When OnePlus announced that they were going to be selling their new smartphone to the public using an invite-only system, they copped a lot of flack from the Android community. At the time, they promised that the invite system would only be for a month or two until they could ramp up production. Nearly six months, later the invite system is still in effect, with invites still being extremely rare. They continued to cop backlash from the community for this but it was revealed that they had sold a lot more OnePlus Ones than they expected and still were struggling to keep up with demand. They had instances of selling them without invites and now it seems they are dropping the invite system… sort of.
For some strange reason, the invite system is not dropped entirely, only on Tuesdays. Why only Tuesdays is anybody’s guess, considering now that anyone who wants a OnePlus One will just wait until a Tuesday to buy it. Hopefully the OnePlus servers can handle it. Beginning on Tuesday (8am London time, midnight LA time) sales will be open for 24 hours without an invite. Both the 16GB Silk White and the 64GB Sandstone Black will be available for all to purchase at their very low prices.
The OnePlus One is, in my opinion, a great phone at a great price and can still hold its own against all other flagships out there. If you are in the market for a great phone at a budget price I can still, six months later, recommend this phone. Remember though, you cannot have this device shipped directly to you, you will need to use a friend or mail forwarder in one of the countries that are included in the shipping list. USA is often the easiest with there being many suitable and affordable mail forwarders there.
Is there anyone at all out there who still wants a OnePlus One that doesn’t already have one? Anyone here still interested?
i was looking to purchase it when the Nexus 6 was confirmed to be the size of a single bed, but once i realised I’d have to jump through hoops to get it, i quickly got over it… if a company wants to limit my access to their products, i will in turn limit their access to my money
Although I think the invite system is a bit stupid, it’s not rare to get an invite. I’ve spoken to many people who found an invite on the forums within a couple of hours.
If I was looking to replace my Nexus 5, I’d be seriously considering the OnePlus, although having to use a mail forwarder is just annoying, as well as adding another step where a package can be lost or “misplaced”. Surely, by now, there is no reason to geographically restrict their sales? Especially as mail forwarding means that anyone who wants one will buy one anyway, regardless of where they live, so the geographical restrictions are unlikely to limit their sales volumes.
Add to that the phone hardware is old now. Still is good news for those still wanting one.
Ebay had a special on them late last year as well.