OnePlus 5 review

About OnePlus 5 review: hard everyday life of a doppelganger

Content

Introduction

Design and ergonomics

Equipment

Fingerprint sensor

Screen

Operating system

Performance

Call quality

Music playback quality

Offline work

Main Cameras

Front camera

Shooting video

Competitors

Where to buy

Specifications

Conclusion

Introduction

OnePlus smartphones have always favorably differed from their peers in that they did not spam the market with a bunch of models, but once a year they gave a sniper shot, releasing one very cool smartphone. In many ways, it is thanks to this positioning that OnePlus has taken a place in the hearts of many geeks. But last year, the company moved away from its principles, introducing two smartphones in a year: OnePlus 3 in the summer and, five months later, OnePlus 3T . And then OnePlus 5 in June of this year - just like all the other Android vendors that release two flagships a year. The result was not slow to affect - the new-ready OnePlus 5, although an interesting device, is in no hurry to get out of the shadows of its predecessor and future successor.

Design and ergonomics

From the front, the OnePlus 5 looks almost identical to the OnePlus 3T. The dimensions have only slightly changed: the novelty has become a little narrower and a little higher. But this is a difference of a few millimeters, so it is almost invisible.

But behind the smartphone is almost an exact copy of Apple iPhone 7 Plus , as well as Oppo R11 and other imitators. And that, of course, sucks. Because the owner of such a device constantly answers the same question: “Hey, do you have an iPhone, or what?”.

Well, you know how it goes:
Hello, did you buy an iPhone?

It's OnePlus!

- Oh, I see.

- No, well, a serious device. Do you know how many rams there are?

- It's clear.

— No, seriously, great smartphone! Here is the screen, look!

“Okay, okay, just calm down.

- YES, I AM CALM, YOU WERE CRAZY THERE IN EPPLE

And these are not attempts to joke, but a retelling almost word for word of dialogues with passers-by in the park, who were interested in what we were photographing. In this sense, the OnePlus 3T predecessor was much more original and did not evoke such emotions. But, in any case, anodized aluminum is black or gray and looks nice, and in the hand it feels like something solid.

The ergonomics are the same as the OnePlus 3T. All buttons are located in the same places, the hardware button for switching modes has not disappeared anywhere and pleases with the ability to quickly cut off the sound.

Fortunately, the 3.5mm jack is also preserved. To hell with the new trend, keep it up OnePlus!

The device is equipped with two slots for Nano SIM cards. You can’t insert a memory card into the slots, but given how much memory is on board the smartphone, this is not scary.

Overall, for a large-screen device, the OnePlus 5 fits well in the palm of your hand and can be used reasonably well with one hand. I specifically spent two hours in public transport hell to test the ergonomics, and, in general, I was satisfied. If the passengers had not peeped my correspondence ...

What is missing is water protection. Well, or almost not - the company is extremely vague in answering questions about protection against liquids. Either the situation with the ingress of moisture is really not very good, or the company wants to save on warranty service and thus write off all the "drowned" in non-warranty cases. Or maybe holding back water resistance for the announcement of some OnePlus 5t ... In any case, I would be careful not to drown the smartphone. You never know who gets what on private tests .

Equipment

The box contains: a cool red cable, a clip for the SIM card tray, a charger (which will require an adapter for native sockets) and a cool postcard with an appeal to the buyer.

Although the OnePlus 5 has a standard USB Type-C connector, I encountered the fact that the Chinese Type-C cable from another device did not fit. So take care, just in case, complete wiring. He is both handsome and useful.

Fingerprint sensor

The fingerprint scanner is built into the touch button "Home" and works, in general, normally - the prints are read quite quickly and it is not necessary to put your finger strictly vertically. It happens that the print is not recognized, but this happens really rarely, so I repeat, there are no special complaints. Nevertheless, when compared with Honor 9 , you understand how cool and fast Huawei's sensors are - the difference in response is only a couple of fractions of a second, but you can feel it in everyday work.

Screen

The parameters of the screens remained more or less the same as in the previous models. The display diagonal is 5.5 inches and the resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels. More, according to OnePlus management, is not necessary. With which, in general, I also agree.

The matrix is the same, Optic AMOLED with bright rich colors. Even brighter than before, the OnePlus 5 adds support for the DCI-P3 color space, which covers more of the natural spectrum. I'm not sure that the difference will be directly noticeable, but the screen is really cool.

The color rendition, of course, can be adjusted. The backlight is very good and even the July sun in Odessa cannot overcome it. Viewing angles are also excellent, although screen colors are slightly distorted at very high angles.

Scheduled night mode, reading mode for individual applications - the software shell provides for all this. The most important question for the screen is the “jelly” effect when scrolling, about which the media wrote so much. My OnePlus 5 didn't have this effect. It seems that in one of the firmware updates the code of the microcontroller responsible for the screen was corrected and the problem was removed. However, it is difficult to judge by one smartphone, so I ask the owners of OnePlus 5 to check in the comments. Tell us if you have "jelly" when scrolling, and what firmware is in your smartphone.

Operating system

The smartphone is controlled by the seventh generation Android operating system, which has been noticeably prettier with the proprietary OxygenOS shell. I really like this skin, because OnePlus doesn't play the game of "replace Google services with your crooked counterparts", but focuses on adding their own really useful features, like the already mentioned on-screen options or quick access to the OnePlus owners forum, where you can get advice on any issue.

The system really justifies the name Oxygen. The interface is really “airy” due to the light background and the right fonts. Well, OxygenOS works stably, without glitches and sudden app crashes. Good system, although not right away. In the review published on our channel, a number of bugs were mentioned that were still relevant some two weeks ago. All this has now been fixed.

Performance

The OnePlus 5 has an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor , whose cores will be clocked up to 2.45 GHz. This solution is equipped with one of the best Adreno 540 graphics accelerators. Well, 6/8 GB of RAM and 64/128 GB of permanent memory complete the picture. The memory, by the way, is UFS 2.1 format - with a high transfer and data write speed. How good this is can be seen in synthetic performance tests (although OnePlus had a little scandal with them this time)

With real loads, such as games and resource-intensive applications, the smartphone copes with a bang. There are no FPS drops in games, especially no brakes and lags. At the moment, the hardware configuration of OnePlus 5 is one of the best on the market and the relevance of the hardware of this smartphone is a good three years.

But we also love Snapdragon flagship platforms for their cold disposition. Where Kirin or Mediatek warm up to fifty degrees and throttling turns on, Snapdragon doesn’t even reach forty degrees and calculations go in a calm standard mode.

The question here is different: six months ago, OnePlus 3T, although equipped with a simpler processor, has not lost its relevance in everyday work, no different from the “five”. So there is no qualitative jump in performance here, and just for the sake of hardware capacity, I would not change one smartphone for another. Similarly, with memory - the difference between six and eight gigabytes of RAM is visible only in synthetic performance tests. Therefore, I also do not see the point in overpaying for an older model.

Call quality

I always perfectly heard my interlocutors, there are no complaints about the dynamics. The voice is transmitted clearly and naturally. The microphone also transmits speech well, my subscribers heard me well.

Music playback quality

The OnePlus 5 has a very loud speaker that produces clear sound. As usual with most smartphones, the low frequencies are a bit lacking, but, in general, it’s very possible to watch the series at lunchtime in the park.
There is no separate audio chip in the smartphone, but the processor power is enough for high-quality music reproduction. Therefore, in headphones, the sound is detailed and even, without noticeable distortions in the frequency spectrum.

Also, the developers screwed an equalizer with a bunch of profiles and a separate improver, depending on the type of headphones. All this works for an amateur, I personally usually prefer to listen to music "as is", but, nevertheless, it's nice to be able to tweak the bass or pull out the middle.

Offline work

A 3300 mAh battery paired with a non-overloaded operating system does wonders. In active testing mode, the smartphone worked for 15-16 hours. In normal mode, it’s really possible to squeeze out of OnePlus 5 up to a day and a half of work.

And if you use your own charger and native cable (as I wrote above, the thing is not only beautiful, but also very useful), you can enjoy the benefits of fast charging. A 15-minute therapy near an outlet restores 24% of the charge, and the smartphone is fully charged in about 75 minutes.

Main cameras

On the back side there are two main cameras, organized according to the same principle as the iPhone 7 Plus. That is, one of them is wide-angle with an advanced 16-megapixel Sony IMX 398 sensor and f / 1.7 aperture, it’s great to shoot portrait shots on it, and the macro is decent.

A second camera is needed to capture distant objects. The matrix of the telephoto camera is simpler, 20-megapixel Sony IMX 350, and the aperture is only f / 2.6 (however, this is normal for telephoto).

It is with the second camera that another scandal is associated, since the double zoom is provided not only by optics, but by a combination of optical zoom and software algorithms. I must say that the scandal did not arise from scratch, as it still does not shoot very well for telephoto. The image is grainy, highly dependent on lighting, and often fuzzy. However, there are situations when only telephoto leaves a chance to get a normal shot. Children, animals, architecture - this camera really helps out in many scenarios.

In general, the quality of photos is still not ideal and the potential of the hardware is not fully revealed. Focus sometimes misses, in some pictures there is a sharp oversharp. Obviously, in the future we will have many more firmware updates that fix these shortcomings. In general, everything is as always - OnePlus once again uses its first customers as free beta testers, collecting feedback and adjusting the software based on it.

Portrait mode, which programmatically blurs the background, also does not work well so far. Very often part of the head is blurred or a significant part of the background is not blurred. Also, the portrait mode is very dependent on light sources and it is very difficult to take a normal picture at dusk or under artificial lighting.

Well, the lack of stabilization of the telephoto camera does not have the best effect on the quality of photos and videos. Similarly, with 4K video, to which, however, OnePlus promises to fasten stabilization in future firmware.

To finish on a positive note, burst shooting works quite fast and can be used to take a very decent photo. Ghouls-ghouls! And yes, you can download the originals of all photos from the link .

Front camera

The front camera is also very good. It uses a 16-megapixel Sony IMX 371 module and f / 2.0 optics. There is no separate flash, but a screen can work instead of it, which, in my opinion, is much better than a point beam of light from a flash. The lack of autofocus somewhat reduces the degree of delight, but in the end, selfies turn out well even in difficult lighting conditions.

Shooting video

The video camera shoots well, the videos are bright and clear ... as long as they are filmed on a wide-angle camera. If you switch to a telephoto lens during shooting to show some elements of the landscape closer, the detail and color depth sag.

But in poor or difficult lighting, the videos are very good. I’m sure that when OnePlus sorts out the firmware, things will go up sharply, since from the technical side the potential of the cameras is huge.

The work of the built-in microphone on both videos seems to me not bad, but not perfect. The microphone passes a lot of extraneous noise, especially in difficult conditions (fountain, concert). Therefore, if someone is going to, for example, vlog while shooting on OnePlus 5, I recommend buying an audio splitter cable and an inexpensive loop microphone. The contacts in the 3.5 mm jack on the OnePlus 5 are wired correctly, the microphone is detected correctly through the audio splitter.

Competitors

The question of competition with OnePlus 5 is very difficult, because it is philosophical in nature. And OnePlus itself doesn't make life particularly easy with its fertility. Although the official OnePlus 3T sales have ended, this beautiful smartphone can still be found on the remnants of some online stores, and at a good discount. It seems to me that this is the case when you can save money with a clear conscience. But this whole celebration of life will last for a maximum of a month, and then OnePlus 3T will disappear forever from all store shelves. Then the most dangerous competitor of OnePlus 5 will be Xiaomi Mi6 , which is comparable in terms of hardware power, is slightly cheaper and looks better. However, Xiaomi Mi 6 is inferior to OnePlus 5 in terms of stability, camera and screen. Which one you like best is up to you.

Where to buy

At the time of writing this review, the lowest prices for the OnePlus 5 smartphone are as follows:

JK Team Store (Aliexpress) 6/64 GB - http://ali.ski/8MYayX

Sunsky store (Aliexpress). Version for 6/64 GB and 8/128 GB. Link: http://ali.ski/bskhO

Tonke store(Aliexpress). Link: http://ali.ski/bcGo_

Specifications

• Network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A Cat. 12-13, 4G FDD-LTE: bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/30/66; TDD-LTE: bands 38/39/40/41; TD-SCDMA: Band 34/39; UMTS(WCDMA): Band 1/2/4/5/8; CDMA EVDO: BC0
• Display 5.5 inches, 1920x1080 pixels, 401 ppi, Optic AMOLED, Gorilla Glass 5;
• Platform: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, (Eight Kryo architecture cores, 10nm, 4 x 2.45 GHz + 4 x 2.15 GHz) Adreno 540 graphics;
• RAM 6/8GB LPDDR4X, 64/128 GB permanent (UFS 2.1 2-LANE), no microSD support;
• Android 7, OxygenOS shell;
• 2 nanoSIM cards, one radio module;
• Primary wide-angle camera: 16 MPix (Sony IMX 398 sensor), DCAF, image stabilization (digital), 1.12 µm, f/1.7 aperture;
• Main telephoto camera: 20 MP (Sony IMX 350), PDAF, 1.0 µm, aperture f/2.6;
• Front camera: 16 MP (Sony IMX 371), 1.0 µm, f/2.0;
• Communications: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, USB Type C, NFC;
• Battery: 3300 mAh, fast charging Dash Charge (4A/5V);
• Fingerprint scanner;
• Dimensions 154.2 x 74.1 x 7.25 mm, weight 153 grams.

Conclusion

You can’t get rid of the feeling that you can’t deceive fate. To avoid the "4" in the name, OnePlus decided to skip it, giving the next phone a "5". But the number of scandals around the new smartphone clearly exceeds the amount of negativity that accompanied previous models.

Although, we must admit that OnePlus is slowly emerging. The situation with water protection, thanks to the efforts of the company's speakers, has been reduced to "everything is not so simple", the tricks of the operating system and, it seems, the glitches with the "jelly" screen have been resolved. I am sure that the camera will be greatly improved in the next month or two.

In general, if you approach the OnePlus 5 as just a smartphone and do not turn your head around, we have a wonderful device, one of the best on the market, especially among Chinese smartphones, where OnePlus is difficult to compete in both performance and stability.

But who is this smartphone made for? For OnePlus 3T owners? Absolutely not, it's too early to change Teshka. For those who bought the original "troika"? Again, too early. New users who have previously used other smartphones? In theory, yes, but the barrage of negative news is sure to scare off many. And then, the new OnePlus policy, as it were, implies that in the fall we may well see an updated fifth version of the smartphone. With an "honest" zoom, for example. Or official water protection. Won't we bite our elbows by spending money now, and not in the fall, as the buyers of Troika did last year? The more I think about it, the more doubts that the OnePlus 5 is worth buying right now.

Although, I repeat, the smartphone is really chic.

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