GoKawiilOnePlus has announced that it's ceasing all operations in Europe and North America, and while the brand may continue to do business in India and its home country of China, it's certainly the end of an era for many of us. OnePlus unveiled its first phone in 2014 and has gone on to launch a wide variety of products, including phones, foldables, smart watches and more. Most of these stuck to the company's ethos of offering solid hardware at more affordable prices than its premium rivals.
I've reviewed phones for CNET for the last 15 years, and that means I've gotten my hands on pretty much everything OnePlus has launched in the UK -- and written full CNET reviews for many of its products. So now that it has shuttered its business where I live, I wanted to take a look back at some of OnePlus's highlights over the years.
OnePlus One, 2014
I'm starting with the company's first phone. Featuring a 5.5-inch display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and a single 13-megapixel rear camera, the phone actually had pretty solid features. Dubbed a "flagship killer" because of its low $299 price, OnePlus built its reputation by undercutting rivals on price while still providing enough grunt to make its phones perform well in everyday use. By comparison, its main rival at the time was Samsung's Galaxy S5, which launched at over $600.
OnePlus didn't make it easy to buy, though. At first, it launched solely through an odd invite system and word-of-mouth marketing. Still, the charmingly grassroots beginnings helped the niche product get recognized, and the company gained a dedicated community following as a result, helping the brand get a foothold in the already crowded Android phone market.
OnePlus 3, 2016
The OnePlus 3. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
The OnePlus 3 made notable changes compared with the models that came before it. Chiefly, it was the first of the range to come with an entirely metal construction, which we said "looks better than all of OnePlus' past devices" in its full review. It also didn't require you to wait for an invite to buy it, making it the most accessible phone the company had launched.
It stayed true to the "cheap but good" philosophy, however, with a 5.5-inch full HD display, a Snapdragon 820 processor and a decent 16-megapixel camera around the back. Not a bad lineup for its $400 asking price, which still massively undercut all rivals. The OnePlus 3T was launched later in the year, marking the first time the company would launch a mid-cycle T variant boasting slightly more processing power -- something the brand would continue to do throughout its run.
OnePlus 5T, 2017
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