“OnePlus was founded with a simple, bold idea; Make a better phone that each of us would actually want to use. Three devices later, we’re providing a better way to give users unrestricted access to premium devices without compromises. The OnePlus 3 brings together what users love most about our smartphones with what they want next. Check out our full and in-depth OnePlus 3 review.
OnePlus 3 UK release date and price: When is the OnePlus 3 coming out?
As a world first, the OnePlus 3 was available to buy through VR during the launch event. If you want to buy it the old fashioned online way, it will go on sale at 8pm on 14 June. As confirmed before the launch event, the OnePlus 3 won’t require an invite to purchase but whether there will be enough stock to go around is another question. Update 27 June: OnePlus has apologies to any customers experiencing delays with the OnePlus 3 following ‘above and beyond’ demand. It seems to have affected those ordering accessories which were delayed due to a customs issue. “We’ve solved this obstacle by simply removing and refunding those accessories and any priority shipping paid for, dispatching devices directly, and issuing vouchers for £8 / 10€ off their next order and waived the minimum order to qualify for free shipping to those affected so that they can purchase cases and other items once we have them restocked,” said OnePlus in a blog post. Customers simply waiting for a delayed handset will be offered a vouchers for £16 with no minimum order and free shipping to compensate. Check the link to the blog post above for full details. As for the OnePlus 3 price, it’s a cool £309 ($399) for the phone and there’s only one model so you don’t need to ponder over which to choose. The price is a little more than the OnePlus 2 when it launched at £289 (now £249) but it’s still mightily impressive and a good £200 cheaper than flagship rivals such as the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6S. OnePlus is able to keep the price lower than competitors by selling directly to customers and by keeping marketing costs down. Also read our OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X reviews.
OnePlus 3 specifications and new features: What’s new in the OnePlus 3?
Starting with design, the OnePlus 3 still features the Alert Slider on the side but has had a metal makeover. We’re pleased to report that the phone is thinner and lighter than the heft OnePlus 2 at 7.35mm and 158g. It comes in Graphite silver to start with while a Soft Gold option will come in a few weeks – Update: The soft gold OnePlus 3 is now available. Update: It appears there might be a red version of the OnePlus 3 as spotted by a Twitter user who managed to screenshot the device on the official site before it was removed. It could be an exclusive for the Chinese market.
As well as a fairly major design change in terms of the material, OnePlus has upgraded the OnePlus 3 throughout the specification sheet. Read: OnePlus X vs OnePlus 2. Although the screen stays at 5.5in and Full HD, it’s now making use of Optic AMOLED technology which OnePlus says looks better in terms of colours and contrast and the technology being thinner helps achieve things like thinner bezels (0.75mm). Keeping the resolution down combined with the technology also helps with battery life and smoothness of the interface.
The processor has jumped to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 which matches many other flagship Android phones this year like the LG G5 and HTC 10 – it’s a quad-core chip clocked slightly higher at 2.2 and 1.6GHz with an Adreno 530 GPU. Despite rumours of different models, the OnePlus 3 only comes in a 64GB storage edition with no Micro-SD card slot. The rumours of the memory were true though and the OnePlus 3 is the first phone to come with an astonishing 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM – almost as much as some high-end laptops. The fingerprint scanner is still a key feature (under 0.3 second scan time) and every OnePlus fan out there will be joyed at the return of NFC (Android Pay comes pre-installed). There’s also 4G LTE (Cat 6), 11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. Although there’s no expandable storage, the OnePlus 3 feature a dual Nano-SIM setup. Inside the OnePlus 3 is a 3000mAh battery which is a little smaller than the OnePlus 2’s (3300mAh). It still features the reversible USB Type-C port and now supports fast charging with the supplied Dash Charge (5V, 4A) which can give you over 60 percent in 30 minutes and can continue to fast charge even when you’re gaming as the controller is in the charger rather than the phone. Also see: OnePlus Power Bank review.
Moving onto photography and the OnePlus 3 has a new 16Mp Sony IMX298 sensor which features an f/2.0 aperture, optical image stabilisation (OIS), electronic image stabilisation (EIS) and phase detection autofocus. OnePlus touts clear shots in 0.2 seconds. The rear camera shoots video in up to 4K and there’s support for RAW files, plus a new manual mode if you want to take control of the ISO, shutter speed and even focus. At the front is an 8Mp camera with a 1.4um pixel size which can record 1080p video at 30fps. It also has Smile Capture to save you stretching for the shutter button. On the software side of things, the OnePlus 3 comes with Android 6.0.1 with the firm’s own OxygenOS which is very close to stock Android but with some extra features and customisation. Users will benefit from Shelf – a place for recent apps, contacts and weather – plus other things like a dark mode and custom LED notifications. Find out more in our full OnePlus 3 review. Read next: Best new phones coming in 2016.
OnePlus 3 upgrade poll
Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
