I make no secret of scorn for the iPhone and iPhone users; for the people who buy into the whole it’s so expensive it must be the best myth. In other words, I am an android fangirl and have always been one. In recent times have become a firm 1+ fangirl. I became one when I bought the OnePlus 3 about three years ago and now with my new OnePlus 6T nestled in my hand, I am pretty sure that the company has a brand loyalist for life. I also (at least in part) understand why the OnePlus; the so-called flagship killer commands the geeky devotion that it does.
This phone manages to give amazing specs at a far lower price point than other top of the line phones. A flagship phone with comparable performance/ specs is typically about 50% more expensive! My thrifty Gujarati soul finds this fact deeply satisfying!
OnePlus also manages to differentiate itself from other phones in the market, by roping in the king of endorsements; Amitabh Bachchan to plug it.
The USP of the brand has always been speed; a more powerful RAM than most other phones in the market and faster charging than practically any other phone. This is one of the main reasons that the phone endears itself to certain segments of the market such as gamers. Here the ‘thala’ (boss) reference indicates what fans think of this phone.
Unlike, say Samsung who as basic phones that cost about 1k to premium phones that cost maybe 60k, 1+ won’t confuse us with a bunch of variants. They give you one feature packed phone and tell you to run with it.
The launch events evoke a certain breathless anticipation among the dedicated followers of the brand. The phone goes on sale only on select online stores and retail outlets and is unavailable elsewhere.
In spite of being significantly cheaper than other top end phones, the OnePlus manages to maintain its exclusivity. The pre-launch buzz, the invite codes for preordering the phone all serve to ratchet up the anticipation and maintain the ‘exclusive’ tag.
OnePlus fanboys and girls consist of tech savvy geeks as well as common or garden phone users such as me who use it to for the usual email, social media, word games, taking pictures, organising my calendar etc.
He or she doesn’t mind who knows about their brand loyalty. They don’t mind that watermark on the photos either.
The OnePlus buyer has the satisfaction of knowing they have an excellent product and that they didn’t pay a stupidly high price for it and also has the smug satisfaction of doing all those screen gestures to give direct access to certain phone functions. It’s hard to get used to anything else once you’ve used a OnePlus… so I chose not try!
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