Mobile phone brands talk about being “disruptive” but few have taken the word seriously. Having entered only four years ago, OnePlus has managed to become the phone most wait for, for of its killer features and sturdiness at down-to-earth prices. The company comes up with only one phone every year (besides an upgrade) and it manages to take the challenge to its competition — Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and Honor. Vikas Agarwal, OnePlus India’s general manager, spoke to t2 after the launch of OnePlus 6 in Mumbai on Thursday evening.
A OnePlus customer doesn’t change his phone often because it’s sturdy and high on features. An increasing life cycle means less customers for you. Is that a concern?
Not really. Our company’s promise is to give you a phone that’s worth the money you are paying. There are customers who want to change their phones every six months and then there are customers who want their phone to run as smoothly as it did on day one even after three years. We come up with phones that one can use through its life cycle, till it becomes obsolete. There are customers — like my father — who are still using OnePlus One. Not everyone is comfortable changing their phones often and those who do, get enough value for the price they pay.
When you started work on this year’s flagship model, what were you aiming for?
The core idea was to offer speed and performance. A lot of people may ask why we are talking about speed now. We believe that the interaction you have with the phone should be fast. When you open an app, close an app or play a game, you will feel that the phone is responding faster.
Second, even after a year or two years of use, the device won’t become sluggish. You won’t feel betrayed and forced to buy another phone. We have always provided specifications that are future-ready, like having 3GB RAM, then 4GB, 6GB and 8GB of RAM.
Next, we focus on the design of the smartphone. With OnePlus 6, you have an all-glass design. If you go back four years, with OnePlus One we had a sandstone black, which was revolutionary at that time. Similarly, everyone loved the design of OnePlus 3 and the more recent, OnePlus 5T. Now we have moved to the next phase. Having said that, there is another benefit in having a glass design — it improves your signal quality... better connectivity.
All-glass finish means there is a chance of smudge...
(Takes the Midnight Black and Mirror Black versions out of his pocket) You can always clean it quickly! Even if there is a smudge, the phone will look good. Now let’s compare it with the matte black... it doesn’t have smudges. People have an option.
People have been talking about the Notch a lot. Are fans divided?
There is a way to hide it but from the early feedback we have received, people will retain the Notch! In the future, I am sure there will be Notch-less designs; there will be phones with fully immersive displays. This is a transition phase with people moving from smaller screens to bigger ones.
You could have had wireless charging but there are downsides to it. Is it tough to stay away from trends?
I would say it’s about what the company values. Our focus is simple — the product. We come up with this one flagship phone (besides the ‘T’ version that appears every year) and with it compete with other flagship products. We need to prioritise what the customer wants. At OnePlus, we do a lot of customer surveys and look at pros/cons of different features. We have this balanced-burdenless philosophy. When we develop a product, we want to give you a great experience. For example, many brands talk about bigger batteries but that makes your phone thick. Then lots of brands talk about add-ons which make the phone bloated. We want to give you the purest experience of design and software. Talking about our OxygenOS, it is one of the most-loved features of our phone.
Coming to the burdenless part... if the device heats up while playing a game, that’s a burden on the customer. There are phones with sharp edges which make them appear great but these don’t feel good in the hand.
Do you plan to go beyond the two phones-per-year philosophy?
We don’t have any such plans. The idea is simple: We want to develop flagship phones. India may seem like a good opportunity to sell phones in the lower segment but there is no loyalty factor in that category. It’s just a segment that’s about prices. We go for the loyalty factor.
With most companies offering similar specifications, do you see OnePlus focusing more on the software side in the future?
In the long run, I would say that software will play a key role. But for the moment, we want to give users a smooth experience. We don’t believe in bloatware. We want to be the brand that people aspire for.
Xiaomi has done well for itself with its ecosystem... something beyond phones. Would you look at something similar?
Additional product categories take time. We have been focusing on flagship devices and that focus will continue. Once we have something substantially better than what’s available in the market, we would consider. At the moment, there is enough to be done in the smartphone category.
THE ONEPLUS USER...
1. Anybody who is a rational user or anybody who understands technology. Nobody wants to pay for an inferior product. We are the highest-rated phone on amazon.in with 4.5 rating for the OnePlus 5T.
2. A student may not have the purchasing power but they recommend the phone to their parents.
3. Working professionals across categories who can afford the iPhone; they are smart users and are educated... but they want to save money wherever they can. These are people who don’t want to compromise; they are going for our product.
4. Techies and those who want to play games. They want to have the most powerful and open device which they can customise.
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.28” Optic AMOLED
Processor: Snapdragon 845
Front camera: 16MP
Dual rear camera: 16 + 20 MP
Video: 4K resolution video at 30/60 fps
RAM: Up to 8GB
Storage: Up to 256GB
Colours: Mirror Black, Midnight Black and Silk White
Unlock options: Fingerprint, face unlock
Price: Upwards of Rs 34,999 (Marvel Avengers limited edition is priced at Rs 44,999)
Sale starts: May 22 on amazon.in (May 21 noon for early access sale for Prime members)
The ‘one more thing’: OnePlus Bullets Wireless Black headphones (Rs 3,999)
I remember Carl (Pei, OnePlus co-founder) saying that he wanted to produce something unique, something different, something young and something that stood out. Today, the mobile phone has become an alter ego for each one of us. Every time I see someone holding a phone, it somehow gives me the impression of what this guy is all about; what he is going to say; what he thinks of himself. When I hold a OnePlus 6 in my hand, I feel superior.
— Amitabh Bachchan on OnePlus 6
GEN-Y FANS
In OnePlus 5, I liked the night and reading modes, as we can complete our work at night without hurting the eyes. Also, the battery life is quite long.
— Ayushi Agarwal, BCom, second year, St. Xavier’s College
OnePlus has reduced the gap between a mobile phone camera and a DSLR.
— Nishant K. Nath, third year, Vel Tech University
Being a OnePlus fanboy, I cannot but be in awe of every single device it comes up with. I can play high-end games without glitches. And there is an Avengers edition.
— Soham Choudhury, second year, Jadavpur University
Among all the ‘never settle’ features, I like the design element the most. OnePlus 6 is a phone I’d like to use.
— Soumil Sanghvi, second year, KIIT Bhubaneswar
One of the many reasons I would love to own a OnePlus 6 is its Dash Charging technology, which allows the phone to have a day’s power in half an hour.
— Aikansh Agarwal, second year, Amity University
The constant introduction of cool new features is one of the reasons why OnePlus has been so popular.
— Vatsal Parakh, second year, J.D. Birla Institute, department of management
