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OnePlus 2: Disappointing Second Album syndrome strikes again

A little too ‘Shenzhen Generic’ for its own good

Longing for Huawei

Battery life seemed to vary too, managing to get through a whole day, as you would expect from such a hefty 3300mAh pack, but needing an overnight charge. The Snapdragon 810 octo-core is a beast, but the phone didn’t get alarmingly hot. And, 4GB of RAM (which you get in the 64GB model) is generous.

But I found myself wishing for Huawei’s excellent radio enhancements, such as rapidly finding a signal (useful several times a day) tenaciously holding on to a signal, and switching between Wi-Fi and cellular in dead spots.

Huawei’s software has its critics, and its silicon has been criticised, but practically useful stuff like this puts it well ahead of the Shenzhen Generics. I did appreciate the dual LTE SIM, but this is no longer a USP. It handled calls fine, with the mono speaker offering reasonable but not HTC-class output.

Conclusion

It seems churlish to criticise something with such immense theoretical horsepower; nothing offers you so many MIPS for your buck as a 64GB OnePlus Two. But ultimately it’s a phone you’re not going to be able to buy and use any time soon. OnePlus needs either a shedload of new capital from its wealthy owners – or perhaps a new game plan.

It's a well made but hard-to-get 5.5-incher toting a top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip, 16GB or 64GB of storage, with no MicroSD card expansion, NFC or rapid charging, but with 13/8MP cameras. The raw software lets you down, but an otherwise attractive proposition on paper.

Prices are, by invitation only, £239 (16GB) and £289 (64GB), plus shipping; covers are a decent £20.02 a pop.

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