OnePlus One - $300 killer Android phone

[phoenix99]

A modular phone will have plastic surrounding each removable component. That's a huge amount of stuff to fit in a phone compared to one that only has to worry about the external casing. Please explain how a modular phone won't be bulky compared to most regular flagships?

Define bulky?

Nexus 6, note 4, iphone 6 plus. These are all monstrously big, bulky phones

 

[Bryn]

Define bulky?

Nexus 6, note 4, iphone 6 plus. These are all monstrously big, bulky phones

Exactly. If they're as big as they are, without having modular components, I'd like to know how a modular phone won't be significantly bulkier.

 

[phoenix99]

So you'd settle for getting what you get and having little to no choice on the features of a phone instead of a POSSIBLY bulkier, fully customisable, functionally future proof device?

 

[Bryn]

So you'd settle for getting what you get and having little to no choice on the features of a phone instead of a POSSIBLY bulkier, fully customisable, functionally future proof device?

Your argument is a straw man one. No one is arguing against the merits of choice or competition. There will always be that in abundance in the cellphone industry. I'm only pointing out the most obvious problem with a modular cellphone design. It won't 'possibly' be bulkier than the devices it's competing against - it is absolutely guaranteed to be. As I said, having so many sealed components makes it impossible to achieve a very slim design.

Another issue I have with the concept is how expensive it will likely be. A normal phone has a fixed array of components. When millions are produced the manufacturer benefits from economies of scale and those savings are passed on. Producing limited quantities of high end modular components will cost a fortune.

 

[phoenix99]

Your argument is a straw man one. No one is arguing against the merits of choice or competition. There will always be that in abundance in the cellphone industry. I'm only pointing out the most obvious problem with a modular cellphone design. It won't 'possibly' be bulkier than the devices it's competing against - it is absolutely guaranteed to be. As I said, having so many sealed components makes it impossible to achieve a very slim design.

Another issue I have with the concept is how expensive it will likely be. A normal phone has a fixed array of components. When millions are produced the manufacturer benefits from economies of scale and those savings are passed on. Producing limited quantities of high end modular components will cost a fortune.

I understand where you are coming from, and i guess only time will tell wrt the price and success/failure of ARA/modular phones.

I just hope that the naysayers give it a real chance before dismissing it.

 

[RCB#8]

New to this Forum, how do i go about getting this phone?

 

[jman]

New to this Forum, how do i go about getting this phone?

I'm selling mine. If my current deal falls through, you can buy it.

 

[Gamer]

Anyone have a spare, new tempered glass protector I can buy from them? Thanks

 

[Bryn]

New to this Forum, how do i go about getting this phone?

In 4 and a half hours you can buy directly from OnePlus for a small period of time without needing an invite. They don't ship to SA, so I'd recommend using a mail forwarding service like MyUS or Stackry. Don't dawdle if you want to buy it new.

 

[Budza]

I got mine yesterday, what an awesome phone! When it comes time charging tho, I got the UK charger, I bought a universal adapter from builders, but the phone is charging soooooooo slowly, like 30% in 5 hours... Anything you guys can recommend?

I'm in the UK - got a 2prong charger with mine. IE, not UK flat-3prong. AFAIK, they never had a UK charger?

Anyway...

Used the official charger this weekend, as I was in a rush and wanted all that 2.1A goodness. It certainly seemed slower than the 1A I'm used to with an old flat prong UK iPhone charger. I was disappointed. When I have more time, I'll do a test with Battery Monitor to see what mAh I get out of the 1A, 2.1A and an older .75A chargers.

Did some tests yesterday- I've realised it's more about the actual cable than the charger..

I have a 0.75A, a 1A iPhone charger (the wifes, don't ask..) and the OPO 2.1A charger.

With various cables, I could see the 1A & 2.1A would charge @ ~5%/hr, but not much more. The 0.75A would slowly discharge, or barely maintain charge while I was using the phone.

With about an hour to go before I needed to go out, I needed some power and was getting pissde off with the slow charging. I grabbed the official OPO cable (unused until now, still in the box). Whoa!

The official cable, plugged into the official charger was delivering 40-50%/hr, according to Battery Monitor.

So, I now need to do some research into higher mAh / USB3.0 or whatever cables

 

[mav3rick]

Yeah had the same experience regarding cable. Used my iPad 2A charger with old USB cable and it was crawling. Switched to the oneplus cable and it flew. Went from 60% to fully charged inside an hour.

 

[Budza]

I just got an invite to share- 24 hours until expiry.

PM me if you're serious...

 

[Bryn]

I've also been given an invite. PM me and it's yours. Expires in 24 hours.

Edit: Invite gone.

 

[JacquesR]

Did some tests yesterday- I've realised it's more about the actual cable than the charger..

Fascinating. I hadn't heard of how much difference the cable (as opposed to the charger) could make, but see the screengrab in post 1 here for another confirmation of this. (And here's a Reddit thread on what it is about the cables that makes a difference.)

 

[Budza]

Fascinating. I hadn't heard of how much difference the cable (as opposed to the charger) could make, but see the screengrab in post 1 here for another confirmation of this. (And here's a Reddit thread on what it is about the cables that makes a difference.)

USB cables have a data wire and a charging wire within the cable itself. Most USB cables, probably over 99+% are 28/28. Buying after market micro USB cables will pretty much always result in getting cheap quality 28/28 cables and your device will barely break 500mah when it charges, maybe even less.
This isn't the only issue though. After you use a cable for a while it pushes slight stresses on the micro USB connector itself and compresses it. This causes poor connectivity between your device and the wire. This is why it seems like your device port feels like it's getting loose and you think something is wrong. It's most likely the cable being slowly damaged over time.
Solution? Get a 28/24 gauge cable. 24 gauge is ~ 60% larger and can handle 2amps. This is what is usually sent when you buy a tablet or large phone device. Your wire slowly gets damaged over time or may even stop working entirely. You order a cheap cable off Amazon or eBay and it never appears to charge at the correct speed anymore.
For the longest time I always thought my actual chargers were slowly dying and my charging speeds were getting worse but it turned out to almost always be poor quality cables.

Cool- thanks for the link

Now to see where the hell to buy 28/24 cable!

I just got an invite to share- 24 hours until expiry.

PM me if you're serious...

Invite still available...

 

[shiverz]

 

[Gamer]

Using 3rd party charger and cable, as reported on XDA Developers

 

[Reaper84]

I have an invite. PM if you are keen but remember you have 24 hours to buy so you must have the money ready and must be able to ship it. Can give a stackry referral as well which will give $10 off shipping

 

[Gamer]

I got sick of the US charger having to use an adapter to work and it being so wobbly in the adapter and sticking out the wall so far, I wired it direct to a SA plug, USB port facing upwards. It works well.

 

[Bryn]

@Gamer I'm not sure I'd trust my precious OnePlus One with a homemade charger, but well done nonetheless. I use a Nokia charger with my OPO and it works fantastically. My step-dad also has an OPO and he uses the charger and cable it ships with, plus an SA adapter of course. It doesn't feel wobbly at all, so perhaps the problem was just the adapter that you were using?