OnePlus is famous for its “Never Settle” slogan, but sadly makes compromises that shows you OnePlus settled and expects you to, too.
OnePlus has just announced, via its forums, that it is soft launching into Australia in August, with the full launch video of the OnePlus 5 from June 20, 2017, embedded below (please fast forward to 24 minutes and 50 seconds).
A person dubbed “Carl, Co-Founder, Staff Member” wrote in a post, linked above that: “Since the early days of our company, we’ve seen your support on our forums, social media and even offline at our fan events around the world! Last month while having ice cream with some fans in New Delhi, one of you even flew over from Melbourne to join us. I was speechless.
“First of all, I know that many of you have purchased our products via friends or family traveling abroad, or through parallel imports. This can’t compare to the user experience when dealing directly with OnePlus. Sorry that you had to endure this, and that it took us so long.”
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Carl continues: “The good news is that we’re finally taking steps to enter Australia, and we'd like to enlist your help. Later this month, we’re bringing the OnePlus 5 to Australia through a soft launch program. The goal will be to test our product and supply chain, and we’ll be opening up a limited trial run for sales.
“In September, our team will be visiting Melbourne and Sydney to talk to you about how this first step went and hear your suggestions on how we can improve. Most importantly, we’d like to meet face-to-face those of you we haven’t had a chance to meet yet!
“Please fill out the following form and stay tuned for more information leading up to the events,” Carl concludes, with some interesting comments from forum readers below his post.
Now, while it is great news that yet another Android competitor who clearly is actually trying really hard to deliver a quality phone for the money is arriving to help shake up prices in Australia, you have to ask whether it really is enough.
Regarding the OnePlus 5:
Is it good enough to settle for a phone that STILL does not have a MicroSD slot, yet asks you to never settle?
- Only earlier this week did I help a friend transfer 10GB of legally acquired music onto a microSD into their Samsung Galaxy S8, so that 10GB of precious space wouldn't be chewed up by music - and no, they weren't interested in paying $10+ per month for a streaming service.
It it good enough to settle for a phone that STILL does not offer water resistance, yet asks you to never settle?
- Heck, I'll wash my phone under the tap these days, can you do THAT with a OnePlus?
It it good enough to settle for a phone that forces you to use a bulky USB-C stick if you want access to things so you don’t take up precious space on your phone, yet asks you to never settle?
It it good enough to settle for paying a lot more for a phone that is the most expensive OnePlus to date, yet asks you to never settle?
It is good enough to settle for a seemingly superior dual-camera phone that still has low-light performance issues, yet asks you to never settle?
It is good enough to settle for a phone that has had the screen inserted upside down, leading to the dreaded herky jerky “jelly effect” that OnePlus blames on your OWN eyesight, yet asks you to never settle?
Is it good enough to settle for a phone with an audio recording bug, yet asks you to never settle?
Is it good enough to settle for a phone that, on launch, rebooted when you dialled 911, (but is apparently now fixed), yet asks you to never settle?
It it good enough to settle for a phone that adjusts itself for better benchmark results (despite the explanation as to why this is ok), yet asks you to never settle?
To conclude, is it good enough to settle for a phone that settles on so many things you’d never settle for if you knew they existed before you purchased a phone?
My advice would be to never settle on a device that asks you to never settle, because it’s clearly the dumbest catch phrase and slogan of all time.
Look, amazingly I actually wish OnePlus success as they will increase competition in the marketplace, which is great for consumers, but as always, I advise you to do your own homework, and to only settle on those things you truly think are worth settling for.
With the OnePlus 5, you might have to settle for taking the calculation to heart and waiting for the 6.
Finally, judging by the judgment of a colleague that I highly respect, Sam Varghese, whose OnePlus One experiences left a lot to be desired, I just pray that if you decide to buy a OnePlus, you don’t end up with a OneMinus.
Sure, OnePlus below asks you to "focus on what matters" - but isn't that simply a distraction so you settle for things that OnePlus asks you to never settle on?
Here is the official OnePlus 5 launch video from June 2017 - please fast forward to the 24 minutes and 50 second mark for the video to actually start: