Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsIt's hard to find something to complain about on this phone.
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2024
Disclaimer: I use this phone mainly to talk, text and peruse social media. I don't do too many live videos or take a ton of photos.
This phone does a great job in everything although it's really not a master in anything outside of battery life and charging options. I get a full day out of this phone easily. Usually around the 1 day, 3 to 5 hour mark before I charge each day. I usually charge when the phone gets between 20-25%. I can leave my house at 35% or even go to bed at 15% and never worry about running out of juice. And even if I'm low on juice, I can charge this phone from 20-100% in about 25 minutes. I am amazed at how I can put this phone on the charger and in just a matter of 5 minutes I've gained about 20% of power. Even when using a USB charger, it's still pretty fast. Wireless charging is about average. That is the phone's biggest strength.
As far as talking goes, it has a good quality sound. Coming from a Samsung 20 FE (Verizon service), I found myself missing a call now and then (goes straight to voicemail) or drops in audio when I took calls at home. I've yet to have a problem with the OnePlus, so I'm guessing the internal anntenna is better because I'm still with Verizon.
There are a lot of audio playback options available (Dolby Atmos, Spatial, etc.) and I haven't tried them all out yet, but the speakerphone sounds loud and crisp. However, when I connect to a Bluetooth speaker or in my car's audio system, the volume tends to be lower. I have to really crank up the volume in my car or max out my Bluetooth speaker to hear clearly. However, maybe there's an option I'm missing in the settings that would help me.
And there are a ton of options in the settings! It can be overwhelming to someone who isn't tech-saavy, but it's not as bad as it looks. Most of the settings are basic on the surface, but if you go into the sub-menus then it will get more advanced. But you can control things to enhance the already superior battery life to changing your refresh rate for smoother scrolling. Just about everything else is typical Android stuff, but OnePlus has some nice features of its own with the Floating Window and One-Hand Scrolling.
The phone needs a case. It's not easy to this phone even with both hands. I wouldn't advise anyone try it unless they have pretty big hands. It will probably drop as you are texting. But that's not a deal-breaker because cases are inexpensive.
The media on this phone is smooth. It looks really good and there are options to tweak it even more. Someone who is an avid TikTok or IG fan will be at home with this phone. The camera takes amazing photos. Unfortuantely, I haven't been on vacation yet to give it a real try, but what I've taken so far are very nice. Definitely a little clearer and more realistic than my Samsung 20 FE. Recording video is pretty impressive, too, but I've yet to do a live or video call.
Anyone who pays almost double for an iPhone or Samsung is really just seeking the brand. Yes, those phones may have a few more bells and whistles with A.I. and they may have slightly (arguably) better cameras. But if those phones are a 10 on a scale of 1-10 then the OnePlus is a 9. And it is much, much more inexpensive to the point that you could probably get two of these for the price of an iPhone or Galaxy 24.