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The OnePlus 2 pushes the boundaries of how cheap a flagship phone can be

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Re: The OnePlus 2 pushes the boundaries of how cheap a flagship phone can be

#41

Post by ghshephard »

tudborg wrote: post #26
TeMPOraL wrote: post #17

I'm completely disappointed with the way phone market evolves. I don't want a cheap phone, I want a phone that works. I want my phone to have enough memory and processing power to handle its operating system without hiccups. It is ridiculous that even a $700 phone can just start lagging on you. I want my phone to have it all - Bluetooth, WiFi, IrDA, accelerometer, thermometer, barometer, SD card, double SIM, removabl…

Althought that might be your preference, I'm fairly certain very few people feel the same. I too want a phone that "works", but I'd never pay $1000+. I can live with some sacrifices if i can get a Good Enough phone for ~$400. And imo, OnePlus One is fits the bill quite well. I was sceptical about no SD card and the non-removable battery, but when the battery lasts for days, and i have 64GB eMMC and online backup, I f…

I think there is a huge market of people who wouldn't think twice of paying $1000 for, even among those who aren't really wealthy. Include me in that market. My smartphone is my most important possession, and I use it more than anything else that I own, including my laptop. With reasonably good care, a smart phone will last for 2 years, and, at that time, have 50% of its original value.

So - if a really solid smartphone was available for $1500, that is $750 over 24 months, or $31/month. There are a lot of things that I pay $31/month for, that don't give me the same value as my smartphone, that I would happily give up to get a world-class best-of-breed experience.

And realize, we are comparing with a "good enough" $400 phone - which would probably only have 25% of it's value ($100) after 2 years - so, $300/24 month or $12.50/month, so what we are really asking ourselves, is do we want to spend $12.50 for a good enough phone, or $31/month for a best-in-class phone. I'm certainly willing to pay the extra $19/month.

Re: The OnePlus 2 pushes the boundaries of how cheap a flagship phone can be

#44

Post by smcl »

Is anyone else in the "My perfect phone would be my current one but with a battery that easily lasts 3+ days" boat? I've currently got an iPhone 5S, and I can achieve this with those portable USB chargers. I've no need for any of the other features which new generations of smartphones are adding (multi-core\multi-ghz processors, huge amounts of RAM etc), though there's perhaps a killer app round the corner which will advantage of this. Otherwise I cannot see myself replacing my 5S in the next couple of years (except for Apple dropping support, or me dropping it in my beer)

Re: The OnePlus 2 pushes the boundaries of how cheap a flagship phone can be

#47

Post by ofcapl_ »

userbinator wrote: post #32
TeMPOraL wrote: post #17

I'm completely disappointed with the way phone market evolves. I don't want a cheap phone, I want a phone that works. I want my phone to have enough memory and processing power to handle its operating system without hiccups. It is ridiculous that even a $700 phone can just start lagging on you. I want my phone to have it all - Bluetooth, WiFi, IrDA, accelerometer, thermometer, barometer, SD card, double SIM, removabl…

It is ridiculous that even a $700 phone can just start lagging on you IMHO the blame for that lies with the software, not the hardware. Android is basically the realisation of the original Java OS, but on hardware fast enough that its performance has become "acceptable" - most of the time. As for the other features; Bluetooth, WiFi, accelerometer (and compass/magnetometer), SD, dual-SIM, and removable battery are pre…

I don't want to start here any flame war or something, but that's the main reason why I've switched to Windows Phone OS - for 100$ - 150$ You've got the system that runs like a charm (I'm not smartphone power user so all apps I need are available in Windows Store)

Re: The OnePlus 2 pushes the boundaries of how cheap a flagship phone can be

#48

Post by eyko »

patrickdavey wrote: post #8
beefsack wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they don't lock it down and is similar to the One, then it should be incredibly easy to switch to CM. I'm running CM12.1 on my One at the moment and it's leaps and bounds better than the stock CM11S ROM that comes with the device.

I have been slightly paranoid to flash mine (came from China I think and not quite correctly installed as the OTA updates don't take with a signature mismatch). If you have the time - can you tell me 1. Are they easy to brick? 2. Is there a decent guide for updating? Thanks!

Just back it up, fastboot unlock, and flash a recovery image. You'll thank yourself you did it. As per your questions:

1. Not that easy to completely brick. If you try to flash the wrong recovery or boot, it will fail to start even in recovery mode (bricked?). I've done that to mine, but I was still able to boot it up while tethered (I have two phones and I inadvertently used the image for my other phone on my One Plus).

2. Loads of guides on their forums or google in general. Also, Nexus 4 or 5 guides are the same procedure, just replacing with the relevant images and ROMs (the OnePlus One's codename is Bacon, in case you're looking at what roms to download).

Re: The OnePlus 2 pushes the boundaries of how cheap a flagship phone can be

#49

Post by pjc50 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #40
KhalilK wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relevant video: https://vimeo.com/134128443

A very interesting video, thanks! So the question is, how can I get my hands on something from Shenzhen that works? I've seen people importing Chinese smartphones that are equivalent to high-end products on Western market but for half a price. But could anyone share some tips on finding and getting a device that may be more functional than what you can buy in Europe/US?

I'd just browse dealextreme or aliexpress: http://www.dx.com/attr/cell-phones-accessories-599/cell-phon...

e.g. http://www.dx.com/p/xiaomi-4-quad-core-android-4-4-3-bar-pho... which can be compared against the OnePlus 2 here: http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/xiaomi-mi-5-needs-to... (headline says mi5, scroll down)

Re: The OnePlus 2 pushes the boundaries of how cheap a flagship phone can be

#50

Post by pjc50 »

darklajid wrote: post #20
NietTim wrote: post #18

I'm sorry but, 400 bucks is cheap now? It's a great phone for the price, don't get me wrong, but I think 400 bucks is a lot of money.

'Cheap' is used in a specific context here. The headline says 'how cheap a _flagship_ phone can be'. There are cheaper phones out there. Would you name them among 'flagship' devices?

What's the minimum spec to be considered "flagship?"
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