Do you know how they've managed to make it so inexpensive?
Likely a low profit margin combined with efficient manufacturing. They also didn't have to spend much (if anything) on the OS as they're using CM11S.
There really isn't a reason for these devices to cost so much, companies like Xiaomi have proven that.
OnePlus even took a stab at the big players (Apple, Samsung, etc) for overcharging on things like internal storage:
OnePlus charges $50 USD to go from 16GB to 64GB (internal eMMC 5.0)
“How much is fair to charge for 64GB of storage?” OnePlus Twitter
You know that for a fact, though? It's as simple as low profit margins and efficient manufacturing? I can't help but think there's more to it than that. Do you imagine maybe another company is secretly subsidizing the cost of the phone? For what purpose I don't know, but it seems like a big undertaking for Cyanogen.
Things just don't add up. It sounds like, without a doubt, they'll create the best android-powered handset on the market. But again, not all the dots are connected.
EDIT: So it's made by Oppo, which I believe makes it a wholly Chinese created device. I still am curious to know how it's all working out.
You know that for a fact, though? It's as simple as low profit margins and efficient manufacturing? I can't help but think there's more to it than that. Do you imagine maybe another company is secretly subsidizing the cost of the phone? For what purpose I don't know, but it seems like a big undertaking for Cyanogen.
Things just don't add up. It sounds like, without a doubt, they'll create the best android-powered handset on the market. But again, not all the dots are connected.
Not for a fact, just speculation. There might be more to it, but again referencing Xiaomi, it's not impossible to see a device with flagship specs for such a low price. Xiaomi has been offering low cost flagship devices for at least a couple years now.
Some of the parts such as the Sony sensor could also come from Oppo, which uses the same sensor in their Find 7 flagship (in some ways a sister phone of the OnePlus One).
Take for example Xiaomi's Q4 2013 flagship, the Mi-3. It had a price tag ~$330 USD and offered more features than the Nexus 5. Specs: MIUI Android UI, Snapdragon 800 (AB model with higher clock for CPU and GPU), 2GB LPDDR3 1866 MHz, 5-inch 1920x1080 IPS display, 5 lens f/2.2 13MP camera with dual Philips LED flash, aluminium-magnesium chassis coated in multiple layers of graphite, 16GB eMMC 4.5 internal storage, etc. The only downside to the device was the lack of LTE due to the Chinese market.
@NVIDIATI: I'm really, really curious what profit margins look like on devices like the ones you're linking to. I can't shake the feeling that there's something we don't know (I think that's obvious), and I also can't imagine there are no compromises. Nexus phones have always felt appropriate, but maybe this is just a sign of the times.
Could be exciting for many folks, and likely terrifying for many others (looking at you, HTC, Lenovorola, Sony, Samsung, etc).
@musicalmac: An interesting piece on Xiaomi by The Verge (Link).
"We essentially price our phones at bill-of-materials." Xiaomi co-founder Bin Lin
To augment those razor-thin profit margins, Xiaomi continues to sell the same phones for a longer period of time than many of its competitors. Rather than release a new flagship every six months, it may sell the same model for up to 18 months (a strategy that larger companies are only just recently starting to adopt), giving it more flexibility with profits and the ability to sell accessories. Indeed, while the company doesn’t offer a fully custom phone a la the Moto X, customers can buy different color backplates and even batteries when they order their phones. "The accessory business only makes sense with huge volumes on one particular model," noted Lin. He also says the company has no marketing budget, doesn’t have to account for markups from resellers, and has no sales team.
Instead of focusing on hardware profits to grow the company, Lin has said that Xiaomi is more concerned with offering services to customers as a way to make money. "The future of mobile internet is really about services" he says. That doesn’t sound too different from Google’s approach of offering competitive products at a low cost or for free and then making money back on advertising. Given that Lin worked at Google before leaving to start Xiaomi, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. It could also be a good reason why Barra felt like Xiaomi would be the right place to go when leaving Google.
But their invitation only to buy it is kinda stupid...besides the 100 first to be selected,the rest will have their phones end July\August,which is still far away.
But their invitation only to buy it is kinda stupid...besides the 100 first to be selected,the rest will have their phones end July\August,which is still far away.
And Nexus 6 rumors for the end of summer...
I was under the impression the phone was going to be available in Q2 (mid-May). End of July / start of August is already in Q3.
If the next Nexus device is a sister phone of the LG G3, then, according to current leaks, we'll likely see a device with a Snapdragon 801 SoC + 2GB LPDDR3 RAM.
CM out of the box is like a dream phone for me but I am never buying a phone that big. I hope this phone is a success so we can have a 5" version later on which I will buy without a second thought.
Engadget posted a review on a pre-release OnePlus One. They gave the phone a 90 of 100 score. They found a couple stutters, but it should be noted, the device is running a pre-release software build. The review will be updated if there are changes when a final build / device is released.
Link
For $300, no other phone comes close to what the OnePlus One offers. Not only does it look and feel like a premium device, but it also comes with specs similar to what you'd find in a flagship smartphone. If you want a high-end phone on a budget, look no further.
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