OnePlus 3

The OnePlus 3 features a new metal back design, similar to that of an HTC M9 or later, with anodised aluminium and curved edges. The device is available in two colors, Graphite (black/gray) and Soft Gold (white/gold, released later in August 2016.[20]) Additionally, users can purchase protective covers in Kevlar or black apricot wood, bamboo, rosewood, and sandstone which takes care of the camera hump and evens it with the phone.

The device is slightly smaller than its predecessor, the OnePlus 2. It's 2.5mm thinner, 0.9mm shorter, and 0.2mm narrower, but still has the same screen size, at 5.5 inches (140 mm) across diagonally. The display is still 1920×1080 px, comparable to that of the previous two models, but the 3 is the first flagship OnePlus to have an optic AMOLED display. As is typical for most smartphones, the OnePlus 3 features Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection.[21]

The OnePlus 3 in OnePlus' StyleSwap cover.

The OnePlus 3 is also the first OnePlus phone to ship with only 64 GB of storage available, as all other OnePlus devices have shipped with a 16 GB option also. The onboard storage is UFS 2.0, but there is no option for memory expansion via an SD card. The OnePlus 3 does include a dual-sim card tray, but fails to have compatibility with LTE band 13,[22] making LTE unavailable to Verizon customers in the United States.

For the rear-facing camera, the OnePlus 3 has a 16 MP f/2.0 Sony IMX 298 sensor, with both optical image stabilisation and electronic image stabilisation. It is capable of 4K video at 30fps, and 720p slo-mo video at 120fps. Further, it includes support for shooting RAW images, allowing greater control of the image to the user. The front camera is an 8 MP f/2.0 Sony IMX179 sensor, with 1080p at 30fps video and fixed focus.[23]

Rear of the phone.

One new feature to the OnePlus 3 is Dash Charge. It is a custom version of OnePlus' parent company's (OPPO Electronics) VOOC Charging. The feature is made possible by the processor, which has Quick Charge 3.0 support.[24] According to the company, the battery can achieve a 60% or more charge within 30 minutes. This is accomplished by doing all the power transforming required for direct input to the battery in the power brick supplied, not within the phone itself, reducing heat on the device. Additionally, the power brick can contain larger, dedicated electronics, whereas any power processing on a phone has to use smaller and cooler equipment, reducing the speed of charging.

Other features include the alert slider, originally added to the OnePlus 2. NFC was added again from the OnePlus One (as it was absent from OnePlus 2).

A fingerprint scanner is also found at the bottom of the screen. It is estimated to unlock after approximately 0.3 seconds, becoming one of the fastest scanners on a phone. The fingerprint scanner also has a ceramic coating to avoid scratches.[25][26]

The Verge gave the OnePlus 3 an 8.6/10, praising its great build quality, high performance and sharp display. However, The Verge had some reservations about the phone, noting that it does not work on the US Verizon or Sprint networks, it does not have an SD Card slot, and the quick charging is limited to a OnePlus-specific cable and power brick. Nonetheless, they conclude that "The OnePlus 3 is the rare kind of phone [we] can recommend without reservations"[35]

Mashable gave the OnePlus 3 a notable mention, saying that " [the] OnePlus 3 is practically the perfect Android smartphone"

Wired also praised the smartphone concluding that the OnePlus 3 is "A true flagship phone with style and power".

ZDNet commented that the OnePlus3 is "An excellent all-rounder with some very attractive capabilities."

On 6 August 2016, The OnePlus 3 Appeared on the No.1 spot in Stuff.tv's Buyers Guide 2016.

The OnePlus 3 is also one of the best smartphones of 2016 by Android Police.

With the release of OnePlus 3, the company got the "Best Phone Brand" of the year from PcPro.

Marques Brownlee also praised the phone for its performance, display and camera, but criticized the camera bump found on the rear of the phone and the smaller battery compared to that of previous generations. Neither the OnePlus One nor the OnePlus 2 had a camera bump, and both featured slightly larger batteries. He also noted that OnePlus refrained from attempting to innovate, stating that it "doesn't really have any huge, big gimmicks or risks". He implicitly compares this to LG's and Lenovo's attempts at modularity with their recent flagships, respectively the LG G5 and the Moto Z. In summary, Brownlee felt that the phone "despite being so simple, really is the complete package".[36]

Several online reports claimed that despite the OnePlus 3's 6 GB of RAM, the phone could not handle more than 3 or 4 applications at one time.[37] Ars Technica added that OnePlus configured its build of Android to impose an artificial limit of 20 applications stored in RAM at a time.[38] OnePlus indicated this was a deliberate choice to maximize battery life.[37][38]

On launch, XDA Developers called the OnePlus 3 the "Perfect Canvas for the Spec-Hungry Tinkerer".[39] In January they discovered that with the launch of the Android 7.0 Nougat update, OnePlus introduced a software defeat device into the code of the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3T, relaxing thermal throttling and increasing clock speeds when the phone detected that it was in a benchmark app, in order to boost benchmark scores.[40] This came as a bit of a shock to much of the Android enthusiast community, as every major manufacturer had removed their benchmark cheating code following the massive backlash that occurred when it was originally discovered on other devices in 2013.[41][42] OnePlus immediately stated that they would be removing the benchmark cheating from future software versions, and that they weren't sure how it made it into a production build.[40] OnePlus later reversed this decision with the OnePlus 5, reintroducing the software that locked clock speeds to their maximum while in a benchmark.[43]