Note: The article was first published on TechNode China written by Evan Huang and translated by Zinan Zhang and Jake Newby.

On Dec. 5, 2023, Pete Lau, the founder of OnePlus (now Senior Vice President at Oppo), held a press conference to mark the Chinese mobile phone brand’s tenth anniversary where he answered a series of screened questions from netizens, posted on the social media platform Weibo. These questions led Lau to offer a retrospective on OnePlus’s entrepreneurial history, discuss its brand positioning, and evaluate some of its classic products from the last decade. 

OnePlus was founded on Dec. 17, 2013, and released its first product, the OnePlus One, in Beijing five months later. Time magazine later praised the phone as a “Phone of Dreams” in an article that made OnePlus the first Chinese smartphone brand to be reviewed by the outlet. Yet in recent years the brand has struggled to differentiate itself from Oppo, with whom it shares a large amount of investment, leading to several restructurings in the relationship between the two firms.

Understandably, the tenth anniversary milestone found Lau in a reflective mood, but he also laid out some of his ambitions for the brand’s future and repeatedly emphasized that OnePlus’ has its place in a crowded mobile phone market.

Material innovation

One area in which Lau feels the brand has excelled – and differentiated itself – in the last ten years is in the materials it has used.

As early as 2014, with the OnePlus One, OnePlus introduced two innovative materials: “baby skin” and bamboo. The baby skin white variant, featured a three-layer evenly brushed back cover, with a delicate and smooth texture due to its spray-on material extracted from natural cashew nuts that didn’t retain sweat stains. The bamboo version, using the grass as its back cover material, provided a warm and smooth feel.

With the OnePlus 3 series protective cases, OnePlus introduced another new material: ebony wood. This is a scarce wood with a tight structure, hardness, and corrosion resistance, showcasing distinct wood grains.

With the OnePlus 5T, OnePlus once again challenged traditional material usage and craftsmanship modes, using a new spray-on material and process on the white back cover. Through four new high-precision spray processes, sandstone white and metal materials were organically fused to provide outstanding tactility.

AG glass, widely used in current phones, gained its popularity from OnePlus. On the OnePlus 6T, AG etching was used to create AG glass, providing an impressive matte feel. Today, OnePlus has adopted the fifth-generation AG glass technology, achieving a haze of the glass surface to 72%, and delivering a matte texture resistant to fingerprints and sweat stains.

OnePlus’ pursuit of material innovation extends beyond this. In the spring of this year, OnePlus launched the OnePlus 11 Jupiter Rock Limited Edition, using 3D microcrystalline rock, a material that has never been used before in the industry.

OS issues: From independence to adoption

OnePlus phones were originally equipped with an in-house developed operating system, HydrogenOS. HydrogenOS was known for its simplicity. The “smoothness” of HydrogenOS was highly praised by many early users and was considered a competitive advantage for OnePlus.

As other domestic smartphone systems became more localized, however, HydrogenOS, which leant more towards Android systems, began to see that competitive advantage significantly reduced. 

ColorOS, developed by Oppo, is a more comprehensive operating system compared to HydrogenOS, offering rich and stable functionality. Therefore, with the OnePlus 9 series in 2021, OnePlus directly adopted ColorOS, aiming to gradually replace its HydrogenOS with a higher caliber system. On Nov. 13, Oppo announced that ColorOS’s global monthly active users exceeded 600 million. 

The recently released OnePlus 12 comes equipped with ColorOS 14, debuting the all-new AndesGPT model and integrating deeply with the PANTANAL system to break down barriers between data and services.

OnePlus and Oppo integration

Due to Pete Lau’s connections with Oppo, OnePlus has always had a close relationship with the mobile phone giant. In 2021, OnePlus and Oppo fully integrated, with the former becoming an independent sub-brand under Oppo. 

Lau has always been keen to emphasize that OnePlus and Oppo are two completely independent companies, with overlapping relationships only in terms of investment. However, OnePlus has benefited from the support and resources provided by Oppo in areas such as product development, technology, supply chain, and channels. To seize new opportunities and promote the healthy and long-term growth of OnePlus, collaboration with Oppo is needed to enhance the former company’s brand strength, while also bringing positive synergies to both sides, Lau said.

In recent years, OnePlus has opened up a new Ace series product line, as part of an attempt to differentiate its brand from Oppo. The Ace series is intended to enable more people to gain access to what Lau terms “premium flagship” products but with lower price points. 

After the release of the Ace series, OnePlus achieved a year-on-year growth of 9.6% in total domestic sales in the third quarter of last year, with a month-on-month growth of 44.3%. In the first half of 2023, OnePlus’ smartphone sales increased by 335% year-on-year, making it the fastest-growing mobile phone brand in the industry during the same period. Therefore, Lau jokingly remarked that competitors should be grateful that OnePlus has yet to venture into products priced below RMB 2,000.

Thinking globally

At the OnePlus tenth anniversary event, Lau repeatedly emphasized the mantra of “making good products”. Yet he also stressed that for OnePlus, this philosophy doesn’t mean that they excessively emphasize the differences between countries. Whether in design style or product experience, there is no deliberate effort to create different products based on regional distinctions. He believes that “internationalization is a false proposition.” Truly good products are universal and have no borders, he said – as long as the product is good enough, it will be accepted by users both domestically and internationally.

Looking back over the past decade, Lau admitted that OnePlus has many dreams yet to be realized. In the future, Lau said, the company will continue to persist in making good products, continually pursue higher performance, and bring users more quality products and experiences.

On Tuesday, Oppo smartphone subsidiary OnePlus unveiled its flagship series OnePlus 12 just in time to celebrate the brand’s tenth anniversary on Dec. 16. To showcase the specifications of the new device, OnePlus China’s CEO Li Jie spent a full three hours describing it in detail at the launch event, making regular comparisons to Xiaomi’s 14 Pro throughout.

Why it matters: The launch of OnePlus’ new flagship is a direct challenge to Xiaomi and its subsidiary Redmi, as the Oppo sub-brand looks to focus on high-quality smartphones with cutting-edge features offered at competitive prices. 

Details: At the launch event, OnePlus repeatedly compared the OnePlus 12’s software and hardware capabilities with those of the Xiaomi 14 Pro, emphasizing its starting price of RMB 4,299 ($606), compared to the latter’s RMB 4,999 ($705).

• The OnePlus 12 features a 2K BOE screen with medical-grade eye protection, the Find imaging system created in collaboration with Hasselblad, and the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.
• OnePlus claims to have worked with Chinese display panel maker BOE for the past two years to create the 2K BOE screen for the OnePlus 12. The screen boasts medical-grade eye protection and industry-leading peak brightness of 4,500 nits. 
• The OnePlus 12 offers a camera setup that includes a 50 MP Sony LYT-808 sensor, a 48 MP IMX481 ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 64 MP Omnivision OV64B periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. For selfies and video calls, it is equipped with a 32 MP Sony IMX615 sensor at the front. The Find camera system is enhanced with Hasselblad branding and tuning technology, ensuring a high-quality imaging experience, according to OnePlus.
• The new flagship comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor under its hood. Working in conjunction with the Adreno GPU, the smartphone aims to achieve an improved gaming performance, thanks to the PixelWorks X7 Visual processor, as claimed by the company.
• The phone has a 5,400 mAh dual-cell battery, marking the largest capacity ever applied in a OnePlus device. It can charge at up to 50W via the company’s self-developed AirVOOC technology, which is three times faster than the 15W rate of Apple’s MagSafe wireless chargers. 
• The entry level model with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage is priced at RMB 4,299 ($606), while the premium version of 24GB RAM + 1TB storage is available at RMB 5,799 ($818). The phone is available in black, green, and white.

Context: In June 2021, OnePlus announced it had merged teams with Oppo, its parent company, to streamline its operations. 

• According to market research platform Counterpoint, Oppo and Xiaomi accounted for 14% of each of global smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2023, with both firms shipping around 41.5 million units. Oppo’s data includes figures for its OnePlus brand.
• The Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro, the first phones to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, were launched on Oct. 26 in China. The two smartphones are currently only available in China but are expected to launch globally in early 2024.
• OnePlus founder and chief product officer Liu Zuohu stated at the anniversary event that OnePlus smartphones are available in 10,000 Oppo offline stores in China.

OnePlus launched its Nord Buds 2 globally at a budget-friendly price of $59 in April. Our team received a gray model for a two-week trial. Here’s our take on the new earbuds. 

The Nord Buds 2, may cost $20 more than their predecessors, but they’re still some of the most affordable earbuds on the market and deliver solid audio quality and impressive active noise cancellation (ANC). Equipped with four microphones, the stylish earbuds – also available in white – come with a 12.4mm dynamic titanium driver, a 36-hour battery life, and IP55 water and dust resistance.

Stylish design and comfortable fit

With a stylish look and sustainably sourced materials, the Nord Buds 2 ought to appeal to a younger consumer base. The smooth, eye-catching design is augmented with speckled accents on the buds’ bodies, though at first glance this can be mistaken for specks of dust.

The compact, oval-shaped charging case and earbuds may be made of plastic, but they feel durable. There are three sizes of silicon tips available, the buds weighing 4.7 grams per earpiece, and despite somewhat chubby stems, they sat in my ears comfortably. 

The snug fit, combined with an IP55 rating which means they are resistant to light sweat and rain, makes the earbuds suitable for wearing during exercise. Over the fortnight I had them, I walked and jogged with them in and they didn’t fall out. 

Audio quality and active noise cancellation

For the price, the Nords Buds 2 deliver a relatively crisp sound quality with clear vocals, soothing treble, and convincing deep bass. The plus-sized 12.4 mm drivers feature a larger diaphragm with titanium coating, meaning users rarely need to turn the volume up beyond 50%. 

Impressively, the Nord Buds 2 are the first Nord product with up to 25dB2 of active noise cancellation. While noise-canceling is a standard feature in more expensive wireless earbuds, it is still not common in earbuds costing less than $100. ANC is effective at muting consistent low-frequency sounds, and can block some high-pitch frequencies too, without eliminating them. 

A surprising drawback is that the earbuds lack in-ear detection, meaning they are unable to automatically detect if they are being worn or removed. 

Battery life and tap controls

The Nord Buds 2 come with a 480 mAh battery that gives you seven hours of usage. With the case, they work for up to 36 hours. However, when using ANC, the battery life is reduced to five hours for the earbuds and 27 hours with the charging case. 

The earbuds support fast-charging and can gain five hours more battery life on just a 10 minute charge. Based on our test, the buds can support a two-hour commute every day and only need to be charged once a week.

The Nord Buds 2 come with built-in controls for quick adjustments, such as:

• One tap: Play or pause your music
• Double tap: Skip forward
• Triple tap: Skip backward
• Press and hold: Turn noise-canceling on or off

There is no tap control for volume however, and sometimes you can trigger commands without meaning to: when we went to adjust the earbuds to fit our ears, we accidentally turned off the noise-canceling mode. There is also no option to seamlessly switch between devices while wearing the buds. Each time you change from a laptop to a phone or tablet, you have to reconnect the earbuds, adding a degree of inconvenience. 

Conclusion

In general, the Nord Buds 2 are great value at $59. They deliver good sound quality and functional noise-canceling, despite lacking in-ear detection and seamless connectivity.

Pros

• Stylish design
• Lightweight and comfortable fit
• Dust and water resistant
• Great audio performance with convincing bass
• Impressive noise-canceling for the price
• Long-lasting battery
• Fast-charging support

Cons

• Speckled design looks dusty
• No in-ear detection
• Connectivity issues

OnePlus, a Chinese phone brand owned by Oppo, revealed its new Ace 2V at a product launch on Tuesday, highlighting its high performance stats and low price tag as it looks to accrue market share in a segment long dominated by Xiaomi.

Why it matters: The Ace 2V provides a new threat to Xiaomi’s Redmi series when it comes to price sensitive consumers, a field where the latter has traditionally excelled. The basic Redmi K60 model is priced at RMB 2,999; the standard Ace 2V undercuts it by RMB 700. 

• Lu Weibing, Xiaomi’s president, announced a price cut for the Redmi K60 series on his Weibo account on Feb. 7, the same day that the OnePlus Ace 2V was revealed. A week later, president of OnePlus China Li Jie posted on his Weibo account, “Don’t give in to mediocrity, this is a victory for effort,” and “We won’t sacrifice specs and user experience to profit” (our translations).

Details: The Ace 2V phone began pre-sales on Mar. 7, though is currently only available in China. According to OnePlus, it will be renamed OnePlus Nord 3 in overseas markets, but its global release date is as yet unknown.

• OnePlus has priced its three Ace 2V models (12GB RAM + 256GB, 16GB RAM + 256GB and 16GB RAM + 512GB) at RMB 2,299, RMB 2,499 and RMB 2,799 respectively.
• The OnePlus Ace 2V offers a Dimensity 9000 chip, 12/16 GB of RAM and 256/512 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. At a press conference demonstration, the OnePlus Ace 2V achieved a score of 1.05 million on the AnTuTu software benchmarking system, the highest of any Dimensity 9000 phone to date. The company says that such specs will ensure a smooth gaming experience.
• The phone features support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and several navigation systems. It includes an infrared port and 80W fast charging port, with a battery capacity of 5,000 mAh. It also offers a 6.74-inch OLED display with 2,772 x 1,240 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate and comes with a three camera system featuring a 64 megapixel main camera, 8 megapixel ultra-wide angle lens, and 2 megapixel macro lens.

Context: In December last year, major Chinese phone maker Oppo announced that it would be investing RMB 10 billion ($1.43 billion) over three years as part of a “dual primary” strategy aimed at enhancing and clarifying OnePlus’ status. The two firms merged in 2021. 

• According to data from technology market research firm Counterpoint, Oppo was the third highest selling smartphone brand in China in the fourth quarter of 2022, taking 16% of the market and ranking behind Apple and Vivo. Oppo’s sales figures include those for OnePlus. Xiaomi’s market share was 12% for the same period. 
• In December, it was reported that Xiaomi was undertaking large-scale layoffs after a persistent decline in its phone sales over the course of 2022.

Major Chinese phone maker Oppo will treat Oppo and OnePlus as “dual-primary” brands, it was announced at an event to mark the 9th anniversary of OnePlus on Dec. 17. Oppo will invest RMB 10 billion ($1.43 billion) in OnePlus in the next three years as part of the new strategy, according to Liu Zuohu (Pete Lau), founder of OnePlus and chief product officer of Oppo.

Why it matters: Since the two firms merged in 2021, OnePlus’ positioning has become somewhat unclear – it offers a less premium experience compared to Oppo and has lost some of its unique features. The new strategy and investment seem intended as a strong push to make OnePlus stand out again.

Details: In addition to the $1.43 billion investment, Oppo will also share more resources in terms of technology, retail channels, and after-sales services with OnePlus.

• The Oppo Research Institute Innovation Accelerator and Oppo’s research and development department will offer more cutting-edge technology to OnePlus as part of the new strategy.
• Oppo will also put OnePlus devices on shelves at its 5,000-plus offline retail outlets in China.
• The two brands will also share more than 1,000 offline after-sales networks.
• According to Liu’s comments, Oppo will become a “global tech brand”, with its two series Find and Reno focusing on imaging systems and design respectively.
• OnePlus will focus on performance and selling through online channels, Liu added.

Context: Liu founded OnePlus in 2013 after working at Oppo for 15 years. The two companies belong to BBK Electronics, with OnePlus manufacturing their phones in Oppo’s factories.  

• Liu returned to Oppo as chief product officer of the brand in 2020, a role he assumed in addition to his duties at OnePlus.
• Including OnePlus sales, Oppo is the fourth-largest phone vendor worldwide, accounting for 10% of the global market in the third quarter of 2022, according to hardware consultancy Canalys.

Major Chinese phone vendor Oppo released ColorOS 13 in China, an operating system for phones made by Oppo and its sister brands OnePlus and Realme, at the 2022 Oppo Developer Conference (ODC) on Tuesday, following the announcement of the overseas version on August 18.

ColorOS 13 is based on Android 13, an open-source project led by Google. It inherits the original Android security pitches and bottom optimization but also introduces special features and localization through partnering with local firms. One particularly notable feature – Pantanal – allows for better collaboration between devices by offering a closer connection and reallocating resources.

Here are the key updates worth checking out.

Newly designed UI

A major update – with version numbers increasing in integers comparable to iOS 15 to 16 – generally means a fresh look in the new system’s user interface (UI). In the past year, Apple and Google haven’t introduced any major UI redesigns for Android 13 and iOS 16, so Oppo’s visual update makes it stand out among its rivals.

ColorOS 13 introduces a new UI design style called “Aquamorphic Design.” The update is inspired by the concept of water, aiming to create “a fluid, vibrant, and inclusive UI” from animation to component design. The colors and patterns are also based on the changing light between sunrise and sunset by the sea.

The new system has a card-style composition for increased accessibility, which looks cleaner and more friendly to use. Also contributing to the fresh feel, Oppo has launched a new font with a wider face that is easier to read. The new OS also introduces adaptive layouts optimized for devices in different size and statuses such as foldable phones and tablets.

New tech to optimize system fluency

Android’s background app running strategies left it a historical issue of how to allocate resources, including CPU time and RAM. Oppo is trying to further optimize system fluency by scheduling computing and RAM resources, prioritizing important tasks, and limiting greedy apps from running in the background via its algorithms to achieve a better balance between performance and power consumption.

It does this through its “Dynamic Computing Engine,” a system-level piece of technology formed from four computing engines that can increase battery life by 4.7% and performance by 10%, according to Oppo’s announcements at the event. The OS also aims to maintain more apps running in the background so that users can switch between them without a reboot or long wait.

Better connection among devices

As part of the new ColorOS, Oppo also revealed Pantanal, a cross-platform system which explores how to break the boundary between devices for better collaboration. The system can keep users in the loop of schedules on other devices via information from multiple devices such as enhanced Google Glance and Siri Advice. For example, it can remind users of a booked flight or the status of a coming taxi on multiple devices. Oppo has partnered with notable Chinese firms such as Li Auto, Tencent, Alipay, and Xiaohongshu for easier cross-device collaboration with Pantanal.

What really distinguishes Pantanal, however, is that the platform can not only handle data and information, but can also allocate computation and algorithm resources from multiple devices, including vehicles, phones, and tablets, to handle tasks like video creation.

It also extends connectivity to vehicles, offering more immersive in-car experiences such as using multiple car cameras to start video phone calls or running phone apps through the central vehicle console. Oppo has announced a partnership with Chinese automaker SAIC Motor as part of its moves into vehicle connectivity.

Privacy and other notable features

For privacy and safety, ColorOS 13 comes with a feature that can erase sensitive information on a screenshot from chat apps like ‎WhatsApp and Messenger. It also has a function to prevent unsafe apps from running, like Google Play Protection, using algorithms assisted by real humans.

ColorOS also includes an animation emoji feature called Omoji, similar to Apple’s Memoji, with a style that echoes the new UI. Users can create their own avatars, which can then be used to present or livestream in certain apps.

The update also features a new Meeting Assistant function for online meetings. The assistant can prioritize wireless data packages to provide a more stable connection, and enables users to capture text from the screen to make notes. It can also convert forms from the screen to common files like Excel sheets or PPT slides.

ColorOS 13 is now accessible via a beta program and will officially roll out to over 40 models this year, including OnePlus phones in China.

The new OS is one of the major phone operating systems in China, competing with Xiaomi’s MiUI and Huawei’s Harmony OS. The system sees major updates every year that typically follow Google’s original Android version for its Pixel phones. According to Oppo, the system has reached 500 million monthly active users globally.

Oppo-owned phone brand OnePlus introduced OnePlus Ace Pro on Tuesday, the latest device in its gaming lineup. The new phone is a local Chinese version of the OnePlus 10T announced on August 3 for sale in overseas markets.

Why it matters: Chinese smartphone makers are introducing high-performance phones at lower prices. The cheapest phone with Qualcomm’s newest high-end chip was the Realme GT2 Master Explorer Edition, released in July, and the OnePlus now provides a much larger RAM with the same starting price of RMB 3,499 ($520).

• Ace Pro partnered with Unity, a popular gaming engine, to optimize gaming performance.

Details: Built with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and unique cooling tech, the core performance can be promising for gamers, but the model also compromised other specs such as the display. Li Jie, president of OnePlus in China, said at the release event that the firm expects sales of its new Ace series to reach millions of units in China. For comparison, the brand’s number series sold 2.4 million units in China, 36Kr reported on Wednesday (in Chinese). 

• The phone has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 1080p resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate, but it does not fully support the battery-saving adaptive refresh rate technology that rivals in this price range have.
• For the cooling system, Ace Pro introduces a large vapor chamber panel and special cooling materials like graphite and diamond thermal gel.
• The phone has also been verified by Tencent for exclusive use in its League of Legends: Wild Rift and PUBG Mobile events. Previously, OnePlus has partnered with Tencent for the premiere launch of League of Legends on mobile with a 120 Hz refresh rate. 
• However, optimizations for special titles and devices require a lot of work. OnePlus found a way to do this work at the gaming engine and hardware level. 
• To optimize the phone’s performance for demanding gaming titles, OnePlus used technology from Unity, which powers 76% of mobile game titles. Through Unity’s Adaptive Performance interface, the phone can run faster when the game needs more computing resources by reducing frame drops in certain game scenarios. 
• The battery and charging specs are typical for mid-end to high-end phones, and is built with a 4800mAh battery, supporting 150W speed charge tech.
• The Ace Pro with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage sells for RMB 3,499. The 16 GB RAM models are available with 256 GB or 512 GB of storage and are priced at RMB 3,799 and RMB 4,299, respectively. 
• For fandom, OnePlus also worked with miHoYo to bring a Genshin Impact limited model to market in October.

Context: The Ace series was a product line of Oppo. OnePlus took over this year and has since launched three models targeting gamers.

• Oppo first introduced the Reno Ace in 2019 and made Ace an independent product line in 2020 with the Ace 2. The two were notable for their charging speed, one of the fastest among rivals.

OnePlus, the Chinese smartphone maker owned by Oppo, launched a new product line named Ace, targeting the global mobile gaming market. The company released the first model of the series on Thursday, pricing at RMB 2,499 ($384).

Why it matters: OnePlus is expanding its offering to the global mobile gaming market after launching OnePlus 9R last year.

• Chinese phone makers, like Xiaomi, have been known to use game performance metrics to sell their phones. OnePlus is vying to be a strong competitor in this vertical. 
• The mobile gaming market is rapidly expanding, and the global revenue of the sector will reach $116.1 billion in 2024, as estimated by global gaming insight firm Newzoo.

Details: On Tuesday, OnePlus revealed the new Ace product line for mobile gaming, alongside a new entrance level True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds in a release event.

• The first model of Ace is powered by a customized processor designed by MediaTek. The 8100-MAX processor is said to be optimized for high-performance games and low-light videography. The new phone also features a 6.7-inch and 120 refresh rate screen supplied by a Chinese display maker BOE, and comes with a fingerprint scanner, which supports heart rate detection. OnePlus also announced an external cooler which they claim to improve overheating issues in mobile gaming.
• The names of the series, Ace, and the black and blue case color cater to OnePlus’ targeted users of mobile games. In many games, the term ace refers to a player who has defeated all enemies. The black and blue color versions of the phone also go by the names Kaihei and Huilan, which are gaming terms in popular games Dota.

Context: OnePlus merged with Oppo, another major smartphone brand in China, last year and is now an independent brand under the Oppo umbrella, focusing on overseas markets.

• In the premium smartphone market, where phones sell for over $400, OnePlus ranked fourth in North America in terms of sales in 2021. The brand is even more popular in India, where it is listed second among premium smartphones, behind Apple.
• On the brand’s eighth anniversary last year, Liu Zuohu, the founder of OnePlus and CPO of Oppo, announced that the company had shipped 10 million phones globally since it began operating in 2013.

一加CEO刘作虎：明年发布欧洲第一款商用5G手机 – 36Kr

What happened: Liu Zuohu, CEO of Chinese smartphone startup OnePlus, claimed during the Qualcomm Tech Summit in Maui, Hawaii that the company will release Europe’s first commercial 5G handset in 2019. The smartphone manufacturer will work with British carrier EE for the release, and continue to use Qualcomm chips. With strong performance of international markets, OnePlus’ revenues for 2017 were around RMB 10 billion ($1.5 billion).

Why it’s important: OnePlus’ plan reflects an important part of China’s 5G ambitions—collaborating with global partners for low entry barriers to international markets. China’s strategic 5G companies ZTE and Huawei are currently embroiled in tech and national security disputes in the UK, US, New Zealand, and Australia. OnePlus’ path and collaborative plan may see substantial results in commercial markets.

If you can’t see anything above, try watching here instead.

For OnePlus, one is enough.

The company, founded in Shenzhen in 2013, tends to introduce only one new model each year. This year, they’ve tasked that phone — the OnePlus 6 — with the near impossible: compete with the iPhone X on style, compete with the Galaxy S9 on performance, remain number one in India’s premium phone market — and do it all for less than $600.

Does this cost-conscious premium phone live up to expectations? John Artman reviews.

一加手机宣布要造电视 准备进军智能家居 – Tencent Tech

What happened: Pete Liu, founder and CEO of smartphone startup OnePlus, announced on September 17 that the company has decided to enter the smart TV market. Liu believes that in the future TVs will be transformed into an intelligent screen which will connect and enhance a smart home’s use cases. OnePlus has over five million registered users across 196 countries. Liu would also like to leverage the user base advantage for the new product line.

Why it’s important: It’s uncertain whether OnePlus’ decision is for innovation or the purpose of diversifying its product portfolio for commercial gains; or both. Nevertheless, Liu’s announcement implies a path which shares some common elements with that of Xiaomi’s: community, devices connected via IoT, and an internal product matrix and ecosystem. OnePlus’ future moves deserve close attention.

A Twitter post claims that an app on Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus’s phones is identifying and uploading bank account numbers to a Chinese server, but the company has told TechNode that this is incorrect.

The @OnePlus #clipboard app contains a strange file called badword.txt 🤔

In these words, we can find: Chairman, Vice President, Deputy Director, Associate Professor, Deputy Heads, General, Private Message, shipping, Address, email, …https://t.co/ePQvD1citn pic.twitter.com/3dCh0joVkH

— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) January 25, 2018

This is a good reminder…Please don’t copy paste your bank account number…TeddyMobile has a dedicated method to recognize a bank account…😡 pic.twitter.com/U21J2jrXcN

— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) January 25, 2018

In the latest OxygenOS Beta update, an application named Clipboard comes preinstalled on OnePlus devices and has been accused of transmitting users personal data to a Chinese server owned by Teddy Mobile, a service in China which helps in identifying unknown caller identities. Teddy Mobile claims to have 200 million users and cooperates with other Chinese smartphone operators including Xiaomi, Coolpad, YunOs, Oppo, Vivo, Gionee, Meizu, and Lenovo.

“The statement that Clipboard has been sending user data to the server is incorrect. The code is completely inactive in the open beta of OxyOS and user data is not sent to any server without the user’s consent,” a OnePlus spokesperson told TechNode. “In the Chinese beta version of OxyOS, identifies these files, in order to filter out some of this data so that it won’t be uploaded. The local data in these folders with these fields will not be sent to any server.”

OnePlus is one of the few players who, as a Chinese smartphone maker, only on the international market.

The news comes two week’s after its chief executive Pete Lau telling The Telegraph that its revenues last year had doubled to more than $1.4 billion and that this had come with “healthy profits”.

Mr. Lau said the smartphone company plans to continue releasing two new phones a year. The next OnePlus phone will come out toward the end of the second quarter and would run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, the mobile chip unveiled in December. The company saw its OnePlus 5T become its fastest- and best-selling product after its launch in November, according to Pei, the company’s co-founder.

Qualcomm has sealed a licensing deal with China’s third biggest smartphone vendor, Vivo, as the chip giant smoothes over a rough few years in the Chinese market with steady gains.

Vivo is licensed to use Qualcomm’s technology in their 3G and 4G phones, the chipmaker said on Monday.

It comes just a week after Qualcomm sealed a similar deal with OPPO, which is also owned by Vivo’s parent company BKK Electronics.

The two brands have accelerated through China’s smartphone rankings in 2016, entering the top five local smartphone vendors and surpassing cult favorite Xiaomi. Along with OnePlus, which is also marketed by BKK Electronics, they now make up over 30 percent of phones shipped to the Chinese market.

According to research firm IDC, Vivo and Oppo’s market share grew 124 percent and 153 percent respectively in the year ending in March 2016, while Apple and Samsung’s share dropped in the same period.

Both vendors have a strong presence outside of China’s largest cities, which gives them leverage against premium vendors who market to China’s rapidly saturating first-tier markets.

The deal also marks a new milestone of progress for Qualcomm, which is steadily regaining momentum in the Chinese market following years of uncertainty. The U.S. chipmaker surprised analysts with an unexpected bump revenue bump in last month’s earnings, driven by Chinese chip demand.

Qualcomm makes over half of their total revenue from their chip licensing business, though they have struggled to ink deals with China’s largest smartphone vendors in the past. The company was subject to a year-long anti-trust investigation which ended in Qualcomm forking out a $975 million USD fine in early 2015.

They also payed out a $7.5 million USD fine in March this year after an investigation by the U.S. securities and exchange commission released a report that accused the company of bribing Chinese officials with gifts and employment offers.

With their regulatory issues settled and renewed progress on Chinese licensing deals, the company is hoping for a much brighter future in the world’s largest smartphone market.

During last month’s earnings call Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said they were optimistic about further deals, and were in active discussion with remaining OEMS.

This holiday season Chinese smartphone manufacturer Smartisan Technology Co., Ltd. (锤子科技) launched its newest smartphone, the Smartisan T2. The T2 follows Smartisan’s first flagship model, the T1, after more than two years of development.

The T2’s exterior is a stripped down, minimalist design. The power button is integrated into the home button and the nano SIM tray is hidden behind volume key on the right side, leaving the phone largely buttonless. In addition to an all metal frame which Smartisan describes as “seamless”, the T2 is coated in 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 to improve the phone’s durability and display.

While Smartisan has invested heavily in the T2’s look and feel, the company has settled for rather standard hardware. The T2 is equipped with a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor and a 2670 mAh battery, putting it behind devices like the Mi Note Pro and Meizu’s Pro 5. The T2 also comes with a maximum of 32GB of internal storage, which is half the storage that many of T2’s competitors offer. The T2 also comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera, a 5 megapixel front camera, and Smartisan’s OS 2.5.

Founded in 2012, Beijing-based Smartisan has struggled to compete in China’s crowded smartphone market, which includes companies like Xiaomi, Huawei, Meizu and OnePlus. When Smartisan launched the T1 in July 2014, only 122,000 phones were sold by December due to supply chain problems, according to Yonghao Luo, the company’s founder.

Nevertheless, Luo’s unconventional background as an English teacher and high school dropout, as well as his popularity – Luo has about thirteen million followers on Weibo – has helped to boost Smartisan’s public image. In 2014, Smartisan received $29 million USD in funding, about four months after a round of Series A funding in 2013.

The T2 is the third smartphone in Smartisan’s portfolio of smartphones, which includes the Smartisan T1 and the Smartisan U1 Jianguo. It is currently being sold for 2,499 RMB ($385 USD).

Benson Leung, a Senior Google Engineer, has said that Type-C adapter cables from Chinese manufacturer OnePlus are harmful to fast charging smartphones, warning users not to use them with the recent Nexus and Google devices.

“Oneplus needs to get the message that their accessories are out of spec…” he said in a public post. 

 “Don’t buy this #USB #TypeC adapter for your Chromebook Pixel or Nexus 6P/5X phone. It uses the wrong identifier resistor.”

“The Oneplus A-C cable is not compliant either. I don’t recommend anyone with a Nexus use it.”

The cables from Chinese smartphone vendor OnePlus retail for approximately $7 USD. Mr. Leung notes that they are currently safe for OnePlus users because the phones do not support fast charging. However he warns that users should not keep the cord anyway in case they update their device.

“[The OnePlus cord] uses a 3A identifier resistor instead of the ‘Default USB Power’ one,” he says, which can harm the charger as well as the USB ports and PC. 

Mr. Leung began a solitary campaign against the adapters recently through a series of damning Amazon reviews, saying he was “fed up” with the non-compliant accessories.

“None of the ones presently available are spec compliant, but several vendors have been in touch with me to repair their broken cables and adapters,” he says. 

Mr. Leung worked on both of Google’s recent Pixel devices that feature the Type-C connection.

Image Credit: One Plus

When OnePlus first launched its flagship smart phone One last year, it received fairly positive comments from overseas blogs. With its tagline ‘Never Settle’, the phone maker was credited for pushing the boundary of low-cost phone with its premium features. Chinese upstart smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has officially just launched OnePlus 2, which – so far – looks like a significant step up from its predecessor.

The appetite for affordable smartphones with high-end specifications is rising quickly. With the aim of being a global phone maker, OnePlus ships phones and supports service providers worldwide. Earlier this year, the company doubled its overseas markets to 35 countries, adding 16 from Europe. The new OnePlus 2 introduces dual SIM capabilities that allow users to connect to two networks simultaneously. 

From a specs perspective, the phone features a 5.5-inch, 1080p screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor paired with a 3,300 man battery. It features 4G LTE and an octacore CPU which should power through demanding apps, games, and HD video.

The back-facing camera has a 13 0megapixel sensor with optical image stabilzation, while providing multiple lens elements that prevent distortion and improve clarity. Also, its 5.5 inch IPS LCD display produces clear images and provides a front-facing fingerprint unlock sensor. 

OpenPlus’s in-house software OxygenOS provides off-screen gestures and customizable buttons. The company also provides a SwiftKey Keyboard, that uses Artificial Intelligence to automatically learn the words you like to type and enhanced audio in collaboration with MaxxAudio sound design technologies.

OnePlus is notorious for its invite-only purchase system. In order to preorder OnePlus 2, one needs to get an invite from a OnePlus phone buyer. However, this time it will be much easier to get an invite as anyone can sign up to the OnePlus website. The 16GB model is affordable at $329 USD, while the 64GB version is $389 USD. OnePlus’s optional $27 rear covers use actual wood (bamboo, rosewood, black, apricot) or Kevlar for great looks and feeling. The phone reportedly will start shipping to the US, Europe, and India by the middle of August. 

Image Credit: OnePlus

In 2014 we saw a half dozen new Chinese Android phone brands, including OnePlus, Smartisan, and IUNI. Unlike previous Chinese mobile phone makers, they emphasised the appearance, design and branding, adopted a low-pricing strategy, sold phones online, and did fancy launch events. Their overall strategy is followed that of Xiaomi, the Chinese Android phone maker that has surpassed Samsung to become China’s top smartphone brand in terms of shipments in 2014, according to IDC.

Given nowadays there’s no major differences in the specifications and prices, the selling point for the new brands as against Xiaomi lies in the design of hardware or software, or both. But some creative hardware designs led to manufacturing problems. Shipping delays was one of the causes that Smartisan, which hired American consumer electronics designer Ammunition Group and iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, only shipped 122,000 units by December 5th, 2014.

Some brands performed better outside China, like OnePlus which was warmly welcomed by Western tech media and announced shipment of one million units before the end of 2014.

Existing big smartphone brands, such as Lenovo and Huawei, which previously placed more emphasis on pricing than hardware and software design or branding, have geared their strategies to adapting to the new trends, while brands such as OPPO have stable and loyal audiences.

So China’s smartphone market is already crowded. But we’re expecting to see another half a dozen Chinese Android phone brands emerge in 2015. Many of them are already big tech companies in their home sectors.

LeTV

LeTV, the Chinese smart TV and online content company, is to launch its long-awaited first Android phones next month (April). It has been reported the launch event will be held in Silicon Valley.

This is not a surprising move as LeTV always said their goal was to build a hardware, software and content ecosystem. Starting from video steaming, the company’s product portfolio now includes consumer electronic products, such as smart TV and set-top box, LeUI (or LeOS), a custom Android system for most of its hardware products, and video content production businesses.

LeTV phones will be loaded with a version of LeUI (or LeOS) for smartphones and include all the apps, services and content that are available on LeTV’s existing hardware products.

Some photos posted by the company show the phone is bezel-less. The reported specs are Mediatek’s currently best processor MT6795, 5.5-inch, and a 1080p display.

To run its smartphone business, the company has tapped Feng Xin, former vice president of Lenovo and head of its Mobile Internet and Digital Home Business Group, and executives from Meizu, a leading Chinese smartphone maker. It has a R&D team for smartphone development of more than 1000 employees.

With the smartphone, LeTV is becoming a closer competitor to Xiaomi, which also produces smart TV and other electronics products, keeps updating a custom Android operating system for those devices, and has begun building an online video content platform.

Qihoo 360

The first attempts at entering the smartphone market by the online security service and internet service developer was in 2012. Qihoo 360’s approach back then was partnering with well-known brands, selling smartphones custom-made its by partners to Qihoo’s rapidly expanding audience.

As this didn’t work out, this time the company is taking a different strategy, by establishing a joint venture with high-end smartphone manufactuer Coolpad, one of the biggest smartphone makers in China, and more recently unveiling 360 OS, a customized Android system, for its future phones.

Gree

Earlier this month Dong Mingzhu, chairman and president of China’s leading air conditioner maker Gree, surprised everyone by showing off a smartphone with Gree’s logo on it. One year ago Ms. Dong had a highly publicised spat on TV with Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun on whether the fast-growing smartphone maker could possibly surpass Gree in sales revenue in five years.

Gree came up with the idea of producing smartphones two years ago, Ms. Dong said in an interview with Tencent’s QQ Tech News (source in Chinese). Gree phones will come with high-end and low-end models and go on sale within half a year.

Making smartphones isn’t only for connecting phones with air conditioners, according to Dong, that Gree’s smart air conditioners will have their own user interfaces. Xiaomi has made clear that its investment in another leading home appliance maker Midea is for its smart home initiative.

Li Yang

Like Luo Yonghao, Smartisan CEO Li Yang is a famous English teacher in China. Mr. Li’s team first of al developed an e-reader device, with their in-house developed app for English learning built in. Their next step is to make a smartphone that comes with the app pre-loaded. Mr. Li hopes this phone will become a bigger business than New Oriental Education & Technology, the biggest private education company in China in terms of market cap.

Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)

Chinese upstart smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has officially started selling its flagship smartphone One, along with the complete range of accessories, in 16 further European countries, bringing the total number of its overseas markets to 35.

The new European markets are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, which means that OnePlus One will be accessible to everyone across the entire European Union.

The smartphone retails at EUR269 (US$287)/CZK8089/HUF94199/PLN1299 for the Silk White 16GB version or EUR299/CZK8989/HUF104999 /PLN1449 for the Sandstone Black 64GB model.

Aiming to build a global brand from its inception, OnePlus was initially sold in 17 countries across North America, Western Europe, and East Asia, later adding Indonesia and India.

With just a single handset released so far, the company has managed to establish a global presence with premium specs and affordable prices, expanding rapidly from around 30 employees to almost 700 in just over a year. The company’s CEO Pete Lau shared the company’s beginning and global expansion  at TechCrunch Beijing last year.

The firm’s global plan has encountered some setbacks in India. At the end of last year, the local government barred the company from selling One in India due to disputes centering around Cyanogen’s version of Android, licensed exclusively to rival phone maker Micromax in India. Although the authorities has withdrawn the previous order, the incident has motivated OnePlus to speed up the development of its homegrown OxygenOS to gain control of the software on its devices.

OnePlus is planning to launch a new product category in April and the release of OnePlus Two is scheduled for Q3 2015.

Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)

Two of the leading Chinese mobile phone distributors, isidi and TELLING, saw sharp declines in their profits during 2014, according to their pre-announcements of annual earnings. TELLING expects to report a net loss of RMB323-357 million (US$52-58 million) despite turning a profit the previous year. isidi estimates its profit for 2014 was down by 97-99%.

TELLING attributed the decline to four main causes:

1. The market shares of several formerly-mainstream mobile phone brands TELLING re-sells shrank markedly.
2. The company failed to achieve sales goals for its new phone brands.
3. After the government awarded 4G licenses in mid-2014, mobile phone brands began to sell off their inventories of 3G phones, which negatively affected TELLING’s gross margin.
4. Newly created mobile internet and MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) services have not generated any revenues.

The first two reflect the fact that the structure of China’s mobile phone market has changed dramatically in recent years. The four-year-old mobile device maker Xiaomi surpassed Samsung to become #1 in terms of smartphone unit shipments in the Chinese market in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to a report by Strategy Analytics.

But Xiaomi does not sell phones through traditional distributors such as TELLING and isidi. Its business strategy is to selling its phones. It believes this effectively cuts the distribution costs incurred by traditional distribution methods. Online sales now account for about 70% of Xiaomi’s total, according to the company. Market research firm Sino Market Research estimates the rate couldn’t be so high that in 2012, 2013 and 2014 it was 66%, 58% and 57%, respectively.

Thanks to Xiaomi’s success, almost all new smartphone brands to emerge in China over the past few years, such as OnePlus and Smartisan, use the internet as their primary selling platform. Some older brands have joined the trend too, either through their own online stores or third-party marketplaces like Alibaba’s Tmall.

Another major change is that mobile profit margins have fallen sharply, so that distributors can only get a very small cut. This is also largely thanks to Xiaomi. The company made it clear that its low pricing strategy was to acquire more users who would be then be using its software services. The custom Android system developed by Xiaomi has been generating revenues from paid apps/in-app items, paid themes, and advertising, amongst other sources.

Another reason, which TELLING didn’t mention, is that the Chinese telcos stopped subsidising distributors who were selling customized phones for them in 2014.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)

CEO of OnePlus Pete Lau shared his entrepreneurial background with the audience at the Startup Summit 2014, in Seoul, Korea. OnePlus One, the company’s flagship smartphone which TIME magazine reviewed as the “Phone of Dreams”, has caught the eye in China and throughout the world. OnePlus has sold 1 million phones this year, and the company, having started with just five employees, now has 600. Technode had a chance to talk to Pete Lau, and he shared aspects of his philosophy on the product.

Pete was previously vice president of the Chinese smartphone company, OPPO. Two years ago, he met Car Pei, the company’s co-founder, and together they started OnePlus in an attempt to create a good quality phone at an affordable price. It was a big decision for him to resign and start his own company, an experience he described as the turning point in his life. He said that founding a company was totally different from the anything else he had gone through. “When you start a company, it’s not only about yourself, but the people around you, your family, your friends. I didn’t want to let them down and that’s what kept me striving.”

When asked how the OnePlus One differentiated itself from other phones, Lau emphasized its design. He wanted to build a beautiful product so users can enjoy using it, every time, every day. This led him to consider the phone’s every detail. It should be comfortable when you grab it, and it should be beautiful when you look at it. To give users a feeling that they are close to nature the company released a limited edition rear cover using a natural material: bamboo.

It wasn’t just the design of the OnePlus One which gained it so many overseas fans. Its affordable price and invitation-based sales are the core of OnePlus’s marketing, making users crave an opportunity to buy it. Lau recalled that when he started the company he wasn’t sure how many people would buy the phone. He wanted to try the price system to make sure people can afford to buy one, and wanted to give equal chance to the users. So the company came up with the idea to hand out invitations to buyers so that they could invite their friends to buy one too. This built the OnePlus One’s reputation, and people loved it; MIT even asked if they could add this unique marketing strategy to one of their marketing textbooks. Lau added that some users even asked him to increase the phone’s price, since they were anxious the company might go bankrupt.

From day one, Lau’ s goal was to build OnePlus into a global brand. In order to do so, Lau observed the importance of having a global team. Currently, one-third of OnePlus employees are from the U.S., the other one-third are from Asia, with the remainder from China. While Lau leads the direction of the company, co-founder Carl Pei leads the global team and overseas departments since he speaks Chinese, English and Swedish. Their ambition remains to create products that don’t compromise, and which delight fans worldwide.

Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)

It’s no secret that Xiaomi wants access control of content or services for mobile and, more recently, smart home. It’s also well-know that, unlike the custom Android systems developed by many older phone makers like HTC’s Sense that are more for better user experience, MIUI is part of Xiaomi’s business model from day one. Compared with the one-time gain from hardware sales, the company’s bigger ambition is in the software that will bring in increasingly more revenues in the long run — That’s why the hardware products by the company are sold at relatively low prices.

Xiaomi has launched MIUI 6, the sixth edition of the customized Android system, or ROM, pre-loaded in its hardware products and available for download. The major updates include,

(1)  It enables, with Xiaomi Cloud service, cross-platform syncing between Xiaomi devices, smartphone, tablet, smart TV, set-top box, and smart WiFi router.

(2)  It has “deeply” integrated security technologies from Tencent, Kingsoft (where Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun serves as the Chairman of the Board) and LBE (a Chinese Android security solution provider) for security and privacy. (Tencent and Kingsoft are allied powers that oppose Qihoo in Internet security.)

(3) It saves battery life and data usage.

MIUI has been making revenues, through advertising and paid services, from in-house built services, such as browser and app store. MIUI has also begun integrating third-party Internet services as the default options for local business listings, WiFi hotspots, package delivery, among others. It’s only a matter of time before the company takes commissions or transaction fees from those third-party services. Some of the services are from companies Xiaomi or its CEO Lei Jun have invested in that Xiaomi’s user base may bring them income too.

So, it’s no wonder the latest updates include cross-platform syncing, security service, battery & data conservation. It is widely received in China that productivity services like those, especially when they are offered for free, help fast build a large user base. And monitizing such a user base is only a matter of time. Qihoo, with its free online security service and web browser, is a successful case on PC. A flock of productivity apps have joined the global land grab in mobile Internet market, and some such as Cheetah has begun monetization.

By the end of 2013 when its users were about 30 million, MIUI’s monthly revenue reached RMB30 million (about US$5 million) — ARPU (average revenue per user) is one yuan. It’s safe to say MIUI can make at least one yuan per user per month in the long run. Hong Feng, lead of MIUI and former Googler, said in an interview earlier this year that the total users would reach 100 million by 2015 Spring Festival (early 2015) (article in Chinese). Easy math.

The Software User Base

MIUI has a dedicated team of more than 300 engineers that has been releasing new features and updates regularly. The system is compatible with more than 200 Android phone models and only some 50 were done by the company’s own engineers. The other 170+ were by volunteers, some of who are making a good living bringing MIUI into more Android devices. Xiaomi pays them based on an assessment system the company has come up with. 

Over 80% of the total MIUI installs were in Xiaomi phones shipped as of July 2014. The rest 10 million or so are in the other 200+ non-Xiaomi Android devices. Hong Feng said in the aforementioned interview that they realized the number of users who were capable of installing a third-party Android ROM into their phones couldn’t be much bigger than 10 million.

To lower the bar for those who don’t own Xiaomi devices, the company developed Xiaomi System, an Android launcher that is supposed to carry as many MIUI features or services as possible. Two months since the launch, Xiaomi System had got 1 million downloads. Almost all were downloaded from Xiaomi’s own website — Xiaomi wouldn’t be willing to pay other Android stores in China to promote its apps.

Also, MIUI, available in more than two dozens of languages, may reach more countries way faster than the physical Xiaomi phones or other hardware products.

Arms Race Has Begun.

As I mentioned, both the monitizing-a-user-base-gained-from-free-productivity-services model and the Xiaomi’s, which could be harder considering the difficulty in making hardware products, are well recognized in China.

When Meizu, a well-regarded consumer electronics maker in China, developed Flyme, a custom Android system for its smartphones, the company didn’t seem to have the Xiaomi model in mind. Instead, Meizu founder Huang Zhang, aka Jhon Wong, accused Xiaomi for stealing their phone design and business plan. Meizu now is far behind Xiaomi. One of the reasons, according to Meizu founder, is they didn’t raise funding from outside investors that they couldn’t expand as fast as Xiaomi.

At the same time they must be aware of the growth of MIUI. The company recently announced that they’d open up the Flyme system to third-party phone makers and developers. Flyme thus will be available in other Android phones and more apps will be created for the platform. The company began partnering with local software companies such as Wandoujia which provides mobile search for it and possibly share future revenues from search marketing with them. Flyme will launch a new version on September 2, two weeks after the MIUI’s.

Huawei, now one of the top Android phone makers in China, recognized the power of Xiaomi from early on and decided to be its challenger — at least to us it appears to be so. Like Xiaomi, the company has developed high-spec & low-cost phone models, and a custom Android system, EMUI, which will launch a major update in September too.

OnePlus, a new Android phone brand founded by a former exec from consumer electronics maker OPPO, has confirmed that they are building a team to develop a customized Android system in Taiwan. It’s first flagship phone, OnePlus One, is loaded with CyanogenMod (CM), an open source Android system that apparently has no business plan like that of Xiaomi.

OnePlus, a Chinese Android phone brand announced in early this year that has drawn much attention in China and overseas, is building a team to develop a customized Android system, just like many other Chinese Android phone makers such as Xiaomi do.

The in-house developed system will be loaded in the future models by the company sold in the mainland China. Its first flagship model OnePlus One, launched in April, came with Color OS, the custom Android system developed by OPPO (where OnePlus team were from) for mainland China users, and CyanogenMod (CM), an open source Android-based system, for overseas consumers. The company said their future phones for overseas market will still be with CM.

Xiaomi, one of the fastest-growing Android phone brands in China, made it clear from early on that Android phone and other hardware products would be only one of its businesses. MIUI, the custom Android system pre-loaded in Xiaomi hardware products and available for free download, and the Internet services carried by MIUI would be as important as, if not more important than, the hardware business.

One week ago Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, announced that MIUI had reached 65 million users, with more than 50 million gained through the phone sales and the rest installed in Android phones of other brands. Now MIUI is compatible with more than 200 Android phone models, with some 50 ported by the company while the majority by third-party developers. The company would take care of big brands such as Samsung. OnePlus said they wanted to make OnePlus compatible with MIUI, but so far it hasn’t happened.

The Xiaomi app store, the default one in MIUI, announced 5 billion downloads earlier this month and now is one of the top Android app stores in China, together with Baidu’s 91, Qihoo’s, Tencent’s and Wandoujia.

Xiaomi has been monetizing the MIUI user base and traffic generated through advertising, search marketing, paid apps/services. And I heard that the revenues from MIUI had been growing fast.

Most brand Android phone makers in China would develop a customized system for their products. Some are for offering a customized experience to Chinese users or a better design. And some have made some pocket money by taking revenue shares from pre-installs of third-party apps/services or revenue shares from third parties. But none has manipulated the operating system to this far or has so many ready revenue sources.

MIUI is introducing all types of online or offline services to be the default choices. Xiaomi said it’s for providing a better experience for users. But for outsiders like me, it seems also for controlling all kinds of services, and then share revenues or take commissions, with those services.

The trend of the affordable smartphone with high-end specifications is rising quickly, and OnePlus has hopped onto the bandwagon. Yesterday in Beijing, OnePlus launched its flagship device, the OnePlus One, which boasts excellent hardware and design at a mere USD$299, giving the Xiaomi Mi3 a run for its money.

The OnePlus One, weighs a mere 162g and measures only 8.9mm thick with a tapered edge of just 4.6mm, making the device ergonomic and a pleasure to hold. The smartphone also packs a 5.5-inch 1080p full-HD screen. The OnePlus team decided to do away with logos on the front of the One, instead choosing to engrave the OnePlus logo at the back of the phone, giving the device an elegant, classy look.

Teaming up with CyanogenMod, the phone runs on the CyanogenMod 11S and Android 4.4, allowing for freedom in customizing the One with thousands of available themes.

Powered by the quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, the OnePlus One has integrated 4G LTE connectivity and 3GB RAM, promising a quick and fluid user experience.

“By paying attention to the smallest details, taking a holistic approach to product design, and working with the best partners such as Cyanogen Inc. and Qualcomm Technologies, we have been able to create the greatest day to day user experience in a smartphone without compromise,” said Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus.

Users who snap photos frequently on their smartphones will not be disappointed with the smartphone’s 13-MP back camera (loaded with 6 lenses) with f/2.0 aperture and dual LED flash. The 5-MP front-facing camera is not too shabby either. In fact, Lau boldly claimed at the launch yesterday that the One camera is only second to the iPhone.

The removable 3100mAh battery in the OnePlus One allows for “more than a full day of use”, according to OnePlus. The device is offered in two colours, in a sleek white version (16GB) or an elegant black one (64GB).

For China, the phone will officially go on sale on May 28 on JD.com and Yixun, at RMB 1999 (USD$330) for the 16GB version and RMB 2299 (US$368) for the 64GB version.

For the rest of the world, the OnePlus One will initially be available via an invite system in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States in 16GB Silk White for $299/€269 and in 64GB Sandstone Black for $349/€299.