The OnePlus One Review
by Joshua Ho on November 19, 2014 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Android
- Mobile
- OnePlus
Display
Within the past few years, smartphone displays have improved immensely. Color rendition, peak brightness, contrast, resolution, viewing angles, and power draw have all improved since the first modern smartphones that appeared in 2007. Of course, while it was once possible to judge relative quality in displays by subjective comparison, most smartphones no longer have TN displays or poor maximum brightness. In order to better test displays, we turn to SpectraCal’s CalMAN 5 with a custom workflow.
In the basics, we see that the OnePlus One has a reasonably bright display and acceptable display contrast, although there's room to improve in both. OnePlus has also done a good job of making sure that their display gets dim enough for night time reading, as minimum brightness is around 4.2 nits. Viewing angles are also great. While contrast with viewing angle changes isn't as good as AMOLED panels, I don't see any color shifting with viewing angle changes. This seems to remain an advantage of IPS panels for now.
In grayscale, we see that the white balance is just a bit blue, but there really isn’t a big issue there. The OnePlus One sets a record for grayscale accuracy. I would like to see a bit better color balance at the higher scales, but it's really just nitpicking. Specifically, red needs to be bumped up to be in line with green and blue. It's understandable why this is done though, as the display's backlight will be the weakest in red in general.
In the saturation sweep, OnePlus has done a great job to make sure that colors are as accurate as possible. The only issue here is that the red, magenta, and blue is a bit weaker than it should be. Some extra saturation would definitely tighten up the accuracy here in addition to making the display more appealing than it is now. However, the display is still incredibly well-calibrated, and will be more than accurate enough for general use.
The strong showing in the saturation sweep helps carry the OnePlus One through to do well in the ColorChecker. For the most part, we see that much of the error comes from the issues previously discussed with grayscale. The display overall is great, and while it isn’t perfect, it’s really just nitpicking at this point. The OnePlus One manages to display colors more accurate than almost everything on the market. The only real issue I've noticed with this display is that there's a bit more IPS glow than I'd like when shifting viewing angles.
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Anonymous1a - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
Really, this phone is like over six months old! And, you're reviewing it now? The whole point of a review is to help buyers make up their mind. Not a lot of people start buying when a device is six months old.grayson_carr - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
To be fair, the phone still isn't straight up for sale. You can't just go to their site and have one shipped to you on the spot. You can only pre-order it.Bob Todd - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
To be even more fair, their comment (not yours) is completely retarded. Pre-orders are closed. Nobody reading this review can even buy one right now. Still invite only until another pre-order window opens. So I'd say the review is still quite timely.Allan_Hundeboll - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link
If you know how to google you can find an invite in less than 10 minutes...Anonymous1a - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
So, just because they have a different business model, that means you should review it late? They may never open pre-orders proper for the One (in the way other companies do) so, if that's your rationale, Anandtech should never review the phone. Also, I don't know if you live in Asia, but, in some countries, you can actually just go to a shop and buy one. Yes, you'll pay a premium from $20-$50 but it will still be cheaper than competing phones.Anonymous1a - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
Also, how is it that OnePlus One is seen as the first device to challenge to challenge the $600+ flagship paradigm when Xiaomi has been doing this for at least two generations of devices?Socius - Friday, November 21, 2014 - link
Xiaomi makes devices targeted to the Asian market (think bands). These guys are making the same thing, but pushing the western markets hard with it. So it's basically higher quality Xiaomi for the masses.beggerking@yahoo.com - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
can you stop putting iphone benchmarks in the chart? everyone already know its biased and inaccurate.SanX - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
Great everything but the dark display and a bit ugly design. Good to have 6" and even 6.5" model too at the expense of bezel. Another good unknown Chinese brand is Zopo, I'm happy with its 6" phone for more then a year. No one including Apple beats its screen and battery life.frombauer - Thursday, November 20, 2014 - link
Want leading battery life with a mannageable size? Sony Z3 Compact. Loving mine, 4.6" might be a bit small, but it's light, fits a pocket nicely and lasts FOREVER on a charge. And has a full speed Snapdragon 801 inside driving a 720p screen, which makes it scream.