OnePlus X review: Straight Up

Introduction

The OnePlus X is not another flagship killer, we have the OnePlus 2 for that. Instead OnePlus decided to take a break from the high profile smartphone game and brings us a stunning mid-ranger capable of delivering on both looks and performance.

The OnePlus X exterior is as premium as it can get - there is a metal frame with 17 etched grooves, flanked by two panels of black glass on either side something they call Onyx Black.

In case you are into exclusive editions, then OnePlus will be offering only 10,000 units of the OnePlus X with a back made out of ceramic. Each supposedly takes up to 25 days to make so that should count for something.

The OnePlus X is built around a 5" 1080p AMOLED display and has a Snapdragon 801 at its heart coupled with 3GB RAM. The S801 chip might be aging, but it's still quite relevant and would give some eight-core setups a run for their money. The camera department includes a 13MP main snapper with hybrid phase-detection AF and a front 8MP selfie shooter. Check out the complete feature list.

Key features

• Metal frame + glass/ceramic back
• 5" AMOLED display with 1080p resolution; 441ppi; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Snapdragon 801 chipset; CPU: quad-core 2.3GHz Krait 400; Adreno 330 GPU; 3GB of RAM
• 13MP main camera with a LED flash, phase-detection auto-focus; 1080p video capture at 30fps
• 8MP front-facing camera, 1080p at 30fps video recording
• Oxygen 2.1 OS based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• 16GB of built-in storage; microSD expansion slot
• Dual SIM, LTE Cat.4, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, FM radio, microUSB
• Dual-microphone active noise canceling
• Attractive price tag
• 2,525mAh non-removable battery

Main disadvantages

• Non-removable battery and no quick charging support
• Connectivity lacks dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC
• No 64-bit processor

The lack of 64-bit support is the only possible complaint we may have towards the Snapdragon 801 chip today, but we wouldn't say this feature is indispensable, at least not for a few more years. The connectivity package took the biggest hit - it lacks support for 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, there is no NFC, and no support for quick charging. None of those are deal breakers but you should consider those.

OnePlus press shots in Onyx Black back

OnePlus press shots with Ceramic back

So, is the OnePlus X ready to perform great in the vast market out there? Only one way to find out and it starts with the thing getting unboxed.