OnePlus 2 review: The £249 flagship killer is a fantastic smartphone, if you can still find it!

Display

The OnePlus 2’s 5.5in, 1,920×1,080 screen picks up fingerprints more quickly than normal, which meant I was constantly having to clean it to keep it looking pristine. An sRGB colour gamut score of 89.6% is a little below average, even for a mid-range smartphone, with reds and magentas being the weakest coverage areas by far. This can mean colours aren’t quite as deep as other smartphone displays, and I could see the difference when I compared it side by side with the Moto X Play.

Admittedly, the OnePlus 2 has a much brighter screen than the Moto X Play, hitting a massive 599.41cd/m2 when set to maximum brightness, which takes away some of its vibrancy. Still, it does mean that whites are much cleaner – the Moto X Play’s look positively blue by comparison – and the screen’s black levels are surprisingly low for such a bright phone, measuring just 0.29cd/m2. Likewise, its high contrast ratio of 2,039:1 provides plenty of detail and illuminates dark shadow areas much more effectively than the Moto X Play.

Camera

The 13-megapixel sensor on the back may not sound particularly large, considering even budget smartphones are now starting to use 13-megapixel snappers, but the OnePlus 2 definitely has one of the better cameras I’ve seen at this resolution. Colours were rich and vibrant in my outdoor shots and there was plenty of detail present across the frame. Even better, I barely saw any signs of noise, keeping photos looking crisp and natural throughout. There aren’t many modes available, but HDR did help capture details in darker areas as you’d expect.

^ With its bright, vibrant colours and crisp detail, the OnePlus Two’s 13-megapixel camera is one of the best I’ve seen

Indoor performance was even more impressive, as colours still had plenty of punch, even in low lighting conditions and noise was once again kept to a minimum. There was plenty of contrast available, too, and it coped extremely well with the plant stems in our still life arrangement. Smartphone cameras often struggle in this area, but the OnePlus 2 managed to capture each one with only a minimal number of artefacts around the edges. The fur of our teddy bear was admittedly a little smudged in places, but turning on the flash soon helped to rectify this.

^ Indoor performance was particularly impressive, as colours were rich and noise was kept to a minimum

OnePlus has also just announced that it will be rolling out a new software update (Oxygen OS 2.1.0) starting from 21st September which includes a new manual camera mode. I’ll be testing this out as soon as it becomes available on my handset, but OnePlus has said that it will introduce RAW support for third party camera apps, which will be good news for anyone who likes to tweak their pictures in photo-editing software on their PC or laptop. 

Oxygen OS

Ultimately, though, a large part of the OnePlus 2’s appeal rests on its choice of its Oxygen OS rather than standard Android. It still looks a lot like vanilla Android, but it adds several handy features, such as customisable navigation buttons, gesture controls (including double tap to wake), a dark colour scheme that’s slightly easier on your eyes, and the ability to have full control over your app permissions (something that is getting a big overhaul in Android 6.0 Marshmallow as well).

This is particularly useful for those who like to keep their data private, as it means you can disable individual apps from accessing certain pieces of information rather than simply having to agree to everything in order to use it. For instance, if you don’t want Dropbox accessing your Contacts, you can disable it in the App Permissions menu and still have full use of the service.

The Oxygen OS 2.1.0 software update mentioned above will also include a new colour balance slider in the Display options for adjusting the colour tone of your screen, allowing you to switch instantly between warm and cool colour casts, as well as telephony service improvements so there’s no longer any lag when turning Airplane mode on and off. 

Conclusion

With so much going for it at such a great price, there’s no denying that the OnePlus 2 is a fantastic handset that’s great value for money. Its battery life and display may not be as good as the Moto X Play, but its excellent camera and super-fast processor put the OnePlus 2 in a class of its own. It wins a Best Buy award.