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OnePlus Nord CE4 becomes the highest-selling phone on Amazon during the first sale between the Rs 20K and 25K price segment. Check out the details.

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South India Organised Retailers Association plans to halt OnePlus sales from May 1 due to unresolved concerns, including low profit margins and customer dissatisfaction. Retailers face unsustainable losses, urging a proactive response from OnePlus. ​​In a letter addressed to Ranjeet Singh, ...

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OnePlus

oneplus

You don't have to be big to make a splash. This is the story of OnePlus, an electronics company that started in 2013 with just $300 and a dream. OnePlus saw an opportunity in the market. So they created a high-end smartphone with no compromises and started by offering their device at half the price of other premium smartphones. high-priced premium smartphone They adopted the slogan which is still used today by all handsets they produce – indicating that they would never settle for less when it comes to quality products. "Never Settle,” They went from zero to hero in a matter of a year and became the fastest-growing Android device company. The Early Years In 2008, Pete Lau (co-founder of OnePlus) left his job in Google's Engineering department to start Oppo Electronics. It began as an ODM (original design manufacturing) that primarily made devices for other brands in China and eventually founded its own company—OnePlus. OnePlus is also co-founded by Carl Pei and is a subsidiary of BBK electronics along with Vivo, Realme, and IQOO. Their first entry into the smartphone market was with their "flagship killer" - the One. The company wanted to make a statement to attract attention from tech buffs and professionals looking to buy smartphones in high-end markets like North America or Europe. How The Business Flourished So, how did OnePlus become who they are today? Even though this phone wasn't available worldwide, people still took notice. What made them different? Let's tackle each of the variables which contributed to the company's current success. Affordability of Their Phones One of the main features that made OnePlus so unique was its ability to offer high-end specs at a much lower price than most other smartphones out there. Users were impressed with the quality of photos it could produce and its sleek design. The fact that OnePlus offered its product at half the price compared to all other premium smartphones became a central selling point for potential customers. Creative Marketing Strategies OnePlus is well-known for its unique advertising. These tactics have brought up word-of-mouth buzz about the company and have contributed to its success. Below are their crucial marketing strategies: Social Media OnePlus is very active on social media. They constantly share news about upcoming products and create contests with giveaways for fans (like free tickets to concerts). This helped them build their loyal customer base. Campaigns Campaigns such as "Smash the Past,” where selected participants are asked to destroy their phones while being recorded to buy a OnePlus One smartphone for only a dollar, have helped their business stand out. Early in their business years, they created an invitation system where one would need to have an invitation to buy one of their phones. This helped them managed the massive demand for their smartphones and gave the brand an exclusive vibe. Eventually, they ended the system and opted for a VR launch event. This placed them on the map as the world's first VR shopping experience. Brand Ambassadors and Partnerships is one of the countries that contribute the majority of OnePlus' sales. The company collaborated with well-known singers and actors in India to endorse their smartphones. India They also joined hands with famous ambassadors such as Robert Downy Jr. and brands like This helped further boost the sales of the company. Hasselblad. Focus on User Feedback OnePlus has also had an excellent track of listening to customer feedback. OnePlus is always looking for ways to improve its smartphones. They have regularly sent out updates that fix various bugs on their smartphones and improve the overall software experience. They want their devices to be known as premium quality, being on par with iPhones or Samsungs but at a much lower price. Continuous Upgrading of Phone Features They continued perfecting their product, adding new features like fingerprint readers or USB-C ports in later models. In addition, in 2016, OnePlus started producing phones designed specifically for virtual reality, building on top of existing technology found in most high-end devices such as Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR headsets. The latest model from 2021 is called "Nord 2",  and it has a unique feature called "smart skin" that automatically adjusts the phone's settings to suit your current needs. They have also pioneered next-generation 5G in certain countries such as UK and Finland. What Can We Learn From OnePlus' Success? It takes time and patience to build up your loyal customers who will help you stay afloat even if something goes wrong. The company has been through multiple controversies over the past few years that could have brought them down; however, they could resolve these issues quickly and continue business on an upward slope today. Build a solid customer base. Companies should be open about their developments and listen to the feedback of those who purchased their products. OnePlus engages with its consumers through social media, which helped them build a strong community around the brand itself even before they launched other initiatives. Listen to your customers. . Work together! Collaborating can help brands grow faster than ever. This includes working with influencers on social media, partnering up for events or marketing strategies, sharing sales channels, etc. By joining forces, you give yourself access to bigger audiences that will bring more value to your business overall. Build relationships with influential people and companies The key here is balance: try to stand out from the crowd without going too far. OnePlus has successfully developed a unique brand but is not seen as "weird" by most people, making it easier to attract new customers and retain those who have bought previous versions of their device. Be unique but not too weird. Conclusion OnePlus has started from the bottom and built its way up. The company is now a top competitor in selling premium smartphones around the globe. OnePlus is a prime example of how brands should pay close attention to what their consumers want. By observing what the market needs and drawing ideas from them, OnePlus became one of the companies to beat. They have accomplished something spectacular and certainly have a bright future ahead. Also published here.

Success Story + 1 = OnePlus

OnePlus launches the new Nord 2 5G. The second phone of the mid-range series of the smartphone company. OnePlus Nord was released last year with a completely unique identity, but the does not look like a follower of the same line. It looks closer to the OnePlus 9, the flagship phone of the company. Nord 2 This phone has some impressive features, which is why they have been calling it the flagship killer. In this article, we will review the phone specs to see if the OnePlus Nord 2 is only a self-proclaimed flagship killer, or if it really has the potential to challenge the top phones? The design does look like a flagship phone in your hand, but it's a little heavy for its size. The phone is covered with Gorilla glassing at the front and back which is very reliable, but the frame material underneath it is all plastic. We can consider this to be the first drawback of not being a flagship phone. This is why we wouldn't suggest using it without a back case. Here are the features of the OnePlus Nord 2 5G discussed below: Display Performance Cameras Drawbacks Pricing Display The OnePlus Nord 2 has a display size of 6.43 inches, with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels 410ppi. The 90Hz refresh rate seems quite low, but it when it comes to performance. There's an option in the phone to turn down the refresh rate to 60Hz to save battery life, but I don't think that's a practical option for any user. feels absolutely fine Image: OnePlus Forum Additionally, the AMOLED display offers quite bright colors that feel nothing short of the required sharpness. I think the display is up to the mark, with hardly any compromises made. Performance Image: GizmoChina One of the best things about this smartphone is the unreal charging speed. It comes with a 65W charger in the box, which charges the battery from empty to full in just 30 minutes. A stat that attracts any user and makes it easier to ignore the fact that there is no wireless charging. The 4500mAh battery is powerful enough to easily last a full day, but is that really a worrying point with that charging speed? OnePlus Nord 2 has an Amazing Set of Cameras Camera: 50MP (main),  8MP (wide-angle),  2MP (mono) Front camera: 32-megapixel Video recording: 4K @ 30fps Let's be honest, there's no budget phone that has the same camera quality as a flagship phone. In this department, OnePlus Nord 2 . While it offers great pictures for everyday use, it still may not offer the details that a high-end photographer looks for. The 50 MP main camera has amazing results, but the 8 MP wide-angle lens is a step down from that quality. is no different Image: OnePlus Additionally, there's no telephoto lens, so the option of 2x zoom in also slightly diminishes the quality of the picture. Safe to say that the picture quality is great, but not outstanding. The video quality, on the other hand, is 4K, and it's pretty good. Major Drawbacks found in OnePlus Nord 2 When it comes to budget smartphones, most of them have one thing in common, and that's a 3.5mm headphone jack. However, OnePlus has decided to skip that on Nord 2 and not offer a USB-C to 3.5mm converter in the box. Are they following the same path as Apple did with iPhone SE 2020? Image: OnePlus There's a along with rear cameras at the back of the phone. However, the sensor is only a 2 MP depth sensor, and its results are nothing better than what a software filter would offer for a black and white picture. Its utility and quality are quite questionable as there's no point in adding it to the phone. monochrome sensor OnePlus Nord 2 Pricing OnePlus Nord 2 stands at a price of $540 for 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage version, whereas the variant with 12 GB Ram and 256 GB storage will cost you around $640. Comparatively, other budget phones stand at $400 for iPhone SE 2020 and $500 for Google Pixel 4a 5G. For its better features, I believe that the OnePlus Nord 2 is very fairly priced. These prices are converted from the launch prices in the UK, as the phone currently has to release in the US. no plans Is OnePlus Nord 2 better than its competitors? Keeping the prices in mind, I would say the most notable competitors of One Plus Nord 2 include iPhone SE 2020, Google Pixel 4a 5G, and Samsung Galaxy A52. I think Nord 2 easily tops off these devices when it comes to performance, battery life, display size, and charging power. However, I still do not think it is a flagship killer; it's still a long way away from it. Have you had a chance to get your hands on the new device yet? Let us know your thoughts in the . HackerNoon Community

OnePlus Nord 2 5G Review

In a world where smartphone brands like Samsung and Apple already existed, Chinese brand OnePlus took a bold step by introducing the world to a smartphone of its own. The company made its debut in the year 2013, with the main motive to make a high-end device with an affordable price range. And the company did just that! True to its tagline, “Never Settle”, the company brought to us the flagship killer OnePlus smartphones with amazing features and a price tag that was easy on the pockets. OnePlus has come a really long way since its first smartphone. Let’s take a look at how the smartphones have evolved since OnePlus One to the upcoming OnePlus 6. OnePlus One Oneplus.in OnePlus One was introduced in 2014. Unlike all other smartphones, which are easily available in the market, this smartphone required an invite for a buyer to place their order. However, it was the 64GB internal storage capacity that caught everyone’s attention. When most smartphones back in the day offered 32GB storage, OnePlus was offering a whopping 64GB at a reasonable price range. As for the design, the smartphone stood out from the rest of the other Android smartphones back in the day. OnePlus One sported a unique sandstone rear panel. Other than that, the smartphone came with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. Additionally, with a 13-megapixel rear camera, the smartphone was able to capture some incredible images. If that wasn’t enough, the camera also had support for recording videos in 4K resolution and capturing images in burst mode. For a smartphone with features like most high-end devices, it was priced at Rs 21,000. A , don’t you think? smartphone with an affordable price OnePlus 2 Oneplus.in The second smartphone by the company retained a lot of features from the first. Some of the similar features that we saw again were the sandstone finish and the storage capacity. Nevertheless, the company managed to make a lot of changes to its second smartphone. One key feature which was introduced was the ‘slider’. Positioned on the left side of the smartphone, the slider allowed users to switch between ring, silent and do not disturb mode. On the other hand, another interesting feature was the introduction of the USB Type-C port. Back in 2015, a very few smartphones supported this port. So every OnePlus 2 user had to make sure to carry around their personal charger. Apart from that, the smartphone continued its support for 4K recording and came up with the new HDR mode. OnePlus 3 Oneplus.in When compared to the first two flagship smartphones by the company, OnePlus 3 stood apart in terms of design. Instead of a sandstone finish, OnePlus 3 was the first smartphone by the company to sport a metal finish. Moreover, the rear panel also came with antenna lines on the top and bottom. Other than that, the phone also featured rounded edges which gave it a very classy look. Moreover, the smartphone was also the first to come with ‘Dash Charging’. This allowed users to charge their OnePlus 3 smartphone in a matter of 30 minutes. Some of the other features included an upgraded Snapdragon 820 processor and 6GB RAM smartphone. During its launch, the smartphone was priced at Rs 27,999. OnePlus 3T This smartphone was an obvious upgraded variant of the OnePlus 3 smartphone. It made its debut 3–4 months after its predecessor. Some of the updates included- a better front camera, a bigger battery and an even more powerful processor. The company also launched a new 128GB storage variant of this smartphone which was priced at Rs 34,999. Similarly, the base variant was priced at Rs 29,999. OnePlus 5 Oneplus.in OnePlus 5 created a buzz for being the first smartphone by the company to sport a dual rear camera setup. The setup included a 16-megapixel and 20-megapixel sensor with support for portrait mode. Apart from the vertically placed dual cameras, the smartphone came with the similar metal unibody design as its predecessors. Furthermore, the smartphone was fuelled by a powerful Snapdragon 835 processor. Even this smartphone was made available in two storage variants- 6GB RAM with 64GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM with 128GB of internal storage. OnePlus 5T After seeing the success of the OnePlus 3T, the company decided to launch another updated variant called OnePlus 5T. Interestingly, OnePlus 5T was the first smartphone by the company to sport an 18:9 aspect ratio. This meant that the placement of the fingerprint scanner was moved to the rear panel. Other than that, the only other upgrade was the rear camera features. The update included support for low-light photography. With this phone, the company decided to go on a different track and launched a OnePlus 5T Star Wars Variant which was a treat for all the Star Wars fans. OnePlus 6 This smartphone made its debut on May 16, 2018, in London. However, except for a complete design revamp, there is nothing that we haven’t seen before on the OnePlus devices. As for the design change, OnePlus has followed the most predictable notch display with rounded edges. What’s interesting is the glass design on the rear panel made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Additionally, we know that the . However, the device will also be compatible to download the Android P Beta build. smartphone runs on the latest Android OS As for the specifications of the smartphone, it is powered by the superfast Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. The smartphone is available in 6GB RAM (64GB storage, 8GB RAM (128GB storage) and 8GB RAM (256GB storage) variants. Apart from this, OnePlus has partnered with Disney to launch a OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity War variant. The smartphone isn’t official yet, but we can expect it to launch soon. Marvel Studio All in all, we can say that the OnePlus smartphones are not designed to bring anything new but to do everything better. OnePlus smartphones are known for their amazing performance, usability and software. Maybe, that’s the main reason that . And what makes them even better is the mid-range price tag that they come with. Who wouldn’t want a smartphone with all the high-end features in an affordable budget, right? But what makes the OnePlus devices stand out from the rest is that they give the users exactly what they are looking for and that’s why the smartphones continue to prosper. OnePlus holds 48 percent premium market share in India

OnePlus One to OnePlus 6: How the Flagship Killer Has Aged So Far

The untold story of two abandoned devices, labeled as mistakes Note to press (and everyone else for that matter) First and foremost, thank you for your interest in this story. Seeing some of the articles that were published so far, I’d like to clarify that this campaign is not specifically about the lack of a Nougat update, but about how OnePlus is treating its earlier customers and how it’s breaking promises made. While it seems they seem keen on not updating the OnePlus 2 to Nougat, that’s just one of several promises made. In fact, it’s a well known fact that the OnePlus X cannot be updated to Nougat since the Snapdragon 801 is not supported. But the OnePlus X could still receive security patches and have bugs fixed (like the camera HAL issues that haunt the device almost since its launch).If you have any queries about the Thunderclap campaign or the Medium article, please, feel free to contact me through Twitter ( ) or through the OnePlus forum (dsmonteiro). @davidsmonteiro tL;dR This is the tale of several broken promises and how OnePlus went from a community-centric startup that had as its core values honesty and transparency to a yet another company that lies and ignores its customers, especially when it decides to abandon one of its devices. For the tech , OnePlus needs no introductions. Founded in December 2013 by former Oppo vice-president Pete Lau, the brand quickly gained notoriety thanks to equal parts of unusual marketing techniques, a first great product and a very enthusiastic community, built around an . aficionado internet forum Since then, OnePlus went from being the hip brand that you needed an invite to buy its products and was marketed through word of mouth by early adopters and tinkerers to a company that launched one of the most succesful phones in 2016 and is often referred in the same sentence as big giants the likes of Google, Samsung and Apple, for all the right reasons. While this is an interesting story by itself, there’s a far less known but probably more important one. The story on how OnePlus willingly decided to abandon the people that bought half of its product line. In December 2016, Carl Pei, the company’s poster boy, decided to bring back something that he done in 2014: letters from him to the community. In his first letter he promised to make three letters and then assessing if it would make sense to continue. The , published on Dec 8, 2016, focused on OnePlus’ path from 2014 up until then. It was written as heartfelt acknowledgment on how OnePlus had failed its fans after the success achieved with the OnePlus One and how they improved with the OnePlus 3 and 3T. The letter was divided in three catchy categories. Of those, I’d like to focus on the second one: first one — This chapter focused on how and why both the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X. While this might sound refreshing, the truth is that, instead of addressing the huge quantity of complaints that swamp OnePlus forums, Carl just built from what he already hinted previously on an and something became apparent: OnePlus considers those two phones failures and they will not waste a single second than what’s absolutely necessary with them. Arrogance (OnePlus 2 & OnePlus X) XDA interview The showed up when some parts of the globe were already in February and after some of the forum users (myself included) start making fun of Carl’s disappearance. This letter, well, was nothing like the first. While December’s letter might have felt sincere, January’s letter was all about marketing and SEO. To worsen things, it was just a rehash of a Pete Lau’s . I’ll save you some time: second letter thread back from August 2016 Never Settle = Clicky Buttons. The third letter simply didn’t happen. So, in less than 3 months, Carl Pei went from I realized that one of the most important parts to OnePlus are our fans. to utter and complete silence. And quoting him from his XDA interview: But if you promise something you have to do your absolute best to try and reach it. But this is just a small broken promise in a list of bigger and more important broken promises where customers end up not getting what they were promised for their purchased products. The broken promises #1 — Carl’s Letters to the Community This one by itself might feel like nitpicking but it just shows that Carl’s mantra of transparency and honesty only matters as long as it can be used for marketing purposes. #2 — 24 months of Oxygen OS for the OnePlus One We will commit to at least two years of support for the OnePlus One, starting from the release of our first community build. — Carl Pei Like Brexit and Brangelina, OnePlus and Cyanogen Inc. had a very public divorce. Without playing the blame game, Cyanogen had two conflicting exclusivity contracts in India: one with OnePlus and another with Micromax which led to a major fallout. Courts were involved and found itself without an operating system to use in India. To fix this, OnePlus hired most of the Paranoid team and came up with Oxygen OS, its in-house built OS. OnePlus Android One thing OnePlus also did was to promise that the OnePlus One would get updates for at least two whole years, starting from the first community build, which was released in Jan 1, 2015. While this policy was never retracted, . the last update to Oxygen OS on the OnePlus One happened on Jan 19, 2016, one year short of the initial commitment #3 — Helen’s promises regarding the OnePlus 2 Current goal is every 1–2 months. We will try to have incremental builds with bug fixes as often as once a month, and we’ll try to introduce feature upgrades every 2 months or so to keep things fresh and interesting. [on Oxygen OS cadence] — Helen While this was true for part of OnePlus 2’s lifecycle, after the release of the OnePlus 3 in June 14 2016, the phone was pretty much forgotten. It received only two updates, with one of them being a bug fixing update that took more than two months to be released. We’ve made a commitment to update Google secu [on monthly security updates] — Helen The fact that the sentence wasn’t even completed may have been a clue of things to come. Not only did this never happened, but OnePlus also shipped updates with old security patches. This problem is not exclusive to OnePlus 2. In fact, the OnePlus X received its last security patch update in November 2016. I think our goal is to be as transparent with our base as possible so we’ll improve communication on that front. [talking about deadlines] — Helen If anything, communication got worse over time, but we’ll get to it when we talk about Nougat and the OnePlus 2. Let’s do this: going forward, product will have an update every two weeks to communicate rough timelines for updates and provide more transparency into what we’re focusing on. This can start next week. — Helen This one is actually funny. This literally never happened. Not once. Not even that first week. And the best part about it was that any questions about it were simply ignored. #4 — Nougat for the OnePlus 2 OP2 will get the N update. — Helen Nuget for OP2 is coming, had a meeting about it today. — Aaron Well, I understand that some of you (well, from the few that had the patience to reach this point) might think that Nougat is still coming. After all, clickbait blogs keep recycling these two quotes and saying the update is around the corner. It’s not. While there is no official statement about it, OnePlus is being very clear about this. But don’t take my word for it. A few examples: OnePlus Support Twitter account: February OnePlus went from saying it would happen to not commenting. But this is not exclusive to Twitter. OnePlus Support chat (while asking OP2 is getting the update, not when): if OnePlus staff through the forums: Seeing that OnePlus were ignoring everyone that was asking when the Nougat was coming, I decided to make a asking if they were going to fulfill their promise. And while I saw that several of the staff members visited the thread, not a single one answered. Stubborn as I am, I decided to send them a direct message making the same question. Of the several messages I sent, only one was answered. The answer was very nice and a part of it said a lot without saying anything: thread I can’t give you or anyone any useful information on this issue. I wish I could, deeply sorry about that. Why go through all this trouble I might come off as someone that hates OnePlus or someone with a hidden agenda. I can say it’s quite the opposite. I’ve dedicated more than two years to OnePlus, by moderating their forums. I’ve even helped out in one of their events at my expenses. I’d do it all again. The reason why I’m going through all this trouble is precisely because I like OnePlus. Or at least what OnePlus was when it first showed up. A disruptive group of people that loved tech and wanted to change the status quo. A no gimmicks company with a co-founder that wasn’t afraid to say “HYPE or GTFO” to a potential customer. A company that didn’t need Emily Ratajkowski to explain what Dash Charge was. A company that did listen and did answer to its customers. OnePlus is nothing like this at this moment. It’s a company with a great product (OP3 / OP3T) but that cares more about marketing than it does about its customers. It’s a company that isn’t afraid of burning some bridges by completely disregarding the customers that bought two of its devices. And since OnePlus only cares about marketing, that’s why this article and the thunderclap that links to it are happening. To make this story visible enough to make OnePlus care about bad publicity.

Promises matter, OnePlus

I’ve been an iPhone user since the iPhone 3G was first released. Each year, almost on cue, I would follow my peers and faithfully upgrade to whatever latest and greatest device released. Apple Many times, I was generally happy with the upgrades. But more often than not, especially with some of the latest models, I didn’t feel the price of the new iPhone justified the incremental improvements. Many of Apple’s flagship features introduced into the phone over the years, such as Facetime, were half-baked at best and have never really been fixed. And in general, I can’t help but feel that the quality of iOS (and as an aside, macOS in general — I Am Root!), has been steadily declining over the years. Prior to about a week ago, my phone of choice was the Apple iPhone 6S. It’s a bit old and banged up, but it still works. When the iPhone 7 came out, I was briefly enticed to upgrade, mainly for the dual camera support. But unfortunately I soon realized that the premium camera configuration only came with the iPhone 7 Plus, and at the time I found both the form factor and the cost prohibitive. I sat with a friend during Apple’s presentation of the iPhone 8, and we were mostly laughing to ourselves, “that’s it?” It just seemed like Apple’s typical innovation curve these days — faster processor, larger glass, more money, rinse, repeat. Missing from most of the new releases these days seems to be any real innovation, maybe due to the heart of Apple, Steve Jobs, no longer being present. As expected, later in that same presentation Apple announced the iPhone X, a new phone with Face Unlock (arguably the key selling feature), and apparently a whole array of animated Emojis. While the look of the phone certainly was an improvement, the expanded feature set certainly wasn’t enough to justify the hefty price tag of $1319 CAD for the base level model, at least not for me. Many of my friends instantly upgraded to the iPhone X, which is what I would have done as well in the past. But since my last iPhone upgrade, I have had a harder and harder time parting with money with it comes to a phone. While the argument can of course be made that these devices are so much more than just phones, there is a certain appeal at this point in both my career and my life where treating these devices simply as phones is appealing. Since my iPhone 6S was definitely showing its age (having been repaired several times already), I decided I would start looking elsewhere for a phone upgrade. Not long after I saw the announcement by for their new, flagship OnePlus 5T model phone and decided to take my first head-first plunge into the ecosystem. So that day I ordered the 6GB OnePlus 5T for around $650 CAD, which is less than half the cost of a new iPhone X in Canada. OnePlus Android Let that sink in and marinade for a few moments— less than half the cost. It took about a week of navigating shipping and customs to get here, but it arrived earlier this week and I’ve been exploring it ever since. And what do I think so far? I absolutely love it. This is the first phone I’ve had in ages where I actually am having fun playing with it again. Perhaps it’s the unfamiliarity with the Android OS that’s giving me this sense of enjoyment, or the realization of the possibilities of not having a phone that’s locked into a particular corporate ecosystem (as is the case for the iPhone). But regardless, I find myself simply picking it up from time to time just to play with it, and it’s a great feeling to have again. I’m actually really amazed with the state of the Android operating system. I was always led to believe that it was a vastly inferior OS compared to iOS. I don’t doubt that years ago there was probably some truth to that, but it certainly doesn’t seem that way today. In fact, simply bouncing around and exploring the operating system makes me realize how many things Android seems to have solved in a more elegant or more refined way than Apple has. For example, I remember trying to move a home page icon on the OnePlus 5T from one page to another and being surprised how easy it was to accomplish. Anyone with an iPhone knows moving icons around is finicky at best, often involving trying to physically push your finger off the edge of your device to make it acknowledge you want the icon on another page. It’s simple functionality, but something Apple has never gotten right nor ever tried to make right since the original version of iOS. I love how you can view detailed mobile data usage with a few key presses, and can even enter a specific billing date for when it should roll over. You can also force the phone to suspend mobile data if you breach a certain threshold, making it highly unlikely you could ever exceed your data cap. This seems like such an obvious addition that it’s hard in retrospect to understand why similar functionality doesn’t exist on iOS since mobile data usage is probably the number one cause of bill overages these days. This morning my Mazda entertainment system told me I had received a new message from a friend, and asked if I wanted it read out to me. This had never happened with my iPhone before, and it surprised me. Apparently this functionality is part of the Bluetooth specification, and the combination of my new phone with the entertainment system caused it to start working. I suspect similar iOS functionality may exist in their CarPlay implementation (which my Mazda doesn’t support), but it was a pleasant surprise after owning my vehicle for two years that I suddenly had a new useful feature for when I am driving. In terms of the transition from iOS to Android, my main worry was how much more difficult it would be to communicate with my friends without having iMessage. And I won’t lie, it was a bit of an adjustment for the first few hours— the response to my very first SMS message to a friend ended up being routed to my computer instead of my phone, since it was set up that way on iMessage. So I ended up having to remove my phone number completely from iMessage to make it work consistently, officially severing my phone and its number from the Apple ecosystem. For most of my friends, communication over SMS works fine — we all have unlimited text message plans in Canada, so there’s no issue there. My dad is currently in Arizona, so him and I have switched to WhatsApp for now. Nowadays many people in this situation simply use Facebook messenger instead, but I’m not a big fan of it. Regardless, the loss of iMessage was mostly a non-event. One aspect I immediately came to miss on the OnePlus 5T was the lack of notification bubbles next to icons to show me how many messages in each application I have yet to receive. I immediately went looking at websites or add-on reviews that would address this for me, and eventually found a resounding chorus of Android power-users questioning quite unequivocally, “why the hell would you want that?” So against my initial impulses, I left the notification system as is, which essentially requires me to manually display the notification panel to see what’s been happening on my phone. Strangely, after 48 hours of usage, I think I agree with those users — it’s surprisingly refreshing and less stressful to not constantly see how many notifications you have available in each application. The OnePlus 5T In terms of the OnePlus 5T itself, it’s really quite a beautiful device. It’s made out of an all-aluminium body and both the size and weight feel perfect in my hand. The display is a beautiful 6" AMOLED variant in an 18:9 aspect ratio (so it’s longer and less wide than most displays, making it easier to hold with one hand), which clocks in at slightly more than 400 pixels per inch (ppi). While that’s technically a lower resolution than some of the higher end Smartphones on the market, I would argue that in practical terms it’s a non-issue, as I suspect many people lack eyesight that is good enough to resolve more than 400ppi anyways. One of the key selling features of the OnePlus line of phones that set them apart from their competitors is their dual SIM card support, meaning a person can install two different SIM cards in their phone — as someone who has missed important calls while travelling abroad before, that’s a pretty appealing feature, one that I’m also looking forward to testing on my next trip. The battery life of the OnePlus 5T is outstanding thanks to its 3300mAh battery. Also included in the box is OnePlus’ proprietary Dash (20 watt) charging system, which can fully charge the phone (from 0% to 100%) in approximately one hour. I’ve tried this, and it really is that fast. As someone whose phone battery was previously almost always hovering near 0%, this is a killer feature for me — I actually ordered a second Dash charger, and now have a separate Dash charger at home and in my office. The combination of the OnePlus’ battery and Dash charging system now means I’ve reached a new state of phone nirvana — the fabled promised lands where a person only needs to charge their phone once a day, regardless of usage. While I’ve taken the odd photo with the OnePlus 5T, I certainly haven’t taken enough of them to have a solid opinion one way or another in terms of quality. Certainly the photos I’ve taken are completely adequate. Most of the other reviews I’ve read say the camera certainly works well, but is noticeably less sharp than other competitors such as the Samsung Galaxy S8 (although to be fair, these devices also cost much more). That said, today OnePlus just released an OS update that is rumoured to address some of the perceived image quality differences, so I suspect they have addressed some of the issues via algorithm adjustments. Like the iPhone X, the OnePlus 5T also includes Face Unlocking. Unlike the iPhone X though, the OnePlus 5T performs this feat using just the front facing camera, with no added infrared information. So from a technological point of view, the OnePlus 5T implementation is likely less secure than Apple’s, but for most practical purposes (such as unlocking the phone) it works extremely well and is apparently difficult to fool. It also includes a fingerprint scanner on the back of the device (the iPhone X doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner), which can still be used for any activities (such as payments) that require a higher level of security. My first 48 hours with the OnePlus 5T has been quite enlightening. They have demonstrated to me that you don’t have to be Apple to make an amazing Smartphone, nor do you have to be locked into a particular ecosystem to have a powerful, productivity-enhancing device. While the loss of iMessage was at first noticeable, it wasn’t that difficult a problem to overcome. And unexpectedly, many of the Android-specific ways of solving problems on my Smartphone seem at first glance to be quite intuitive, often seeming more natural than similar iOS features. So right now, I’m extremely satisfied with my purchase of the OnePlus 5T, especially since it provides a lot of the same functionality of Apple’s flagship iPhone X, but at roughly half the cost. I certainly don’t begrudge Apple at all — I have had many happy years as an iPhone user and lover. But with the ever increasing price of the iPhone coupled with a perpetual release timeline that seems to favour timeliness over quality, I expect many other people like myself, who were longtime iPhone users, will be starting to consider other options as well. And if you do, I encourage you to look at the OnePlus 5T, which seems to be one of this year’s best Smartphone offerings in terms of cost vs value. Not only will you likely not regret your purchase if you are upgrading from another Android device, but I also suspect that like me you won’t have any regrets if you leave the Apple ecosystem behind during the transition as well. To read more articles from Duane Storey , please visit his personal website at DuaneStorey.com .

My First 48 Hours with the OnePlus 5T

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Despite the effort I have put into all my long and lonely walks, the essence of Zero Knowledge Proofs is still one of the most intriguing concepts I have ever stumbled upon. Trying to understand and merge all of my last ideas about the sub-mediums of information only draws me closer and closer to cut sketches and re-sketches in my head which in the end, cannot hold the true nature of ultimate privacy. However, I believe that new avenues could be used in order to obtain the desired security dream. Please keep in mind that I do not base my writing on prior sketches or other forms of outside help when composing my works. All I can offer is a roadway of ideas that emerge from topic to topic as I write my article. It's hard for me to keep count of all the elements I set along the road as for me, the process of understanding is a linear one, and once an idea is created, it can only be understood as a whole and not only as a conclusion or final decision. It has been a great pleasure for me to contemplate these inspiring topics all this time and, in the end, to anticipate what is to come in the next (hopefully) 10 or 20 minutes of reading. Zero Knowledge Proofs - The Stage Is Set First of all, I want to re-introduce the scenery of the beautiful interplay of our actors. As before, we can imagine our stage on which three actors along a secret key are playing. Lisa, the outsider, is our main hero. She holds the key which would allow her to enter the realm of change. This realm is guarded by our door, which plays the role of the beholder of wisdom. Only those ready are allowed to pass behind it. As the game requires, Bob is our outside observer. A regular man who holds a very special role. The role of Lisa's outside information judge. Something anyone could do, yet, holds one of the most deeply important aspects of this theme. The one who never closes his eyes in order to make sure no one can benefit from Lisa's actions but herself. The Problem of Sub-Mediums Sub-mediums, as I described them, are essentially a way for Lisa to "speak" in a codified language that only the door will understand. Akin to the way we use sign language, which in essence, even if it transcends the medium of hearing to that of seeing, information is still visible. If we further grant Bob the ability to do whatever Lisa does, then any type of sub-medium, if copied exactly the same, would result in exactly the same output. No matter how much we try to keep Bob out, just because of his power to mimic Lisa perfectly, he would be able to bypass no matter how complex or deep we try to create the sub-medium. A Potential Alternative - The Introduction of Fractals In this land, Zero Knowledge is not referred to hiding or secrecy behind the actions, but to the secrecy of Lisa's nature. Here, we attribute Bob a second role, of finding out if Lisa holds more information than her own mind's inner network. This way, all the available form of creation is found inside her head. She could probably start from a certain point and depict a certain final depiction of the Mandelbrot set. Both the door and Lisa start from the same "final output" of the fractal which changes after each opening. In simpler terms, each time Lisa comes in to open the door, all she takes with her is the knowledge that she must start from point 0 of the fractal, along with the required final output which changes iteratively after each opening. The depicted road of arriving at that final point is carved within herself, and thus, any other pathway, no matter if the final output is the correct one, would be rejected and the door would not open. Here, we don't necessarily require fractal as in order to arrive at four, you can either add two times two or one plus two. Even four times one. Breaking down, we could assume that all Lisa displays is "a" and "b." "a" and "b" could once again be defined and redefined in an iterative matter after each opening. Only the door and Lisa should know which is which and when. Quantum Resolution "The secret awareness of the universe is codified in song and dance, poetry and tale, carving and painting." Now, when it comes to quantum physics, computing gets a bit strange as physics would allow multiple roads taken at the same time until the exact key is found. But wait, let's start from the beginning. When it comes to classical computing, information comes bit by bit. The whole process is made of single pieces of information that go through certain transformative paths that define the final single road of bits. You could see it akin to the time-flow of information that goes from start to end. Maybe you could envision watching an apple rotting over time. The process of rotting could be seen as the linear process of transforming or the ritual of achieving the final state starting from ground 0 (fresh apple). Further, you can envision 5 coins, each of them being either heads or tails and moving forth, each giving its own value which forms the linear process of H-T-H-H-T as a whole. When it comes to quantum computing, we open our valley with qubits which, until the final state, we can say that the apple is both rotten and fresh at the same time. All five coins are both heads and tails at the same time until the desired output is achieved. All the processing, compared to the linear H(heads)-T(tails)-H-H-T of classical, happens while the coins are thrown in the air, and all of them change simultaneously until the key is found. If we are to throw classical coins in the air until we find the H-T-H-H-T key, then we would start a process where the change starts from end to beginning. We set the last coin as T. If the door won't open, we change it to H, and if it still won't happen, we turn back to T, and the coin before flips to its opposite. For a mere example, I will depict the following road: 00000 -> 00001 -> 00010 -> 00011 -> 00100 -> 00101 -> 00110 and so on. The last coin changes each iteration. The one close to it each two, the one before each four, eight, and so on until we find the key. Now, it would be quite hard for me to imagine the processing in a quantum computer, but I will try. So, we know that all the processing happens while the coins are in the air, and all of them change until the desired outcome is achieved, resulting in all of them falling and unlocking the door. Due to the principles of entanglement, which states that changing the value of a specific coin, would change the value of another with which it is related. I suppose we can assume that we start our initial conditions as:  (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)(0/1)(0/1). From this point forth, information spreads, and at the same time, we got both (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)(0/1)0 and (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)(0/1)1, later shifting to (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)00, (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)01, (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)10, (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)11 and this after only two iterations, which, in classical terms, would take 4 to explore all those possibilities. In the third iteration, we got (0/1)(0/1)000, (0/1)(0/1)(0/1)001, (0/1)(0/1)010,(0/1)(0/1)011,(0/1)(0/1)100 and so on. Going both opposite ways at the same time probably. It's quite hard for me to explain what I can't fully comprehend, but the idea is that when it comes to quantum, more paths are explored at the same time, and at the final state, we have all the possible key combinations that will fall in the end in the form of the correct key to unlock the door. “The chosen one” kind of stuff. (I must state that I know very little about the geometry of a fractal, and I am mostly unaware of the number of dimensions it can withhold, but this won't stop me from imagining.) What if, after each entrance, the door would ask for a different "style" of paving? A different type of "dancing" in order to accept the key? Would the quantum world be incapable of entry unless a single qubit would be used in order to maintain a single style? Imagine different paths which, in the end, would lead you to the same output. After all, there is an infinity of ways to follow when going from point A to point B on a sphere. If the door would require a single beforehand defined path, would quantum lose a fight? Maybe the door wants you to find the key by changing certain bits based on specific "style" rules. Rules that will nail down principles that both quantum and classical computing can achieve. However, the path will be important and so, multiple paths taken at the same time will result in the merging of styles which will not complete the path-requirement. Would the quantum way of following all possible styles break down and never be able to achieve the outcome if it uses more than one qubit? In my opinion, yes, but then, another question arises. If Lisa had a friend who held the key, how would her friend know each time Lisa entered so she would know which style to use? Maybe a secret room could be created so each time someone goes in it would first give the information that they successfully entered the door. Even more, if we are to say that every time Lisa's friends say twice that they entered, only Lisa and her friends would know to divide that information in two. The outsiders would be required to logically check how many times the door was accessed. A Question of Understanding As stated in the beginning, my thought process follows a linear path when depicting ideas, and I like to jump from idea to idea, from concept to concept when depicting my final work. Here, since it's the first time I have dwelled on the complexity of both depth and continuity, the organizing of such a fluid flow would require me to handle the concepts extremely well in order to be able to explain them in a simple and understandable manner. What comes to my mind when trying to imagine the process is something similar to a cube. The cube holds inside a strange figure. Maybe something akin to the cube itself but in reverse. Here, we have six lines that grow towards the middle of each face of the cube. Those lines represent the linear flow of continuity, and in the end, merge into 3 +/- lines. When we choose a certain line, the others start to achieve the "complexity" value. Akin to a higher dimension. If we start moving forth on the continuity line when talking only about classical computing, nothing else is affected, nothing is shrunk, and everything else is simply not taken into account. When it comes to quantum computing, the remaining lines take the "complexity" path. The further we move on our chosen "continuity" line, the harder it gets since we enlarge more and more the "complexity" ones, as they start to take a 2-dimensional form that will encompass the whole possibilities of interconnecting paths. Even more, when dealing with another layer of complexity, instead of changing the continuity line, we start to transform the 2-dimensional complexity lines into 3-dimensional ones. Now, the path is not only back-forth (continuity), and up/down (complexity) but also back-left, back-right, front-left, and front-right (higher complexity). New avenues are open each time we add new qubits into play. Enhancing further, we would probably allow the use of degrees in the choosing of the complexity of lines, aking to an infinity of cubes stacked one into another at different degrees of turning. The End (For Now) This is honestly a fun journey, a path I've never directly been on, and I've had a lot of fun thinking about all the concepts and ideas. There is A LOT of information I have missed since we are able to connect only the dots we remember at the moment. The dots we explored in the past and which are related to this concept. Ideas form and go, but the ability of our brains to twist and break ideas is remarkable. I simply believe we can imagine a fourth-dimensional realm based on a simple idea. The world we perceive is clearly a 3d world. We can image the 3d world as seen from a higher point of space. Now, even if that higher point is something that is contained in the 3d thinking itself, it's the same case when imagining 2d and 1d objects and spaces. There is something peculiar about our brain that makes it able to recognize and call lots and lots of dots and ideas that are all connected to a specific subject. The amount of dots we can connect implies that there is an avenue inside our heads that lets us stock and understand deeply connected aspects of certain phenomena and ideas. If we imagine the 1d world as a single line, the 2d as two lines, and 3d as three lines, what stops us from going even deeper and imagining four lines, five lines, and so on? Each with its own unique deepness which is not related to the others. Five different levels of deep which in a sense all correlate to create a grand picture of logic and interplay. In order to arrive from a specific deepness point to another, you would have to travel to the center and follow the line that corresponds to that deepness which, in essence, is separated by space, but not by time. Time creates the linear process and showcases the final path and each decision that must be taken to arrive at it when a direct connection is not possible. Breaking down complex topics into linear depictions which we call logical breakthroughs. Connecting unconnected dots which cannot be traversed directly. The path might in the end be a fixed one, but when it comes to fractals, I believe that the level of complexity allows multiple paths. Paths that could be depicted by the quantum entanglement in single-time multiple-paths, opposing the classical view of multiple-times single-ways. The classical view may hold time as continuity and the paths as complexity while the quantum view may hold time as compressed continuity and the paths as compressed complexity. (I still have a lot to do here in order to make sure I am right. It just doesn't feel right. Unless there is another undiscovered domain.) In both classical and quantum views, time and path are similar. In classical, we can depict long time (multiple) = long path (multiple). Whereas in quantum, time (compressed) = path (compressed). In classical, speed is constant, in quantum, speed is dependent on complexities. Maybe the quantum world is not the opposite of the classical as I have so long thought but an even deeper aspect which yes, holds its opposing forces, but still, the other 50% difference is found in the emergence of efficiency based on complexity. I can't go further than here because I need some long long walks once again. But as I stated, it's been a pleasure to discuss this topic and express my ideas. Now, all that remains is to further try to depict the essence and reassure myself if I am right or wrong. Remember, there is no wrong path when drawing conclusions. There are only wrong conclusions. Until next we meet, I wish you the best :)

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