Finally my OnePlus 2 arrived. I went with the $389 version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. And I decided to go with the Sandstone Black variant as that’s probably the variant most of you guys will likely choose. But I want to make this introduction video to initiate a 30-day challenge. It’s been a long time since we last had a 30-day challenge video series but that’s about to change. I will be using the OnePlus 2 as my daily driver for the next 30 days straight covering the build construction, display, software, performance, camera, and battery life. And I will make a conclusion video to sum up the device and include any additional comments or thoughts.

But let’s just get started since I’ve only owned the OnePlus 2 for about 24 hours now. The very first thing that I’ve really paid attention to the most is, of course, the build construction. First of all, this device feels very solid in the hand quite literally as it’s not very light. It weighs 175g or about 6.17oz. So by smartphone standard, that’s not exactly light. It’s not terribly heavy but it is something I did notice. With that said, it does feel very sturdy. It feels very well-made and most importantly, it doesn’t feel cheap despite its relatively cheap price tag. But remember, this is the supposed flagship killer—the device with flagship-like specs but with a budget-like price tag.

We have a premium metal frame that wraps around the entire device and it kind of makes the device feel very sturdy overall. The 3.5mm headphone jack is up top. The USB Type-C port is below. And the dual speaker grill is flanked on either side to make you think that this is a stereo speaker but it’s actually just a mono speaker. On the left hand side, we have an alert slider that can switch between no interruption, priority notifications, and all notifications. The button itself has some texture to it, which is nice to see. On the right hand side, we have a simple Power/Sleep On/Off button and volume rocker which also feel very tactile and clicky. On the front of the OnePlus 2, we have a 5MP front-facing camera sensor, a 5.5-inch 1080p display and a fingerprint scanner with capacitive touch navigation buttons. On the back, we have a 13MP camera sensor with OIS and laser autofocus with a dual LED flash there as well.

But since we’re focusing on the hardware and how it really feels in the hand, I do want to focus on this back cover. It’s a Sandstone Black material that I personally really like. I love this material on smartphones. I loved it on the OnePlus One and I love it on the OnePlus 2. It provides a ton of grip and it keeps the device from easily sliding out of my pocket. If you don’t like this material though and you want to swap it out for something else (like a bamboo back cover), you can easily remove the back cover which also hides the dual SIM card slots and just pop on the bamboo back cover or whatever other material you like and OnePlus sells. It’s certainly much easier to remove the back cover on this device than the original OnePlus One.

Some of my concerns go on forward on this 30-day challenge has to do with the camera placement, first of all. Whether or not I will find the placement annoying since it does rest lower on the device, kind of very awkward and ugly spot in my opinion. I already feel that I’m going to accidentally cover it up with my hands when I use it but we will see and I will be sure to let you guys know.

I also will be paying close attention to the network connectivity. I’m using T-Mobile and last year, I did have some issues with my OnePlus One connecting to T-Mobile’s service in certain areas of Portland where other T-Mobile devices will connect flawlessly. And I know that Portland is a great place for T-Mobile. We have one of the fastest and best connections for T-Mobile so I’ll definitely keep an eye out for that.

But if there’s anything specific you’d like me to cover, definitely let me know right now in a comment down below. I will do my best to test it out and mention whatever you guys mentioned in an upcoming video.