OnePlus 2 64GB

The OnePlus One displayed a lot of attention to detail – right from the packaging to the device design itself. The sandstone finish on the 64GB was unlike anything we’d seen till then, and while we can’t really call it a gorgeous device, it certainly looked stylish and more importantly, oozed class. And with the sequel, the brand hasn’t broken the mould drastically in terms of design. The highlight of the OnePlus 2’s design is the aluminium-magnesium frame that runs around the sides… adding to the look, feel and the build as well. OnePlus has stuck to the same sandstone finish for the rear panel, though this time, it feels slightly rougher to the touch when caressed. Tipping the scales at 175 grams, it's heavier than its predecessor and the difference is noticeable.

The OnePlus 2 comes with a flagship tag, but unlike most premium flagships, doesn’t boast a 2K (or QHD) screen. In fact, the brand has stuck to the same screen specs as the predecessor, both in terms of size and resolution. This means you get a 5.5-inch 1080p display, offering a pixel density of 401ppi. A layer of Corning Gorilla Glass is there to help keep minor scratches at bay. QHD screens do look slightly better in terms of sharpness and colour vibrancy, but since they tend to consume a lot of juice, we think that this is a fair trade-off.

There’s a whole saga behind how OxygenOS came into being, and we don’t get into the details now… but in essence, the brand ended up developing its own Android-based ROM after breaking up with Cyanogen. The OnePlus One came with Cyanogen OS, and this was one of its pull factors as the platform (which is also Android based), brings a near-stock UI, but with tons of tweaking and customisation options that power users love. OxygenOS has been developed on similar lines, but as of now, doesn’t boast so many options. That’s not to say it doesn’t offer any tweaking options at all. The OnePlus 2 comes with the latest build of OxygenOS, which uses Android Lollipop 5.1.1 as base.

The fingerprint scanner is a feature that was announced early on for the OnePlus 2, much before the official unveiling. It’s integrated into the home key, and works by touch. To set it up, you’ll need to jump into the device settings and register your fingerprints, post which you can enable a preferred screen lock mode (i.e. PIN, pattern or password) from security settings, unless you’ve set that up already. There’s another setting to enable fingerprint unlock, which only becomes available after a secure screen lock mode has been set up.

We don’t really need to tell you why smartphone camera are vital. The selfie phenomenon may be relatively new, but phones have been our go-to devices for capturing special moments for a very long time now. The reasons are simple – our phones are always on us, ready to click at a moment’s notice, and also make instant sharing possible. The OnePlus One came with a very capable camera, but with its sequel, the brand has upped the game quite a bit. The pair of snappers on the 2 are the same as its predecessor in terms of resolution, but have been beefed up for better image quality and faster focussing speeds.

At launch time, the One was on top of the pyramid when it came to core specs, and the 2 follows its footsteps. It’s powered by the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 810 chipset, which is mated to 4GB of RAM. This combination is pretty much the most powerful configuration you can get on a smartphone now, so it’s no surprise that the OnePlus 2 is a smooth operator. The octa-core Snapdragon 810 chip in the device is clocked at 1.8GHz and supports 64-bit architecture. Notably, the device uses v2.1 of the chip, which claims to resolve most of the heating issues users reported with the earlier iteration.