Tech startup OnePlus debuted its first smartphone called the One, combining a sleek and customizable appearance with some really powerful specifications.
Launched under the company mantra, "never settle," the OnePlus One sports a 5.5-inch, full HD screen, a quad-core, 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with an Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB of RAM and 16/64GB of storage.
The 13-megapixel camera on the back has a Sony Exmor sensor as well as dual-LED flash, and can take 4K video. The device also has a 5-megapixel camera on the front, NFC, LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.1, built-in stereo speakers and a 3,100 mAh battery. It weights 162 grams. Its 8.9mm frame is slightly rounded, which makes it just 4.6mm thick at the edges.
Put all that together, and you get a smartphone that can — on paper — hold its own against any other flagship on the market. OnePlus calls it the "2013 flagship killer".
What sets the OnePlus One apart from most flagships is its magnesium-based case with easily interchangeable covers. The company will offer variants ranging from wood, bamboo, kevlar and even denim.
On the software side, the One runs CyanogenMod 11S, a custom Android ROM based on Android 4.4. The CyanogenMod software is highly customizable, but there's another reason why it's been chosen for the One. The phone's maker OnePlus is headed by Peter Lau, previously vice president of electronics manufacturer Oppo, which used CyanogenMod as the basis for its N1 phone. Oppo actually built the OnePlus One as well, and the two devices are pretty similar when it comes to specifications.
The OnePlus One will be available from the second quarter of 2014 in the U.S., Canada, the UK, certain parts of Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The 16GB variant will cost just $299 unlocked. On April 25, OnePlus will run a special "Smash" competition in which you can get One for just $1.
Image: ONEPLUS