OnePlus 5 smartphone experience: a productive workhorse

The appearance of OnePlus 5 was a landmark event for fans of the brand: it is the latest classic “flagship killer”.

The subsequent OnePlus 5T, despite the serious hardware and cool features, did not produce such an effect, becoming the property of newfags.

But nothing goes unnoticed: both the iPhone 7 Plus and OnePlus 5 are still giving new full-screen smartphones a try. Now I’ll tell you how the test sample from our review spent 2 years.

It was an iPhone clone

Once upon a time it was the best affordable AMOLED.
That's why I loved and love OnePlus 5, it’s for the original design, inherited from the “troika”.

OnePlus 3, of course, is even more comfortable for an oldfag due to the mechanical button, but the fifth series without the T index received at least a touch-sensitive Home key. Without her, 1+ is not himself - just another “Chinese”.

Doesn't remind you of anyone?

Surprisingly, after all this time, the sensor works like a clock and shows no signs of wear.

Looks like “Chinese”. I should. But before the photo shoot, it was enough to wipe the smart phone, and here it is as good as new.

⇡#Camera

OnePlus, of course, could not ignore the fashion for dual-camera solutions, and, in fact, there is no point in ignoring it - the only question is, what advantage of two cameras should you choose: extended dynamic range or optical zoom? OnePlus settled on zoom.

The smartphone has two different modules: Sony IMX398 (resolution – 16 MP, physical dimensions – 1/2.8″) is used with a wide-angle lens with aperture ƒ/1.7; Sony IMX350 (resolution – 20 megapixels, same dimensions – 1/2.8″) – with a less wide-angle lens with aperture ƒ/2.6. It sounds very simple - we switch between two modules to get closer and suffer a little more when shooting in the dark (due to the lower aperture ratio and the smaller size of individual pixels in the aggregate). But OnePlus decided to cheat.

EXIF is puzzling: there really is a 2x zoom, but the focal length is indicated the same (35 mm equivalent - 24 mm), and the aperture is ƒ/1.7 for both wide angle and telephoto. The resolution of the images is absolutely the same: it is impossible to take 20-megapixel images on OnePlus 5. The developers do not disclose details, but, obviously, information from both sensors is used, and the image from the “tele” module is cropped to 16 megapixels - the fact is that the actual focal length of the lens used on it gives only 1.5x zoom.

The result of such tricks is the ability to shoot with zoom not only in daylight, but also in the dark. The picture with and without zoom, of course, differs not only in the width of the angle: noise also becomes more noticeable, detail sags, and unnecessary highlights appear. But be that as it may, the camera works, the zoom behaves well, even though there is no optical stabilization in the OnePlus 5 camera. The zoom is also used when shooting in “portrait” mode, when the background is blurred by software.

The quality of shooting with a wide-angle camera raises a minimum of questions, especially if you manually control the exposure compensation - in the dark the device really likes to “light up” the frame to the detriment of quality. If you act wisely, you can get a decent picture even in low light. During the day, OnePlus 5 takes excellent photos – good dynamic range, excellent detail, nice colors. For a Chinese smartphone, it unexpectedly successfully implements post-processing.

OnePlus 5

The issue with focusing also hangs up: the fact is that one module uses a contrast system, and the other uses a phase system. It is likely that they are also combined - in any case, OnePlus 5 has no problems with focusing, everything happens quickly and clearly.

OnePlus 5 has a very decent manual shooting mode, in which you can not only control photosensitivity, shutter speed or enter exposure compensation, but also shoot in RAW (files are saved in DNG format) and manually select both the exposure metering point and the focus point at the same time - in different places. Also in manual mode, a virtual horizon is displayed on the screen.

The front camera lacks autofocus and flash, but boasts a relatively large sensor (1/3.0'') high resolution (16 MP). The picture is very decent – ​​and you can even try shooting in low light; the quality may not be brilliant, but it’s quite decent.

How the OnePlus 5 case survived two years

Protective glass and case are required for all smartphones for long-term use

True, without a cover and weekly cleaning, its current condition would not be enviable: reviews from colleagues in the workshop of the owners of the “five” do not favor metal produced by Oppo.

They say that within six months the back cover turns into a collection of scratches. There are none on this one, the condition is perfect.

But it’s really quite easy to injure the 1+: although the metal is noticeably stronger than even the top Xiaomi ones, the scratches on the paint layer remain noticeable.

This is what made us switch to glass lids - they break, but retain their appearance better.

It’s clear: OnePlus 5 feels good without protective glass on the display.

For example, with ZTE or Samsung, with such use, the entire surface would be covered with small, barely noticeable scratches.

Either the Gorilla Glass revision turned out to be good, or Oppo/Vivo/OnePlus has a different Gorilla Glass, different from other Chinese companies.

Display

Xiaomi Mi 5 Plus has a 5.7-inch IPS screen with FullHD resolution and a pixel density of 386 ppi. The viewing angle is quite wide, so there is no fading or distortion effect. The color reproduction is generally good, but with standard settings you may get a feeling of high saturation. This unpleasant moment can be treated in the white balance settings in a special menu.

The sensor is very responsive and can process up to 10 clicks at a time.

Brightness and contrast are at an excellent level, so even on the most cloudless sunny day the text will be perfectly visible. Anti-reflective coating will also contribute to this.

Has it started to slow down, as is common with Android?

Hello PenTile: this has already forced many to upgrade

With the old man's power, everything is ambiguous. On the one hand, there is not a single application that would put the OnePlus 5 in an awkward position.

On the other hand, the latest flagships do everything a little better: they open applications microseconds faster and flip through screens more smoothly.

But this can be seen from the perspective of a person through whose hands fifty smartphones pass a year. Such thoughts would never even occur to the average buyer.

Headphone jack against all odds. How could one refuse it?

Perhaps the most noticeable thing is “fatigue” during photography. HDR makes a smartphone really think twice.

Fresh Samsung or Xiaomi don’t allow themselves to do this. At least shoot a series (older Galaxy really easily shoot 5-10 frames in a row without noticeable lags).

Working hours

The smartphone runs on a built-in 3300 mAh battery. Taking into account the low-resolution screen and modern platform, it allows the device to show fairly good operating time, by flagship standards.

With medium-high load, you can count on about a day of work with 6 hours of active screen. Separately, it is worth noting the proprietary fast charging Dash Charge - in an hour the device gains about 85% charge. Unlike Qualcomm Quick Charge, charging operates at a standard voltage of 5 V, but increases the current up to 4 A. During charging, the smartphone almost does not heat up. The only limitation is that for Dash to work you will need not only a proprietary charger, but also a cable.

4.5

ITC.UA rating

Pros: “pure” Android 7.1.1 with many settings; current platform and speed; cameras; operating time and charging speed; good display and body materials

Cons: no support for memory cards and moisture protection

Conclusion: Once again they tried to create a lot of news around OnePlus 5 with both a plus and a minus sign. In turn, acquaintance allows us to say that there is still much more good in him than bad and controversial. As before, OnePlus 5 can be called a more affordable alternative to A-brand devices or a substitute for cheaper devices that entered the market a year ago. Moreover, against the backdrop of the popularity of flagships from Meizu and Xiaomi, it is OnePlus 5 that looks like the best “Chinese flagship”. Of course, we would also like it to include support for memory cards, moisture protection and stereo speakers, but in practice these parameters are rather an additional selection criterion. Instead, the device offers a familiar set of high-quality software, an up-to-date platform, good cameras, and a familiar headphone jack. This is quite enough to cast your vote for OnePlus.

Specifications

You'll be surprised, but OnePlus 5 has the latest Android

As long as there are updates, you don’t have to write off your smartphone

But there is one important BUT : unlike devices from many other companies, OnePlus creates smartphones that work stably after a few minutes.

A-brands cannot afford this: new products must be bought up, which means old gadgets must be slowed down.

Therefore, while Samsung “forgot” about the latest Android for the S7, Xiaomi is just introducing the system for older flagships. And OnePlus has already done everything.

Oxygen has no excess

So on board is a full-fledged Android P in the form of its own Oxygen OS , so similar to AOSP or the stock “naked green robot”.

No matter how much you torture him, it won’t get worse. It is enough to occasionally clear the cache and carefully select applications, avoiding Trojans.

An ideal operating system is spoiled by 3 facts:

1. OnePlus often “forgets” to release an update in a timely manner, sometimes delaying it for six months.

2. Not all of the stock features planned by Google are implemented right away.

3. Support is not as long as we would like.

After a while, the screen did not burn out, but the brightness decreased

However, the main features, such as the black theme and shadow OS update, appeared on the “five” a long time ago.

Other Android innovations are invisible to mere mortals. Well, as for the icons and appearance... All launchers are used anyway.

Cameras

Past OnePlus had quite good cameras, and for OnePlus 5 the company has prepared a next-generation solution.

Like most other flagships, the device received a system of two modules - the main Sony IMX 398 sensor of 16 MP with electronic stabilization with a lens with EGF 24 mm and f/1.7 and an additional Sony IMX 350 of 20 MP (36 mm, f/2.6) . The front module Sony IMX 371 with 16 megapixels (f/2.0) also received electronic stabilization.

The presence of two main camera modules made it possible to implement a 2x “optical” zoom (actually 1.6x) and a portrait shooting mode with a bokeh effect. In addition to them, the application has modes for Auto-HDR (enabled by default), manual settings, slow-motion and interval shooting. The maximum video recording resolution is 4K/30fps.

Photo order: OnePlus 3T, OnePlus 5, Huawei P10

There was no huge leap in shooting quality, but the device began to take photographs a little better than its predecessor. It determines white balance more accurately, and the dynamic range is slightly wider. OnePlus 5 performs quite well when shooting at night.

The first photo was taken with the marking effect, the second in automatic mode

It’s difficult to draw detailed conclusions on how portrait mode works; we spent too little time with the device. When shooting close-up objects, you can do without it - the main camera already has fairly bright optics, which blurs the background when shooting macro.

In general, we can say that OnePlus 5 still remains the best among the Xiaomi-Meizu-OnePlus trio both in terms of overall comfort of using the camera and in terms of results. At the same time, the smartphone does not reach the level of the Galaxy S8 and may be inferior to other flagships of large brands, although the difference can hardly be called drastic.

How long does the battery last now?

The first one with a dark theme. Seriously saves

Now we get to the main problem. Battery. The autonomy of the new OnePlus 5 certainly meets modern standards.

That is, it will definitely be enough until the end of the working day, and if without video/games - until you return home, 10-16 hours of active use.

Problem: after a year of active use, OnePlus requires replacing the battery, as the capacity drops by 40-50%.

Solution: the original battery costs half a smartphone, a cheap “Chinese” one with 90% of the capacity of the original one costs about 2 thousand rubles.

Reason: DASH Charge fast charging with increased current, capable of replenishing the reserve in an hour.

Without it (that is, without the original cable for 800 rubles), the health of the LiPo element in the smartphone will not change even in 2 years.

Hardware platform

The most current hardware is a traditional feature of OnePlus smartphones, and the fifth model is no exception. The basis of the device is the Snapdragon 835, made using the 10 nm process technology. It is complemented by 6 or 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64 or 128 GB of fast UFS 2.1 2-LANE memory. Traditionally there is no slot for memory cards. The smartphone has NFC, Bluetooth 5.0 with support for the aptX HD codec, dual band Wi-Fi (2×2 MIMO) and other standard sensors.

But if you want, you can find something to complain about. USB Type-C works according to the USB 2.0 standard; OnePlus 5 does not have moisture protection and stereo speakers. If you are choosing a smartphone in terms of its set of characteristics, then the listed points can be considered disadvantages, especially since some flagships boast a full range of functions. On the other hand, their presence is not necessary for a smartphone to please.

But OnePlus 5 can please. Both in benchmarks and during normal use, the device feels very fast; taking into account the screen resolution, the platform’s performance can be called excessive. There is a supply that will easily last for two or three years, even for mobile gamers. We also note that the smartphone heats up minimally under load.

Does it at least take pictures?

The module is exactly copied

Global system updates on all OnePlus allow us to evaluate the real achievements of the industry over time.

And they are not encouraging: besides the fact that real productivity has hardly changed, mobile photography has not actually brought fundamental changes.

Just look at the photos below.

It is impossible to find a photo from OnePlus 6 and iPhone X among them.

The Apple smartphone will be able to win in night photography, the most recent OnePlus model will show minor differences.

But these are mere little things, really.

Internals (iron)

Powerful, powerful processor, lots and lots of memory. Naturally, everything flies. What else is needed for happiness? Well, perhaps there would be support for memory cards... It would seem that 64 GB of internal memory is already available - where else? The problem is that the smartphone is trained to take photographs in RAW. And if you also like to record video in high resolution...

Full set of sensors. Gyroscope, compass, accelerometer, proximity, illumination. There's even a barometer!

The fingerprint sensor is located at the back. There is not the slightest problem with it, it works very well. As for the location, it’s just more convenient for me when it’s behind and not under the screen. But, of course, sometimes you miss and try to unlock your smartphone by pressing the camera.

Synthetic test results

How much is OnePlus 5 selling for now?

OnePlus 5 can still be found on sale: both on AliExpress or Gearbest for ~$300, and on Avito for approximately ~12-20 thousand rubles.

A smartphone in good condition can be easily rented for a year or a little more.

Three-position switch - a real killer feature

It turns out that for a minimum amount you will still have a flagship in your hands. Yes, the past one. Yes, without a fancy screen. But it’s cheaper and works no worse than its more recent counterparts.

It is unlikely that you will want to exchange it for a simpler smartphone - any budget Redmi will be worse .

And this will be a good reason to get to know OnePlus.

Screen

The improvement in the technical capabilities of OnePlus 5 practically did not affect the display. The manufacturer decided to abandon the 4K display in favor of the traditional FullHD resolution. This can hardly be considered a disadvantage, since at such a diagonal the difference between Quad HD and FullHD is almost invisible. But a lower resolution uses up battery power much more economically and is not so demanding on the device’s performance.

The maximum brightness threshold of the OnePlus 5 display is set at 435 nits, the minimum brightness is 2 nits. These indicators are more than enough for comfortable operation of the device both on a sunny day and in a dark room. The color balance of the screen is almost no different from the iPhone 7 Plus, all thanks to the DCI-P3 mode, which is found in both smartphones.

The display of OnePlus 5 is protected by tempered glass Gorilla Glass 5. Considering the presence of a protective screen in the kit, the new product has become even stronger and more shock-resistant than the previous generation of the brand, but the quality of the screen is excellent, the display deserves a rating of 9/10 points.

The fastest Android smartphone

Powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor and up to 8GB of RAM, the OnePlus 5 is an absolute beast. This is the third phone I've tested with Qualcomm's top chip, and it definitely feels significantly faster than the Samsung S8 or HTC U11. I'm talking about animations, app speed, and scrolling smoothness.

I didn't include speed test charts in this review because OnePlus initially admits that these results aren't entirely accurate. It’s a shame that this happened; I see absolutely no reason why these numbers should be falsified. If you're looking for the fastest Android phone on sale right now, the OnePlus 5 should be at the top of your list. The 8 GB of RAM in the device provided to me for review alone allowed the system to fly like on wings. And besides, the operating system is free of excess ballast, which only improves the speed characteristics of the phone.

Even the fingerprint sensor is absurdly fast. Even if Google's next phone does the trick again, the OnePlus 5 not only looks similar to the iPhone 7, but feels just as fast.

Its battery is also quite good. While OnePlus hasn't yet released a monster battery (rumored to be 4,000mAh), the current one can easily power through a full day of heavy workload despite being 100mAh smaller than the 3T's 3,300mAh battery. mAh versus 3,400 mAh). By the way, our benchmark tests showed that it lasts an astonishing 10 hours (versus 6:54 for the 3T), and I have every reason not to doubt the reliability of these results. The OnePlus 5 I tested continued to work long after my own LG G6 asked to charge, and was neck-and-neck in terms of battery life with the Galaxy S8+.

The OnePlus 5 also supports OnePlus Dash Charge, which fills it with energy faster than its Quick Charging counterparts. However, you still have to rely on a cumbersome red cable to get these benefits, and the aluminum back unfortunately means wireless charging will have to wait for now.

What's new in OxygenOS 10

Among the main changes in the new version of the proprietary shell, it is first of all worth noting that it is built on Android 10. In addition, the interface design has changed and it has received smoother animations. New full-screen gesture controls are available for OnePlus 5T. A hidden panel has been added that allows you to switch between applications left and right.

If you had or have a OnePlus 5 (or 5T), tell us about it in the comments.