There is no denying that flagships like Samsung's Galaxy S7, LG's G5 and Xiaomi's Mi 5 have just raised the bar for the high-end smartphone market. Rivals need to step things up a notch, as it is going to be extremely hard to compete against the latest-generation hardware and software, especially when it is offered at price points as low as $300.
For OnePlus and its current flagship, OnePlus 2, things are not looking good. Mi 5, which competes in the same price range, is a better device on paper and cheaper too. Other similar devices will soon follow, of course. What is OnePlus' answer? Well, it is OnePlus 3 and it is coming by June.
OnePlus CEO Carl Pei has revealed that the third-generation flagship will be unveiled by the end of the second quarter of 2016, and that it will hopefully "captivate" users in the same fashion as OnePlus One did. There is a new design planned for OnePlus 3, which is to be expected if the company wants to rival what Xiaomi's doing with Mi 5, for instance.
OnePlus 2 is not a bad-looking phone, but when you put it next to a current-generation flagship its plastic back makes it look less appealing in comparison. Competitors are now using metal or glass for a premium look and feel, and it is time for OnePlus to follow suit in this area.
There are no details surrounding the specs of OnePlus 3, but it is fair to assume that we are looking at a flagship running the latest processor available from Qualcomm, with lots of RAM in tow, and a decent amount of storage on tap. Android 6.0 Marshmallow is a given, of course, as this will be the latest available release for this half of the year.
Pei adds that OnePlus 3 will be sold directly by the company and that there will be a "better buying process" implemented for it, although there is no mention of whether the dreaded invite system will be gone or not. Hopefully, OnePlus has learned its lesson here.
OnePlus should look into ways it can sell its upcoming flagship to consumers without alienating them. It is typical of the company to have an invite system in place for any new device it introduces, which causes plenty of frustration for prospective customers who are willing to spend their hard earned money on the device only to find out that things are not as easy as typing in their credit card information.
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