OnePlus 2 is now official. Coming to South East Asia in Q4

After several weeks of teasing, the OnePlus 2 is officially announced in what seems to be the world’s first VR launch. Dubbed as the 2016 flagship killer, it carries a lot of expectations and most fans are hoping they could keep the price as low as its OnePlus One predecessor.

OnePlus aims to give the best specs they could possibly offer while maintaining an optimal user experience. They have also thrown in a couple of new features which are among the first to be fitted on an Android smart phone.

For starters, the front of the OnePlus 2 is a similar 5.5″ screen size that pushes the same full HD 1080p resolution as the One. However it has been much improved with a brighter in-cell IPS display that’s viewable under harsh sunlight and it boast a higher 1500:1 contrast ratio. This offers better blacks and bolder colours. The OnePlus 2 has an aluminium alloy frame and the back comes with its signature sandstone black colour. For a touch of personalisation, there will be StyleSwap covers which are sold separately as well.

Under the hood, it gets the latest Qualcomm Octa-Core Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor with a top of the line 4GB of LP-DDR4 RAM. Like the previous model, you get the option of either 16GB or 64GB storage options which isn’t expandable with microSD. The OnePlus 2 this time around supports dual-SIMs (nano) with 4G LTE. For imaging it gets a 13MP f/2.0 camera with 1.3 micron size pixels and it is assisted by laser focus and Optical Image Stabilisation. In the camera app, it allows you to take super resolution photos up to 50MP and slow motion videos up to 120fps. The front however gets a 5MP camera for selfies.

Powering the device is a 3,300mAh capacity battery which is now charged with a reversible USB Type C, the latest standard for mobile devices. If you want to use your existing chargers, you can do so with an add-on accessory. Another new addition is a fingerprint scanner at the front which registers up to 5 fingers and it claims to respond quicker than iPhone’s Touch ID.

On top of that, you also get better controls over your notifications with its Alert Slider. This is similar to the silent switch on the iPhone but you get 3 settings (e.g. full notification, priority, off).

Out of the box, the OnePlus 2 runs on its own OxygenOS that’s still based on Android Lollipop. However it offers a couple of Android M features including permission and notification management on the app level.

In terms of availability, it will hit the US, Canada, India, Europe and China markets on 11th August. For the rest of us in South East Asia, we would need to wait until Q4 which is a few months from now. OnePlus will still be using the invitation system but they would allocate more units this time around with priority given to its loyal forum members.

The OnePlus 2 is priced at US$329 for the 16GB model and US$389 for the 64GB version, which is roughly RM1,256 and RM1,485 respectively in our current exchange rate. As comparison, the current OnePlus One 64GB is going for RM1,199 which is currently sold exclusively via Maxis. For the OnePlus 2, Maxis could still be the exclusive telco but we’ll have to wait and see in the next few months to come.

Check out some hands-on product shots that were shared on Android Central forum below or you can visit the OnePlus 2 product page.

OnePlus 2 Videos

OnePlus 2 Photos