Hey guys, doing this after quite a while hence don't mind the flow of the review. I am not here to tell you guys about the specs, speed,gimmicks or whatever you earlier don't know about the device. What I am here for is to tell you is that weather or not you need to beg or pay a limb for the invite/device.
The One
Outside
Let me start with the device exterior. Its a premium looking device. It looks better then Nexus 5, Mi3,S4,iPhone 4(Nah
) and iPhone 5/5s. Though this is my personal opinion but this is from a person who has owned at least four of the above mentioned devices and have close fiends who own the rest two. The size is an overkill though. The device is really not comfortable for even big hands for single handed usage. Its a little big to be comfortable and it doesn't stop there you have issues with stock android keyboard top once you start using it. You end up hitting the wrong keys even if you are jumping from a 5" screen which is a little weird but I am sure it will improve over a period of time. The front looks good and the chrome/silver inserts on the sides looks awesome but I am sure that raised screen from the front would make lots of repair shops busy as it looks fragile and would surely give away with a small drop. The back on the other hand is just perfect. At least One company IMHO who got the back correct. The black sand stone finish is fresh as well as durable. You can forget about scratches on the back and the texture surely helps in handling that big device with one handed usage. Lets just say you won't be dropping this one even after having yummy chole-bhature.
Insides
The phone has decent enough hardware to shame most of the flagships in the market yet it is not the best. Yes you read it right and why do I say that, well lets just say you will find a better sensors on the Samsung better chip on the iPhone(subjective) and better camera(Sony,Nokia,iPhone & Samsung) then what you get on the One. I am not saying its crap all I am saying its not the best or the most feature rich. The specs are definitely top notch and everything works really well when it works but sometimes it doesn't. Let me start with the screen. Its a 5.5" 1080p LCD display which has good viewing angles and is bright and viberent but it has it flaws. Shripad's One has yellow tinge all over the screen with sides affected the most. Well mine has "ghost touches". And its not really that bad but seriously you don't get those issues on a iPhone or a Samsung or lets just say LG too. Ghost touch is basically that its either the screen too sensitive to your fingertips i.e. even if your fingertips is just too close to the screen it automatically gets touched. This gets affected mainly while moving/resizing widgets/icons and typing. And sometimes its just too irritating. Although it could be a screen guard issue as well but I am using a Nillkin clear screen guard and have used screen guards on other devices as well without issues but still I have a Nillikin tempered glass lying and I will give that a go on the One to zero down on the issue. The earphone location too on the phone just doest work for me. I have to adjust and then further readjust the phone just to hear the voice from the other side clearly. I have generally found myself hoding the phone parallel to the body(90 deg to the ground) for the perfect clarity which is not a natural position for the hand to use the phone for making calls. But once aligned the voice clarity is pretty good and so is the reception with the phone. The WiFi antenna on the phone is also less powerful compared to Nexus 5 and Mi3 which I had just replaced the One with and sitting in my bedroom on ground floor I either get poor or no reception on the One with my WiFi router on the first compared to the Nexus 5 or the Mi3 which have no such issues at all.
Software
This is where the One should have really shined and it does but for me this is the biggest disappointment. So it has a custom Android interface known as the Cyanogenmod and that provides it with plethora of options like the off screen gestures, themes, OS customisations and what not and it does work. But what I feel its a work in progress and it would remain like that for quite a few more months and with Android L coming out this fall I believe that it will be a ongoing cycle for at least a year. The specs on the One makes it a flagship killer to an extent it is but the software just doesn't work that fluently. I have had multiple App crashes within a period of 2 days to be pissed. One of the Apps just refuse to work with the One, while few of them have started working after a cache wipe. The custom lock screen widget which comes with the One, expands the wallpaper on the device randomly. While if you decide to customise the home screen with a predefined layout it just either hides the all the icons/widgets or just deletes them totally which is really irritating after you have just about finished setting them up. Not only that it does that randomly after a reboot or will swap some app icons with the other existing icons on the screen. I finally gave up after the sixth attempt to setup my home screen. Will give this a go after the next update which should be soon which is does manages to save the One's face(pun intended). If I compare this to Mi3 with MiUi which is again a heavily custom moded rom for the Mi3 but it has far less issues compared on the One and CM. I had used Mi3 for almost a month before selling it and I had very few Whatsapp crashes and lock screen blackout with the custom themes which lead me to wipe the cache of the Mi3 while on the One I had to do this on the very second day and I feel I would be flashing the rom much earlier then I would have planned. Software side I feel that One loses the plot and I felt like a guinea pig even after getting my hands on a sought after device and paying rather handsomely(compared to a Mi3). CM should get their act straight and fix things fast.
Camera
Again its a decent camera and has good features compared to most of the other flagships but you will find better camera options then the One in iPhone 5S and Samsung S5. You can compare the One's camera with Nexus 5 and Mi3. The low light performance is really mediocre if not bad and autofocus is slow. The still camera has lots of live filters but its really not required. The video camera though has Timelapse(4K) and Slow-motion recording(120 fps @ 720P) with the ability to chose codecs which I found really impressive. But again the low light performance of the video camera is not something to write about. With decent enough lighting the camera works really well. If compared to Nexus 5 the OIS and better low light performance of the Nexus 5 trumps the One's camera by a small margin. Lets just say I would carry the One for my hike and the N5 to attend a birthday party but for clubbing I will leave both and take a decent P&S.
Battery life
This by far is the best feather in the One's hat. That 3100MAH battery works flawlessly on the One. On a full charge, with really heavy usage you will get through a day and then save some for the next, compared to a Nexus which will die at 4:00 PM and Mi3 which will give you a low battery waring at 10:00PM. This is rather impressive with a 5.5" 1080p display and the 3100Mah and CM makes a difference over the Mi3 on MiUi with 50Mah less under the hood.
Conclusion
Should you buy it. I would say Yes only if you live in US and you have an invite otherwise If you are in India then wait. There is lots more coming. The Mi4 is a good option with equally impressive hardware. The new Nexus is roumered to have a Adreno 805 under the hood with a 3000MAH battery and better screen. The $350 Price tag looks good on paper for the One but with taxes and customs and courier charges its a solid 27K-28K depending on luck(illogical custom duties) compared to a Mi3 at 14K or a Nexus 5 with Indian warranty and LG's name behind it and now available for around 25K with coupons on online stores, the One seems priced higher for us as of now. It would a different story once its officially released in India. The phone is good but depends on what price point. I could have two Mi3's with less effort for the same price and make my wife happy then sitting with a One Plus and waiting for the next OTA and missing out on my favourite game.
The One
Outside
Let me start with the device exterior. Its a premium looking device. It looks better then Nexus 5, Mi3,S4,iPhone 4(Nah
) and iPhone 5/5s. Though this is my personal opinion but this is from a person who has owned at least four of the above mentioned devices and have close fiends who own the rest two. The size is an overkill though. The device is really not comfortable for even big hands for single handed usage. Its a little big to be comfortable and it doesn't stop there you have issues with stock android keyboard top once you start using it. You end up hitting the wrong keys even if you are jumping from a 5" screen which is a little weird but I am sure it will improve over a period of time. The front looks good and the chrome/silver inserts on the sides looks awesome but I am sure that raised screen from the front would make lots of repair shops busy as it looks fragile and would surely give away with a small drop. The back on the other hand is just perfect. At least One company IMHO who got the back correct. The black sand stone finish is fresh as well as durable. You can forget about scratches on the back and the texture surely helps in handling that big device with one handed usage. Lets just say you won't be dropping this one even after having yummy chole-bhature.Insides
The phone has decent enough hardware to shame most of the flagships in the market yet it is not the best. Yes you read it right and why do I say that, well lets just say you will find a better sensors on the Samsung better chip on the iPhone(subjective) and better camera(Sony,Nokia,iPhone & Samsung) then what you get on the One. I am not saying its crap all I am saying its not the best or the most feature rich. The specs are definitely top notch and everything works really well when it works but sometimes it doesn't. Let me start with the screen. Its a 5.5" 1080p LCD display which has good viewing angles and is bright and viberent but it has it flaws. Shripad's One has yellow tinge all over the screen with sides affected the most. Well mine has "ghost touches". And its not really that bad but seriously you don't get those issues on a iPhone or a Samsung or lets just say LG too. Ghost touch is basically that its either the screen too sensitive to your fingertips i.e. even if your fingertips is just too close to the screen it automatically gets touched. This gets affected mainly while moving/resizing widgets/icons and typing. And sometimes its just too irritating. Although it could be a screen guard issue as well but I am using a Nillkin clear screen guard and have used screen guards on other devices as well without issues but still I have a Nillikin tempered glass lying and I will give that a go on the One to zero down on the issue. The earphone location too on the phone just doest work for me. I have to adjust and then further readjust the phone just to hear the voice from the other side clearly. I have generally found myself hoding the phone parallel to the body(90 deg to the ground) for the perfect clarity which is not a natural position for the hand to use the phone for making calls. But once aligned the voice clarity is pretty good and so is the reception with the phone. The WiFi antenna on the phone is also less powerful compared to Nexus 5 and Mi3 which I had just replaced the One with and sitting in my bedroom on ground floor I either get poor or no reception on the One with my WiFi router on the first compared to the Nexus 5 or the Mi3 which have no such issues at all.
Software
This is where the One should have really shined and it does but for me this is the biggest disappointment. So it has a custom Android interface known as the Cyanogenmod and that provides it with plethora of options like the off screen gestures, themes, OS customisations and what not and it does work. But what I feel its a work in progress and it would remain like that for quite a few more months and with Android L coming out this fall I believe that it will be a ongoing cycle for at least a year. The specs on the One makes it a flagship killer to an extent it is but the software just doesn't work that fluently. I have had multiple App crashes within a period of 2 days to be pissed. One of the Apps just refuse to work with the One, while few of them have started working after a cache wipe. The custom lock screen widget which comes with the One, expands the wallpaper on the device randomly. While if you decide to customise the home screen with a predefined layout it just either hides the all the icons/widgets or just deletes them totally which is really irritating after you have just about finished setting them up. Not only that it does that randomly after a reboot or will swap some app icons with the other existing icons on the screen. I finally gave up after the sixth attempt to setup my home screen. Will give this a go after the next update which should be soon which is does manages to save the One's face(pun intended). If I compare this to Mi3 with MiUi which is again a heavily custom moded rom for the Mi3 but it has far less issues compared on the One and CM. I had used Mi3 for almost a month before selling it and I had very few Whatsapp crashes and lock screen blackout with the custom themes which lead me to wipe the cache of the Mi3 while on the One I had to do this on the very second day and I feel I would be flashing the rom much earlier then I would have planned. Software side I feel that One loses the plot and I felt like a guinea pig even after getting my hands on a sought after device and paying rather handsomely(compared to a Mi3). CM should get their act straight and fix things fast.
Camera
Again its a decent camera and has good features compared to most of the other flagships but you will find better camera options then the One in iPhone 5S and Samsung S5. You can compare the One's camera with Nexus 5 and Mi3. The low light performance is really mediocre if not bad and autofocus is slow. The still camera has lots of live filters but its really not required. The video camera though has Timelapse(4K) and Slow-motion recording(120 fps @ 720P) with the ability to chose codecs which I found really impressive. But again the low light performance of the video camera is not something to write about. With decent enough lighting the camera works really well. If compared to Nexus 5 the OIS and better low light performance of the Nexus 5 trumps the One's camera by a small margin. Lets just say I would carry the One for my hike and the N5 to attend a birthday party but for clubbing I will leave both and take a decent P&S.
Battery life
This by far is the best feather in the One's hat. That 3100MAH battery works flawlessly on the One. On a full charge, with really heavy usage you will get through a day and then save some for the next, compared to a Nexus which will die at 4:00 PM and Mi3 which will give you a low battery waring at 10:00PM. This is rather impressive with a 5.5" 1080p display and the 3100Mah and CM makes a difference over the Mi3 on MiUi with 50Mah less under the hood.
Conclusion
Should you buy it. I would say Yes only if you live in US and you have an invite otherwise If you are in India then wait. There is lots more coming. The Mi4 is a good option with equally impressive hardware. The new Nexus is roumered to have a Adreno 805 under the hood with a 3000MAH battery and better screen. The $350 Price tag looks good on paper for the One but with taxes and customs and courier charges its a solid 27K-28K depending on luck(illogical custom duties) compared to a Mi3 at 14K or a Nexus 5 with Indian warranty and LG's name behind it and now available for around 25K with coupons on online stores, the One seems priced higher for us as of now. It would a different story once its officially released in India. The phone is good but depends on what price point. I could have two Mi3's with less effort for the same price and make my wife happy then sitting with a One Plus and waiting for the next OTA and missing out on my favourite game.
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