OnePlus X review: A great-value £199 smartphone

The OnePlus X has gone invite-free, so you can head straight over to OnePlus’ site and buy one now. The limited-edition ceramic version is available only through the invite system, though – so you’ll still need to beg, steal or borrow a code if you’re desperate to get your hands on that super-shiny version of the OnePlus X.

OnePlus shook up the smartphone world with the OnePlus One, then the 2, and now it’s done it all over again with the OnePlus X – a 5in slab of premium-feeling glass and metal. And if you’re wondering what the X factor is in this instance, it’s pretty simple: the OnePlus X unites a clutch of last year’s high-end hardware with a scorching AMOLED screen for a mere £199. 

Yup, that’s only £40 more than the Motorola Moto G 3, and now that buying a OnePlus X is as easy as doing your weekly grocery shop I suspect they’ll sell truckloads of the things.

OnePlus X: Design

OnePlus’s press release doesn’t pull any punches with its description of the X. It is described as “a work of art”. Ahem. Unless your idea of art is a slightly squished iPhone 4s, this statement is perhaps a little wide of the mark. A revolutionary step forward for the world of smartphone design this is most certainly not.

OnePlus sent us the Onyx black model for review, and, in all seriousness, it is pretty good-looking as phones go. For £199, the OnePlus X’s glass and metal body feels unusually luxurious, and it is moderately handsome, too. 

It’s not especially light – it weighs an unremarkable 138 grams – but its design is a touch more practical than most. The textured metal edges serve the dual purpose of looking good and providing enough grip to stop it sliding out of even the sweatiest of hands. If you have really, really sweaty hands, or you’re clumsy, you’ll be overjoyed that OnePlus includes a basic, rubbery, plastic case in the box – this makes the phone grippier still and a tad more drop-resistant. Another nice touch is the fact a screen protector is preinstalled to keep the layer of Gorilla Glass 3 scratch-free.

Like an increasing number of smartphones, the OnePlus X doesn’t just have glass on its front – it also has a layer of glass on its back. If glass doesn’t do it for you, though, fear not: OnePlus is making a limited run of OnePlus X’s with a ceramic rear. The press release is keen to stress exactly how painstaking (read: boring) the process is. The abbreviated version is that the ceramic layer takes 25 days to create, involves a searingly hot oven and (wait for it) a lot of polishing is involved. It still looks like glass. OnePlus is keen to stress that it’s far stronger, though – nearly as hard as sapphire glass, in fact.OnePlus will be making 10,000 of them, and you won’t need a regular invite to buy one, you’ll need a specific invite for the ceramic model. Oh, and it’s 21 grams heavier, if you’re worried about that kind of thing.

OnePlus is making only 10,000 of them, and unlike the regular model, you’ll still need an invite to buy one. Oh, and it’s 21 grams heavier, if you’re worried about that kind of thing.

OnePlus X: Features

In far more exciting news, the OnePlus X has a microSD slot. Pop out the tray and you can install a microSD card and a single SIM or opt for dual SIMs, which is handy. The USB-C connector from the OnePlus 2 has gone, though; it has been replaced by a bog-standard microUSB connector with two speaker holes on either side. Wireless support is a bit underwhelming, with single-band 802.11n, Bluetooth 4 and no sign of NFC.

I’m a big fan of the hardware notifications slider on the OnePlus X, too. This little three-position switch falls nicely under the index finger (or thumb, if you’re left-handed) and quickly toggles notifications between all, priority only and off – as I regularly use the mute button on my iPhone 6 Plus, it’s something I often miss on Android phones. 

The OnePlus X doesn’t disappoint on the camera front – at least on paper. There’s a 13-megapixel snapper at the rear, and a generous 8-megapixel sensor at the front. Super-detailed selfies ahoy! I’ll get in to the details later, but they’re both okay – nowhere near the standards of the new iPhones or Google Nexus handsets, but decent enough.

OnePlus X: Display

OnePlus has equipped the X with a 5in, Full HD AMOLED screen. It’s sharp in all the right ways, and the AMOLED technology means that images and icons glow with intense, saturated colours. It’s not quite as over-the-top as some AMOLED displays I’ve seen, but if you’re not a fan of the technology then this won’t change your mind – it’s as though the colours have been cranked to 11.

It doesn’t go that bright (it tops out at a modest 328cd/m², which is some way short of the best phones), but the AMOLED technology serves up deep, inky blacks that mean images really pop off the screen. The only downside? Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Edge and Galaxy Note phones, there are no display presets to calibrate the screen, so you’re stuck with the oversaturated, overblown colours whether you like it or not. And, despite the panel covering 100% of both the sRGB and Adobe RGB gamuts, it’s not especially accurate – reds are a little too red, greens too green and so on.

OnePlus X: Oxygen OS, performance and battery life

One of the most refreshing things about OnePlus’s phones is the Oxygen OS, which does very little to stock Android Lollipop. The main thing you’ll notice is that the default Dark theme swaps all the background menu colours from white to black to save energy – the AMOLED screen’s pixels actually switch off completely when displaying black, so this is sensible. I found it much easier on the eyes, too. Don’t like it? Turn it off.

Swipe right from the homescreen and the Shelf pops up. This displays frequently used apps and contacts – it’s moderately useful, but I wasn’t too bothered by it. Don’t like it? You know what to do.

Oxygen OS also add a few gestures to the mix: for instance, you can double tap the screen to wake the phone; open the camera by drawing an O onscreen; toggle the flashlight on and off by drawing a V; and play and skip through music with a handful of other gestures. Don’t like the idea? Not a problem. You can disable gestures one by one, or turn them all off in the menu.

Really, though, there’s precious little to moan about. This is lovely, largely unfettered Android Lollipop. My everyday phone is an Apple iPhone 6 Plus, but the OnePlus X reminded me why I still have a place in my heart for Android. No annoying apps are preinstalled, everything is clear and laid out logically and I absolutely love the swipe-to-type keyboard – it’s superb. Ah, Android, how I’ve missed you.

Benchmarks	Nexus 5X	OnePlus 2	OnePlus X
Geekbench 3.1 single-core	1,235	1,206	929
Geekbench 3.1 multi-core	3,489	4,508	2,459
GFXBench 3 Manhattan onscreen	16fps	23fps	10fps
GFXBench 3 Manhattan offscreen	16fps	23fps	8.6fps

I experienced the odd stutter here and there, which is down to the fact OnePlus has employed 2014’s smartphone hardware of choice, the trusty Qualcomm SnapDragon 801. With four cores running at 2.3GHz, 3GB of RAM, an Adreno 330 GPU and 16GB of eMMC storage, the OnePlus X is capable enough not to prove a nuisance in everyday use, but – as you can see from the benchmarks above – it’s not up to the standards of the latest smartphone chipsets in terms of silky-smooth performance.

There was also the odd occasion when adjusting the volume during gaming sent the OnePlus X into a tailspin – I tried to lower the volume while playing the surprisingly demanding Hearthstone, and it juddered to a halt for a few seconds. Given that three software updates arrived during my time with the phone, I suspect there may be software gremlins at work. Oh, one more thing: the OnePlus X has a tendency to become pretty warm: get immersed in a game and the glass back becomes noticeably toasty to the touch.

So, battery life. Here, the OnePlus X’s 2,525mAh battery doesn’t throw up any surprises. In Airplane mode, the OnePlus X played our test movie on repeat for 13 hours 6 minutes. That’s 15 minutes less than the similarly sized Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, but a couple of hours longer than the larger, more powerful OnePlus 2. How does this translate to everyday usage? Well, expect to be charging the OnePlus X every night. Spend too long playing games, streaming audio over Bluetooth or hammering the GPS and you’ll find yourself running low before the evening is out.

OnePlus X: Camera

It’s fair to say that the OnePlus X’s camera isn’t going to blow anyone away. Nor is the stock Lollipop camera app particularly feature-packed – you can choose between HDR, Clear image and Beauty shooting modes, as well as time-lapse and panoramic options, but there are no manual modes whatsoever. Video recording allows you to record 1080p footage or shoot slow-motion 120fps clips at 720p.

The 13-megapixel snapper at the back has an f/2.2 aperture, and the 8-megapixel sensor at the front goes with an f/2.4 aperture. The results from both are fine without being likely to get photo buffs excited. The phase-detection autofocus is lightning-quick in most scenarios, but although the snaps are speedy there’s a lot of noise-reduction and edge-enhancement going on in the photographs.

Side by side with shots from my iPhone 6 Plus, the OnePlus X looked noticeably overprocessed. Colours are a tad too plummy and dark, and while the camera is capable of eking out some pretty decent shots in the daytime, the image processing kicks up a gear when the light goes down. In darker scenarios, photos begin to swim in nasty, smeary noise-reduction artefacts and detail is replaced by a horrid digital fug. Yuck. In these situations, you’re left with only one option: the single-LED flash. 

OnePlus X: Verdict

The OnePlus X is a relatively compact slice of smartphone loveliness for £200. No, it’s not the fastest phone in the world, nor is it the best in any category, but it’s a good all-rounder. I’d quibble if it were £300 – in fact, I’d tell people to buy a Nexus 5X instead if it cost that much – but, at this price, I’m inclined to give it a pretty easy ride. In fact, the only stern challenge comes from its own stablemate, the £269, 64GB OnePlus 2, since-deposed flagships such as the LG G3, and the Motorola Moto G3.

The OnePlus X may not be perfect, then, but now the barrier to entry has been removed and you can actually buy one, I can recommend it wholeheartedly. If you’re in the market for a low-cost phone that, unlike most, doesn’t compromise on looks, you’re in luck – it’s a gem of a smartphone.

Patience not one of your virtues? Click here to check out our list of the Best Smartphones of 2015 – it covers everything from budget handsets to the latest flagship smartphones, so there’s something for everyone

OnePlus X specifications
Processor	Quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
RAM	3GB
Screen size	5in
Screen resolution	1,920x1,080
Screen type	AMOLED
Front camera	8 megapixels
Rear camera	13 megapixels
Flash	LED
Storage	16GB (11.4GB usable)
Memory card slot (supplied)	microSD
Wi-Fi	802.11n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0
NFC	No
Wireless data	3G, 4G
Size	69 x 6.9 x 140mm (WDH)
Weight	138g
Operating system	Oxygen OS (Android 5.1.1)
Battery size	2,525mAh