Remember when Chinese startup OnePlus first introduced the OnePlus One smartphone to the world? No, not many people do after erasing it from memory thanks to the horrendous way in which the rollout was actually handled and marketed. Still, you can’t judge a company entirely by its past mistakes, even if it did make a terrible job of its second-generation handset too. Now OnePlus is back, officially announcing the OnePlus 3 with yet another innovative means of launch, this time through The Loop VR rather than a frustrating invite only system.
After numerous leaks and a few attempts at marketing the device and drumming up interest through promises of virtual reality experiences, the OnePlus 3 is finally Internet official.
The smartphone will ship with a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display manufactured from Gorilla Glass 4. That gorgeous display will sit on top of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 series processor with an accompanying Adreno 530 GPU for high-end visual performance. The Chinese company has also looked to bump up performance of the hardware by ramming in a whopping 6GB of RAM.
Consumers looking for a new handset will be pleased to know that the impressive technical specification is matched by 64GB of onboard storage for files, documents, photos and videos, but displeased to learn that for one reason or another the company has chosen to not integrate an expandable card slot for additional storage.
There is however a 3,000mAh battery cell, as well as USB Type-C for charging, including Dash Charge – apparently faster than QuickCharge – and synchronization of data.
Photography fans can enjoy a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera with optical image stabilization and electronic image stabilization. The camera is capable of recording 4K videos, as well as slow motion videos in 720p @ 120fps. Selfie fans can enjoy the services of an 8-megapixel selfie camera on the front.
If that’s not enough to make you interested in purchasing the OnePlus 3, then the fact that it comes with a fingerprint scanner, a stunning anodized aluminum design, a 7.3mm thickness, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and, wait for it, a 3.5mm audio jack for those people who love it old school, should be enough to make the OnePlus 3 a contender for your next smartphone.
Consumers will have choice of two colors: Graphite, and Soft Gold. As for the choice of OS? OxygenOS based on Android Marshmallow.
OnePlus will be making the device available for sale later today for $399 – unlocked. Alternatively, it can be acquired right now through The Loop VR app if you’d rather forgo waiting in favor of making a purchase in an alternative OnePlus-inspired world.
Check out the OnePlus 3 in all its glory as presented by OnePlus in the video embedded below. Do let us know if you plan on grabbing the phone?
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