China's OnePlus, Backed by Qualcomm and T-Mobile, Launches OnePlus 6T Smartphone in US (reuters.com) 66
OnePlus, a five-year old Chinese smartphone company whose high-end products are little known outside a tech-savvy niche is entering the U.S. market on Monday with the backing of two key local allies: chipmaking giant Qualcomm and mobile operator T-Mobile. Reuters reports: The foray by Shenzhen-based OnePlus comes after U.S. mobile carriers AT&T and Verizon this year backed away from plans to work with China's Huawei on high-end phones in face of pressure from the U.S. government, which considers Huawei a security risk. But the OnePlus alliance, to be announced today in New York, shows how many U.S.-China business relationships, including those involving the most advanced technologies, are marching ahead despite the U.S. China trade war. OnePlus has quietly become the No. 3 client for Qualcomm's most expensive mobile phone chips, behind Samsung and LG Electronics, according to data from market researcher Canalys.
The phone to be unveiled Monday, called the 6T, will sell for a price of $549 (for the base model, which offers 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage) but packs features that are typically present only in pricier handsets. Xiaomi, a Chinese rival that also focuses on feature-packed phones at bargain prices, has said it plans to launch in the U.S. next year, but did not respond to a request for comment on whether those plans are still in place. The OnePlus 6T will laregely offer the same specs as its predecessor -- the OnePlus 6, which was launched earlier this year. Some of the key changes include a smaller notch on the front display and a built-in fingerprint scanner that is embedded in it. Full specs and review here.
The phone to be unveiled Monday, called the 6T, will sell for a price of $549 (for the base model, which offers 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage) but packs features that are typically present only in pricier handsets. Xiaomi, a Chinese rival that also focuses on feature-packed phones at bargain prices, has said it plans to launch in the U.S. next year, but did not respond to a request for comment on whether those plans are still in place. The OnePlus 6T will laregely offer the same specs as its predecessor -- the OnePlus 6, which was launched earlier this year. Some of the key changes include a smaller notch on the front display and a built-in fingerprint scanner that is embedded in it. Full specs and review here.
And it STILL phones home to Red China (Score:2, Informative)
All the time it has been doing this oneplus says "will fix". NEVER HAS FIXED!
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Sigh. (Score:5, Informative)
No headphone.
No expandable storage.
No removeable battery.
But you can load it up with cameras and shite I don't want.
No sale.
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Likewise. No headphone jack, no sale.
I don't understand why they think anyone would choose this phone over the shinier alternatives. The original OnePlus One had a reasonable spec at a great price. Their current offerings are mainstream phones at mainstream prices, there's nothing appealing or special about them.
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Re:Sigh. (Score:5, Insightful)
Hilariously people still say "BT earphones" as if it's some kind of replacement for a headphone jack. If I want Kobe steak and you say "it's okay we'll go to McD's", you should expect to be laughed at.
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True enough, it's the same with everything. Quality is always killed by the lowest common denominators.
Re: Sigh. Double sigh (Score:4, Insightful)
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I have a 1+ 6. Unlockable bootloader, with NO drama. (And, hence, easily rootable). First phone with dual sim, nice for overseas travel. Great coverage of the LTE bands, pretty much everything other than Verizon, who hates customers anyway.
The only other real candidate for a drama-less unlock is Google (Pixel)... and they don't have expandable storage or removable battery either. Came from a LG G6, with plenty of firmware bugs... never going back to them as they cherry pick what they will let you unlock. If
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pretty much everything other than Verizon
Recent XDA posts indicate that with the Android Pie update the OnePlus 6 now works with Verizon VoLTE services. You can't activate a SIM card on Verizon with it but if you move one from a different phone it works. Unfortunately the CDMA interface still rejects it because it's not on the whitelist, but those services are being shut down by 12/31/2019 so VoLTE working is a much bigger issue IMHO. If you want to try using it on Verizon probably the best way is to try a
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I'd rather have the Chinese listen to me [effortlessly] than the rest of the world.
A backdoor for anybody is a backdoor for everybody, eventually.
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headphone/storage/battery complaints
Easily remedied by digging through the impulse bins at Walmart. They sell Bluetooth adapters, portable battery packs, and OTG flash drives.
What really pisses me off about most modern flagship smartphones is the ugly ass notches, rounded display corners (retro CRT-style bullshit), and an obsession with gargantuan screens which are impossible to use one-handed (because to hell with ergonomics [youtube.com]). Even Apple has joined in on this design idiocy.
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I'll take function over form any day.
I hate responding to A.C.s, but this warrants it.
The display on a smartphone is the primary mode of interaction with the device. If it's distorting/obscuring/cropping part of the content being displayed, then it's failing at its one job.
As for having to "carry around a bunch of extra crap", if the phone had a removable battery you'd still have to carry the spare. You can leave the Bluetooth adapter or wired dongle attached to the headphones you intend to use. I'll give you that the USB OTG drive is truly
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What really pisses me off about most modern flagship smartphones is the ugly ass notches, rounded display corners (retro CRT-style bullshit), and an obsession with gargantuan screens which are impossible to use one-handed (because to hell with ergonomics [youtube.com]). Even Apple has joined in on this design idiocy.
I love my new Pixel 3 (not XL) for that very reason. A powerful phone that actually fits in my hand and pockets.
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No expandable storage.
128 GB is pretty anemic for a phone storage, especially one with no expandable storage. That's a deal killer for me. I need storage for pics and videos. ALL of their competition offers 256 GB, and most of them have expandable storage, too. I notice they offer a 256 GB model for $80 (300% - 400% more than the same amount of storage on a fast Micro SD). Are they trying the Apple business model? Not a good idea when entering a new market.
Limited time offer: security monitoring for free (Score:4, Funny)
Live 24/7 security monitoring of all your capitalist yankee calls is provided free of charge for an unlimited time, courtesy of Glorious Leader Xi Jinping.
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$500...is now a "bargain". (Score:5, Insightful)
"The phone...will sell for a price above $500 but packs features that are typically present only in pricier handsets."
At first I thought to myself, "Are they insane? $500 isn't some bargain."
Then I went and looked at the MSRPs of smartphones, and was quickly reminded why it makes little sense to play that game. Blows me away what smartphone junkies will spend on hardware these days.
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"The phone...will sell for a price above $500 but packs features that are typically present only in pricier handsets."
At first I thought to myself, "Are they insane? $500 isn't some bargain."
Then I went and looked at the MSRPs of smartphones, and was quickly reminded why it makes little sense to play that game. Blows me away what smartphone junkies will spend on hardware these days.
Same here.
I notice the summary also neglects to mention what the features are (that it is packed with) that would justify the price ...
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Downmodded for a remark about the price of a phone?
Rabid OnePlus fan, or demented stalker, lol?
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At first I thought to myself, "Are they insane? $500 isn't some bargain."
Have you seen the prices of washing machines lately? Gone grocery shopping? Smartphones haven't become more expensive - it's rapid inflation of the dollar.
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I haven't been keeping up, what's the current Washing Machine Index at?
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Why do you have to have such low opinion of people?
You don't think it's possible that better screens, better cameras, faster and thinner phones, are not features that anybody wants? You have to be aware that expandable storage and swappable battery are simply not that important to most people. And as much as I don't like the idea of the disappearing headphone jack, that looks like it's going to go the way of the expandable storage... something t
Good News (Score:1)
No Headphone Jack (Score:1)
The OnePlus 6T will largely offer the same specs as its predecessor -- the OnePlus 6, which was launched earlier this year. Some of the key changes include a smaller notch on the front display and a built-in fingerprint scanner that is embedded in it.
The 6 had a headphone jack, and the 6T doesn't. That's worth mentioning in TFS (if not the headline).
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The OnePlus 6T will largely offer the same specs as its predecessor -- the OnePlus 6, which was launched earlier this year. Some of the key changes include a smaller notch on the front display and a built-in fingerprint scanner that is embedded in it.
The 6 had a headphone jack, and the 6T doesn't. That's worth mentioning in TFS (if not the headline).
Why was this modded redundant?
Who Knows (Score:2)
The 6 had a headphone jack, and the 6T doesn't. That's worth mentioning in TFS (if not the headline).
Why was this modded redundant?
Hell if I know. The missing feature was given proper attention (ableit with an attempted postive spin) when it was announced [slashdot.org].
Peak idiocy on phones. (Score:1)
Try and find a phone with a nice, consistently locatable, difficult to accidentally press, home button (bonus if finger sensor in it)
combined with,...
a flat display
and a headphone jack.
That isn't an old model, a modern, powerful one. Try to find one, it no longer exists.
I'll deal without the home button but this no headphone + curved trend, those 2 I will not abide by, it's a ridiculous case of the manufacturers copying everyone else, as usual. No choice, just all same-phones.
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Looks ok, but it's 18 months old now....
If I'm going to be a nerd, I may as well go modern can be.
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combined with,... a flat display
and a headphone jack.
That isn't an old model, a modern, powerful one. Try to find one, it no longer exists.
Here you go. [amazon.com]. I've had mine for about 6 months, and got it at a slightly better price. It's plenty fast for me, and also supports up to 256 GB of extra storage via micro SD.
I LIKE center-back fingerprint buttons (Score:2)
I can also use it as a command or launcher button with 3 actions - click for App A (e.g. notes), double-click for App B (e.g. Google Pay), hold for Action C (toggling the camera LED as a flashlight). I can even do that last without even unlocking the phone. That is all incredibly convenient.
No headphone, no dice (Score:2)
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If you purchased 3 Note 9s, you're definitely out of my price range. They're very nearly twice the price of this 6T.