The OnePlus 3 is no longer being made. After five months as the top dog, it was withdrawn from sale and replaced by something even better: the OnePlus 3T. The trouble is that the OnePlus 3T isn't that much better, but it does cost a lot more: 21% more in fact. For that money you're getting a slightly faster processor (Snapdragon 821 rather than the 820), a bigger battery and an improved front-facing camera.
Nice additions, certainly, but £80 worth of nice additions? Doubtful.
Still, it's a moot point: OnePlus no longer make the OnePlus 3, and all retailers seem to have sold out. It may be time to chance the second hand market. Why? Simply because it was the best phone of 2016 and an absolute bargain to boot.
The OnePlus 3: At a glance
Not sure if the OnePlus 3 is the right phone for you? Then here's a quick summary of all the OnePlus 3's key features, and the major things to look out for. You'll find Alphr's full in-depth review below, and if you have any burning questions that aren't answered in the review, then let us know in the Disqus comments at the bottom of the page.
OnePlus 3 review: In full
The OnePlus 3 is one of the most highly anticipated smartphones of 2016 so far, and it has a lot to live up to. Its predecessor, the OnePlus 2, has been my pick of the sub-£300 smartphones ever since it launched last year, and is still on sale at £249. The new model is £60 more expensive, so is the OnePlus 3 worth the price hike?
Immediate impressions are positive. Although the phone has the same 5.5in-sized screen as the OnePlus 2, elsewhere, it’s all change. The headline specifications see the new phone move to the faster, more efficient Snapdragon 820 processor, with twice the amount of RAM. The OnePlus 3 has NFC in addition to a front-mounted fingerprint reader, allowing it to be used for contactless payments via Android Pay. Although the screen is the same size, OnePlus now employs AMOLED tech where its predecessor had an IPS display. And the camera sees an upgrade in resolution and features.
I wasn’t quite as bowled over with the design when I first clapped eyes on it. It looks bland from a distance; a design that’s indistinct, that looks eerily like the long-lost love child of theHTC One M9 and Honor 5X, that simply doesn’t make a statement.
Get it in your hand, however, and it’s a different story. The OnePlus feels robust and refined in all the right ways. In fact, you know what? It’s great. Really great. Forget about the bland looks – the OnePlus 3 is fabulous value.
In fact, if you gave this to me and blanked out the logo, I’d guess it was a far more expensive handset, closer to £600 than £329. It’s lighter and slimmer than the OnePlus 2, shaving 17g off that phone’s weight and 1.5mm off its thickness, despite having the same-sized screen, and it’s packed with lovely little details. The edges of the screen are slightly rounded, the buttons have a solid, positive click, and the do-not-disturb slider on the left edge has a lovely mechanical snick to it.
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