OnePlus is one of the youngest players in the crowded smartphone market, but it has already managed to build a name for itself. The OnePlus One has been officially announced back in April, sporting a 5.5-inch 1080p Display, Snapdragon 801, 3GB RAM for just $299. So if you’re among those who are looking forward to buy a OnePlus One, then here’s some good news.
OnePlus will launch a new pre-order system in October, allowing anyone to purchase the smartphone. But don’t get your hopes up, as there is a limited purchasing window and you’ll have to be fast in order to get one. OnePlus is a special company which wants to offer amazing devices at affordable prices, but there’s a cost to ‘pay’ for that – problems with availability.
Right now, in order to buy the OnePlus One, you will need to get an invite by asking someone who has bought a OnePlus phone for an invite or by entering contests and promotional events hosted on the OnePlus Forums or social media channels. According to OnePlus officials, this method is needed in order absorb miscalculations in inventory. Here are some more details from their latest blog post:
“Any excess inventory will lead to a direct loss, and a larger miscalculation means we need to close our doors. We believe that we’re forcing positive change within our industry by increasing consumer choice and building better quality products, and we’re not looking to stop anytime soon. This is why we have to be conservative and only produce the amount of devices we’re 100% sure will be sold.”
This October, during a limited time window, you will be able to place an order for the OnePlus One. If there are enough units in stock, these will be shipped immediately. Otherwise, they will automatically become pre-orders. Here are some more details on the pre-order system will work:
“There’s a time limit, but no limit on the amount of orders that can be made. If we get a lot of pre-orders, we’ll simply show you a longer shipping estimation date. Any time after the pre-order time window closes, you’ll be able to forfeit your place in line, cancel the order, and release the payment reserve if you don’t wish to wait any longer. If you receive an invite while waiting for a pre-order to ship, you can apply it to skip the pre-order queue and have your order shipped immediately.”
As a reminder, the OnePlus One is one of the best smartphones available for a low price of $299. Judging by its specs, the OnePlus One actually in direct competion with flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8. And besides the great price, the handset comes running a variant of pure Android 4.4.2 KitKat called CyanogenMod 11S, which comes with additional settings and more personalization options.