After extensive teasing, OnePlus has finally announced its first smartphone, the One, boasting some top-notch specs and a very reasonable price tag.
The new One smartphone (not to be confused with the HTC One or One M8) is expected to give Google's Nexus a run for its money, as it follows the same strategy of offering high-end specs at a decent price point.
Chinese smartphone startup OnePlus announced that its powerhouse will launch at a starting price of $299 unlocked and contract-free for the 16GB model, while the higher-capacity 64GB variant will come with a $349 price tag.
The OnePlus One will make its debut in the second quarter and will be initially available in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the UK, and the U.S. The smartphone will come in two color options: Silk White and Sandstone Black.
One of the most notable features of the OnePlus One is its CyanogenMod 11S build, where the "S" stands for the customization for the One. CyanogenMod 11S is based on Google's Android 4.4 KitKat and is among the smartphone's most touted features.
In terms of specifications, the new OnePlus One sports a large 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with a full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920, a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch, and Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top for extra scratch-resistance.
Under the hood, the handset packs a powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, coupled with Adreno 330 graphics and 3GB of RAM. Other than the internal storage configurations available, however, the smartphone doesn't have support for additional memory via microSD.
Other specs include a high-end 13-megapixel rear IMX214 camera with six lenses and f/2.0 aperture that delivers a 0.3-second shutter speed. On the front, the handset rocks a 5-megapixel sensor for video calls and self-shots.
In terms of connectivity, the OnePlus One supports 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and NFC. A large 3,100 mAh non-removable battery will keep things up and running.
With such specifications on-board, it's clear that the OnePlus One will compete at the top end of the smartphone market, giving some serious competition to even the biggest players out there. To further tease its offering, OnePlus has also made a quick comparison between the pricing of its smartphone and that of the iPhone 5S, which starts at $649 for 16GB and goes up to $849 for 64GB.
"How much is fair to charge for 64GB of storage?" OnePlus asks in a taunting tweet, listing the iPhone 5S' price to point out how much more affordable its One smartphone is at $349 for 64GB.
