Chai Time: Things I want on the Oneplus 2-Sahen Rai

Oneplus One/Oneplus

The Oneplus One was a great phone, but not only did it offer really solid hardware and software. It also changed what we thought a budget phone could be. Coming in at around 300$ when it first released(if you got an invite), it offered specs that most people only believed top of the line,expensive phones could offer. Now with the annoucement in VR coming on July 27th, we're all eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new One Plus device, one that could yet again change what we think so called budget smartphones are. Here are some of the things I really hope Oneplus does with this new phone.

Price

 This is a big one, if Oneplus wants their new phone to succeed they need to keep the price low. As I mentioned before one of the defining characteristics of the original Oneplus One was its low price. Something around the 300-350 range would be fine by me, and would help me justify spending money on a phone that would be harder to get support for. If Oneplus were to charge say over 400$ phone, I really think they would lose their credibility for trying to be the "OEM killer" they originally were,

No Invite System/Better Marketing

One of the reasons the original Oneplus one didn't do as well as it could have was because of their invite system. Yes I understand that part of the reason this system was used is because of limited supply. But honestly they could have easily just crowdfunded the phone and got the funds that way. I would have easily payed a 300$ kickstarter fee just to get the phone and support the company. The invite system left some people irritated and eventually uninterested in getting the phone. Why wait 6 months for an invite when could easily just buy an older but cheaper phone with similar specs?

Oneplus One Forums

In terms of marketing, the invite system was a decent idea. But some of their attempts were downright terrible if not ruinous to their image. Take for example their "Ladies First" contest

 

 

Ladies First Promo/Engadget

where they had women draw a oneplus logo on their body or a sheet of paper and see who got the most likes on a forum post. They literally had women subject themselves to judgement by random people on the internet. Not your smartest move Oneplus..... They need to up their game for marketing on their new phone, and definitely not come across as sexist.

CDMA/GSM Support

Being on Verizon can certainly be unfortunate for us tech nerds. We really only get access to all the major OEMs for major smartphone releases, and can't even try fun phones like the Oneplus one. I would love to see support for Verizon and Sprint for the new Oneplus One just because I want really want to be able to try the phone as more than a glorified ipod. This would also help them open up their audience in the US and really help move sales along.

Spec List:

- Snapdragon 805
- 1080p display
- OxygenOs
-13mp Camera with OIS
- Same beautiful hardware as original

These are hopes, and chances are they won't all come true. But it's always good to hope for the best :).

- By Sahen Rai

Have your own hopes for the Oneplus One? Let us know what they are on Twitter @masala_tech, and remember to keep things spicy!