OnePlus has now announced its so-called ā2016 flagship killer,ā as the company called its unveiled smartphone at Twitter some days ago. While weāve already covered the 5 top features of the OnePlus 2, there are some features (or lack thereof, rather) that wonāt go over so well with diehard tech enthusiasts. Here are the 5 worst features about the OnePlus 2 that may make you keep your money in your pocket.
Feature #1: Non-Removable Battery
The OnePlus 2 increased the battery size slightly, up 200mAh from the OnePlus One (3300mAh vs. 3100mAh), but the battery itself is still non-removable. Sealed batteries have been merely assumed to be the way of the world for many smartphones within the Android market, but those who cherish removable batteries and replaceable batteries have found their freedom to fix their own battery problems a joy.
OnePlus, like many other manufacturers, is tying consumers down with a battery that may or may not malfunction. Hot weather, simple malfunctioning, and even defects within the inner components could cause a sealed battery to malfunction at any time.Ā Removable batteries wouldnāt prevent malfunction, but they would allow consumers the option to swap out one battery for another (perhaps at an extremely low price) at any time. Consumers could also take multiple removable batteries on extended trips and use them as they see fit. āFrom 0 to 100 in secondsā is the famous statement for this kind of freedom.
You will still get stellar battery life with the OnePlus 2, but youāll have to sacrifice your removable battery dream to do so. Perhaps part of the āflagship killerā profile is to have a sealed battery, but consumers are the ones who ultimately lose in the end, regardless.
Feature #2: No SD card slot
Alongside of the absence of a removable battery is the absence of an SD card slot. SD card slots provide the option to expand oneās local storage for music, photos, and documents. The OnePlus 2 doesnāt have an SD card slot, meaning that you wonāt have the freedom of expanding your storage in the event you run out. The only option youāll have is cloud storage, which may or may not be convenient for you if you have a small data plan or are outside of your coverage area.
What makes the lack of an SD card slot so frustrating for some OnePlus 2 users is that OnePlus just announced their new smartphone today, July 28th, which is two months after Google announced SD card support within the upcoming Android M update. Itās understandable that companies like Samsung would choose to remove microSD cards, since Google has never voiced support for them within Android; however, whatās OnePlusās excuse?
Fortunately for many OnePlus 2 users, the companyās storage models are extremely affordable, with the 16GB model costing $329USD and the 64GB model costing $389USD. Since the 64GB model is only $60USD more than the 16GB model, it only makes sense that many users will buy the highest storage model available. Youāre looking at 48GB of additional storage for just $60 more, which is a steal for storage anywhere. 64GB is more than enough for average consumers who arenāt photographers or donāt use their storage much, but power users may find 64GB of storage to be tolerable until they end up in certain circumstances.
Feature 3: No Fast Charger
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The OnePlus 2 features a 3,300mAh battery, which means that it will more than do the job to get you through the day considering the device is only powering a 1080p display ā as opposed to the Quad HD (1440p) displays of most flagships. At the same time, however, charging up a battery thatās over 3,000mAh in size can be a pain. Fast charging helps a battery charge in about 80 minutes or so for a 3,200mAh battery. While the OnePlus 2 has yet to be put through the paces, the charging time for such a large battery could be a concern without fast charging.
No matter how great a smartphone is, you canāt enjoy the battery if it takes forever to charge. In fact, long charging times are often the thing that turns off consumers from picking up their smartphone of choice. And, with less time in your hands, the smartphone you bought becomes more of a burden than a blessing.
Feature #4: No NFC
NFC was a feature that existed on the OnePlus One, but OP says it removed it because consumers werenāt using it. That seems to be their consensus about the majority of users, but there were some individuals using it. One need only peruse social media to find some disgruntled customers who were disappointed by OnePlusās announcement today.
Two complaints regarding NFC are in order. First, NFC is the key to contactless payments (mobile payments that donāt require your debit or credit card, for example). Google just added support for Android M, so it doesnāt make sense to ditch NFC at a time where Androidās owner will push it mainstream. Next, the ācustomers didnāt use itā argument is used to remove a number of things, but removing features due to customer abandonment is not what weād expect of a cutting-edge tech company. Companies who want to remain on the cutting-edge usually introduce future-proof features that arenāt mainstream but will become mainstream over a few years. Why introduce mobile payments last year (when Android Pay hadnāt arrived yet), only to turn around and remove it now, in the face of Android Pay?
If features are included or removed based on consumer use, will the fingerprint scanner get removed next year if people decide not to use it? When you consider OnePlusās use of USB Type-C charging in the OnePlus 2, a feature that no other current smartphone has, taking away the advanced mobile payments compatibility doesnāt add up.
Feature #5: OnePlus Invite System
The worst feature of the OnePlus 2 concerns the companyās invite system. Yes, OnePlus says that itās been overhauled as opposed to last year ā but, is it not still inconvenient for a number of individuals? Yes, a number of users will give away more invites than last year, and more consumers will get to purchase the device; however, the new invite system doesnāt remove the fact that itās still a restricted, exclusive invite system. In other words, the majority of consumers who havenāt heard about OnePlus will likely never get a chance to purchase the OnePlus 2.
SEE: Top 5 features of the OnePlus 2Ā
That may not hurt consumers so much, who have a multitude of other competing flagships to choose from on the market, but it will hurt OnePlusās bottom line. The company sold 1.5 million smartphones last year, but imagine how many OnePlus would sell if it eliminated the invite system entirely? Claiming your smartphone is a āflagship killerā doesnāt go over so well when your smartphone isnāt getting the same publicity as all other competing flagships that are available in carrier retail stores.
These are the five worst features about the OnePlus 2. Ultimately, whether or not to purchase the OnePlus 2 is up to you.
someone please help me to understand about the fast charging.
is it just the charger missing or the whole technology?
some says itĀ“s maybe like g4, which was not announced with fast charge but support it when used charger needed, others say that they may have get rid of the feature to help the phone prevent overheating. I guess for the truth we will have to wait a little longer
It will defintely make sense to remove that feature due to overheating issues. What doesn’t make sense is why they used the sd810 in the first place.
that makes sense.
Even the SD801 gets very warm while charging @ 2A+
I guess this one might still fast charge, but
it’s not officially supported to decline any responsibility in case it overheats.
looking forward to know more about it.
I don’t know of too many phones that dont’ get hot while charging. My wifes S6 heats up worse than a SD810, you can light camp fires with it.
lol
Actually QC2.0 (qualcomm technology) is activated if the phone has an IC recognizing the IC of the charger.
Now, i don’t know if this phone have absolutely no IC or if OP keep it “sleeping” for now.
Sad part is that this phone has a Type C port..with 2.0 standard.
3.1 Standard can deliver up to 100w of power and that can be the real fast charging.
Anyway..i hope the quick charge IC is just sleeping in this phone..waiting for someone to unleash it.. š
If my memory serves well, the OPO did support VOOC fast charging like the Find 7, it just didn’t came with the right charger. Maybe it’s the same situation.
IT wills till probably charge full in like 2 hours like the opo thats fast enough for me
you dont really need an sd card slot if you get 64gb so cheap
removable battery and sd card slot are stuff that nearly no flagship offers anymore thats kinda common and with the way android handles sd cards its kinda not an issue anyway
nfc might be a let down for some but i never needed nfc in my life even if i had it on my phones
I agree with most of what you say, removable batteries and SD cards are both becoming a thing of the past. But a removable battery is a huge deal for two reasons: 1. if there is an OS error the easiest way to reset a phone is a battery pull, especially a phone that is frozen and won’t reboot. 2. Every year there stories of batteries outright failing or explosing, Samsung has had a lot of issues with this.
The phones Motorola just announced already killed the OPT. Sorry guys, good try.
which model do you think, moto x style? and there are no official prices, except for moto g2
Moto was smart and opted for the 808 instead of the 810.
Moto Style is 5.7”, too much of a good thing..
I just saw that. I was thinking to buy the Zenphone 2. But now I am a bit confused š . The design of the Moto X really got me.
Something is telling me that this year will be great.
5.7″ one of the things that will stop me to buy a moto..and that’s sad..for me 5.5 is already too much..
no NFC? xD then not buying it
how much faster will be the OPT compared to OPO?
remember the Z3+/z4 vs the Z3 ? the z3 win on every area….
OPT will open my whatsapp and my nextbrowser and my walkman faster than my OPO?
even the MOTO G 2013 open the apps fast…
OPO users doesn’t need to waste money, maybe until 2017 so be smart.
+
No dual sim
Snapdragon 810
I see no reason whatsoever in buying this phone. Heck, the new even Moto X seems to be better if the leaks are true, now the only problem is the price.
There is Dual SIM with the OPT.
And the Moto Style seems to be too big for some users (5,7”). Otherwise Moto X Style would be my next phone.
First I wait for firsts OPT reviews with real benchmark tests, battery tests and so on, then I decide.
Funny thing is even with that 5.7 display the dimensions almost match the OP2:
OP2 – 151.8 x 74.9 x 9.9 mm
Moto – 153.5 x 76.2 x 11.1mm
For most they wouldn’t even notice a difference holding the X.
Only thing about the SD card slot. If your offering dual sim slots why not make the 2nd sim slot a micro SD combo slot.
But no 2k res, I’ll pass. That was MY deciding factor.
You actually want a 2k res?? It’s just a resource hog that kills your battery faster. A really good 1080p display on a 5.5 inch phone can look just as good.
I did say MY opinion. Never had an issue with 2k screens with my lg g3, g4, MEIZU mx4 pro, note 4 or my current device nexus 6.
I don’t base my opinion on others or follow the hate trend. Get through my work day easily with battery to spare.
Calm down I was just asking as most people tend not to like them on here.
Sorry that did come out harsh wasn’t my intent.
But most on these interwebs are just following the trend. Along as the battery is roughly 3300mah it will get you through the day.
It’s not people following a trend, it’s people wanting the best possible amount of battery life. For many of us we want something more than just getting us through the day. A 1080p display with a 3300mAH will last you almost 2 days with the same usage. In getting through a day with a 2k screen and 3300 is with moderate usage, with heavy usage it is considerably less.
Too thick for me for a flagship. Gets thicker once you use a phone case.
Great article, Deidre.
Your missing a few:
1. Snapdragon 810 – unless you need a portable heater this is not a good SoC.
2. Design – How is a 2015 Flagship so thick and heavy?
Well Marques Brownlee said the phone wasn’t too hot š
And Techradar said it does. Until we get some hands on tests with it.
You are right, we need to wait for full reviews.
i know you donĀ“t mention moto x style in this post
and i donĀ“t want to offend you, attack you or anything š
just asking
how is moto x style any different in terms of “design”?
153.9 x 76.2 x 11.1 mm and 179g? itĀ“s just as bulky to me as op2
and really weird in terms of shape, plus that unnecessary 2k display
though i think both are good phones, i just donĀ“t get why people hate op2 so much, and really forget faults of moto x style and kinda glorify it…
Im confused as to why your asking me this.. I have never said a good thing about the Moto X Style, other than it was smart to use 808 instead of 810. I think it’s just as bad to have that bulky of a phone in 2015.
But the one reasons most people will defend the X Style is because it has a curved back and the thickness varies from as little as 6.1 to as much as 11. This is something Moto has done all along so there phones don’t look or feel as thick. Also it is a bigger overall phone (5.7 inch compared to 5.5 inch). Neither is a phone for me but if I had to choose I would go with Moto because of the curved back and because it is slightly less ugly than the OP.
just wanted to hear your opinion š
okay lol. I like Moto’s because of the endless choices of colors with Moto Maker but I dont really like the style of the phones or that it runs stock android.
wow … i kinda wanna take my “patience” comment back now …. maybe OP really did go way too casual with this …
talk about over confidence … DIS-*******-GUSTING :/
Biggest Disappointment of 2015 in the android world ?
disappointment is just because of that stupid HYPE thing campaign, and enormous expectations of people, with many of them just not possible justified. it if werenĀ“t for that campaign, most people would love op2 or didnĀ“t know it existed, and also opo was really good predecessor, so for me it really isnĀ“t nothing like biggest disappointment :), i am more dissapointed from all that hate towards them, which smaller part of that they deserved, but just not as much…
I don’t think the disappointment is only coming from the hype.
You guys need to realize that most of the consumers don’ t have any idea of the chinese smartphone industry and its progress . They are not like you reading Gizchina or similar websites.
The alpha consumer doesn’t have any clue about brands like Vivo, Nubia, TLC, Meizu… And how the Chinese push the smartphone forward. In theirs mind: Chinese phone are just clone and got backward technologies. Good luck to try to discuss all that with the typical american iPhone fan.
To give an idea how the news are biased: Techcrunch said that “OnePlus 2, Looks Like Another Promising Smartphone”. WTF?
Probably fast charger announced as separate accessory to buy š
Non removable battery pretty much standard for today’s high-end phones.
Lack of NFC is no big deal IMO.
Lack of expandable storage isn’t a big problem alone, but 16GB storage without Micro SD slot isn’t acceptable anymore for high-end level IMO.
Lack of fast charging is a huge mistake.
Bad display to body ratio is acceptable only if phone is thin, vice versa. That one is both fat and tall for the category. Also heavy for a not all metal device.
I just checked out its Antutu and Geekbench scores on a Youtube video and these are implies the SD810’s A57 cores either disabled or throttled. So probably the dragon is still breathing fire.
1-4 are non issues. Lack of a feature is not a worst feature. Charging is no issue either, cause it charges in 1 h 45 min approx if its like the one
ZOPO Speed 7 & Speed 7 Plus is doing presale, 3GB+16GB, 5.0 & 5.5 inch FHD, only $159 & $189 after $40 coupon.
add to the list: no wireless charging (Qi) and no USB 3.0. The Type C port of the OP2 is supporting only USB 2.0
has anyone saw the oppo r7+ ?
nice article, but you got something wrong here:
“When you consider OnePlusās use of USB Type-C charging in the OnePlus 2, a feature that no other current smartphone has”
there are existing smartphones that have usb-c like the LeTV’s, even with fast charging and usb 3.0 support, not like the op2.
nothing that the op2 offers is new. to be honest, nothing even is admirable.
dual sim: finally… (each friggin china smartphone of the last 4 years has it)
finger print: wow, you are the first manufacturer to think of it. (nearly each friggin china phone… you get it)
bigger battery: ok, good. (there are loads of bigger battery phones out there and they’re sometimes even thinner and lighter)
laser af: seen that, been there. (LG G3, Samsung Galaxy S5, Meizu MX5, etc…)
4GB ram: hooray, no one will ever need that, but good that you have it. (still not the first)
usb-c without fast charging and usb 3.0 support: OH HELL NO! (not the first with usb-c but congrats, the first to not support usb 3.0 and fast charging with it. -.-)
did i forget anything groundbreaking new on the op2?
oh, even apple was faster on most of the “new features”: fingerprint, physical mute switch, usb-c (although only on the new macbook)
get your shit together and start presenting something really unique and new.
There are two possibilities about their USB Type-C claims:
1. they are so stupid that they don’t know they wasn’t the first
2. they think people are so stupid they won’t realize they wasn’t the first.
most of the time it’s the companies declaring the customers as stupid. same with each iphone or macbook launch. companies like them need a huge boycott to show them that they can’t deal with us like that.