OnePlus 5 Review

Positives

High-end, metal build
Impressive dual camera setup
Vibrant 1080p display
Dash Charge is fast and convenient
Silky smooth performance
Quick fingerprint sensor
Long-lasting battery life
OxygenOS even further refined

Negatives

No expandable storage
Lacks water resistance
Design is uninspiring

Rating

Battery

9.3

Display

8.5

Camera

8.5

Performance

9.2

Software

9.0

Design

8.5

Bottom Line

8.8

5

by OnePlus

The OnePlus 5 may be the most expensive flagship from OnePlus to date, but it is jammed pack with features and comes with an insane spec sheet that makes it worth every penny and still provides the best value for an Android flagship.

Design

Just like the OnePlus 3 and 3T before it, OnePlus’ latest flagship offers a metallic body, though it’s much thinner this time around. Not only is the handset just 7.25 mm thin, it also features an aggressive taper around the sides that makes the phone feel even thinner. The antenna lines have also been redesigned to go around the perimeter of the phone instead of cutting across the back, making them a lot less noticeable.

Thanks to the rounded corners and edges, the OnePlus 5 looks great and is comfortable to hold. Still, it is worth noting that the thin sides make the phone a bit on the slippery side.

Just like the OnePlus 3 and 3T before it, OnePlus' latest flagship offers a metallic body, though it's much thinner this time around.

Display

In a world where QHD has quickly become the standard, and even a few phones have offered 4K displays, OnePlus takes a step backwards by sticking to a “old-fashioned” 1080p 5.5-inch AMOLED panel with a 16:9 resolution. Well, at least it is a step backwards on paper. Despite only being 1080p, the screen looks absolutely gorgeous and is probably the best Full HD panel ever to grace a smartphone.

The display offers vibrant colors that are full of contrast and deep blacks. It gets very bright, too, so even direct sunlight isn’t a real issue.

Performance & Hardware

As mentioned, the OnePlus 5 is offered in two variants. The base model has 64 GB storage and 6 GB RAM, while the more expensive variant has a whopping 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM. Both phones are powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and Adreno 540 GPU. This phone is crazy fast!

In short, the OnePlus 5 is a beast, both when it comes to processing and graphics.

Battery life

While the OnePlus 3T upgraded from the its predecessor’s 3,000 mAh battery to a much larger 3,400 mAh, the OnePlus 5 takes a small step backwards to 3,300 mAh. Can’t fault OnePlus for this, as its a small compromise required by the phone’s thinner design. And in reality, the difference is pretty much only on paper, as the OnePlus 5’s battery life is exceptionally good.

The 3,300 mAh battery lasts  comfortably throughout an entire day even with heavy use. That includes using the camera, watching  YouTube, gaming for several hours, streaming music at the gym, and all the other usual stuff like reading emails and checking social media. On a much lighter day you’ll typically end the day with around 50%. When that happens you won’t charge the phone until the next day, so it is completely possible to get a day and half out of this phone.

 

Even if you go at it super hard, the good news is that OnePlus’ Dash Charge is absolutely amazing. It takes only 30 minutes to get a 60% charge, and roughly an hour and 20 minutes to go from empty to full.  The quick charging is insanely quick and power efficient, making the charging process so much easier and convenient.

Camera

Most dual cameras either have the same resolution across both lenses or the secondary sensor is lower resolution. With the OnePlus 5 however, it’s the exact opposite. The main sensor is 16 megapixels with an f/1.7 aperture and electronic image stabilization. The secondary sensor is a 20 megapixel telephoto lens with a smaller f/2.6 aperture, though this lens doesn’t offer OIS or electronic stabilization. Similar to Apple’s implementation on the iPhone 7 Plus, the telephoto lens will let you optically zoom in by 2x without any loss in quality. (Update: Carl Pei has now clarified that the telephoto zoom on the OnePlus 5 is actually a combination of optical zoom and software: “Optical zoom is at 1.6x, the remaining 0.4x is realized through SmartCapture multiframe technology.”)

So how does this dual setup perform? Photos taken with the OnePlus 5 are well detailed, sharp without looking over sharpened, and color reproduction is more on the natural side and not overly saturated. The secondary telephoto lens is great for getting those closer up shots without losing as much detail as you normally would from purely digital zoom. It’s perfect for getting closer on anything you want. It is important to mention that it does produce slightly different colors from the main lens and is a little more inconsistent with exposure.

Specifications

	OnePlus 5
Display	5.5-inch AMOLED 1920 x 1080 resolution 401 ppi 16:9 aspect ratio 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Processor	2.45 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile platform
GPU	Adreno 540
RAM	6/8 GB LPDDR4
Storage	64/128 GB UFS 2.1 2-lane
MicroSD	No
Cameras	Rear camera Main: 16 MP Sony IMX 398 sensor, 1.12 μm, ƒ/1.7 aperture, EIS, dual LED flash Telephoto: 20 MP Sony IMX 350 sensor, 1.0 μm, ƒ/2.6 aperture Front: 16 MP Sony IMX 371 sensor, 1.0 μm, ƒ/2.0 aperture, EIS
Battery	3,300 mAh Non-removable Dash Charge (5V 4A)
Water resistant	No
Material	Anodized aluminum
Ports	USB Type-C (USB 2.0) 3.5 mm headphone jack
Connectivity	Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5 GHz, 2x2 MIMO Bluetooth 5.0, supports aptX & aptX HD NFC GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Sensors	Fingerprint Hall Accelerometer Gyroscope Proximity Ambient light Electronic compass Sensor hub
Audio	Bottom-facing speaker 3 microphones with noise cancellation Supports AANC Dirac HD Sound
Network	LTE: Supports 3xCA, 64QAM & 256QAM Supports up to DL CAT 12 (600 Mbps) / UL CAT 13 (150 Mbps)  Bands: FDD LTE: Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/30/66 TDD-LTE: Bands 38/39/40/41 TD-SCDMA: Bands 34/39 UMTS (WCDMA): Bands 1/2/4/5/8 CDMA: BC0 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
SIM	Nano Dual-SIM
Software	Android 7.1.1 Nougat OxygenOS
Dimensions and weight	154.2 x 74.1 x 7.25 mm 153 g
Colors	Midnight Black, Slate Gray