Here’s a roundup of what critics are saying about OnePlus 5, which made its debut a day back.
The first wave of OnePlus 5 reviews have dropped a day after the flagship made its debut, with a majority of them singing praises of the device, amidst one big caveat – dual cameras.
So what’s the verdict? Here’s a roundup of what critics are saying about OnePlus 5, which made its debut a day back.
Vlad Savov of The Verge calls OnePlus a smaller iPhone 7 Plus that runs Android. He loves the phone for its performance, thanks to its cutting-edge spec sheet. However, the writer didn’t like the camera performance on OnePlus 5.
“Photography is now the biggest differentiator among Android phones, especially given how many companies have figured out how to do good design, big batteries, and (mostly) bezel-less screens. For OnePlus to stand out without its disruptive pricing, it needed to deliver something truly unique with its new camera system. On the evidence of my experience with the OnePlus 5, it has failed:
The Guardian’s Samuel Gibbs describes OnePlus 5 as a “great phone” and “fast and smooth as Google Pixel, without the price tag”. Like The Verge’s Vlad Savov, Gibbs calls OnePlus 5 an “iPhone running Android”. He liked the camera though.
“The OnePlus 3 was an absolute bargain, but the OnePlus 5 is less so. It is every bit as good as many of the top-end phones from much bigger manufacturers currently on the market, but its large advantage on price has been eroded. Soon you will be able to buy the likes of the Galaxy S8 at similar money.”
Wired says OnePlus 5 “screams like a French metal band” because of its specifications. However, the camera isn’t up to the mark.
“Despite the great hardware, the photos don’t impress. For every awesome shot of my jittery dog, the 5 botches a still shot of a basketball hoop. Even in great light, photos featured softer edges and less detail than I’d expect. I found the autofocus lightning fast, but not always accurate. In low light, photos are often noisy to the point of mushiness.”
Forbes’s Ewan Spence feels OnePlus 5 isn’t much different from OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. In his review he writes if you already own the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T last year, then the OnePlus 5 “represents a small gain that need to be carefully considered”. Spence is concerned about the camera performance on the OnePlus 5 which may not be a good sign.
“The camera doesn’t quite match up to expectations. All the options are there, but it falls just short of the quality needed at the price point OnePlus has decided on. Stabilization is done digitally as opposed to using the physicality of optical image stabilisation; the software processing the portrait mode’s depth of field isn’t as accurate as picking out images as you would hope; and the whole package feels like it will be perfected for the OnePlus 6 in 2018”.
