OnePlus Is a Terrible Company That Exploits Its Customers, yet I Am One

It's no secret by major Android news outlets that OnePlus isn't really approved of by a lot of users. If you're out of the loop, OnePlus is a Chinese OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) founded in late 2013 who promised to bring premium specced smartphones for a budget price. OnePlus first spiked controversy when it was discovered that one of the major shareholders of OnePlus was Oppo, an already established Chinese OEM. This was a problem considering OnePlus was boasting about being a new startup, ready to put a stop to the tyrannical reign of major smartphone companies.

Then, OnePlus announced the One, a gorgeous Android phone with premium specs for less than $400. It also shipped with CyanogenMod 11S, marking CyanogenMod’s entrance into the “legitimate” world of smartphone OS’s. This was a big deal, when you consider at the time the only other major budget smartphones were Google’s Nexus line. Everything looked up for OnePlus, but not for long. 

Problem after problem happened after that. The One was delayed for months, finally being sold, but only if you have an invite. How did you get an invite? Through contests. First began a “Smash the Past” campaign, where people would smash their previous smartphones for a chance to get a $1 One. This was criticized for its wastefulness of perfectly good smartphones which could have instead been donated. Another contest, “Ladies First,” had women users on their forums posting pictures with the OnePlus logo. The few who got the most “likes” won the opportunity to buy the One.

Not long after invites became more available to customers, drama with their software producer Cyanogen came into play. Cyanogen partnered with another smartphone company in India and promised Indians exclusive CyanogenMod use, meaning the One could not be sold there anymore. Long story short, OnePlus won the battle, but their relationship with Cyanogen was forever tarnished. This caused OnePlus to build its own OS, OxygenOS. Like OnePlus itself, on the surface it looked great. Most of the team behind the popular Android ROM Paranoid Android came to create OxygenOS. It sounded promising, but as with what seems like everything OnePlus does, it began to fail. Updates did not come, and when they did, they were minimal. What happened, OnePlus?

 I won’t even get into the failure to launch the promised Styleswap covers, screen issues, lost devices, incredibly slow return time, failure to launch the OnePlus 2 on time, and laughable customer service. All I have to say is, OnePlus is probably one of the worst OEMs I’ve ever come across. The only problem is, they make good phones for cheap. If you can get your hands on an invite, it will be hard to not use it. Even if that means supporting this terrible company.