OnePlus 5 review: Doing the math

5.5-inch Optic AMOLED display is still FullHD

Save for the X, all OnePluses in the company's (admittedly brief) history have been equipped with 5.5-inch FullHD displays. In the beginning, it was IPS LCDs, but it was exactly the X that made the switch to AMOLED, and the OnePlus 3 got Optic AMOLED. The 3T followed suit and now the 5 also sports the same 5.5-inch FullHD screen.

A QHD resolution would have certainly looked better on the OnePlus 5's spec sheet. It's 2017 after all and it's more or less taken for granted in the category the 5 is trying to fight in. There's also the matter of the diamond pixel arrangement - the red and blue dots are half the number of the green ones, and you could spot the fine weave of subpixels if you look closely.

Looking at the maximum brightness numbers, the OnePlus 5 may very well be using the exact same panel as its two predecessors, though the 3T was marginally brighter. The OnePlus 5 is as bright as the Galaxy S8 in manual mode, but the S8 can pump out substantially more nits in auto, while there's no such boost on the 5. Contrast is, of course, infinite - blacks aren't lit up at all, as is the case with AMOLED displays. Minimum brightness is 2nits, guaranteed to be easy on your eyes during nighttime scrolling sessions.

Sunlight contrast has seen a minor dip on the 5, its result being lower than both the 3's and the 3T's. Both the midrange Galaxy A7 (2017) and the flagship S8 fare better than the OnePlus handset in this respect, but in the grand scheme of things it's still an excellent result. Neither the iPhone 7 Plus, nor the LG G6 can match the OnePlus 5 for contrast in direct sunlight.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Samsung Galaxy S8
  4.768
• Samsung Galaxy S8+
  4.658
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  4.615
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
  4.439
• OnePlus 3
  4.424
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  4.376
• HTC One A9
  4.274
• Samsung Galaxy Note7
  4.247
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• OnePlus 3T
  4.232
• Google Pixel XL
  4.164
• ZTE Axon 7
  4.154
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  4.09
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• Vivo Xplay5 Elite
  3.983
• OnePlus X
  3.983
• Apple iPhone 7
  3.964
• Oppo R7s
  3.964
• Huawei P9 Plus
  3.956
• Meizu Pro 6 Plus
  3.935
• Lenovo Moto Z
  3.931
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  3.918
• OnePlus 5
  3.914
• Samsung Galaxy C5
  3.911
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  3.896
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
  3.879
• Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
  3.873
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3.859
• Sony Xperia XZs
  3.818
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  3.804
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.802
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  3.798
• LG V20 Max auto
  3.798
• Sony Xperia XZ
  3.795
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  3.789
• Apple iPhone 6s
  3.783
• Meizu Pro 5
  3.781
• Microsoft Lumia 650
  3.772
• Xiaomi Mi 6
  3.767
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  3.756
• Oppo F1 Plus
  3.709
• Vivo X5Pro
  3.706
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3.688
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Huawei Mate 9
  3.68
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Meizu PRO 6
  3.659
• BlackBerry Priv
  3.645
• Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
  3.597
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3.588
• LG G6
  3.556
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  3.53
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.526
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.523
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
  3.523
• Acer Jade Primo
  3.521
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  3.512
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3.499
• nubia Z11
  3.466
• Huawei P10 Plus
  3.456
• HTC U Ultra
  3.453
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3.422
• Meizu MX5
  3.416
• LG V20
  3.402
• Huawei P10
  3.379
• Oppo R9s
  3.352
• Honor 8 Pro
  3.341
• Oppo R7
  3.32
• Lenovo P2
  3.316
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  3.276
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  3.244
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  3.235
• Sony Xperia X Performance
  3.234
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  3.228
• Motorola Moto X Play
  3.222
• Oppo F3 Plus
  3.218
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  3.206
• Huawei P9
  3.195
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  3.113
• Motorola Moto X Force
  3.105
• LG Nexus 5X
  3.092
• HTC U11
  3.089
• Huawei Mate S
  3.073
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  3.065
• Sony Xperia XA1
  3.012
• Sony Xperia X
  2.989
• Huawei P10 Lite
  2.974
• Huawei Mate 8
  2.949
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  2.913
• Sony Xperia XA Ultra
  2.906
• LG G5
  2.905
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  2.893
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  2.884
• Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
  2.877
• Sony Xperia XZ Premium
  2.877
• Sony Xperia Z5
  2.876
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  2.851
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.813
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  2.803
• Sony Xperia Z5 compact
  2.784
• Meizu MX6
  2.751
• LG V10
  2.744
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2.735
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  2.714
• Meizu M5
  2.71
• Sony Xperia M5
  2.69
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  2.679
• Huawei P9 Lite
  2.679
• Vivo V3Max
  2.659
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  2.658
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2.641
• Xiaomi Redmi 4a
  2.635
• Sony Xperia XA
  2.609
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus
  2.582
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
  2.582
• Meizu M5s
  2.58
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  2.574
• LeEco Le Max 2
  2.567
• Microsoft Lumia 640
  2.563
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  2.563
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2.544
• Lenovo Moto G4
  2.544
• Oppo F1
  2.528
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  2.525
• Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
  2.506
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• Oppo F1s
  2.481
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  2.473
• Huawei G8
  2.471
• Huawei nova
  2.467
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  2.459
• Meizu m3 max
  2.447
• HTC 10 evo
  2.407
• Huawei Honor 7
  2.406
• Sony Xperia E5
  2.386
• ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
  2.382
• HTC 10
  2.378
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  2.378
• Oppo F3
  2.376
• vivo V5 Plus
  2.371
• Meizu m1 note
  2.362
• Huawei nova plus
  2.329
• HTC One E9+
  2.305
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  2.272
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2.254
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  2.253
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
  2.249
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  2.235
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  2.234
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• Huawei P8
  2.196
• Meizu M5 Note
  2.189
• Huawei Honor 6
  2.169
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  2.166
• OnePlus Two
  2.165
• HTC One X
  2.158
• LG Aka
  2.145
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
  2.145
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2.134
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• Xiaomi Mi 4S
  2.095
• Acer Liquid X2
  2.084
• Huawei P8lite
  2.078
• vivo V5
  2.059
• Moto G 3rd gen max manual
  2.026
• Xiaomi Mi 3
  2.001
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  1.996
• Sony Xperia E4g
  1.972
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• Meizu m3 note
  1.923
• BlackBerry Leap
  1.892
• Meizu m2 note
  1.892
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1.759
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Asus Zenfone Selfie
  1.68
• Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
  1.675
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  1.659
• Jolla Jolla
  1.605
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Sony Xperia L
  1.351
• HTC Desire C
  1.3
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E
  1.215

The OnePlus 5 has three preset color modes for its display, plus a custom setting with a cold-to-warm slider. The default mode isn't particularly accurate- whites were leaning towards purplish blue, and 100% Red was off. Average DeltaE in this mode is 6.

The sRGB mode is much more precise (also very dull, but that's how sRGB modes are - smartphone displays tend to look better when they pack some extra punch). Average DeltaE in sRGB mode is 1.4 and whites have a DeltaE of around 1 which is typically invisible. The wider DCI-P3 color space is also rendered very accurately (in DCI-P3 mode) - average DeltaE is 1.4, again. There isn't a significant change in maximum brightness either, so color accuracy doesn't come at the expense of precious nits.

There are other tricks in the Display settings menu on the OnePlus 5. There's a Night mode which tunes the display color temperature to match the ambient light and reduce eye strain. It can be enabled manually, set to engage between sunset and sunrise, or scheduled between specific hours. The strength of the effect can be tweaked too.

Reading mode turns the colorful AMOLED screen into a grayscale display giving it an e-ink-like look for improved experience when reading long text. It can be engaged manually or set to trigger when specific apps are launched.

Connectivity

The OnePlus 5 is a dual SIM device in all of its incarnations - it takes two nano SIMs regardless of where you get it. A total of 34 bands of 2G/3G/4G are supported, and LTE is Cat. 12/13 for theoretical speeds up to 600Mbps of downlink and 150Mbps of upload - there's no gigabit LTE on the OP5, even though the chipset is heavily advertised to support it, though we don't really see that as much of an issue.

Wi-Fi b/g/n over 2.4GHz and a/n/ac over 5GHz is supported. There's the latest Bluetooth 5 with improved range and speed plus aptX and aptX HD for those who are into high quality wireless audio. NFC support is another check mark in the spec sheet. Positioning is done with GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou satellites. There is no FM radio receiver.

Charging and wired connection use a USB-C interface, but the one on the OP5 only adheres to the USB 2.0 spec. A 3.5mm jack is present as well.

OnePlus 5 battery life

The OnePlus 5 is equipped with a 3,300mAh battery, a marginal decrease from the OnePlus 3T's 3,400mAh. We already speculated that's part of the reason why the phone is now a hair thinner than the iPhone 7 Plus. The 5 is using a newer and more efficient chipset though, so the smaller capacity doesn't necessarily have to mean inferior endurance.

In reality, the OnePlus 5 posted an identical overall rating to the one we got out of the 3T, but did so in a markedly different way. To get the bad out of the way first, standby and voice call longevity have taken a hit, but that seems to be our experience with the Snapdragon 835 in general, so it's most likely not OP's fault. And, at around 20 hours of 3G call endurance, you still have plenty of time.

The really important numbers, the ones with the display on, are quite impressive, particularly the endurance in looped video playback - 18:42h is the all-time fifth highest result we've had. In web browsing over Wi-Fi the OnePlus 5 calls it quits after just shy of 11 hours - not record-breaking, but still very good and 2 full hours longer than the 3T.

When you run out of juice, the Dash charging will top your battery up in no time. In our testing, 30 minutes on power brought the battery indicator up to 56% from flat (with the phone switched on, mind you). The caveat is that you need both OP's charger and OP's cable to benefit from it, so you can't get the same speed with a third-party kit.

Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the OnePlus 5 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.