It was a cold morning on Jan 2, 2018, when I unboxed my first OnePlus smartphone. I didn’t know what the brand stood for, but I had seen how much love one of my close friends had for his OnePlus 5. Thus, when it came to upgrading my device, an immediate choice was the OnePlus 5T. It had a perfectly slim body and a dual-camera setup with the ability to click amazing portrait photos.
But more importantly, the device was futuristic in its abilities. It had face unlock, fingerprint unlock, a great processor, great camera, and no buttons on the front. The bezels were thin and gave a very premium feel. For me, it was a device comparable to the iPhone X that had just come out. The OnePlus 5T also came with amazing fast-charging support (33W), unmatched by brands such as Apple and Samsung, which sold most of the smartphones in the market.
After using the phone, I understood what ‘Never Settle’ for OnePlus meant. It was about going beyond what others are doing and delivering customers an experience that is unmatched at the same price point. The OnePlus 6 series that followed was decent as well! But then came the OnePlus 7 Pro, and it was magic right out of the box. It was undoubtedly, one of the best phones OnePlus had ever made.
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When Things Started Getting Bad for OnePlus
When everything was going well, and the expectations were extremely high from the brand, things started falling off the wagon. The OnePlus 8 series, while initially creating a lot of buzz, delivered a disappointing experience to many. The device had many issues, but most of them came because of the software. The same thing happened with the OnePlus 8T and the OnePlus 9 series. Something just felt off.
There was no OnePlus 9T either. OnePlus launched a 9RT, and that too at an odd time, just behind the launch of the OnePlus 10 Pro. While 9RT was an excellent smartphone, its craze dipped as the OnePlus 10 Pro, the most expensive phone ever sold by OnePlus in India hit the market.
Meanwhile, OnePlus had started selling the ‘Nord’ series devices in 2020. The Nord series was aimed at people who wanted an affordable OnePlus experience. The software experience in any of the devices was not the best anymore. While the great thing about OxygenOS is that it gave a clean experience, the smoothness and consistency were missing.
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There were heating issues with many OnePlus devices, and things got worse when there were reports of the Nord 2 blasting. By the time the ‘Cloud 11’ launch event was around the corner on Feb 7, 2023, many of my friends, who were using OnePlus devices, didn’t seem to be excited anymore.
A friend of mine who bought the OnePlus 5T after watching it on my hands, and later upgraded to the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, decided to switch to an iPhone 14 due to a very dissatisfying experience with his recent OnePlus device.
There were heating issues, the camera was not on par with devices in the same price range, and that bothered not just him, but many people I saw using OnePlus devices. I have used the OnePlus 9RT, OnePlus 10 Pro, OnePlus Nord 2, OnePlus Nord 2T, OnePlus Nord CE, OnePlus Nord CE Lite, and many more devices between the 2020-2022 period, but none of the devices felt like it symbolised the ‘Never Settle’ spirit of OnePlus anymore.
Even though the sales were great because of an established brand, OnePlus didn’t feel like the same innovative brand it once was. The company’s focus felt too much on covering every customer at every price range rather than serving its loyal customers with what they expected from the brand.
The green line issue also popped up which became a serious disaster for OnePlus. The trust in the brand started fading away for many.
When everyone was questioning the future of OnePlus devices, OnePlus decided to answer in its style in 2023!
What Changed for OnePlus in 2023?
In simple words, OnePlus made 2023 count! The Cloud 11 launch event, which included the OnePlus 11 and the OnePlus 11R along with the OnePlus Pad changed my outlook towards the brand again. In 2023, I haven’t used or seen a device that is smoother than the OnePlus 11 5G, especially with the OxygenOS 14 update.
In fact, the OnePlus 11R, which was supposed to be the trimmed-down version of the OnePlus 11, came with such a great display that it was comparable to the display of the iPhone 14 Pro. The camera of the OnePlus 11 gave good competition to the iPhone 14 and many times produced better results in low-light photography and of subjects under sunlight.
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Of course, in the video shooting department, there’s no beating an iPhone, and that is something I would want to see OnePlus improving shortly. Content creators mostly shoot short-form videos through an iPhone, and that’s because iPhones deliver the level of consistency and clarity that no other video recording phone in the Indian market is capable of.
But what I loved more was that it wasn’t just the phones, it was also other product categories. While I want OnePlus to focus only on select products and only launch limited devices in a year to be able to dedicate most of its resources to these products, I loved the arrival of the OnePlus Pad.
It is an amazing tablet and is available at a price where it beats the competition comfortably. The Nord 3 series was decent, but I wasn’t a big fan of it, to be honest. OnePlus doesn’t feel right with the ‘Nord’ phones. It is best experienced with the flagship devices.
Talking about flagship, in Oct 2023, OnePlus shocked the tech world with the release of the OnePlus Open, its first foldable phone. The company dedicated 3 years to this device and the work has paid off. From the design to the hardware to the software, everything sits well. There’s not a single better foldable phone in the market than the OnePlus Open right now.
Now the company is gearing up for the global launch of the OnePlus 12 series on Jan 23, 2024. I am expecting big things from the OnePlus 12 series as well. Mostly, I want a great video recording experience, because that is where the OnePlus 11 series lagged.
OnePlus didn’t settle even when the odds were stacked against it. The company launched the best foldable in the world and delivered great consistency across all its products. OnePlus has truly shown in 2023, what ‘Never Settle’ really means.
