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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martyh1 - Thursday, January 15, 2015 - link
I agree. But that's for me. Other users have different needs. For me, 64GB is way more than enough. And my Note 3 is not benefiting me by having an SD card slot when I have to take off the cover to get to it. For me, an SD card slot is most useful if you can insert/remove it extremely easily.tipoo - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
Yeah, that's my primary concern. Though the 32GB is reasonably priced, especially compared to other high end phones.tipoo - Friday, November 21, 2014 - link
Actually 64 for just 50 more, not 32... quite reasonable. That would be good enough for me.dawheat - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
Surprised there's no mention of touch issues. My OPO is decidedly my backup phone now, even on the newest firmware, b/c the touch response still isn't as good as other brand name phones. It's gotten much better but you still get missed swipes, zooming when you didn't mean to, etc. To me, it's a big negative to an otherwise excellent phone.ratbert1 - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
I was trying this phone out while I had my N5 on L preview. I have been trying to decide whether to keep my N5 or this. I love the display and the software works for me except for transition stuttering at times. I agree there are way to many customization options for me to become familiar with as far as themes. I do enjoy the battery life. Even in remote locations where my other two phones will be dead by late afternoon, this still has 30% left. In the end I can't get over the size. I keep my phone in my front pocket and this is too big. My hands are not big, so it is a two handed affair all of the time.Since getting and enjoying Lollipop on my N5, I will keep it and sell the One. I will definitely miss it though.
Jax Omen - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
Can we please get someone who isn't busy fellating Apple to review android phones? Seriously, so sick of this guy. I don't even have to know what the phone is to know how the review will end, every one of his android phone reviews ends with "it's not a bad phone, but there are better options in the market". EVERY. SINGLE. REVIEW. This one bafflingly adds "too much choice having decisions to make on my phone confuses me" just to further drive home the point that he's in a love affair with Apple.Master_Sigma - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
The author doesn't fellate Apple in this review at all. In fact he spends a lot of time praising its hardware (except for the camera) and overall design. Its only in the software that he feels it needs work and, as a OnePlus One owner, I completely agree with him. The software really does need a lot of polish before it can punch with the flagships. However, given the price ($350 for 64GB of onboard storage is insane) its very easy to overlook the software issues. That, and OnePlus has been very good so far with keeping this phone is updated. The last 2 updates alone fixed alot of issues that earlier reviewers like Marques Brownlee were having.mrex - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
Polish what? The software is excellent already (44s).Phasenoise - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
I think you've got blinders on. The review was actually pretty positive and notes while not suitable for direct comparison to high-end smartphones (does not mean Apple), the price is good and the compromises may not bother you.tipoo - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - link
Did you just have that in your clipboard to post without reading the review? Apple hardly got any mention, and the review was pretty positive. Pointing out the negatives is a reviewers /job/, so I don't know why you'd knock that part...You know, unless you're fellating Oneplus.