OnePlus launched its most-awaited flagship – OnePlus 5 – at an event in New York on June 20, and quickly followed it up with another launch of the handset in India two days later. While all of the specifications of the phone were revealed at the original launch, Indians were keen about the phone's price and availability in India.
The mystery has finally unfolded. Following a stream of rumours about how OnePlus 5 is going to cost in India, the Chinese company announced on Thursday that it will start at Rs. 32,999 for the 6GB+64GB model and Rs. 37,999 for the 8GB+128GB variant.
The handset will be available exclusively on Amazon India and the early access sale begins on Thursday at 4:30 pm.
It is clear that OnePlus 5 is the most expensive smartphone by the company, but it is still cheaper than that the flagships with similar specs and features. Now the bigger question is whether the smartphone is worth it?
OnePlus 5 price in India. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/1b3C7MmINU
— IBTimes India Tech (@IBTimesIN_Tech) June 22, 2017
Let us quickly walk you through the specifications of the phone.
OnePlus 5 is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 chipset, but it is not the first to do so. Accompanying the powerful chipset is Adreno 540 GPU for graphics, either 6GB or 8GB of RAM paired with 64GB and 128GB storage, respectively.
The much-talked-about design of the phone is kept neat and premium, thanks to the full-metal body and antenna lines integrated along the edges of the back of the phone. Chatter about the phone resembling the iPhone 7 Plus seem relevant, but that doesn't make OnePlus 5 any less beautiful. The aesthetic design OnePlus is famous for continues to impress, even though there are hints of OnePlus 3T along the front portion.
There's a 5.5-inch display with Full HD resolution and a physical home button that houses a fingerprint scanner. The positions of the volume controls, power button, alert slider and the USB Type-C port are same as in the OnePlus 3T. But OnePlus has managed to make its latest flagship extremely sleek, measuring just 7.3mm.
But the main highlight of the phone isn't the design or its chipset, it is the dual camera at the back. OnePlus 5 features a 16MP primary lens with f/1.7 aperture and a 20MP secondary telephoto lens to add more detail into images and of course the touted Bokeh effect. Both sensors are by Sony, which aim to produce the best results. On the front, there's a 16MP snapper with f/2.0 aperture for selfies.
Moving on, there's a 3,300mAh battery with Dash Charge technology, which we loved in the OnePlus 3T. The feature actually works like a charm and comes in handy for those who are always on the run.
The entire phone is focused to deliver smooth performance. It's the responsibility of the Android Nougat-based OxygenOS , which adds unique features such as reading mode, new screen-off gestures, customizable notification vibrations, DND mode for gaming and much more. We'll be sure to explore this area of the phone during our review.
OnePlus 5 also features Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, dual SIM card support among other standard connectivity options. It comes in two colours, Midnight Black and Slate Grey reserved for 64GB and 128GB variants, respectively.
Now, to answer the question of whether OnePlus is worth buying, the answer is pretty clear. OnePlus 5 is currently the only smartphone with such premium specifications offered at such low price. In that sense, we find it suitable for buyers to go with this new OnePlus flagship. But if you are comparing this new flagship with handsets like Samsung Galaxy S8 or iPhone 7 Plus, we would like to reserve our verdict until the final review because on-paper specifications do not always define a phone's worth.
