OnePlus 5 Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

[neil74]

My OP5 8gb/128 model finally arrived yesterday (long story) and I had the chance to set it up and have a play last night. My initial impressions are mixed tbh hut here is what I think so far.

- It's super quick, greased lightning.
- Fingerprint sensor. On the front and very fast. Big thumbs up for that!
- Vanilla android is nice although it will strangely take some adjustments.
- Does not feel as nice in the hand as I expected. Actually not that comfortable to hold tbh
- Screen is very nice although it feels more cramped than I was expecting due to the drop in res. vs my S8. Probably need to dive into nova and have a play with icon sizes etc
- Build quality feels ok, it does feel very light though. Not sure if I consider this a good or bad thing yet.
- wifi performance is TERRIBLE It took ages to install all my apps from google play as it it kept popping up a disconnected error. After they finally installed wifi feels noticeably slower than other recent phones I have used.

I have left it at home today as I am undecided if I am going to return it or not so it is back in the box ,today while I ponder......

 

[JeBe4]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Bummer, I know several updates were released this week - if performance is that bad I'd return it.

 

[J R Mtz]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

WiFi on mine is actually pretty great. Hitting almost 400mbps on the speedtest app on WiFi. Initial setup of apps was a bit slow, but then it was over 100 apps, so i'll cut it some slack.

 

[THARD11]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

I turned off "Smart WI-FI Switcher" and have not had any problems since. Have not tried un-switching with latest update although.

 

[digitalbreak]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

For WiFi issues, did you install the latest 4.5.3 update? That is supposed to fix the update.

Screen display - Yes, it's nowhere comparable to the S8 or G6 or the U11 but but certainly usable on a daily basis.

I quite like the build and love to hold due to its curved design on the sides

 

[dannyar11]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Mine is boxed up and ready to go back. I just don't feel the $540 im holding. Camera has been subpar in my testing, screen is not very good when you are coming from a 2k display like I was with the g6 and s8, and having to manually change APN settings for my carrier out of the box to get certain apps to work was a big turn off. For $50 more I have a HTC u11 on the way that has been getting rave reviews and actually checks off all the premium phone marks. Sure it has less 4gb of ram instead of 6/8 but it wont make a huge difference day to day. But the excellent camera, waterproofing, expandable storage and 2k screen sure will. Oneplus needs to go back to its roots and make a flagship level phone that sacrifices in some areas but is able to keep the price in the $350-$400 range. Most people would rather pay the extra $100-$150 for a true flagship that doesn't skimp.

 

[cdd543]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Mine is as well. Just waiting on a response from oneplus on the process. It's been two days and nothing. Hopefully this isn't going to be an issue. My reasons are pretty much the same as the ones mentioned already.

 

[dannyar11]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Mine is as well. Just waiting on a response from oneplus on the process. It's been two days and nothing. Hopefully this isn't going to be an issue. My reasons are pretty much the same as the ones mentioned already

They are horrible with their return process. Just make sure you request the return through your order history and open a service request. It will then prompt you to select return, or repair. From there you will get an email within 48 hours from Acer which handles their whole repair and return process.

 

[krazyatom]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Mine is boxed up and ready to go back. I just don't feel the $540 im holding. Camera has been subpar in my testing, screen is not very good when you are coming from a 2k display like I was with the g6 and s8, and having to manually change APN settings for my carrier out of the box to get certain apps to work was a big turn off. For $50 more I have a HTC u11 on the way that has been getting rave reviews and actually checks off all the premium phone marks. Sure it has less 4gb of ram instead of 6/8 but it wont make a huge difference day to day. But the excellent camera, waterproofing, expandable storage and 2k screen sure will. Oneplus needs to go back to its roots and make a flagship level phone that sacrifices in some areas but is able to keep the price in the $350-$400 range. Most people would rather pay the extra $100-$150 for a true flagship that doesn't skimp.

HTC U11 seems to be better device per most of tech reviewer. Give us an update when you get your HTC U11.

 

[dannyar11]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

HTC U11 seems to be better device per most of tech reviewer. Give us an update when you get your HTC U11.

I definitely will come back to give me thoughts. I consider myself a phone junky and have had literally every major phone release since the original iphone. that includes every iphone, every galaxy note and S device, every HTC One Device, every nexus, every LG since the G2, every Oneplus device,and thrown in a few Huawei, Honor, Motorola and blackberrys, so I would hope my opinion would hold some weight in here.

 

[neil74]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

I am going to have a play tonight again and see how it grabs me. The only thing keeping me curious right now is the (almost) vanilla Android experience. I do also like the speed (it is quick! quicker than my S8) and the finger print sensor.

Honestly though when I pick it up it does not feel like a £500 phone

 

[skinnytoo201]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

I have had just about every phone as well. This isn't terrible, but certainly not worth the $539 I paid. It's blazing fast, but I'll keep my S8+ until I try the new Pixel, V30 and Note 8. I thought maybe this would hold me over until then but guess I was wrong. I so wanted to keep it, but pics and vids are not cutting it. Signal quality isn't so good either.

 

[dannyar11]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Oneplus has fizzled out. There wont be so much hype for their next phone after this monstrosity of a phone launch. They should definitely open a refurb store with the amount of OP5 they will have sent back to them

 

[LeKeiser]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

For WiFi issues, did you install the latest 4.5.3 update? That is supposed to fix the update.

Screen display - Yes, it's nowhere comparable to the S8 or G6 or the U11 but but certainly usable on a daily basis.

I quite like the build and love to hold due to its curved design on the sides

You can't say nowhere comparable to this phone... Ok I don't have the S8 nor the G6 nor the U11 (can't have them all heh? ) but I have an Axon 7 with a QHD display, and I really think that the display of the O+5 is really good when I put them next to each other. OnePlus has done a great job with it, it's near perfection.
When you say "nothing comparable" it sounds like it's ****, when it certainly isn't.

 

[dannyar11]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

You can't say nowhere comparable to this phone... Ok I don't have the S8 nor the G6 nor the U11 (can't have them all heh? ) but I have an Axon 7 with a QHD display, and I really think that the display of the O+5 is really good when I put them next to each other. OnePlus has done a great job with it, it's near perfection.
When you say "nothing comparable" it sounds like it's ****, when it certainly isn't.

You are comparing a QHD display of a budget Axon 7 vs one on a $750 s8. The differences between the 2 are astronomical. The Oneplus 5 while close in comparison to the Axon 7 is light years away from the panels on the s8 and quite far behind the lg g6.

 

[LeKeiser]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

You are comparing a QHD display of a budget Axon 7 vs one on a $750 s8. The differences between the 2 are astronomical. The Oneplus 5 while close in comparison to the Axon 7 is light years away from the panels on the s8 and quite far behind the lg g6.

you know that the display of the A7 is a Samsung display? Supposed to be the same one you can find on the S7. Budget display then? Cheap??
Why don't you just say that you don't like the O+5 and you want to return it just because... well no reason, just suxx.

 

[dannyar11]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

you know that the display of the A7 is a Samsung display? Supposed to be the same one you can find on the S7. Budget display then? Cheap??
Why don't you just say that you don't like the O+5 and you want to return it just because... well no reason, just suxx.

Its not actually.And there are many reasons that a lot of people are returning it. Overhyped camera, smaller battery, bad screen, horrible customer service, and last but not least is Price/spec ratio. The phone is no longer a budget flagship device. You can get many of the true flagships on sale for less or equal amount with better features.

 

[Morty2264]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Thank you for your review! Too bad about the Wi-Fi. That can certainly make or break an experience. Hopefully updates fix it, and/or that you can return it swiftly!

 

[jefbeard911]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

dude, ya gotta sleep on it. Give it a week of daily use before you return it. The Wi-Fi issue could be down to other things.

 

[LeKeiser]

Re: Initial impressions- I'm on the fence

Its not actually.And there are many reasons that a lot of people are returning it. Overhyped camera, smaller battery, bad screen, horrible customer service, and last but not least is Price/spec ratio. The phone is no longer a budget flagship device. You can get many of the true flagships on sale for less or equal amount with better features.

well it's the same display, sorry... check it out on the specs.

the reasons people are returning it are... sorry but they are lame.
Design? It's not like people didn't see the phone before they bought it. Lame excuse to return it.
Display is FHD? People had the specs before. Lame excuse to return it.
Smaller battery? Newer CPU, different charge. And the autonomy is praised by many. So lame excuse to return it.
Not water resistant? Specs... Lame excuse to return it.
Price? Find me a phone with the same 8GB RAM the same CPU the same DC the same... at the same price. Please.

Please, give me the names of those phones...