OnePlus One Coming To India To Kill Moto G And Xiaomi Mi3
OnePlus ONE, the phone that brands itself as the 2014 flagship killer has announced the plans to launch the phone in India. No wonder the team at this Chinese startup, that launched just a few months ago, is eyeing to gun down Moto G and recently launched (and tremendously successful) Xiaomi Mi3. If you call yourself a geek, we expect you to know OnePlus One and how the company is disrupting the android phone markets with their no compromise attitude in almost everything - hardware, software and user experience; minus their distribution system! Let's take a quick look at what the company has revealed so far and all the stuff that matters.
OnePlus forum administrator Carl #-Link-Snipped-# the news that OnePlus is planning to enter India, but did not reveal the exact plan and launch dates. The guess-masters are hell bent on probable September - October launch through exclusive online retailers like Flipkart or Amazon. However, as of now, OnePlus isn't selling their phone directly to everyone, and you must have the invite code to be able to buy the phone. The announcement mentions that India is the 8th most traffic sending country to OnePlus despite not launching the phone in India. The marketing team at OnePlus has primarily focused on North American and European markets so far. They understand that addressing India is a challenge in itself because the pricing of the phone is going to be crucial for the phone to succeed in over-crowded markets. The OnePlus retails for $299 (16GB) / $349 (64GB) in the USA and we'd guess the price of OnePlus One in India to be ~Rs. 18000-22000.
The phone runs CyanogenMod (which is heavily customised Android) and brings a lot of new features to your device. The hardware comprises of quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB DDR3 on-board memory, 5.5" display, a nice 3100 mAh battery, 6 Lens 13 MPX f/2.0 IMX214 camera and 4G LTE connection module. Basically killer hardware that you can have in your phone for the price point!
Our Thoughts: We are going through very interesting times in the smartphone dominated world. India is one of the biggest markets for feature and smart phones. It's no wonder that OnePlus is eyeing India after the grand success of budget-friendly smartphones like <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/the-best-android-phone-in-india-under-rs-15000-moto-g.73066">The best android phone in India under Rs. 15000 : Moto G!</a> and <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/xiaomi-mi3-price-in-india-rs-14999-pre-order-starts-15-july.75702">Xiaomi Mi3 | Price In India: Rs. 14999 | Pre-Order Starts : 15 July!</a>. Each of these models got sold out on Flipkart within minutes of launch; often showing the status of the phones as 'Out Of Stock'. For OnePlus, the key is to figure out the distribution system. If they decide to go by the regular 'invite system', the response is likely to be unpredictable.
We keep our fingers crossed and hope that OnePlus brings the phone to the open markets. The phone itself is spectacular and we have no doubt that it'll give a very tough competition to Moto G and Mi3. The key will be the price point and we believe that for a price point < Rs. 20000, the phone will be one of the best phones your hard earned money will be able to buy in India. What are your thoughts?
Update [30th July, 2014 | 12:03 PM] : Several readers have been asking for the launch date and price. We must make it clear that we're only speculating that the phone will arrive in India around October and there's no concrete information available about it. We also do not know about the delivery model OnePlus will follow. Those who want to buy the phone will have to grab an invite from the official OnePlus forums (and it's very difficult to get one!) and then use a package forwarding service in the US to get your phone delivered in India.
We are in touch with the OnePlus One PR/Marketing team and will update you as soon as we hear from them! Be assured that we're committed to keeping you informed.
OnePlus forum administrator Carl #-Link-Snipped-# the news that OnePlus is planning to enter India, but did not reveal the exact plan and launch dates. The guess-masters are hell bent on probable September - October launch through exclusive online retailers like Flipkart or Amazon. However, as of now, OnePlus isn't selling their phone directly to everyone, and you must have the invite code to be able to buy the phone. The announcement mentions that India is the 8th most traffic sending country to OnePlus despite not launching the phone in India. The marketing team at OnePlus has primarily focused on North American and European markets so far. They understand that addressing India is a challenge in itself because the pricing of the phone is going to be crucial for the phone to succeed in over-crowded markets. The OnePlus retails for $299 (16GB) / $349 (64GB) in the USA and we'd guess the price of OnePlus One in India to be ~Rs. 18000-22000.
The phone runs CyanogenMod (which is heavily customised Android) and brings a lot of new features to your device. The hardware comprises of quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB DDR3 on-board memory, 5.5" display, a nice 3100 mAh battery, 6 Lens 13 MPX f/2.0 IMX214 camera and 4G LTE connection module. Basically killer hardware that you can have in your phone for the price point!
Our Thoughts: We are going through very interesting times in the smartphone dominated world. India is one of the biggest markets for feature and smart phones. It's no wonder that OnePlus is eyeing India after the grand success of budget-friendly smartphones like <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/the-best-android-phone-in-india-under-rs-15000-moto-g.73066">The best android phone in India under Rs. 15000 : Moto G!</a> and <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/xiaomi-mi3-price-in-india-rs-14999-pre-order-starts-15-july.75702">Xiaomi Mi3 | Price In India: Rs. 14999 | Pre-Order Starts : 15 July!</a>. Each of these models got sold out on Flipkart within minutes of launch; often showing the status of the phones as 'Out Of Stock'. For OnePlus, the key is to figure out the distribution system. If they decide to go by the regular 'invite system', the response is likely to be unpredictable.
We keep our fingers crossed and hope that OnePlus brings the phone to the open markets. The phone itself is spectacular and we have no doubt that it'll give a very tough competition to Moto G and Mi3. The key will be the price point and we believe that for a price point < Rs. 20000, the phone will be one of the best phones your hard earned money will be able to buy in India. What are your thoughts?
Update [30th July, 2014 | 12:03 PM] : Several readers have been asking for the launch date and price. We must make it clear that we're only speculating that the phone will arrive in India around October and there's no concrete information available about it. We also do not know about the delivery model OnePlus will follow. Those who want to buy the phone will have to grab an invite from the official OnePlus forums (and it's very difficult to get one!) and then use a package forwarding service in the US to get your phone delivered in India.
We are in touch with the OnePlus One PR/Marketing team and will update you as soon as we hear from them! Be assured that we're committed to keeping you informed.
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