How the price of OnePlus phones changed over the years - Android

The OnePlus 8 series is the best of OnePlus: flagship features, fully loaded, but also fully expensive. While the OnePlus 8 Pro fell under the dreaded $1,000 mark, it still starts at $899, with $999 the highest-spec price point. How fast the smartphone market changes; it wasn’t that long ago that the OnePlus 6 was controversial for being the company’s first flagship over the $500 mark, while the starting point for the whole series was a lean and mean $299 back in 2014.

OnePlus followed initial “flagship killer” ambitions with talk about performance and speed, taking careful steps to cut corners while making fans happy. But more recently the company has shifted its aim and decided to go for premium flagships options, while still keeping pricing just shy of rivals.

The smartphone landscape has changed since the days of the $299 OnePlus One... and OnePlus has changed with it.

OnePlus burst onto the scene as a disruptor, and changing that viewpoint for many is tough. Growing its brand and support has enabled OnePlus to push further into the US than any other Chinese brand, but the result is OnePlus phones with prices that are almost in line with the likes of Samsung, Google, and even Apple.

Let’s take a look at a quick history of OnePlus phone prices (main series, no special editions) until now, and see what it tells us about where OnePlus is heading in the future.

Read more: OnePlus phones: A history of the company’s entire lineup so far

OnePlus price history

OnePlus One — $299

With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC, 3GB of RAM, a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS LCD display, the specs of 2014’s OnePlus One blew people away. OnePlus gambled on a device with no expandable storage and no replaceable battery, plus just 16GB or 64GB of internal storage. While these options were big trade-offs, it still packed a punch. Reviews highlighted availability problems that were once common with OnePlus, buggy software, and poor sound. But the 5.5-inch device delighted many as a hit new brand, if you were able to source one.

Related: OnePlus One with a Pie-based ROM: Does it change much?

With the backing and know-how of BBK and sister-brand Oppo, OnePlus hit the ground running. The OnePlus One offered similar performance to the Samsung Galaxy S5 at about half the price. It wasn’t perfect, and it made sacrifices you had to live with, but it was a premium device at a cost no one could believe. It’s still the favorite device of many Android enthusiasts when they look back.

OnePlus 2 – $329 ($30 increase)

The OnePlus 2 launched just over a year later with the new 64-bit Snapdragon 810, 3 or 4GB of RAM, a fingerprint sensor, USB-C, an alert slider, bigger battery, and OIS on the rear camera. While the specs of the display were the same, fidelity also increased. It lacked NFC and camera performance lagged behind the leaders.

Interestingly, the OnePlus 2 is seen as one of the worst in the OnePlus stable. The biggest blunder was removing NFC support, which OnePlus said wasn’t being used enough. Oddly. Oh, and while a USB-C charging port was a good move, OnePlus crippled its compatibility by not having it conform to USB-C standards. Oops. But valuable lessons were learned.

OnePlus 3 – $399 ($70 increase)

The OnePlus 3 upgraded the processor to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and came with 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage (only), an AMOLED display, and debuted Dash Charge as a highly touted new feature. It brought back NFC and an upgraded the camera. The battery was dropped to 3,000mAh.

OnePlus 3T – $439 ($40 increase)

The OnePlus 3T was an iterative upgrade, the first short-cycle update to a previous device. It was an internal upgrade, including the newer Snapdragon 821 chipset and a 16MP front camera, along with a bigger 3,400mAh battery and a new 128GB option.

OnePlus 5 – $479 ($40 increase)

Avoiding unlucky number 4, the OnePlus 5 was the first device in the family to feature dual rear cameras. It lifted the range to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, with 6 or 8GB of RAM and 64 or 128GB of storage. Styled closely to the iPhone 7, it added 16 and 20MP sensors and retained the all-metal design, but removed OIS. Still, it was reviewed as being worth every penny, with some catches.

The OnePlus 5 received stinging criticism for not having enough significant upgrades to justify a price 50 percent higher than the OnePlus 3. The company also caught heat for slow software updates, a “jelly stutter” effect when scrolling, and inflating benchmark scores.

OnePlus 5T – $479 (no increase)

The OnePlus 5T didn’t offer significant internal upgrades, sticking with the Snapdragon 835 and 6 or 8GB of RAM, but it upgraded the display to a 6-inch model, with a 2,160 x 1,080 AMOLED screen and an 18:9 ratio, and pushed the fingerprint sensor to the back. The company also added face unlock.

OnePlus 6 – $529 ($50 increase)

The OnePlus 6 brought a new all-glass body and a bigger display with a slightly higher resolution, as well as a Snapdragon 845, a better dual camera with OIS on the main shooter and a new Sony sensor, fast LTE, better water resistance, and new software tweaks. The OnePlus 6 was also the first from the brand to take part in Google’s Android beta program.

OnePlus 6T – $549 ($20 increase for base model, higher spec editions unchanged)

The OnePlus 6T came just six months later, with the company removing the headphone jack, adding an in-display fingerprint sensor, reducing the notch size and shape, and debuting with Android 9 Pie. It offered the same specs and almost the identical build to the OnePlus 6, with the removal of the 3.5mm audio jack a controversial choice, for $549.

OnePlus 7 €559/$630 ($80 increase), OnePlus 7 Pro $669/€709 (new)

2019’s OnePlus 7 series packed the OnePlus 7 and the high-end OnePlus 7 Pro, a first premium offering beyond the usual release.

The OnePlus 7 retained some of the brand’s traditional upgrade choices going for value and performance, while the OnePlus 7 Pro went for a statement about premium ambitions.

Both offered the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC, while the Pro went with higher-end triple-camera with a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor, pop-up selfie camera, 90Hz panel, and Warp Charge. The more standard 7 model offered the same 48MP primary camera, but stuck with a 5MP secondary sensor, while other features like UFS 3.0, RAM Boost, Zen Mode, and gaming m