OnePlus is a company that wanted to shake things up in the smartphone industry when it bowed in all those years ago. It aimed to do that by releasing flagship phones that packed high-end features (with a few caveats here and there) without boasting a flagship price point. OnePlus wasn't aiming to be a race to the bottom, or the top, really. It just wanted to launch a quality product without breaking the customer's bank.
And to OnePlus's credit, the company has indeed done that over the years. The flagship product has increased in price just a bit, but not too much. And it's still much cheaper than the competing products from the likes of Samsung and Apple. And OnePlus has hit the mark with its hardware, too, on a regular basis.
That doesn't mean that Apple, Samsung, and the other companies out there have been listening.
The biggest names in the industry are going to do what they want to do, and offering their flagship phones for around $600 isn't on the menu. Which isn't inherently a bad thing. Options are good for consumers, and it's legitimately pretty cool that OnePlus, and other companies, are trying to offer a worthwhile experience without charging upwards of a grand.
Which is why I can understand why someone would want to jump on the bandwagon and stay on it. OnePlus's most confusing element is its pre-order process, which, some years, has been remarkably frustrating for folks who wanted to buy a smartphone. But even that has been ironed out, to a point, and the company appears to be in a groove.
This year will hopefully see more of the same, on the positive side of things. With the OnePlus 5T already confirmed to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack, that should go a long way to appeal to potential customers. And it's hard to imagine that the upcoming flagship device won't have the specs and features worthy to lead OnePlus into the next year.
My question to you is: If you're considering the OnePlus 5T, is this your first OnePlus device, or one of many that you've picked up over the years? Have you upgraded to a new OnePlus smartphone on a yearly basis? If so, what has kept you coming back? Let me know!
