OnePlus 3 review: King of the budget phones, but no heir to the flagship throne
OnePlus once touted itself as the “Flagship Killer,” offering top-spec’d phones at a budget price. With the first OnePlus device, they showed that they could swing with the big players, but were hampered by the oft-maligned invite system and poor marketing. The OnePlus 2 suffered a similar fate, coupled with some questionable design choices and average performance. Well, OnePlus seems to have found it’s groove with the OnePlus 3, a standout phone with flagship specs at a great price, and finally a invite-free purchase system that makes it much more available for everyone.
OnePlus Three
The “Never Settle” mantra of OnePlus is on display here, as the OnePlus 3 features a 1080p AMOLED display, NFC, 3000mAh battery, a Snapdragon 820, USB-C and a whopping 6GB of RAM. It only has one storage option, 64GB, and features proprietary DASH rapid charging among other features. Certainly some impressive specs for a $399 phone, but how do they come together as a complete package?
Design
I immediately fell in love with the OnePlus 3’s design out of the box. Gone is the sandstone backing and overall cheaper feel to the build quality, replaced by a full-metal chassis and smooth curves, making it an absolute joy to hold. It has a premium feel in the hand comparable to that of an HTC device, which it seemingly borrows a lot of design cues from. Of all the OnePlus devices, this one is by far the best looking.
The OnePlus 3
1 of 5
The camera bump makes the phone rest at a slight angle.
The rear of the device is simple and clean. Only a set of antenna lines and a prominent camera bump, housing the 16MP shooter, adorn the back panel coupled with the small shiny OnePlus logo just below. It is admittedly a bit slippery to hold without a case, but not as bad as I expected it to be. The back has a nice arched contour for fitting in the palm, and is so light and sleek that I’d feel bad hiding it in a case. The OnePlus 3 is very reminiscent of current flagship phones in regards to appearance, which can be either good or bad depending on your opinion. Some may miss the sandstone texture and it’s unique feel and grip, and luckily there is a case offering that material from OnePlus if you’re feeling nostalgic for the older design. Along with the sandstone case, there are a number of other stylish protection cases in material such as bamboo, rosewood, carbon fiber and black apricot finish.
The front of the device is no slouch either, with an attractive slab of Gorilla Glass 4 housing the 5.5 inch AMOLED screen, and the prominent capacitive fingerprint scanner front and center. The fingerprint scanner is amazingly fast, OnePlus claims faster than Apple’s Touch ID, with the phone waking up seemingly the instant I touched my phone to the scanner. It’s flanked on either side by OnePlus’ trademark optional capacitive buttons, which are now simple illuminated dots that disappear into the bezel after a few seconds. Bezels are very thin on the sides of the screen, but the top and bottom ones are a bit big for my tastes on a 5.5 inch phone.
The side panels, measuring a scant 7.35mm thick, house the power button and dual SIM tray on the right side, and the volume rockers and still-present mute toggle switch on the left. The button placement and feel are excellent, they are easily reachable and satisfyingly clicky and responsive. The notification toggle switch is nicely textured and feels solid, but I wish they had reversed the order, with full notifications on top and none on the bottom.
The top of the phone is bare metal, but the bottom is one of my favorite parts of the design. It holds the headphone jack, USB-C port, and surprisingly loud speaker. The whole bottom subtly curves towards the back of the phone, and the speaker grill holes and USB port are chamfered, lending even more to the premium feel and look of the 3. As bottoms of phones go, this one is truly excellent.
Display
The display of the OnePlus 3 has been a point of contention in the smartphone community. It’s a 5.5 inch “Optic” AMOLED display with a 1920×1080 resolution, that’s 401 ppi for those interested. It is a very nice screen, and a definite upgrade from the OnePlus 2, but the lower resolution is a bit of a downer considering pretty much every other Android flagship hits the 2560×1440 QHD resolution. The colors and image quality are clear and crisp, and more than enough for the average user but coming down from a Nexus 6P and it’s massive QHD 
display, it’s a noticeable difference that made me miss the extra resolution for YouTube and movie watching. I will say that the lower resolution display has done well for battery life. OnePlus has included some decent customizations to the display, including the “Optic” tuning and a color balance slider, so you can adjust the color tone yourself.
For most people, the OnePlus 3 screen is perfectly capable, but anyone coming off of a QHD display may be in for some disappointment.
Performance and Software
The OP3 and its 6GB of RAM made headlines prior to it’s launch, and rightfully so. 6GB is a ton of RAM for such a small device, but does it have an impact on performance? The answer is… maybe. The RAM coupled with the Snapdragon 820 chip make this phone lightning fast and super snappy, jumping between apps with ease, but even with all that power under the hood it’s nothing mindblowing in terms of day to day performance. Gaming on the OP3 was satisfying and smooth, and app load times were in the expected range. Oneplus did add some nice tweaks to multitasking, including a clear-all button and a “clean” button to halt all background processes and clear all that RAM. It’s definitely comparable to today’s flagships in terms of speed, but it certainly isn’t the top contender in that regard.
One downside of the OnePlus 3 is the lack of expandable storage or larger storage options. 64GB is fine for me, but I know a lot of people who live and die by the SD card. It is disappointing for sure, but certainly not a deal breaker. Also, connectivity issues have been cropping up for many OP3 users, including myself. Difficulty with LTE connectivity, rapidly switching from 3G to 4G to LTE, as well as issues with wi-fi calling on T-Mobile have made using the OnePlus 3 off of wi-fi a bit harrowing at times. However, the problems are not nearly as bad as they sound, and regular daily use has been stellar otherwise, with these connection problems only popping up once in awhile.
The custom Android Marshmallow ROM, Oxygen OS, is just as light as before and with some welcome stability and performance improvements. OnePlus still offers those wonderful 
tweaks to the stock experience, like optional hardware or software buttons, night mode, screen-off gestures and more. In place of the Google Now page on the left-most screen, OnePlus introduces the Shelf. The Shelf holds a place for widgets, recent apps, and a quick memo section for easy note taking. I initially avoided using the Shelf as I was so used to Google Now being there, but as I used the phone more and more I found it to be a welcome addition and very handy. Oxygen OS is easily one of the better ROMs for Android, being nearly as stock as a Nexus device but offering just enough customization and extra features to differentiate it.
Battery
Battery performance is very solid on the OP3. The 3000mAh battery and standard definition AMOLED screen do wonders for all-day use from 7 AM onwards, I rarely had to top off the battery with an average day’s usage. The phone does heat up a bit when under heavier use, but nothing too concerning so far. I was surprised at how well the OnePlus 3 stood up to my Nexus 6P with its larger battery, both managed to stay above 20% by the end of the day at 9 PM. OnePlus has done an admirable job of making sure users get the most out of the battery despite it’s pedestrian capacity.
Where OnePlus really shines is its DASH charging, a rebrand of Oppo’s VOOC charging technology. Using the included charger and cable, or any VOOC charger, the OP3 can get a full day’s charge, about 60-70%, in 15 minutes. It is mind boggling to plug in your phone and five minutes later see a 10-15% jump in battery life for the first time. Compared to the rapid charging on my Nexus, this was fast as hell and one of the best features of the OP3. It’s a shame that more chargers don’t support it, as I’d like to use a longer cord and still get the DASH results.
Camera
The camera on the OnePlus 3 is another area of merely average performance. The 16MP rear shooter is fine at all levels, but isn’t going to beat out the likes of Samsung when it comes to image quality. OIS is a nice touch, and shutter speed and focus are fast and responsive. Software-wise, the OnePlus camera app gets the job done, and has some nice manual options as well but the LG camera app from the V10 still has a bit of an edge in that regard. The front-facing 8MP camera is great for selfies, and works well. Snapchat users will have a great time using it to get those memorable snaps.
OnePlus 3 photo samples
1 of 4
Image quality has been satisfying on the OP3, especially in bright daylight. Low light pictures are fine, but the flash can be a bit aggressive if left on automatic, going off even in well lit areas causing a washed out image. I’m not generally a big phone photographer, so not the best judge of a camera, but the OnePlus 3 is certainly very good. Most people will have no issues at all taking some sweet photos.
Conclusion
Overall, the OnePlus 3 is an incredible deal at $399. You’d be hard pressed to find a more feature-packed device in this price range, with this few compromises. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t be able to tell that this was a device from a small Chinese offshoot brand at all. OnePlus should be commended on finally finding that perfect balance between specs, price, and design to make the OnePlus 3 a real hit. That being said, I still found myself drawn back to my 6P, for a few different reasons. The screen resolution and wifi calling issues are chief among them. The OnePlus 3 has all the element s to match or best the current crop of flagship devices from the likes of Samsung, LG, and HTC but if you’re currently using a 2015 or 2016 flagship device, the performance and specs aren’t enough to justify a swap unless you are a die hard OnePlus fan. If you are a budget conscious person, the price certainly crushed the competition and other phones in it’s price range just can’t compare. I would say that the OnePlus 3 is a excellent device, if maybe not as polished as it’s competition, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of best phones of 2016. The OnePlus 3 is king of the budget phones, and a great pick for those looking for an affordable phone that Never Settles for budget features.
Twitter launches Dashboard app for small business accounts
To help business owners connect with their fans and soothe angry patrons, Twitter is launching yet another stand-alone app with a specific audience in mind. Twitter Dashboard is the social network’s attempt to streamline engagement for business accounts, whose users probably have better things to do than babysitting their mentions or constantly searching their own name.
Dashboard lives both in a web and iOS version, and includes features that have popped up in other Twitter products in the past. In both versions, Twitter guides you through a quick process to create a custom “About You” feed tailored to show tweets about your company or business (or personal brand, as the case may be). The feed takes into account what type of business you’re running (say a restaurant or an art gallery), then combines @-mentions and keyword searches to find people talking about your brand, even if they don’t tag your handle directly. In addition to a tweet scheduling feature and a reconfigured analytics page, Dashboard also offers tips so business owners who might be new to Twitter can get the most engagement out of their tweets.
At this point, Twitter’s app ecosystem is starting to look a little fractured with the standard Twitter app, Tweetdeck for the power users and Engage for the celebrities. But, more than anything, the app lineup speaks to the range of different ways in which people actually use the social network.
Google is giving you power to control the ads you see online
Google has launched a new portal you can use to personalize the ads you see, and it has begun notifying users about it through either Chrome or Gmail. You can add topics of interest and your age and gender to see advertisements the cater to you on Search, YouTube and other Google services. But if you don’t want to share those info with the big G, you don’t have to — the feature is completely opt in. If you agree to switch it on, you’re also giving the company permission to use your Google account activity on its services. That includes giving it permission to keep track of what ads you interact with and to add that info to its new My Activity site.
My Activity shows how you’ve been using various Google services in neatly arranged cards. It lists every search you do, website you visit, directions you look up, Android apps you use and ads you interact with, among other things. While you’re the only one who can access it, you can still fortunately delete anything on the page, in case somebody else uses your computer. Google will send a notification your way if you haven’t gotten one yet, but you can also access the Ads Personalization page right here.
Via: Wired, Android Police, Recode
Source: Google (My Activity), (Ads Settings), (FAQ)
Edit photos like the pros with Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan: 1-year Membership
Are you happy with “good enough” photos, or would you like to take spectacular shots worthy of framing every time you reach for your camera?
Take your passion to the next level with a year-long membership in the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan, offering you the best photography and editing tools on the market. For a limited time, you can pick up this great offer for just £74.53 ($101.99) from Pocket-lint Deals.
Your one-year membership in the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan will set you up with a full range of photo editing programs, including Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Mix, Adobe Voice, and Adobe Slate. You’ll also have access to an extensive library of video tutorials to walk you through these powerhouse tools, putting you in command of a virtually photography and editing skill set.
Along the way you’ll learn to enhance the color of your shots, eliminate flaws in your photos, add effects to your galleries, and even publish your collections on the web and various social media platforms. You’ll notice a significant upgrade in your photography as you master this suite of Adobe programs and add some serious firepower to your skill sets.
Get started today with the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan: 1-Yr Membership, available for a limited time at 15 per cent off from Pocket-lint Deals. At a final total of just £74.53 (U.S. $101.99), a lifelong skill set upgrade awaits.
Bonus: If you’d like to take a more dedicated leap into the full range of tools available in this deal, the 1-year Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan + Training Bundle is available at 89 per cent off.
‘System Shock’ remake is now live on Kickstarter with free demo
Welcome back to Citadel station. We hope your somnolent healing stage went well. We also hope you’ve ventured over to the official Kickstarter for Nightdive Studios’ reboot of the seminal FPS/RPG hybrid System Shock, because it looks like one hell of a ride.
Nightdive Studios has a full-fledged reboot in store for the classic game released in 1994, including members from the original game’s team and recruiting Chris Avellone (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, Fallout 2) and other talented folks to bring it to life once more.
As the Kickstarter page attests, this isn’t the System Shock as it was, but “as you remember it.” It’s seeking to capture the spirit of the original game bring it to modern gamers today with re-imagined enemies, weapons and locations, a new musical score, and updated game mechanics. Most importantly, Terri Brosius will be reprising her role as SHODAN with new voiceover recordings to spice things up.
There are several backer tiers for those interested, including in-game rewards such as being added to the game itself with your own portrait, private parties, and even a custom Razer gaming laptop with unique System Shock artwork. The System Shock Big Box Collector’s Edition is especially gorgeous, featuring a slipcover box, what looks to be an art book and special figure, and more.
The Kickstarter aims to collect $900,000, and is currently well on its way to meeting that goal. If it all comes together it looks to be a juicy, delicious reinvention of a classic shooter that’s been in dire need of attention for quite some time.
You don’t have to wait for the project to get funded to get a taste of the action, though. There’s a free alpha demo up for grabs right now via the Kickstarter page. Get out there and get your System Shock on now.
‘Batman: Return to Arkham’ delayed indefinitely
The cheery news that Batman: Arkham Knight players get a weird new costume has been overshadowed by an update that Batman: Return to Arkham, a remastered collection of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, would be delayed. A post by a WB staff member on the game’s forums announced that the game wouldn’t come out on its planned release day of July 29th in order to keep refining it. In fact, they don’t even have a new release date, leading cynics to wonder if it’s all a ploy to release it alongside Batman VR in October. Or if it will be released at all.
Anyway, if you’re a member of the forums on the WB Games site, you can get a bonus Zur-En-Arrh costume to play with in Arkham Knight. It’s based on that time Batman got mindwiped and a backup personality with a gaudy fashion sense stepped in (comics!). While it’s certainly one of the more niche outfits from the hero’s sartorial arsenal, the Arkham games have released so many alternate costumes that we were bound to be driven into the weirder corners of Batman apocrypha.
The reward was probably intended for the dogged fans who have long kept the Arkham buzz going in the forums, but you don’t actually need to have posted anything to collect the in-game item. To get the skin, just log in to the forums with your WB Play ID, fire up Return To Arkham and log in at the main menu screen, and poof: New costume. Any existing account (including one you just made for the costume) will work as long as you surf around the forums at least once while signed in.
Hopefully some new duds for the caped crusader will tide you over until we get a solid release date for Return To Arkham. But for dark knight fans who are tired of getting burned by WB Games, take heart in the highly-anticipated first episode of Telltale’s Batman game, which is set to be released this summer.
Source: WB Games
Further Zika studies increase the chances of a vaccine
The hopes for a Zika vaccine are seemingly getting stronger by the day. To start, Harvard researchers have successfully tested two vaccine candidates in mice — reportedly the first instance of such a treatment working in an animal. One of them relies on an inert version of the virus, while the other entails customized DNA sequences. The scientists will need to test their work on larger animals before it’s declared safe, but it’s promising to see two more potential safeguards on top of one discovered just days earlier.
We’re learning more about how the virus works, too. Another study (this time with rhesus monkeys) has revealed that a prior Zika infection will help protect you against subsequent viruses, and that the virus lasts longer in your blood if you’re pregnant. That’s possibly due to the pregnancy compromising your immune system, making it harder to fight back. The findings could not only help create a vaccine, but explain why Zika has been so dangerous in Brazil despite lingering in Africa for years — Africans may just be exposed early enough that it’s not an issue when pregnancy becomes an option. That, in turn, raises hope that Zika will eventually lose its potency in the Americas.
Via: The Verge, Popular Science
Source: Nature (1), (2)
Apple Modeling Apple Music Exclusive Content After ‘MTV in its 80s and 90s Heyday’
Apple has consistently been securing exclusive content, like Drake’s latest album “Views”, Taylor Swift’s “The 1989 World Tour” concert film and music videos from The Weeknd and Eminem. In a new feature from Rolling Stone, Larry Jackson, Apple Music’s head of original content, said the goal of securing that exclusive content is to put the service “at the intersection of all things relevant in pop culture.”
Jackson says that the model is “MTV in its Eighties and Nineties heyday. You always felt that Michael Jackson or Britney Spears lived there. How do you emotionally conjure up that feeling for people?”
Apple’s deals with artists not only include exclusive streaming windows for singles and albums, but funding for music videos. For instance, Drake’s “Hotline Bling” music video was funded by Apple, as were two videos for The Weeknd’s “Cant Feel My Face” (one of which was not released).
The goal is to help artists feel like they can do interesting things with Apple. Monte Lipman, head of Republic Records, home of Ariana Grande and The Weekend, tells Rolling Stone that the Cupertino company has been prepared to do things other companies haven’t. “Lately they’ve been very clever in coming to us with what we consider groundbreaking opportunities,” he said.
Many of these opportunities include contributions from Apple executives. Tim Cook “weighed in” on the production of M.I.A.’s “Borders” music video while Swift says Jackson helped her brainstorm, make plans for and edit her concert film. That collaboration led to the Apple Music commercial where Swift raps along with Drake and Future’s “Jumpman.” The commercial helped increase “Jumpman” sales 43 percent, according to Rolling Stone.
However, Apple’s strategy hasn’t always worked out. Jackson says the company was in talks to host Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo.” West eventually pulled out of talks to put his album on rival service Tidal, which he co-owns with Jay-Z. He chose Tidal over Apple Music because he “wanted to work with his friend,” according to Jackson. While Kanye West initially said the album would “never” appear on Apple Music, the album did eventually come to the service.
Ultimately, Jackson told the magazine that the philosophy at Apple Music is “to go and get it done” when it comes to securing original content The service also has deals with Keith Richards, Selena Gomez and the Black Eyed Peas. Most recently, Apple gained the rights to exclusively launch Dreezy’s debut album “No Hard Feelings.” The service will also soon start hosting original video content like Dr. Dre’s “Vital Signs” TV show and a six-episode documentary series co-produced with Vice.
Tags: Apple Music, Larry Jackson
Discuss this article in our forums
Slack brings replies to your wrist with Android Wear support
Work chat app Slack has been updated for Android, bring along support for Android Wear and more. With Android Wear support, you’ll be able to do much of what you’d expect, including replying to and viewing messages in each notification.
Here’s the full skinny on what’s new in Slack for Android:
- Updated the way notifications are handled and displayed, to make them better.
- Support for Android Wear (Reply to notifications and view previous messages to a notification by swiping right)
- When using the in-app browser we’ve added more options to make it easier to share – in Slack, and out.
Slack 2.12.0 also includes a number of bug fixes and overall improvements that should make using the app quite a bit smoother. If you’re interested, you can check out the latest version of Slack on Google Play now.
How often do you purchase a new phone?
There comes a time in the life cycle of every phone, where you start to wonder if it’s time to upgrade. No matter how awesome your phone is right now, eventually you’ll need to trade it in for a newer model. Whether you are always on the lookout for your next phone, or you wait as long as possible, it’s inevitable.
Which brings us to this week’s poll. We want to know how often you purchase a new phone. We’ve got five options for you to choose from this week: “Once a year”, “Once every other year”, “When a new phone comes out that gets my attention”, “When I break or destroy my phone and need a new one”, or “when my phone becomes seriously out of date”.
How often do you purchase a new phone?
Do you like to hang on to your phone for as long as possible? Do you prefer to regularly upgrade your phone? Be sure to head into the comments and let us know how often you purchase a new phone!
