X OnePlus analysis, excellent outside, inside right

X OnePlus

These people and products I know myself, I had occasion to analyze the first OnePlus, also the second, and now I meet a third element that is a little out of the path marked by his older brothers. OnePlus wanted to make a phone smaller and more affordable, but he had the presence of a high-end product, and before going into details, we can say that is what they have achieved.

There are great phones by Motorola, BQ, ASUS, OnePlus own or with other virtues, but none care quality and detail as this OnePlus X. It’s not perfect, that’s why we’re here, to get to know their shortcomings and advantages.

X OnePlus
Credit: Google Image

OnePlus X is the most affordable brand phone, but it has the best presence. Inside there is no “flagship killer”

I will put in a situation with a description that I consider accurate: this is a device to the hardware level of a Nexus 5 or Galaxy S5 with its 5-inch screen, and Snadpragon 801 as heart, all presented with a wrapper luxury. OnePlus X is a high-end early in 2014, with a body that mixes metal and glass.

That said, we put aside the mantra of “flagship killer”, there have to OnePlus 2 with a far more striking specifications for the Android scene. OnePlus X tries to seduce us with an interior that few will find old, and an exterior that allows us to choose between two options: Onyx and Ceramic. We have the first, the “normal”, I think the most intelligent and interesting option, on the other, can inform better on the touchdown we do in London.

The result is a unique Android phone, which has no direct competitors for what it offers, that weighs more on the positive than their shortcomings. Again, OnePlus X is not flawless, but I’m sure it’s something that many would buy, if the heavy invitation system not demotivating them. First step, we know the typical specifications:

Luxury packaging for OnePlus X

The importance of design in a telephone think gradually begins to outweigh own specifications, which usually tend to be at a good level when we passed the lower ranges. Manufacturers take more than a year going to create a mid-range and high metal nourished with design exercises quite measured.

By this I think is right OnePlus creating something of high quality at one step in feature phones, where the plastic and representation are not concepts that get along. OnePlus shows that you can make an attractive device without having to leave us pay.

Going into detail, saying that we have a fairly simple design, which is marked by the glass on both sides of the phone, connected by a metal frame which in turn has attractive grooves – seventeen specifically – that give a different touch . It is not easy to create phone, and that some will appreciate. We must also say that the surface loves fingerprints.

For many, the hardware is going to the background when the design appears on stage, takes this trend OnePlus

The fact that your screen is 5 inches conditions a not too big, ideal for many who do not want in any way to invest in what makes the trend product. It is positive for the comfort of use with one hand,but his finishing plays a trick on you, because it is very slippery.

Fortunately for the “landslide” no cases and housings with many designs and materials, but entered the game to hide a good design, if we choose to personalize and protect your phone. It is up to you.

If we have to throw it to fight a phone from her fifth as the HTC One A9, we see that X earns him OnePlus dimensions, aluminum and glass getting put in a body of 140x69x6,9 mm – 138 grams. The metallic HTC is not only larger in all dimensions but weighs more.

Turning to the front we have the phone display is slightly curved at the ends, in what the industry has decided to baptize as 2.5D. The protection glass is used Gorilla Glass 3. We like meeting a notifier LED in the upper right corner; it helps us to know different states without running the OnePlus.

Once you get used to use, you do not care that the navigation buttons are backlit, but it is fair to comment that they are not here, and barely visible under certain circumstances. We can always place “drawn” on the screen, which offer all phones with Oxygen OS operating system.

On the front we find the first absence regarding OnePlus 2, this is no fingerprint sensor

If we go to the right side we have a very well-constructed and well-functioning metal buttons, but is also one of the highlights of the phone: a tray with much game.

There is no room for two nano-SIM cards, as the phone is Dual SIM, but it is also the place to put a microSD card (missing one of the holes to SIM).

On the left we maintain one of the innovations introduced in OnePlus 2, the Alert Slider. For which ande lost remark that is a button with three steps, which correspond to three states or main phone profiles, allowing us to prioritize notifications and sounds without looking at the screen.

At the bottom we have one of the least innovative details such as the microUSB port. In OnePlus 2, and they got us a comfortable reversible connector, here is lost, either by complications in the design, or raise the final price to take advantage of new technologies.

What’s in the package purchase OnePlus X? For very fair, but practical: no headphones, but a flexible and transparent cover protects your phone and offers us a better grip. In the store of OnePlus there are lots of different cases for the new phone.

AMOLED are welcome

Now the screen is AMOLED, and the change is for the better. The panel is signed by Samsung

The screen is one of the elements that has convinced me in this OnePlus X. could understand that it was not well treated component trying to make up for a good final price, but is one of its strengths.

OnePlus changes AMOLED LCD panel for high quality, where we have more than enough for your inch diagonal full HD resolution. In its price range, we not much like find, especially if you like quality screens that show blacks and vivid colors.

If we put a black background full-screen, easily it extends to the color of your phone and gives us a sense that there are no frames, if there are. Although it is not a very big screen but it are videos look really good in it.

The brightness level is its weakest point, as it is in the middle, and do not stand out in your outdoor operation. On the positive side saying that we can put a really low level, if you do not want to bother overnight.

The origin of the screen is Samsung, although the could find in a previous generation Galaxy S, and dot matrix type is Diamond Pen Tile. We would have liked some method of playing with the color temperature.

I think the “Dark Theme” mode introduced in previous OS phones Oxygen, takes on new meaning in the OnePlus X, and to paint everything in black color is efficient in an AMOLED panel. The miso as “Ambient Display”, which draws us notifications on black background, when they arrive, or when we get the phone from his pocket also occurs.

Snapdragon 801 is very much alive

On a day to day now I do not notice that the Snapdragon 801 is old, we’ll see how the new Androids to come adapts

If we want an excuse to put together, in order to find the price cut, we could say that the hardware is not new. Inside it is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 we could find in the OnePlus One – 200MHz slower in the X -, or high-end head phones on the market, last year.

I more than a disadvantage I see it as a good choice, I had occasion to try a very similar phone as is the Oppo R7, and I find that a Snadpragon 801 is much better solution than the Snapdragon 615 that appears to extend in this new midrange with steroids.

The main difference, ahead of Android, is that the 801 is 32 bits, and the new 600 have a 64-bit design (HTC One A9 leads 617).

It is a hardware more than tested and optimized, which is accompanied by over 3GB of RAM (LPDDR3), and with a full HD not find problems in any task. Okay, if we benchmark very high settings in games, or measure the speed of loading a OnePlus 2 gives an overview, and possibly pass much better over time, but today, the OnePlus X operates more than good.

We assume that would hand a roll 801 at a good price and best option was to use a Snadpragon 617, or cheaper to pick the two most striking point solutions in its price: 808 Snapdragon (Xiaomi Mi 4c) or Helio MediaTek X10 (Meizu MX5).

The internal memory is 16GB, of which we have more than 11 gigabytes for our use. The possibility of expanding memory via microSD is a highlight; we can do up to 128GB. Many like to know that here we have FM radio, just putting the headphones as an antenna.

Dual SIM

Dual SIM type as the phone system is DSDS (Dual-SIM / dual-standby). We have two active cards at the same time, but when one comes into operation – call us – the other is not active and will appear as “off” anyone who is contacting us. Only one modem for communications.

To me I do not lose sleep, less for the price they ask us, but we must know that the phone lacks the NFC connectivity.

Increasingly mobile dare to offer Dual SIM. OnePlus it has fixed in its catalog, and I think a great idea. On the tray there is space for a microSD card

LTE

That way you will have had the opportunity to read the phone is problematic with US LTE networks, but we have no problem, connected with what we want 3.1.20), and is compatible with the new 4G networks in the band 800 ( greater penetration and scope).

Battery

The battery performance is better than expected, but no special new highlight

Oxygen is fair to say that OS is very simple and optimized software, get along with “old” hardware X. But the phone battery is not gigantic; it has a capacity of 2525mAh, much smaller than the 3,100 we had One OnePlus in a similar hardware (more screen and LCD).

Autonomy is very similar between models, tests have been investigating people who have been with the phone longer than me – take me less than a week – and so say. We talked about going for the day without problems, at the level of a Moto X or HTC One M9, and better than the 810 of a OnePlus 2.

The decision to lower battery size is related to the design, building on a mobile so thin – 6.9 millimeters – is also lost in space for a larger battery – By the way, it is still -. We can also criticize the lack of developments in the charging system, and there is no option here for fast charging, no possibility of doing so wirelessly.

Oxygen OS, ideal Customization

I think the best customizations are those who play the just Android, and updated soon. The first part is fulfilled in Oxygen OS

If you know the brand or have followed the analysis OnePlus 2, little new I will tell you here. The operating system is built on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, and is known as Oxygen OS, version 2.1.3. As a curious comment that OnePlus originally launched CyanogenMod hand, there was divorce and from the second phone have their own development.

Oxygen OS is clean and efficient, no things that are left in the system, but hopefully more rapid with updates

The best thing about this customization is that it is quite simple, very ‘vanilla Android’, and is well optimized with the hardware, so do not eat many resources. There’s just things that are left or occupy space. Among the new application note for the FM radio.

In short, it’s okay to have a close system Android, with some extras and customization, especially on issues of interaction, such as gestures with the phone asleep, or the navigation buttons on the screen. There is a ‘desktop’ with recent activity known as Shelf, practice, but nothing great.

We do not forget the type notifications ‘Ambient Display’, which show developments in the AMOLED spending as little energy, it is possible to present them when we put the phone in a pocket (which detects the front camera). If you like the dark tone, the look ‘Dark Theme’,it fits very well to the phone, and uses less energy.

The downside is updates are not everything fast as we would like: Marshmallow OnePlus 2 to arrive at the beginning of 2016, so patience with the X. We do not know what the priority of the Chinese company is, but it is conditional for sales that take this end of year.

Remarkable camera in its range

As in the case of OnePlus 2, the OnePlus X has a 13 megapixel camera, but there the similarities end, because of its big brother the firm OmniVision – was exclusively for them – and the little guy is Samsung, ISOCELL namely a module (3M2 CMOS). We already saw her when analyzing the Oppo R7, where we liked.

We need to position ourselves; this is a mid-range phone price, which we cannot ask to rival the iPhone in all sections. The camera is not top level, but it is remarkable in its category, and it works really well in situations that are not complicated.

Do not expect a fantastic camera at this price, but note meet with casual photographers

The lens used for the occasion has a maximum aperture f / 2.2 and no image stabilization on it, nor can record 4K video. We can say in its favor that is fast being driven, focusing – should better go that phase detection system – and managing the shots, although some still take a tad save.

The images that come out are good for sharing memories in networks or save on your phone, and the truth is coming out easily, but are not wonderful in definition, because the software he puts a lot of distortion, especially if the light situation complicated. The colors are decent, but the dynamic range seems limited as shown chiaroscuro.

On the front is the one that puts Omni Vision camera with lens f / 2.4 and 8 megapixel sensor. Nor can we measure wonders here, but is average and resolve guarantees our selfies – video and – ‘Beauty’ no way.

In the video we were recording in 1080p, no for more hardware, and it does not appear that this section has been very careful to OnePlus. Limited dynamic range, not much definition, or poor stabilization. There is a recording mode to 120 images per second down to 720p format.

The interface is also old known gestures, but here responsive to the twists and our actions. Very simple in options; it allows us to access extra modes as ‘panorama’, ‘slow motion’, or ‘time-lapse’. In normal picture mode we have three options: HDR, sharp image (up one from ten images) and ‘beauty’.

Both video and pictures must have very good conditions to get something usable, but not mortify us in this price range is not offered again in good hands and can do great things. I’m sure there’s room for improvement in the software, but that we are tied to what they can get from OnePlus.

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