Rs. 16999. The ceramic one is coming later, and you can learn about the differences if you are looking to get that one.
Design, specs and the overall performance is where the OnePlus smartphones are known to excel, and do better than the competition, but OnePlus surely has put much emphasis with the exterior of the device this time.
Quickly going through the specs, OnePlus X has a 5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset along with 3GB of RAM, and unlike the two previous OnePlus smartphones, this has a MicroSD card slot for storage expansion. But if the user chooses to have the expanded storage, they are limited to using a Single SIM.
Though there’s an impressive combination of 13MP and 8MP cameras, the battery capacity of 2500 mAh doesn’t impress on the paper. The box packaging comes with a MicroUSB cable, travel adapter, a protective case and a SIM ejector tool, alongside the warranty guide and a quick start guide.
OnePlus is one such brand, just like Xiaomi, who would give attention to even the minute details. That shows with their box packaging as well, but let’s talk about the OnePlus X.
On the first looks, this is a design that is impressive but it isn’t something new to look at. Shining with a reflective glass, having curved edges and corners, we’ve seen that with Sony’s smartphones, but that was something I never complained of, except for the fact that the body was slippery. Here, since the OnePlus X has a size to fit comfortably in the hand, the slippery feel is lesser.
The front and back are made of glass, while the side frame is made of metal, with lines all around, and the cuts for necessary ports and buttons. The OnePlus X has an alert slider on the left side to set certain profiles based on where you are. The bottom has a MicroUSB port, thankfully, and grills for speakers are on the either side of it, though it is only the left grill that has speakers.
The phone runs Android 5.1.1 based Oxygen OS 2.1, and there are some obvious additions to the stock UI, including OnePlus Radio app, a File manager app, button and gesture features, as well as a few other customization options.
The good thing is, these options are some that we’ve seen users of other smartphones to have actually used them regularly. For example, the double-tap-to-wake function, and then the alphabet drawing to open certain apps.
User can switch between on-screen and off-screen navigation buttons, and again, the swapping of on-screen ones is very useful for users of Samsung, Gionee and such smartphones which have the back key on the extreme right.
The camera supports time lapse, slow motion and panorama captures, and for the early view, the rear 13MP camera does take decent captures. The user can also switch between HDR, Clear image and beauty modes. It is a Single LED flash provided, which might sometimes feel a bit less for low-light conditions, but then, it is quite bright for a single light.
One feature I’d personally miss, is the backlight for navigation buttons. If I’m not using the on-screen buttons, there is always a confusion on which button is which, unless I makes a habit of using it.
So, that is it for the early view about the OnePlus X. In short, the device looks and feels brilliant, but still is something you aren’t looking at, for the first time. OnePlus One did grab a lot of attention for its design, and OnePlus X is something that might seem refreshing for the current OnePlus users, but Sony users might feel at home with this.
Not happy with the Battery capacity! But, like the design!