One Plus, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, has been creating heavy ripples across the smartphone industry since 2014 with the release of their much loved One Plus One. The One Plus One was a stellar device because the company had managed to cram flagship specifications into a device that cost almost half of flagships from other companies. This move instantaneously put One Plus on the smartphone map with users eager to get their hands on the device.

With the company’s release of their new line of ‘flagship killer’ that they unveiled in 2015, the One Plus Two, they further tightened their hold on the smartphone by staying true to their high-specification low-cost model that had enticed adopters to their devices in the first place. After a few months of the release of the One Plus Two, the Chinese company also revealed the One Plus X, their first entry into the mid-range market. The One Plus X is equally impressive as the One Plus Two and could even mean an iconic drive into the mid-ranged market with their first device in the segment.

Between two glossy glass panels on the front and the back, the One Plus X hides some interesting specifications. Although the device does not boast flagship specifications that the higher model One Plus devices are known for, it still packs enough power to handle almost everything that the Play Store has to offer, excluding high-end games that are specifically built to take advantage of Nvidia’s Tegra chips. The phone comes with a Snapdragon 801 SOC with a Krait 400 Quad-core CPU clocked at 2.3 Ghz, Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB of RAM and 16 GB of on-board storage that can be expanded up to 128GB via the microSD expansion slot. The phone also sports a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera. Although the One Plus X sports a two-year-old CPU, the Snapdragon 801 was released in 2014, it comes the higher line of Snapdragon processors that should perform equally if not faster than recently launched mid-ranged chips from Qualcomm. The CPU has its downsides too considering how old it is, like use of newer technology like big. LITTLE technology, but should still be able to hold its ground against many recent CPUs nonetheless. Although we can’t really call it high-end at this point in time, it fills the mid-ranged market quite well.

Another interesting specification change that One Plus had not undertaken before is the use of an AMOLED display, both the One Plus One and the One Plus Two use IPS LCD displays. The screen is beautiful at 1080p resolution crammed inside a screen-size of 5-inches. One Plus’s decision to equip the device with a smaller screen is a welcome change in a market where newer phones have been growing in screen-size as well as their overall footprint. With bigger phones, it’s getting considerably harder to control your phone single-handedly and with the 5-inch screen and an impressively small footprint, the One Plus X can be easily handled with one hand. An AMOLED screen also means deeper blacks and rich color reproduction; some users might like the vibrant display while others might prefer the cooler, toned-down display of the phone’s elder brothers. An AMOLED screen does mean lower power-consumptions, however, a feature that anyone would appreciate considering the average battery capacity of 2525 mAh (Li-Po).   

Apart from the specifications, the One Plus X also comes in a very well designed body. Reminiscent of earlier phones like the iPhones of yesteryear with glass panels on both sides of the device, the device is lighter and thinner than its big brother, the One Plus Two. With a thickness of 6.9mm and weighing at around 138g, the phone is thin, sleek and light. The use of glass panels on both sides also work really well to make the phone feel premium in hand but at the same time, it’s notorious for attracting fingerprints, which just mars the beautiful design of the device by always making it look old and dirty. The use of glass on both sides also makes the phone quite slippery; an issue that might require further investment in a case because using this phone naked would not be preferable if you want to keep it safe. The sides of the phone with an anodized metal frame feels sturdy though. The One Plus X also features the custom alert slider on the left-side of the device, a feature that just adds to the functionality of the phone. Having to turn on the screen, slide down the quick settings panel and specify the Do Not Disturb time, just feels like an overly complex set of actions to take for a simple function as setting the phone to silent mode, the alert slider simplifies this to such an extent that it would be great if other Android phones followed up similar sliders (iPhone users have had this feature for a long time).

Apart from the hardware of the phone, there is little to talk about in the aspect of software. The phone comes with a customided version of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, dubbed Oxygen OS. The customisation of vanilla Android by manufacturers seem to be a notion looked down upon by most users because usually, the customisations aren’t seamlessly integrated with Google’s design philosophy and also because the design team needs extra time to skin the newer version of Android meaning slower updates. Oxygen OS does come with a light and dark mode, however, a nice feature that turns the Android interface dark when need arises. This feature should work well at night, when the extra brightness of a light theme could be difficult to use and also accounting the AMOLED screen, the dark theme could save a bit of battery life when you need you phone to last.

All in all, the One Plus X is a pretty decent phone for the price point and is a nice mid-ranged phone for people who want a good looking phone for a decent price. Although the specifications aren’t anything jaw-dropping, the phone should work well for the time being although the future of this phone does not look very promising, primarily because of the device’s aged Snapdragon 801 processor and some key missing features like NFC and a USB-C connector. But, if you’re looking for a good looking phone at a decent price-point, the One Plus X would fulfill your needs.

The One Plus X is being offered exclusively at an introductory price of Rs 26,999 at the online store, Kaymu.com.np. Officially launched on Kaymu on May 15, the introductory offer is valid till May 22, 2016. Kaymu Nepal is also handing out free One Plus X phone via a contest through their Facebook page, to participate, visit facebook.com/np.kaymu.