OnePlus 5 Review

Overview

Ever since the first OnePlus smartphone has been announced every succeeding model becomes one of the most expected smartphones of the year as OnePlus has proved it is able to pull out a worthy flagship competitor for half the price. After the launch of OnePlus 5 the feedback on the device has been quite controversial mainly regarding the design and the photo quality from the two rear cameras, which happen to be the only focus and main selling point of the model. In addition, the price is punched up compared to the rest of the OnePlus smartphones at the moment of their launch. That's why many people probably wonder whether this is still a worthy flagship competitor/flagship killer. Here's our unbiased and in-depth review of OnePlus 5 that will tackle these issues and more.

Specifications

OnePlus 5 retains the same 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels found on its predecessors - the OnePlus 3 and 3T. However, this year's edition is coupled with a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 5, instead of 4. The battery is slightly smaller and its capacity measures 3300 mAh compared to the 3400 mAh battery in the 3T. The device is also thinner, with a waistline of 7.25 mm compared to the 7.35 mm profile of the 3T, which on its part is thinner than the OnePlus 3. Under the hood of the new model, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 SoC ticks with four 2.45GHz Kryo CPU cores and another four of those but clocked at 1.9GHz. A 710MHz Adreno 540 GPU handles the graphics. The device arrives either with 6GB or 8GB of double-channel, LPDDR4X RAM, clocked at 1866MHz. It can also have either 64GB or 128GB of UFS 2.1 2-LANE storage. The multitude of onboard sensors includes a fingerprint sensor made by Fingerprint Cards (FPC1245). OnePlus 5 offers a plethora of connectivity options. It supports 4G LTE Cat. 12/Cat. 13 networks, VoLTE, NFC with Tap & Pay, Bluetooth 5, DLNA, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with 2x2 MU-MIMO, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct. There's no radio, but the device is equipped with a 3.5 mm jack and a USB Type-C 2.0 that supports OTG and USB Audio. The model works with all satellite positioning systems currently available: GPS/A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou. The audio setup has undergone some improvement. It still boasts Dirac Power Sound technology for speaker optimisation and Dirac HD Sound along with a 3-microphone noise cancellation and AANC support. This is the first OnePlus model to have two rear cameras. The first shooter packs a 16-megapixel Sony IMX398 Exmor RS and a 6-element lens with an f/1.7 aperture. The second rear shooter is equipped with a 20-megapixel Sony IMX350 sensor and a 5-megapixel telephoto lens with an f/2.6 aperture. Both cameras are aided by a dual-tone LED flash and a hybrid autofocus (DCAF+PDAF). The front-facing snapper relies on a 16-megapixel Sony IMX371 Exmor RS sensor with an f/2.0 lens. OnePlus smartphones arrive either with OxygenOS (international version) or HydrogenOS (China version). Our review unit runs Hydrogen OS 3.5.0 based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. Here are the full OnePlus 5 (A5000) specifications.

What's in the box

The signature OnePlus box with a red body and a white lid that houses the latest smartphone of the company has the OnePlus logo on top along with the number 5 imprinted on the lid and a "Dual camera. Clearer photos" inscription on the two vertical sides. On the bottom of the box, there's information about some basic features, specifications, and designations of the model. As usual, the smartphone lies carefully packaged on top of a thick red envelope. The screen has a pre-applied protector on it, while the envelope contains a quick start guide, safety information, and a SIM tray pin. Below the envelope, in two separate compartments, the red Dash USB to Type-C cable and a big white Dash charger with two flat pins are placed. The charger complies with the US standard for electric sockets. If you live outside the USA, Canada and some Latin American countries, you will need a socket adapter.