Member-only story
What happened to OnePlus
I remember back in high school, one of my friends got an invite to purchase the OnePlus One. Suddenly, it was like he was the most popular guy in school, being sought after with everyone asking him to share his invites with them because they all wanted the phone.
I was one of those guys. The OnePlus One was an amazing deal at the time, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like there was something new and refreshing in the smartphone market. They were the first ones to really claim the name and the idea for budget phones that were still plenty powerful. You were getting a large display, amazing battery life, a clean version of Android all for less than $400 unlocked. And, with the exclusivity feeling, they were booming with everyone wanting an invite.
When the OnePlus 5T came out, they had removed the exclusivity thing, but their phones were still amazing bang-for-buck and I bought it. It was so nice to know that I had a phone, which in many ways was better than some of the latest flagship phones, including iPhone, but I paid a fraction of the cost.
Fast-forward to today, it seems as though OnePlus is now just like any other company. They make really nice phones with awesome cameras, beautiful displays, fast performance, amazing battery, but at the flagship phone prices. They were no longer making budget phones, and gone was the exclusivity…
