OnePlus 2 gets the gossip circles going

After a long wait, OnePlus has finally announced that its second leader smartphone, OnePlus 2, will be releasing on July 28. In an official discussion post titled OnePlus 2: The World's First Product Launch in VR, Carl Pei, co-founder OnePlus, stated that the organisation needed to break barrier with the dispatch in a virtual reality occasion. The occasion will commence at 7pm PT (7:30am IST) and will be live gushed the world over. The company will be launching the device in 3D VR.

Unlike never before, OnePlus 2 will be dispatched in a manner where the world will not view the release but actually experience it. For this virtual launch, OnePlus applauds Google Cardboard for advancing the dream of bringing VR to homes far and wide. Imitating the Google Cardboard item, the Chinese smartphone maker has thought of OnePlus Cardboard, which is based on Cardboard 2.0, but with some notable improvements.

With the intention to push VR technology and make it more accessible, OnePlus is giving away these cardboards for free. The device will be wrapped in this cardboard and sold at the price of the gadget, without any extra charges. Beside the excitement created by 3D VR, the company is revealing the details of OnePlus 2 a tiny bit at a time to build the curiosity among the potential customers.

It is worth noting that OnePlus 1 continues to be an intense rival to several steady brands in the smartphone industry. Therefore, a lot of guesswork is going on in the market about OnePlus 2. As such, the company has confirmed that the forthcoming device will have USB Type-C integration, Fingerprint scanner and v2.1 of Qualcomm's top-end versatile processor, Snapdragon 810. The USB Type-C is a reversible charger that can be utilized both for exchanging information from PC and for charging different devices. This was feature not in OnePlus 1.

If we go by the pictures leaked by GizChina and Fonearena, the device appears elegant and feels solid with somewhat larger screen that may run between 5.5" and 5.7". The device may have the same shades of OnePlus 1, sandstone black and milk white. There is also buzz about OnePlus 2 having higher resolution than OnePlus 1, whose resolution is full HD 1080x1920 pixels. It may jump to QHD 1440x2560 pixels in OnePlus 2, with the pixel density improving from 401 to 445 pixels.

Furthermore, Snapdragon 810 onboard OnePlus 2 might be coupled with 4GB of RAM and a 3300mAh battery capacity. The new device is expected to address the issues raised with Plus 1, which had come with 64 GB inbuilt storage with no scope for expansion. Therefore, OnePlus 2 is expected to provide a slot for SD Card. Moreover, it may retain the Cyanogenmod 11S operating system, but run on company's own Android 5.0 Lollipop-based build. Moreover, International Business Times has reported that the new device may come loaded with 16MP primary (rear) camera and 5MP secondary (front) camera.

Furthermore, to enhance the 3D VR experience the device will be combined with Compass/ magnetometer, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Ambient Light Sensor and Barometer followed by pre-loaded games and applications supporting the OnePlus Cardboard. However, all these are speculations, only waiting to get officially confirmed by OnePlus. Guess we’ll have to wait for the virtual reality launch scheduled for 28^th July.

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Xiaomi Mi4 may have hard time beating OnePlus One

With the smartphone market growing exponentially, it is only natural to find new companies entering the fray with every passing day. However, only some of them have managed to make a name for themselves globally in a very short span of time. Two such companies are OnePlus and Xiaomi that have been able to create a lot of buzz in the global smartphone market. However, a company is only as good as its products. Therefore, we have decided to do a spec-to-spec review of smartphones, i.e. OnePlus One and Xiaomi Mi4 from these two companies to see how their offers compare. 

Look & Hold

With overall dimensions such as 152.9x75.9x8.9mm and weight 162g, OnePlus One is bigger and heavier device than Xiaomi Mi4 that measures 139.2x68.5x8.9mm and weighs 149g. However, since the thickness of the two devices is exactly the same, OnePlus gives a relatively sleeker appearance than Mi4. Also, OnePlus has mildly curved edges, bulging openings at the top and bottom and a metallic strip on the top end that enhance its visual appeal. On the other hand, apart from the slight curves on the edges, Mi4 is designed in a rather compact fashion with a stylish look and a matte strip on the sides. Moreover, One is available in silk white and a sandstone black colors, a little different than the normal, Mi4 is available in Black and White. 

Visual Experience

Taking advantage of larger overall dimensions, OnePlus One has been able to provide a 5.5inch display screen, which is larger than Xiaomi Mi4 that comes with a 5inch screen. OnePlus may have a wider screen but Mi4 offers a wider viewing angles. Both smartphones are supported with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Furthermore, OnePlus has LTPS LCD screen type with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, while Mi4 is available with IPS LCD and Corning scratch-resistant, which means One Plus One has 3 times the resistance to scratches on display as opposed to Mi4. On the whole, OnePlusOne does seem to have an edge over Mi4 at the display front. 

Performance 

OnePlus One runs on Android’s Lollipop 5.0.2 where as Xiaomi Mi4 runs on a customized MIUI interface supported by Android’s Lollipop 5.0.2. At the processor front, both smartphones are packed with 2.5GHz QualComm Snapdragon 801 Quad-Core processor and a 3GB RAM. Also, both One and Mi4 are available with an internal memory of either 16GB or 64GB; any external memory?. Therefore, performance wise there are no major differences, except that the customized  MIUI interface could provide some uniqueness. 

Battery, Cameras & Connectivity

Both the devices are pretty much comparable on the battery front, where OnePlusOne comes with a battery capacity of 3100 mAh, where as Xiaomi Mi4 follows closely with 3080 mAh battery. Interestingly, both the devices provide 13MP primary (rear) cameras. However, the first major difference surfaces in the secondary cameras, which in case of OnePlus One is 5MP, where as Xiaomi Mi4 boasts of 8MP secondary camera. One thing is assured that quality of selfies is going to get better for sure. 

Indicator	OnePlus One	Xiaomi Mi4	Advantage
Screen Size	5.5 inch screen	5 inch screen	OnePlus One
Viewing Experience	LTPS LCD	IPS LCD	Xiaomi Mi4
Scratch Resistance	Corning Gorilla Glass 3	Corning Scratch-resistant	OnePlus One
Secondary Camera	5 Mega Pixels	8 Mega Pixels	Xiaomi Mi4

On the connectivity front both Xiaomi Mi4 and OnePlusOne are 4G enabled smartphones supporting Micro SIMs with WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 version.

Bottom Line 

Both the smartphones are quite the bomb. While they are at par in terms of processor, operating system, primary cameras, internal memory and connectivity, there are a few points where they differ. While OnePlus One comes with an advantage of larger screen size and provides higher resistance to scratch, Xiaomi Mi4 enables its users with a wider viewing angle and experience, and a superior selfie camera. 

Price Factor 

Taking Indian market prices as an indication, we note that on Amazon the 16GB variant of OnePlus One is marked at INR16,000 and 64GB variant at INR19,000, where as, on Flipkart, Xiaomi Mi4's 16GB variant is marked at INR15,000 and the 64GB at INR20,000. However, we also note that another website (dhgate.com) is offering OnePlus One 16GB variant at INR9,500. Therefore, if it is not an issue of brand affinity and customers are looking for a better deal, with some hard work they may be able to secure a price that becomes the key differentiator and, therefore, a factor in decision making.   

The Final Call

Given the spec-to-spec similarities, the basic utilitarian trade off is between a device with a larger display screen minus wide angle viewing of OnePlus One and a superior secondary camera of Xiaomi Mi4. The other differentiators are the uniqueness of the overall design and the colors and, most of all, the systematically cultivated brand affinity. Both the companies have succeeded in creating a name for themselves by offering greatly designed powerful products at disruptive price points. They are here to stay for sure and may take their battle to the likes of Samsung and HTC.

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Youth focused One Plus One can challenge Samsung S5 in Kenya

African smartphone market is bustling with competition due to the presence of many prominent players, which includes established players like Samsung, Huawei, Tecno and HTC and newcomers like Oppo, Obi Mobiles and One Plus. Generally, customers gain from competition, however, in the absence of right information, the multiplicity of brands and products can also create confusion. Therefore, in this review Brands Dialogue team is focusing on two smartphone models, including one of the established players, Samsung S5, and one of the new arrivals, One Plus One.

Design & Viewing Experience
Starting with the physical appearance, we note that One Plus One is clearly a relatively bigger but sleeker looking device with 152.9x75.9x8.9mm dimensions than Samsung S5 that comes with 142x72.5x8.1mm dimensions. This reflects at two levels: firstly, it makes One Plus One (162g) slightly heavier than S5 (145g) and secondly, the display screen size in One Plus One is slightly larger at 5.5 inch than Samsung S5 which has 5.1 inch screen, which is minor difference. 

Both smartphones share the same resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. However, Samsung S5 has a Super AMOLED capacitative touchscreen that could make viewing from certain angles a bit tedious. On the other hand, One Plus One sports a LTPS LCD capacitative touchscreen, which supports wide viewing angle and also makes outdoor viewing more comfortable. Essentially, other than screen types that lead to qualitative difference in experience, the difference in overall size, weight and form are only a matter of personal preference. 

Processing Power
To fire the performance, both Samsung S5 and One Plus One devices are supported by Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 processor. If One Plus One devices are available with 16GB or 64GB internal memory, S5 devices are available with 16GB or 32GB internal memory. However, while Samsung S5 provides for an expandable memory of 128 GB through microSD, One Plus One does not. In terms of RAM, Samsung S5 has a 2GB RAM compared to One Plus One that has relatively larger 3GB RAM, which essentially means One Plus device could withstand higher activity than S5. Both the devices run on Android 4.4.2 Kitkat, however, key differentiator is that while Samsung S5 can be upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop, One Plus One can only be upgraded to Android 4.4.4 Kitkat, something that could influence the customer choice.

Additional Features

There are other differentiators too. While Samsung S5 has a superior rear camera with 16 megapixels, One Plus One follows closely with 13 megapixels, but S5 falls behind with only 2 megapixels front camera as compared to One Plus One’s 5 megapixels. In a generation where selfies are constantly overflowing in the social media, Samsung S5 does not seem to have appreciated that aspect enough. Furthermore, battery is another crucial aspect of any smartphone, and One Plus One with a 3100mAh battery capacity can outlive Samsung S5 that has a 2800mAh capacity. A longer battery life and the promise of better selfies make One Plus One acquire a leg up over Samsung S5.Samsung S5 and One Plus are available on 2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 and 4G (depending on the markets). For 3G, both are available on HSDPA: 850/ 900/ 1700/ 1900/ 2100. Also, both devices support Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth.

The Price Tag

Finally, we look at the price in the Kenyan market. One Plus One 16GB is priced at around KSh31,000 and 64GB is at around KSh37,000. In comparison, Samsung S5 16GB is costing around KSh44,000, where as 64GB option is currently not available in Kenya. However, considering that even One Plus One with 64GB costs lesser than Samsung S5 16GB, there seems a clear price advantage One Plus One.

Concluding Remarks

While both the devices have superior features, there are obvious differences in strategic take of the two companies. One Plus has put together a device that has larger screen size and comes with better display to enhance the viewing experience at angles and outdoors, larger RAM, longer battery life, better front camera for selfies and, apparently, a better price too. On the other hand, Samsung has paid more attention to allow for upgrading the device to an even more superior level to enhance performance, along with expandable memory and a superior rear camera. However, it seems while Samsung S5 remains a great device, One Plus One has all that it needs to attract the youth attention. 

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