Speaker 1: The one Plus sixty is now available, and for under
Speaker 1: three hundred dollars, you can get a phone that rivals
Speaker 1: even the best devices from Google and Samsung. What's going on.
Speaker 1: I'm Rich Demiro and this is Rich on Tech. Okay,
Speaker 1: so full disclosure. The one plus sixty doesn't actually cost
Speaker 1: under three hundred dollars per se, but you can get
Speaker 1: it for that price if you trade in your current
Speaker 1: phone through T Mobile. It's an incredible deal for a
Speaker 1: phone that gives you a lot of what you need
Speaker 1: with nearly none of the annoyances that come with other
Speaker 1: Android devices at every price point. Recently, I caught up
Speaker 1: with Kyle Jung, general manager of one plus, to talk
Speaker 1: about the company, the new device, and some of the
Speaker 1: design decisions they made. Let's start with the basics. The
Speaker 1: one plus sixty features a giant six point four in screen,
Speaker 1: the latest Android P software, along with some special tricks
Speaker 1: That one plus adds touol cameras on the back and
Speaker 1: in a first for the US, a fingerprint reader on
Speaker 1: the screen. It's pretty cool. The device retails for five
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty dollars unlocked, which lets you use it
Speaker 1: on major US carriers, including T Mobile, Verizon, and AT
Speaker 1: and T. I'll get more into the carrier thing in
Speaker 1: a bit, but first, if you're wondering who the heck
Speaker 1: one Plus is, here you go.
Speaker 2: One Plus is a smartphone company that was started about
Speaker 2: five years ago that made phones for smartphone enthusiasts and
Speaker 2: the people that are most passionate about technology. We take
Speaker 2: a little bit of a different approach, and now we
Speaker 2: believe we make the best phones in the market for
Speaker 2: the most demanding users.
Speaker 1: All of that is true. I remember the first time
Speaker 1: I saw a one plus phone, and it was in
Speaker 1: an uber in San Francisco. Now I'm a guy who
Speaker 1: regularly tests just about every phone that's out there, and
Speaker 1: the one Plus is a great looking device. I sort
Speaker 1: of discounted it in the early days because it was
Speaker 1: tricky to get due to their weird invite system, and
Speaker 1: early models did have some major trade offs like no
Speaker 1: NFC which enables tap to pay, or a camera that
Speaker 1: just didn't compete with the big boys. But the thing
Speaker 1: early fans liked it was one of the first phones
Speaker 1: to deliver a so called pure Android experience, not stock
Speaker 1: since one Plus does add their own tough U but
Speaker 1: it wasn't as heavy handed as Samsung or LG.
Speaker 2: Our entire company is focused on making a singular product.
Speaker 2: Everything that goes into it, the hardware of the software,
Speaker 2: everything that goes into that experience, and so I think
Speaker 2: that makes us a bit different than other companies. As
Speaker 2: we've made more and more products, more and more people
Speaker 2: learning about them. The most demanding users in tech have
Speaker 2: vouch for us and helped spread the word. And at
Speaker 2: this point now when you look at the best rated
Speaker 2: phones anywhere, we're now at the top of the list
Speaker 2: of those ratings.
Speaker 1: This brings us to the one plus user. You often
Speaker 1: hear the company talk about how they are a community
Speaker 1: of their users, and this is also true. You have
Speaker 1: people buying these phones that expect a lot. Let's be honest,
Speaker 1: a lot of them are power users.
Speaker 2: I think our users are the most demanding and knowledgable
Speaker 2: and technology, and so they expect a lot of us,
Speaker 2: and we get a lot of feedback from our users.
Speaker 2: They have a close relationship with us. We know a
Speaker 2: lot of them personally and we get their feedback. They
Speaker 2: test our products early and often, but at the same time,
Speaker 2: we believe they helped make our products better and also
Speaker 2: they've helped us spread the word in reaching other people
Speaker 2: on learning about one plus The.
Speaker 1: One plus sixty represents a major turning point for the company.
Speaker 1: Not only does it have a feature that should get
Speaker 1: it noticed by the mainstream media, this futuristic looking fingerprint
Speaker 1: reader in the screen, it's also the first time the
Speaker 1: phone will be sold in a carrier store and available
Speaker 1: to use on the Verizon network.
Speaker 2: Really excited about the one plus six T. It follows
Speaker 2: the approach we've taken in terms of we believe making
Speaker 2: the best flagship best combination of hardware and software grave Craftsmanshift.
Speaker 2: It also introduces several new pieces of technology that we
Speaker 2: think people will be really excited about. One is a
Speaker 2: feature we're calling screen Unlock, which is a fingerprint on
Speaker 2: display which with a full screen, allows you to unlock
Speaker 2: your device by pressing your thumb or finger on the screen,
Speaker 2: unlocking the device in lower point three seconds. We think
Speaker 2: it's a new feature that will be the first time
Speaker 2: any phones had in the United States, and I think
Speaker 2: people will be really excited about it.
Speaker 1: Now. I've been testing the one plus six T for
Speaker 1: about a week now, and there is a lot to like.
Speaker 1: In fact, i'd place it right next to the Google
Speaker 1: Pixel three and the iPhone ten s as my top
Speaker 1: choice is for a smartphone right now. The n screen
Speaker 1: finger print reader is cool and it works, but it
Speaker 1: does take some getting used to. I've used so many
Speaker 1: fingerprint readers on the backside of phones. This is where
Speaker 1: my finger naturally gravitates when I pick one up. But
Speaker 1: it works, and the benefit is that you can use
Speaker 1: it when your phone is laying flat, say on a
Speaker 1: table or your desk at work.
Speaker 2: So it's a sense of that basically sits on the
Speaker 2: on the motherbard below the screen. When you press down lighten,
Speaker 2: its up and captures your fingerprint. So but it'll happen
Speaker 2: almost since taneously. We've actually been looking at for a
Speaker 2: year and it was working, and we had on previous
Speaker 2: devices to test, but it's reached a point where we
Speaker 2: feel it matches our high level of user experience and
Speaker 2: so we're excited about it.
Speaker 1: One plus told me they tested it for three hundred
Speaker 1: thousand unlocks, or about one hundred and fifty unlocks a
Speaker 1: day for five years. Yeah, sounds about right.
Speaker 2: So secure as our fingerprint sensors have been in the past,
Speaker 2: so feel really confident about people using it for any use,
Speaker 2: Education's payment. It also be the fastest fingerprint sensor or
Speaker 2: on display fingerprint sensor in the market.
Speaker 1: Now about that all important camera. The one plus sixty
Speaker 1: has a very capable camera, and I'm really harsh on
Speaker 1: this aspect of phones. To me, a good camera is
Speaker 1: the most important feature on any device, especially if you
Speaker 1: have kids. You want to capture their life and yours
Speaker 1: in the best possible way without a lot of fuss.
Speaker 1: The one plus sixty camera accomplishes this a large majority
Speaker 1: of the time. You're going to get a great shot
Speaker 1: in many cases the first time around. Now it's not
Speaker 1: as full proof as say the pixel, but then again,
Speaker 1: no other camera I've ever tested is. I really like
Speaker 1: the way the one plus pictures look overall. The only
Speaker 1: sticking point for me is how it captures action. Sometimes
Speaker 1: movements can sometimes be blurred, and also pictures are not
Speaker 1: quite as clear as the pixel when you zoom in.
Speaker 1: But I'm being really nitpicky here. These are things that
Speaker 1: ninety nine point nine percent of people will not notice
Speaker 1: or care about. Bottom line, it's a great camera, fun,
Speaker 1: fast and easy to use. The video it's taking this
Speaker 1: time around looks better than ever and the Selfies blow Away,
Speaker 1: which you get on Samsung's latest devices. And there's also
Speaker 1: this new feature called night.
Speaker 2: Moode and so it's based on software algorithms in terms
Speaker 2: of stabilization, where basically to capture more images in low light,
Speaker 2: especially in city scape settings. And so I think it'll
Speaker 2: be relatively seamless. So you switch to the feature in
Speaker 2: night settings and you'll capture photo where basically ten multi
Speaker 2: frame fots, well we capture at night, no one merge
Speaker 2: them together to capture an accurate, natural picture and kind
Speaker 2: of what your eye is seen.
Speaker 1: Now, I tested out night Mode against the Pixel three
Speaker 1: and the iPhone ten s from the balcony of my
Speaker 1: New York City hotel room. And which phone took the
Speaker 1: best shot. Well, it's a toss up between the Pixel
Speaker 1: three and the one plus sixty iPhone not even in
Speaker 1: the race. You can see the results for yourself on
Speaker 1: my website, rich on tech dot tv or just check
Speaker 1: the show notes for the link. Now, there are some
Speaker 1: caveats here. First, the one plus sixty did take kind
Speaker 1: of a long time to shoot the picture. It tells
Speaker 1: you to hold the camera steady while it captures. But
Speaker 1: for this reason, the feature only works with landscapes like
Speaker 1: a city view. It doesn't work with anything that's moving,
Speaker 1: so if people are in the shot, probably not going
Speaker 1: to work out. My pixel has not gotten its upgrade
Speaker 1: to Google's version of the same feature, which they're calling
Speaker 1: night Site. Now I have a feeling Googles is going
Speaker 1: to be pretty good just based on some of the
Speaker 1: samples I've seen online. Now let's go back to the
Speaker 1: one plus software. It is nearly perfect, and if users
Speaker 1: do find a bug, it will be fixed in an
Speaker 1: update or two. One plus talks about how they have
Speaker 1: an entire team dedicated to keeping the device fast and smooth,
Speaker 1: and it shows it seems like even Google can learn
Speaker 1: a thing or two from one plus about how to
Speaker 1: optimize Android software. Users tell me their one plus device
Speaker 1: is rarely slow down, even after a few years of use.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we actually are. We're proud that we support
Speaker 2: devices for two years of software updates and an additional
Speaker 2: year for security updates. Also based on our user base,
Speaker 2: we were the quickest to actually introduce Google's Android P
Speaker 2: into the market forty five days after it launched, and
Speaker 2: our new device, one plus sixty will be launching with
Speaker 2: Android PI.
Speaker 1: Now there are two major downsides to the new one
Speaker 1: plus sixty. The first is the lack of a headphone jack.
Speaker 1: This is the first one plus device to ditch that feature.
Speaker 1: It's not a deal breaker, as pretty much every other
Speaker 1: company besides Samsung and LG have done the same, and
Speaker 1: they probably will in the future, but it would have
Speaker 1: been nice to have on there.
Speaker 2: So obviously for us, it's a bit about balance in
Speaker 2: terms of deciding how which where we use space on
Speaker 2: the device in our screen alog feature we believe is
Speaker 2: significant improvement that people will enjoy now.
Speaker 1: The other big feature the one plus sixt T doesn't
Speaker 1: have is wireless charging. But I'll be honest, I'm not
Speaker 1: a huge fan of wireless charging. Sure it's fun to
Speaker 1: have in a pinch when you're at the airport and
Speaker 1: you can just put your phone on one of those
Speaker 1: little stands or at Starbucks, but I'm not sure it's
Speaker 1: ever better than charging with a plug, which I think
Speaker 1: is faster and more full proof. I will admit I
Speaker 1: have gotten used to laying my phone on my desk
Speaker 1: at work on a wireless charging pad just to sort
Speaker 1: of keep it topped off during the day, but I
Speaker 1: could easily do without this feature, especially in the case
Speaker 1: of the one plus sixt which has a really fast
Speaker 1: wired charging system. So there you have it, most everything
Speaker 1: you need to know about the one plus sixty. My
Speaker 1: recommendation if you want a great Android phone with lots
Speaker 1: of screen and nearly all the features you need, just
Speaker 1: go ahead and get it. The Pixel three is obviously
Speaker 1: my top top choice for a camera on a phone,
Speaker 1: but the rest of the phone is kind of boring
Speaker 1: and it's way more expensive. Song is great if you
Speaker 1: want the best screen available on a phone plus every
Speaker 1: single smartphone feature known to mankind. Now, earlier I said
Speaker 1: this device was a turning point for the company, and
Speaker 1: here is why. For starters, Tea Mobile will be selling
Speaker 1: the device in its stores. This is the first time
Speaker 1: in history you can walk into pretty much any T
Speaker 1: Mobile store nationwide and pick up a one plus. That
Speaker 1: alone is huge for the company, But I'm also predicting
Speaker 1: that T Mobile employees, many of whom are very tech savvy,
Speaker 1: are going to start recommending this thing in droves due
Speaker 1: to the incredible combination of features and price, and I
Speaker 1: think the feedback they're going to get from customers is
Speaker 1: going to be fantastic. So that means a lot of
Speaker 1: people are going to start buying this phone, and I
Speaker 1: doubt that anyone is going to return it because they're
Speaker 1: unhappy with the performance. It's going to be a rock
Speaker 1: star right now. Tea Mobile is doing a limited time
Speaker 1: offer where you can trade in a wide variety of
Speaker 1: smartphones for three hundred dollars towards the one plus sixty,
Speaker 1: which brings the price down to a mere two hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty dollars. That means a lot of folks can
Speaker 1: actually live without a smartphone payment at this price. One
Speaker 1: thing to know about the Team Mobile deal. The one
Speaker 1: plus phone that you get from them is slightly different.
Speaker 1: It will not easily work with two lines or with
Speaker 1: other carriers, But if that's not a concern to you
Speaker 1: and you're going to stick to T Mobile, then get
Speaker 1: it there for the great price. Now on the flip side,
Speaker 1: this is the first time a one plus device will
Speaker 1: work on the Verizon network. Previously it only worked on
Speaker 1: T Mobile and AT and T, so this now opens
Speaker 1: the device up to millions and millions of potential new customers.
Speaker 1: Keep in mind, Verizon will not be selling the device,
Speaker 1: you will not find it in their stores. But if
Speaker 1: you want the Verizon compatibility, you'll have to purchase it
Speaker 1: direct from one plus. It starts at five hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty dollars for a model with one hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: eight gigabytes of storage, which is plenty. Bottom line, what
Speaker 1: one plus is doing excites me because it is the
Speaker 1: right thing for consumers. I see so many people buying
Speaker 1: phones that are too expensive and they have this payment forever,
Speaker 1: or if they're too cheap, the phones come with a
Speaker 1: bunch of trade offs and terrible performance. The one plus
Speaker 1: sixty is a solid choice for an Android device, and
Speaker 1: even the snobbyiest cell phone person will admit it. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much for listening. If you like the show, please
Speaker 1: share it with your friends. Take a screenshot of your
Speaker 1: podcast player and post it to social media that's Facebook, Twitter,
Speaker 1: Instagram Stories and let your friends know how much you
Speaker 1: enjoy listening and learning from it. That's the best thanks
Speaker 1: you can give me. And for more about the one
Speaker 1: plus sixty go to Rich on Tech not TV or
Speaker 1: check the show notes. I'm Rich, d'miro I'll talk to
Speaker 1: you real soon.