The People’s Champ has become a bit of an aristocrat….
Remember last week when we talked about how you may not have heard of the Google Pixel range of phones? Well here’s another smartphone company you may have been overlooking but was making waves for the past few years: OnePlus. For years they’ve been making phones just as fast if not faster that the best Android and iPhone devices, except those phones started off at half the price. If you didn’t know the amazing economics of manufacturing in China(where OnePlus comes from), you’d say it’s all a scam. Except it’s not, and OnePlus has been kicking other smartphone manufacturers left and right in the US and Europe, gradually expanding to the point where it’s become a powerhouse in it’s own right. And over the years the price of the hones have begun to increase, but it was only recently when OnePlus passed the USD $500 mark and yet the OnePlus 7 pro makes its debut, with $700 starting price!
Now let’s get this out of the way right now, looking at the reviews(we’ll put two up for your consideration) this is the fastest Android phone on the market right now. Correction, it’s the fastest phone on the market period , Which is not unexpected. The thing comes with a Snapdragon 855 processor, has a faster UFS 3.0 storage than any other phone on the market right now, starts at 6GB of RAM going up to 12GB and storage options that go up to 256GB. It even comes with a pop-up selfie camera, as in yes the camera is hidden in the phone and pops out when needed. You can see the rest of the spec sheet below, but to put it simply , this is a beast of a phone. So much so that it’s actually not meant to compete with your usual flagship phone , your Galaxy s10, iPhone XS and Huawei P30, it’s meant to compete with their bigger , pricier brothers namely, the Huawei Mate series, Galaxy Note Series and the iPhone XS Max. and to be fair, when you look at it that way the 7 Pro is technically still keeping it’s competitive price point, being $300-$400 cheaper than the competition. But here’s the thing, OnePlus felt like the People’s Champion of smartphones, the underdog with tons of talent that was knocking out all the big guys when they least expected it. this was due to their solid design , unbeatable performance, customer feedback listening skills and PRICE.
We can talk about the features all we want, but it was the fact that you got them at such a price that blew people away. And now that the 7 Pro has gone way above the “budget phone” mark, it’s hard to see OnePlus as the People’s Champ anymore. After all it was it’s devices among others that probably motivated Google to make the aforementioned Pixel 3A, which actually has a better camera than the 7 Pro. And OnePlus does seem to be aware that it’s threading the needle here, and will be releasing the more traditional OnePlus 7 for $500 in a month’s time which will keep the processor, lose the Ultra-Wide camera and pop-up camera, but still have the great 48 Megapixel main shooter and will have a less impressive screen. This seems more like what OnePlus fans are used to, even if it is a bit boring and predictable but it will also be reliable.
Either way, If you’re a OnePluss fan and feel a slight hint of betrayal you’re not alone. It seems our people’s champ has left his roots behind a little due to all those fancy hotels he lived in, but hopefully his little brother (the non Pro models) will stay with his price point a lot longer. Either way you can look around at your nearest dealer or plug for these phones too as they aren’t shipped anywhere near Zimbabwe. Hope they are kind to you on the pricing (more than OnePlus was anyway).
Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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