First look: OnePlus X

The OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 are beautiful devices at beautiful prices. The Dh1,000 (approximately) OnePlus X follows the same lead with a different target market in mind. Even though OnePlus is known for creating flagship-level phones at unconventionally low price points, it went ahead and made a mid-range phone to compete in the market. 

 

I was expecting a subpar phone in looks and performance, but what I got was basically the OnePlus 2 in a more compact package, with some trimmings. The phone is crafted with curved glass, ridged sides and chamfered edges that give it a premium feel, albeit a little slippery from time to time. The Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection will help any clumsy slips or falls. The 5-inch AMOLED screen with Full HD resolution packs in 441 pixels per inch, providing a great visual experience.

 

The X comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with a quad-core 2.3GHz CPU and 3GB RAM that allow a smooth experience when you’re not tasking the device with too many background-running apps. 

 

The camera is standard fare for a mid-range phone with a 13MP rear shooter and an 8MP at the front. It will take decent daytime pictures and selfies, but in low light you shouldn’t bother. The internal memory on this phone tops out at 16GB but lets you use a microSD card up to 128GB. The battery is 2,525mAh, which I had low expectations of, but it actually managed to give me a full day of use on most days. 

 

OnePlus makes one of the best operating systems on Android. Even though it still works over Lollipop — when we’re being teased with Android N — the OS is a smooth experience with a great interface that can be universally appreciated by Android users. OnePlus has always provided a host of customisations you rarely see in other devices and one of my favourite features is the gesture-enabled screen where you can double-tap to wake up, draw a circle to open the camera, a v for flashlight and a few more of the sort. 

 

OnePlus has a winner on its hands to compete in the burgeoning mid-range handset market. The X is definitely a cut above its competition and has the ability to provide all kinds of users a great Android experience.