this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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Previously on Lemmy: Motorola

Maybe we should just make this a series now.

Never settle for Oneplus.

I've always felt that Oneplus is a brand that I should like on principle of having clean software with barebones but powerful hardware, but in reality, every single Oneplus phone I've seen always had some sort of big BUTs attached to them, so buying Oneplus always feels like settling.

Take the Oneplus One for example, that sandstone textured cover was THE most creative material I felt a phone could have had, and I'm honestly shocked nobody has ever done it again. But along with that of course, comes with the cringy "smash your phone" marketing campaign, the half-hearted attempt to distance themselves from their parent company Oppo, the whole software mess with CyanogenMod/OxygenOS, etc.

Had a Oneplus 3T for a while, same deal: Great phone when it works as intended, but they raised their price without making the phone better, and the inexplicable random restarts/battery drain is so irritating, never had another phone that does that.

Recently they've dropped all pretense of not being Oppo and abandoned their core audience, choosing to have the "courage" to drop the headphone jack. Mediocre Chinese phones with flagship specs are a dime a dozen, I just don't see a reason to buy them anymore.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Pre ColorOS they were my goto. These days Pixel all the way.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I had a few Oneplus phones, but the 7 pro was my last of theirs. the 5 and 7 pro were phenomenal phones and the 7 pro is still one of my favorites phones ever. That being said, I didn't like the direction they were going and the full merge with Oppo so that oneplus phones are basically stripped down version of Oppo phones, just soured me to them completely. Then you have their non-existent customer service reputation and they've been put on my list to avoid.

I was a huge fan of Oneplus, but will not buy any of their products again

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Agreed on the OP 7 Pro being pretty great, up until the last major android update that kind of killed it. I ended up having to switch it over to the Pixel Experience ROM for stability reasons.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Used to be high spec and a low price. Now they're average spec and an above-average price.

Nowadays phones are all pretty similar in price and spec, so I'd rather get a slightly more expensive phone from a company with proven, accessible warranty.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I think Oneplus is a proven company, it's just that they've always proved themselves to be mediocre.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm using a OnePlus 6 right now. I've never had a problem, and I'll probably stick with the brand.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They used to be great value, good specs for affordable prices, then slowly turned into premium shit when they got more popular. Same happening with Nothing now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Exactly that, they were great until 4 or 5, I think. Then they became premium. It's kinda a version of enshittifcation for hardware makers: Pander to enthusiast community at the start, get some marketshare and mindshare, then go premium and raise prices, abandoning the original group of fans.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

You summed up my feelings on OnePlus perfectly. There was a time I liked their phones (purely because they offered great hardware and a barebones Android experience) but then their devices progressively got worse in every single way. Now, not a single one of their overpriced phones is worth buying.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm still on a OnePlus 3 (literally replying on it).

I like that I can just unlock the bootloader and flash LineageOS without any artificial restrictions. It gets annoying having to look for specific models of Moto that van be unlocked or hoping the one I get from Amazon is actually not from a carrier. OnePlus is pretty much a safe bet.

Looking for a successor before this one gives up the ghost. Lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Carl Pei started the "Nothing" Phone, I felt that the backlight was gimmicky, but want to remain cautiously optimistic that he can finally do what he wanted now that he's not at Oppo anymore.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Replying to your old post to ask what rom your running on your OP3. I've got an old one I'm looking to breath some new life into.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I had a OnePlus 3t. The power button stopped working in the end, but it lasted a good five years and was fast enough, even at the end. The camera was awful from the beginning though. Like you say tough, the prices now are nothing special.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I used to love them.

I "won" the opportunity to get the OnePlus One.

Was such a great device, I love flashing ROMs on it, even got the bamboo back.

Pretty much every device since the first has been just a slow transition into being your average phone OEM.

They are nothing special anymore.

And now that other OEMs have less crappy skins (and OnePlus' skin got worse) there's really no reason to buy them anymore.

Kinda sad.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Kinda like reddit, I suppose.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Most of the OnePlus series, including older models, is fully supported by LineageOS, and unlocking the bootloader is straightforward. That were the most important reasons for me to go OnePlus. For me and my family there was nothing else comparably easily supported by Lineage with a good price/performance ratio. We currently use 6T and 8T models, that we bought used. The only downside for me is the lack of a notification light.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

So short answer, I really love them but I'm keeping a cautious eye on their choices.

Full disclosure, this is coming from my OP11, so I'm a little bit biased, but this is absolutely the best phone I've ever had. And mind you, my previous phone was the OP7Pro which is an incredible device that STILL works like new after 3 years. So personally, they've been good to me.

However, I am keeping a close eye on their OS and software decisions. I was a little hesitant about this phone at first. The Android 11 OxygenOS was perfect on my OP7Pro. I upgraded to 12 (their merger with ColorOS if I'm not mistaken) and it was just a mess. For the first time since buying it, my OP7Pro had random bugs and stuttering. I immediately reverted to Android 11 and it was back to perfect. Unfortunately, the OP7Pro will no longer receive updates, so if I wanted to try the newest OxygenOS, I needed to upgrade.

OP11 starts with OxygenOS 13 and is slated to receive 5 years of updates, which is awesome for longevity. Some of the decisions they made after the terrible OxygenOS 12 (many changes to the OS, releasing the OP11 as the only flagship without a Pro later in the year, etc.) gave me hope that they recognized their mistakes and were willing to fix them. I decided to give them another shot and got the OP11 in April.

The software is still missing a few (minor) things I liked from OxygenOS 11, but Android 13 makes up for it with some interesting features. And this might be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like what they're doing with the OxygenOS 13 skin. It's hard to describe since there are a lot of small things I probably noticed unconsciously, but I haven't had any bugs and it's been a dream with this device. I do feel like they're listening to their customers again, and trying to get back on our good sides.

In the past I've been burnt by Samsung and LG, but OnePlus hasn't ever let me down (except that atrocious OxygenOS 12, but again, I skipped it). So long as they keep making the effort to listen to their customers and keep pushing the changes/additions we want to see, I'll keep buying their devices and running their OS. Of course if I see a repeat of 12 with OxygenOS 14, I honestly might bail. 12 was so bad I'm never doing that again.

I realize this is kind of rambly, so please let me know if you want me to clarify anything.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Have a Oneplus 7 Pro, first Oneplus phone I've owned and it will be the last. Absolutely love the phone itself, but Oneplus as a company, the software they package, the warranty issues, and the direction they've gone as a value pick have all fallen off a cliff since it was produced, and have turned me off to ever upgrading to one of their newer models. That's fine for me though, I have replacement parts on-hand, and a third-party actually maintained rom, so I'm OP7P until the wheels fall off this thing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I appreciate they have unlocked bootloaders. Now that I'm comfortable upgrading my old phones with the latest Android and security updates I'll never buy another phone that doesn't let me unlock the bootloader like Samsung. It's why I replaced my Note.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I've had the 3t for a couple of years until the 6t came out and I'm still using that to this day. I've been happy with both of them, the 6t still works well and although e.g. the camera isn't the greatest I have no intention of getting another phone until this one is completely dead.

That said, I wouldn't buy a newer models since the pricing policy and the move away from their former principles made them a mediocre phone amongst many and I would definitely get a Pixel next if I had to.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm typing this from a 6t. No complaints with it so far, it's far enough in that I need to replace the battery but that's to be expected. The 6gb of ram has proved to be really helpful in ensuring that things always work and the dual sim has let me combine the work and personal phones into one.

I know it's long in the tooth so if anyone has some recommendations for a replacement that has dual sim and doesn't cost an arm and a leg please reply!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I had a oneplus 6 and really liked it. I am also getting a oneplus nord n200 in a few weeks to replace my dying moto. I will be flashing LineageOS which is mainly why i chose it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

They had their time in the sun. Their first few phones were pretty good in terms of price to performance. 7 Pro were peak One Plus.

Every phone after that just got more and more bland with hardly any feature to make them stand out from the rest of the competition.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I owned a OnePlus One. Solid phone for the time. Sandstone back and degoogled CyanogenMod.

I got my wife the OnePlus X. Their first attempt at a premium phone. Buggy piece of shit crashed all the time. Google Keep would crash. Chrome would crash. This was reported by everyone, and instead of a fix, it was completely dropped by OnePlus after four months. Like, no updates or anything, because of an outdated chipset. No security patches or anything. Just pretend it never happened, sorry for your money. I sold both phones and went to iPhone.

OnePlus, the supposed best Android phone, sent me to Apple for like a half decade after that. And this was pretty early on in their game, like 2016 or so. I missed out on everything up until now, I have no point of reference on upside down displays and ColorOS vs OxygenOS or whatever. I've never been screwed over by trading in a phone to OnePlus and have them come back and take half the value back due to OLED burn-in, because I got away from OnePlus before any of this was even a thing.

Years later, I ended up back on Android and lo and behold, I have a OnePlus phone as a backup. Nord N300 5g or something like that. It came out a few weeks ago but I got it a little earlier than that due to some TikTok thing. It was cheap, it has a good camera, an LCD screen and Android 13. I like the OS better than stock Android (Nokia X20, XR20, Pixel 7 and FairPhone 4 for comparison). I know exactly what I have and I don't expect much from it, so it is kind of not bad to use. Updates are decent, I'm on a May security patch. The software and overall experience is better than any of the recent Nokia's I've owned (pure trash brand, don't get me started).

So at the low end, it's not a bad proposition. Really nothing bad to say about the new phone. It does what I need, has an SD card and 3.5mm jack and an LCD panel. Caveat this: I am not a premium phone user anymore (the last maxed out spec phone I got was a red iPhone 8+ in 2018), so I can't compare OP11 or OP12 or whatever and won't get anything with an OLED screen if I don't have to.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My 5T has been my daily driver for years. I've replaced the battery & USB port on it once so far, and that's it. I've also run LineageOS (rooted + Magisk) since day 1, which I agree is its own set of challenges. Seriously no complaints and I'm not really shopping for anything more right now.

If the Fairphone 5 specs are solid I may take the plunge, but for my needs nothing else out there has been compelling enough to make a change.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've always been thinking about switching to a 3rd party OS, but been kindof wary due to bank apps and such. Do they work with LineageOS as well?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use my bank apps and GPay without too many issues. There's a checklist to follow for Lineage + Magisk + some modules & settings, but it works.

Some hotel apps won't work, but I don't stay at those places often enough to matter.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Alright, thanks 👍

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you have a problem that they're "just Oppo" now? I bought an Oppo phone on a bit of a whim when my last phone died and I'm a bit of a convert. The software is great - clean, unobtrusive and full of useful features, the weird features can be disabled. I even switched from Nova back to the default Oppo launcher and it's fine, certainly not as configurable and I don't like how the inbuilt search recommends store apps, but it's perfectly cromulent.

Given my experience with Oppo I'd have no qualms about choosing Oppo or OnePlus as my next phone. RealMe, BBK's other brand, I'd need to research first as their value proposition seems even more insane than Oppo...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I don't have a problem with them being Oppo, Oppo makes good products. (BTW, I'm still mad Oppo NA shut down so there's nowhere to get a new HA-2SE or PM-1 now) What I have a problem with is that 1+ was trying so hard to pretend to NOT be Oppo at first.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I don't like them. I think they are trying to be Apple and I hate that because it means higher prices, fewer features. No headphone jack, no SD card slot, no dual SIM, high prices.

That's not meant to be the Android way. Android is all about choice and options. That's what I love about Sony, and why I have a Sony Xperia 10iii - they give you more: award winning design, sleek form factor, fantastic cameras, headphone jack, SD card slot, dual SIM, waterproofing, easily removable SIM tray, notification LED, battery care, long battery life, great OLED screen, NFC, HiRes audio on wired and wireless, MP3 upscale to improve music quality on MP3 tracks, great video recording (up to 4K on mine), support app built in, fast stock launcher will little bloat. I'm even a fan of the dedication Google Assistant button and use it all the time.

And the price was great because I got it on sale for just €350.

That's how Android should be: options, choice, value for money

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I was considering them until they removed expansion storage on their phones.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I just moved away from my 7T onto a Pixel 7. I love my 7T. It was definitely my favorite phone. But it seems like things have changed lately and the newer OnePlus phones aren't what they used to be. I still use my 7T as a game and media player for when I'm chilling in bed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Fully agree. I still have my 7T Pro, and I'm not looking forward to upgrading it when I have to! I loved when it was a simple upgrade on base android, but with the newer versions, it has veered away from that. I'm disappointed with the updates - I haven't done the latest update as lots of people are complaining that it's very buggy, and it doesn't look like they are going to update it again.

I don't think I'd go for a OnePlus again - I'd probably go with something more stock, with hopefully more reliable updates, like a Pixel.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I have owned the OnePlus 2 and 6 and was very happy with them. Value/performance was pretty good and I never had any problems. Their recent direction made me go back to Samsung though and getting an a52

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I had the one plus 8uw and absolutely hated it. Didn't work at all even tho it's was a Verizon phone. Went back to pixel and won't go back.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I really liked my Oneplus 8T for about 90% of the time I had it. Liked the look, good size, felt well built with that glass back, but then it just completely became unusable in the span of about three months. Definitely in "good" phone territory, but am a little hesitant to get another device.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am only slightly better than a "casual" user in terms of Android phones. The most I've done is flash LineageOS on my phone. I think smartphones have reached the pinnacle for users like me. Like TVs I'm really wondering where smartphones could possibly go from here. As long as all the apps work and the battery can last a full working day I don't think I'll be replacing my 8T any time soon.

If there's one thing I'd be looking for it would be Android's answer to iMessage. But that ball is in Google's court. Ideally it would be an open protocol, preferably they would just adopt something that already exists, like Matrix Chat.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Matrix does seem to be the way forward, but last time I used Element it was absurdly slow, so I don't think it's ready yet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I had a 6T and really liked it. Got an 8 Pro about the day they disabled the Photochrom filter. That really disappointed me, not because it had "X-ray" capability, but because it was an IR sensor and I was excited to see a world I couldn't see with my visible light spectrum eyes. OS updates seemed to degrade things. I hope their foldable serves them well, but I'm not even considering it since I don't think they could make a good multitasking OS. We'll see when they announce it.

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