OnePlus 3 is now official, $399 for a flagship smartphone

10:14:00 AM dickwyn 0 Comments

Here it is, the OnePlus 3 has been officially announced and this is OnePlus's first attempt at making a unibody metal smartphone. This time around, the are also ditching the invite system which plagued the OnePlus 2 and original OnePlus One. Being a flagship phone, OnePlus decked the new OnePlus 3 with powerful hardware like the Snapdragon 820 SoC and 6GB of RAM.

In terms of the actual hardware, the OnePlus 3 is actually pretty similar to last year's model. The fingerprint scanner is still on the front, the OnePlus 3 still features a 1080P display but this time around they have opted for an AMOLED panel, the software is still OxygenOS, the Alert Slider from last year is still present and the OnePlus 3 still comes with a USB Type-C connector on the bottom.

But there is one key difference with this new model and that is OnePlus is bringing back the NFC chip on the OnePlus 3 which was absent on their previous flagship phone. This NFC chip will enable mobile payments like Android Pay.

OnePlus 3 Key Specifications

— 5.5-inch 1080P Optic AMOLED display
— Snapdragon 820 SoC
— 6GB RAM
— 64 UFS 2.0 memory
— 16MP f2.0 rear camera with OIS
— 8MP f2.0 front camera
— Android 6.0 Marshmallow w/OxygenOS
— 3,00mAh battery
— USB Type-C port
— 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm
— 158g
— Dual SIM LTE
— Graphite grey/Gold

Cameras are important on smartphones these days and the OnePlus 3 comes with Sony's IMX 298 sensor which is the same one found on the Xiaomi Mi 5. The camera on the OnePlus 3 will shot in 4K at 30fps and the sensor itself is aided with extras like OIS, EIS as well as phase detection autofocus. It's also nice to know that the OnePlus 3 supports taking photos in RAW format.

Additionally, OnePlus is also touting that the new Dash Charge feature on the OnePlus 3 will enable fast charging without worrying about overheating the device. This is a proprietary technology similar to Oppo's VOOC technology. In practice, this new charging technology equates to 60% of battery with just 30 minutes of charging.

The OnePlus 3 is now available for purchase through OnePlus without any invites for US$ 399 (~MYR 1,635) which is in the same league of the Xiaomi Mi 5. OnePlus will also be holding pop-up events in New York, London, Paris and Berlin where fans can buy the device on the spot.