OnePlus have always been very creative with their marketing campaigns, rarely in a good way. Here at Ausdroid we have covered many of them but after a while they got too numerous and to be honest we pretty much stopped covering them. Then the underwhelming OnePlus 2 launched, without support for all Australian LTE bands and it further disappeared from our radar. Well, OnePlus are back, for a fourth time with the OnePlus 3.
In the very early hours of this morning OnePlus sent out emails to previous customers offering free Loop VR headsets to customers so they could watch the launch of their OnePlus 3. Last year they offered 30,000 VR cardboard sets so it is a massive step up in quality to offer what seems to be a fully fledged VR headset, for free. Unfortunately, within minutes it was “Sold Out” (not sure how something can be sold out if it is free) angering, unreasonably IMO, many OnePlus sycophants. Many people who had previously purchased all three OnePlus phones received their email AFTER it had sold out, others managed to get one in their shopping cart only to have PayPal decline payment due to some kind of PayPal security. For those that missed out on the free headset hopefully they will be selling it in the future like they are for Indian users through Amazon.
This brings us to the OnePlus 3 launch. Previous OnePlus launches have so far ignored the Australian market. While it is unlikely they will acknowledge us this time we can only hope, they’ll extend their range to our shores. The OnePlus 3, after a lacklustre OnePlus 2, once again promises to be quite a phone for a low price. There is rumoured to be a base model and a premium model with extra memory, selling for $310USD and $384USD respectively.
The OnePlus 3, from perennial leaker EvLeaks, seems to be very similar in design to the HTC One M9 which is not a bad thing. This leak was further strengthened by a leak on Wiebo showing the phone in a bumper case. Rumoured/leaked specs include:
- 5.5 inch, 1080p display
- 4GB RAM, 32GB memory base model; or
- 6GB RAM, 64GB memory premium model
- Snapdragon 820 CPU
- Adreno 530 GPU
- 16MP camera
- 3500mAh battery
These specs, on the whole seem impressive. For me I would hope that the 1080p display is for the base model and the premium model would come with a 2K display as high end phones in 2016 do – a resolution far more suitable for VR/Cardboard headsets. There is no word on a launch or announcement date but Carl Pei has mentioned it will be towards the end of the second quarter, which is only a month or so away. So if you are interested get your VR headset (Cardboard will do) ready and tune in to the launch, whenever it may be.
Anyone at all interested in this phone, considering it is unlikely to ship here and just as unlikely to support our LTE bands?
