Android

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Edit: Can't comment with experience on other OP phones, but I've heard very good things about the 6s, it was my second pick when I was looking for a phone at the time.

Man I loved the sandstone back on the OnePlus One. That was the only phone I'd ever used without a case for the entire time I had it. I also had a 3T and my dad currently has a 7. The 3T's camera stopped focusing after a couple of years and I had to replace the USB port on the One.

I haven't really kept up with phones that much recently (my Note 9's going strong still after a battery replacement, lol) so I don't really know much about OnePlus' current offerings.

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

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

Edit: I forgot to mention that Sony allows unlocking the bootloader if you want to install other ROM's like Sailfish, Lineage etc

Great thread. I'm currently on a OP8 and it's done me alright, but my screen broke a few months ago so I'm gonna hijack this thread to ask for The Best Phone on the market under 1k right now. Ideally cheap (and rootable).

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.

I'm pretty happy with my 8. No issues really besides lacking a standard headphone jack, I lost the one it came with and just use Bluetooth though

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.

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!

I had a OnePlus One, and a 5, and I'm currently rocking a 9Pro. Fantastic phone, great photos, I don't mind OxygenOS. The only problem I have is because it's not supported by carriers in Canada (had no problems in the US), VoWIFI can be flaky which sucks.

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.

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.

I had a OnePlus 3T that lasted me 4 years. It served me well and I liked the design on hardware and software, but my biggest complaint was their way too overly aggressive killing of background apps. I remember numerous times where I would be listening to music and if I switched to another app it would kill my music after a few minutes. I guess it helped on battery benchmarks but the usability really suffered.
And by the time I was ready to get a new phone, they were just as expensive as everyone else without a clear vision or distinction to set them apart. I had also heard too many support issues to feel comfortable spending that much on a phone compared to the other options, so they ended up losing me as a repeat customer.
I remember being so excited after getting my 3T to introduce people to OnePlus as a great performance/software/price combo since they still weren’t that well-known outside of enthusiast communities at the time, and I was disappointed to see the direction they’ve ended up going.

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.

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.

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

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...

My OnePlus 6 is just short of 4 full years of use, with LineageOS of course. It's been great and I'd keep it for another few years if I were able to buy a new, genuine replacement battery; all the vendors I see offering one are dubious. The OP6 has excellent hardware for the price I paid for it back in 2019, excellent software thanks to LineageOS support, all while having Dual SIM/microSD (shared slot, used for second SIM by me) and a headphone jack. Earlier, my daily driver was a OnePlus X which I was also happy with for the same reasons. Now that 4 years of battery wear are pushing me towards replacement, I will jump ship only because newer OnePlus phones have impractical display aspect ratios, way too long and narrow for my needs; I consider a phone's display to be as good as the largest 16:9 rectangle that can fit into it.

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