No smartphone other than OnePlus Two may have created so much anticipation in the market today. It's remarkable how one fledgling company that started with 5 employees can cause so much stir in a marketplace lionized formerly by more established foreign brands in the likes of Apple and Samsung.
Now, the Chinese company working in the shadow of tech giant Xiaomi is set to launch its next flagship smartphone OnePlus Two, officially confirmed by Carl Pei, its 25-year-old co-founder. Pei pointed to around June 2015 but given the challenges of supply and demand, there may be certain date adjustments that have to be made.
What is apparent though is given the company's the push for its very own OxygenOS, a tweak of the Android Lollipop OS, and its timely cleansing OnePlus fans may be in for a greater user experience for the next OnePlus iteration.
Killer Marketing Meets Killer Design
Though its initial stint in marketing has been largely equated with out-of-this-world tactics and otherwise unique strategies (e.g., ladies only and "Smash the Past"), the company's attention to engineering detail - a mark of founder Pete Lau - has propelled its initial offering to unimaginable heights.
And truly, OnePlus One was a whopping success hitting 500,000 sales, many times over its 50,000 target, without a single advertisement raised on TV.
Recently, Carl Pei speaking to Android Headlines confirmed the arrival of One Plus Two saying:
"Internally, we've changed the release windows 4 or 5 times. But we're planning to have it available in Q2 or Q3. There's a lot more expectations on us this time, a lot more pressure."
OxygenOS Redefined
What could be a killer feature though and one that has attracted a lot of buzz lately is OxygenOS, the custom version of Android Lollipop that OnePlus developed in light of several unexpected legal skirmishes involving Cyanogen.
The much-awaited OxygenOS will soon be under everyone's scrutiny as it will be running OnePlus Two.
The company in a few sentences wrapped up how its OxygenOS will bring dramatic results stipulating:
"We can offer better localization and faster updates. We can directly implement user feedback and make it easy for the OnePlus community to shape our ROM and create the OS that they want to use. Integration between hardware, software, and the cloud will become more seamless and unified for everyone using a OnePlus device. By creating our own software, we're better able to work directly with our users to improve our OS. It's something we've become quite fond of saying: when we work together, amazing things happen."
Why Oxygen? The company summarizes it further:
"Oxygen is the epitome of simplicity, yet it's also extraordinarily powerful."
OnePlus reveals it did not want to rush OxygenOS to make sure it would be bloatware-free for maximum efficiency.
Invite Only
One Plus Two is set to be available via invite only like its predecessors.
Though no official specs has been released by the company reliable sources reveal product will be coming out in 5.5-inch screens, sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, a 4GB RAM, a better resolution and a generous 3300mAh battery, notes Tech Advisor.
However, all the gorgeous specs should come with razor-thin margins, a good news for future OnePlus Two owners.
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