OnePlus has released a lot of phones with interesting designs and unique features over the past eight years. The alert slider still characterizes the company’s large devices, and some of my favorite designs were the OnePlus phones: OnePlus 6T in Thunder PurpleThe OnePlus 5T Star Wars Editionand the OnePlus 7 Pro.
OnePlus’ focus on design aesthetics comes from the top. Co-founder and CEO Pete Lau often talks about how design is a major focus area for OnePlus, and I vividly remember one conversation prior to the OnePlus 6 launch.
At the time, OnePlus was releasing its first phone in red, and Lau said he and the design team had been discussing options for several weeks to get the right color for the device.
In the end, OnePlus went with a red that was $4 more expensive than the other alternatives (no small change when you’re working on ultra-thin margins), but the result was that the Red OnePlus 6 looked absolutely stunning. It is this attention to detail on every aspect of the device that has made the company so beloved by users. Unfortunately, OnePlus doesn’t do that anymore.
In 2022, you can sum up the OnePlus phone portfolio in one word: derivative. Instead of releasing original designs that stand out from the packaging, OnePlus is essentially rebranding existing OPPO and Realme devices.
This isn’t the first time OnePlus has gone to OPPO for design inspiration. 2017 OnePlus 5 was almost identical to the OPPO R11OnePlus has long relied on OPPO to manufacture and distribute its phones.
But at the time, the hardware similarities weren’t so significant because OPPO didn’t have a big global presence outside of a few Asian markets. Furthermore, OnePlus’ efforts with OxygenOS meant that the software on both phones was very different.
That wasn’t the case in 2022. OnePlus phones have the same software as their OPPO siblings, and they now share the same designs without any meaningful tweaks. This is especially true for the Nord N – the . series Nord N20 5G The one that was launched a few weeks ago is none other than OPPO Reno 8 Lite.
Likewise, Nord CE 2 Lite is a fake Realme 9 Pro with a not so good wide angle lens, Nord C2 It is a derivative of Reno 7.
The worst culprit is the OnePlus 10R; This device is a poor imitation of the Realme GT Neo 3, and it has the ugliest design of any phone I’ve used this year. I can’t believe that the same company that gave us OnePlus 7T Just three years ago I came out so awful.
Hardware is just one part of the story here; OnePlus had major integration issues ColorOS With OxygenOS, This is clearly demonstrated in 10r. The device is prone to lags and buggy in a way not unlike the Realme GT Neo 3 – even though they’re essentially the same phone.
What is clear is that OnePlus does not have anywhere near the same level of control in its wallet under the tutelage of OPPO. The way I see it, OnePlus now exists as a way to Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait Selling phones in North America.
OPPO and Realme do not sell devices in the region, so it makes sense that BBK is rebranding existing devices from these two entities and launching them under the OnePlus brand.
OnePlus now exists as a way for BBK to sell phones in North America.
As for why that’s the case now rather than three years ago, it’s all about the numbers. Realme just hit fourth this week, and the brand has already generated over 100 million sales to its name. At the same time, OnePlus is twice as old and has not sold even half as many units. To be fair, most of the devices Realme sold were in the budget category while OnePlus focused its attention on high-end phones, which is a big contributor to why the manufacturer hasn’t published strong sales numbers in its eight-year history.
It’s also why we’re seeing a lot of momentum around the budget and mid-tier Nord series and we’re not focusing too much on the flagship OnePlus 10 series this year. OnePlus first revealed last year that it had sold 10 million phones, with the majority of those sales being in the Nord and Nord N series.
So if you are in North America and need a budget phone, OnePlus is still a good choice because there is no OPPO, Realme or Xiaomi in the area. But if you are in a market where OPPO and Realme sell phones officially, you’d better buy from them directly.
OnePlus derivatives cost a bit less than their BBK siblings, but that’s not worth the trouble of dealing with buggy software and lackluster designs. OnePlus used to make some files Best Android PhonesHowever, this is not the case in 2022.