OnePlus 2: The smartie that's trying to outsmart Google's Android

Double your pleasure

The phone has not one but two SIM card slots, which can be very, very handy, particularly those who travel a lot and don’t want to have to sell their children into slavery to pay international roaming fees.

Something more smartphones need, a dual SIM slot

There's dual-band Wi-Fi – 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n and 5GHz 802.11a/n/ac – as well as Bluetooth 4.1, and support for both GPS and its Russian equivalent, GLONASS. Curiously, since OnePlus is a Chinese firm, China's forthcoming BeiDou GPS system isn't supported.

The front-facing camera is a respectable 5MP, but the rear one is capable of 13MP and uses a laser rangefinder for focus and six layers of lenses over the CCD to eliminate edge blurring and color distortion.

In a nod to customizable phones like the Moto X, the OnePlus 2 comes with a choice of five removable back covers. These include real bamboo, rosewood, and black apricot wood covers, a Kevlar cover that looks suitably tough, and a rather unpleasantly gritty synthetic sandstone version.

Some nice, one nasty

The OnePlus 2, like its predecessor, uses custom hardware modules rather than off-the-shelf parts. This is because the firm didn't want to just get into a race for the bottom on smartphones, but rather hoped to create something tailored for power users, OnePlus CEO Carl Pei told The Register.

This approach means the firm has a longish lead time for components – ten weeks in the case of the Corning Gorilla Glass-covered LCD screens, he explained. That's why the firm is selling via the invitation method, so it can keep tight control on stocks.

The whole thing is powered by a 3,300mAh lithium polymer battery that should easily be enough for a day's use, but disappointingly it has no wireless charging capability.