OnePlus X: Yet Another Flagship Killer

OnePlus has become one of the huge players in the smartphone industry with their game changing One. With excellent specs and a wallet friendly price, demand has exceeded supply through a controversial yet efficient invite system intended to reduce inventory and maximize profit. It prompted many other companies to focus on customer value as opposed to huge profit margins and we’ve seen an influx of “flagship killers” to combat the One. OnePlus is following up with a more impressive device: the X. It still has awesome specs but the price is even lower.

Looks

The X is a great looking device and while other reviewers will liken it to an older iPhone, I think it pulls more from the last two generations of the flagships Xperia phones. The speakers on the bottom are definitely in the Apple vein but otherwise, not so much. No matter what, the X is quite premium which has become a tired descriptor of smartphones these days. It’s definitely built well and feels good in the hand.

It’s also well thought out. Glass backed phones are notoriously hard to hold; slippery like a fish even. OnePlus has given the X 17 “micro-cuts” on the metal frame so it’s easier to handle. The alert slider makes a welcome appearance with a significantly different finish so you can find it without looking at the X. It also comes in a ceramic version if you’re so inclined. All in all, I rather like it.

What It Does

Where the X really impresses is under the hood. It runs the top end processor from last year plus 3GB of RAM meaning it’s not as powerful as the newest smartphones of this year but there’s no way any regular user will see any difference. It runs OxygenOS, a light version of Android with no carrier bloatware so it’s optimized to the max. It only has 16GB of internal storage but it does have a microSD card slot so expand as necessary.

The battery is great, the camera is really good as well. Here’s the thing about the X: it does a lot of things pretty well but nothing stands out, there’s no highlight feature besides the value for money. For $249, it’s a steal. If you’re looking at a new phone and want to buy an unlocked phone, the X is where you start. It’s a fancy new phone at a very reasonable price.