Gadget review: OnePlus 3 impresses with great design, powerful specs

OnePlus

Ever since its inception in 2014, OnePlus' core goal had been to disrupt the premium segment, offering a device that not only matches up with the flagships in hardware and performance, but beat them with low pricing as well. Its last two offerings didn't attract favourable results. Naturally, the big question we had was - Can OnePlus do an encore? It did.

Build and design (9/10): Weighing just 158g with an Aluminium unibody, the OnePlus 3 (OP3) is a lot like the OnePlus X, but, larger and more powerful. The top edge of the device is now flat with all the ports - 3.55 mm audio jack, speakers, mic and USB Type-C - stacked at the bottom. The front face gets a finger print sensor at the bottom with hidden menu buttons on either sides. The power button is placed on the right edge under the sim-tray, whereas an alert slider (we would have preferred a camera button instead) and volume rockers find place on the left. The device gets a curved back with the rear camera protruding out of the body. The flash sits under it above a black matte One Plus Logo.

Display (9/10): OnePlus is offering a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920x1080) Optic AMOLED display - here optic stands with optical correction (colour, brightness and contrast) - with 401 PPI pixel density and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. The bezel is thinner (0.755mm), which when combined with the curved edges, makes the display dissolve into the body, further enhancing its appeal. Though prone to smudges, it works well even under sunlight.

Battery (9/10): The OP3 comes with dash charging (quick charge), which gives 0 to 100 % in less than an hour and (and 60% in half and hour). The 3,000mAh battery lasts almost a day, but more juice could have been an advantage.

Connectivity (9/10): The OP3 is a dual-sim phone with support for 2G, 3G and 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS and NFC. The company has also managed to pack quite a deal of sensors including dedicated step counters that helps you keep track of your daily activities and fitness goals. The device gets a type-C connector with USB 2.0.

Hardware & Performance (9/10): The OP3 gets a massive 6GB LPDDR4 RAM to play around. Pair it up with Snapdragon 620 SoC and you have a performance monster. We tested it with the Asphalt 8 and Need For Speed No Limits, and in both games, and faced no lags. The device gets 64GB internal storage and saving to and copying files from the internal storage is also swift at 12-14 MBPS. The fingerprint sensor works well too and doubles up as the home button.

Camera (9/10): The OP3 gets an impressive 16MP rear camera with optical image stabilisation, auto focus and AE/AF lock to help you take better pictures on the move. It can also capture 4K video (30fps) and 720p slow motion (120fps) videos. The image quality is good, but the flash is not strong enough to fill dark corners. The 8MP fixed focus front camera however is great for selfies.

Software and OS (9/10): The OnePlus 3 runs Oxygen OS with Android Marshmallow 6.0.1, and comes with several customisation options such as enable/disable search bar, increase and decrease the size of icons, and change the layout of the app drawer. The OS now allows you to lock apps in the background, which means all files and data associated with a file remain available indefinitely. You can also restore backed up data and apps (from other devices) while using the device.