Chinese smartphone vendor OnePlus just launched its One flagship in India, where it is available to purchase exclusively through the local arm of retailer Amazon. Prospective buyers are only able to scoop up the top-of-the-line 64 GB version of the smartphone, as the lesser 16 GB model is nowhere to be seen at this stage.
OnePlus appears to be committed to the Indian market, as it says that it has already set up a service network of 25 walk-in centers for its prospective local customers. Speaking of customers, the number of local buyers who will be able to buy One is still controlled by OnePlus, as the company is continuing to enforce its invite-only system.
Those who have an invite can head over to Amazon India right now to purchase the 64 GB, Standstone Black One. The retailer is selling the handset for ₹21,999, which equates to roughly $355. There appears to be no major mark-up for the units sold through Amazon, as the ones sold through OnePlus currently cost $349.
OnePlus says that Indian customers who have purchased One from its site will also be able to take advantage of the warranty coverage in India, which is undoubtedly nice to hear, also considering that there might still be buyers in India getting their One from OnePlus. Why? Because, as it turns out, there are software differences between the two versions.
The One version OnePlus sells is running CyanogenMod (currently the 11S version -- which is based on Android 4.4 KitKat), while the version sold through Amazon India will only feature CyanogenMod until the Android 5.0 Lollipop update rolls out later this month. Then, users will be switched to OnePlus' own interpretation of the latest version of Android, which is likely to be less feature-packed in comparison.
One highlights include: 5.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1080 by 1920; 2.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801; 3 GB of RAM; 3,100 mAh battery; 13 MP camera with f/2.0 aperture; 4K, 1080p, and 720p at 120 FPS video recording; 5 MP wide-angle front-facing camera; NFC; Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.1; GPS; 4G LTE; physical dimensions of 152.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm and 162 grams.
Those who are looking for invites in India, can ask for one in the India-specific thread on OnePlus' forums.