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00:00Where do I even start with this?
00:12Hey guys, I'm Tom of Tech Chap and this is ridiculous.
00:16I've got every single OnePlus phone they've ever launched, bar a couple of limited edition
00:22and McLaren versions.
00:24Everything from the original OnePlus One, the OG, which I can't wait to show you, all
00:29the way up to the brand new 9 series, 20 OnePlus phones, OnePlus 20 if you will.
00:36And the reason I'm making this video now is actually because I'm working with OnePlus
00:40to celebrate the 7th anniversary since the launch of the original OnePlus One.
00:45And also they've reached a huge milestone of having over 3 million registered users
00:49at OnePlus.com from Europe alone.
00:51So lots to be proud of and of course really for OnePlus, it is the community, it's you
00:56guys, the fans that have been the backbone for this whole company, which is why they
01:00got in touch, asked if they could work with me on this video to look at the progression
01:04of the tech, see how the company grew.
01:06They've also created this one for all event with some pretty big discounts and good deals
01:11on select phones, including one of my favorites, which I'll reveal which one it is at the end
01:16of the video.
01:17So check out the link in the description below.
01:20So let's dive straight in.
01:21And to avoid boring you all to death with 20 unboxings, let me try this.
01:26Wow, I didn't actually think that was going to work, but there we are.
01:30A magical OnePlus unboxing.
01:33No smoke and mirrors or editing at all.
01:35That was pure magic right there.
01:3620 phones on this desk.
01:38I mean straight away you get an idea of the changes in design.
01:41Also the colors.
01:42This was a very aquamarine blue phase for OnePlus.
01:46And also the cameras from single lenses, dual, triple, now up to quad lenses on the
01:519 Pro.
01:52But let's go back to the start.
01:53Cast your minds all the way back to April 2014.
01:57I hadn't even started my YouTube channel yet.
01:59That was like another seven or eight months away.
02:01And that's when the OnePlus One launched.
02:04And I remember the hype being crazy around this at the time with this new startup company
02:08launching what they were calling this flagship killer phone.
02:12And considering this cost just £229 or $299, it was pretty revolutionary actually because
02:19the Galaxy S5 cost £600, so over twice as much, but we got a lot of the similar specs
02:25including the same Snapdragon 801 processor, which really puts into perspective just how
02:31good value these OnePlus phones were and also how much more expensive phones have got since
02:36then.
02:37Now I must admit, I don't love this sandstone texture on this curved back.
02:41It's certainly grippy, but it also scratched quite easily and it felt a bit, well, like
02:45sandpaper.
02:46And we got this tiny single 13 megapixel camera and flash on the back.
02:51This micro USB port on the bottom, which really does show its age.
02:55And also of course a three and a half mil headphone jack on the top.
02:58But the highlight really was this big five and a half inch screen.
03:01It is LCD rather than OLED like we got on the S5, but in most respects they were neck
03:06and neck.
03:07I'm sure you guys would agree that the other standout for OnePlus, aside from their really
03:11good value, is the software.
03:14And while the first OnePlus One actually ran on CyanogenMod, which is a developer friendly
03:19version of Android, and it was actually really lovely to use.
03:23And unlike a lot of phones at the time and still to this day, there wasn't any annoying
03:27bloatware or heavy UI on top, it was just slick, fast, lightweight.
03:32But actually it wasn't just the phone itself that made the OnePlus One special, it was
03:36also one of the most special launches in history as you actually had to have a personalized
03:41invite code to buy one.
03:44And it was sold exclusively through OnePlus.com with almost no advertising budget.
03:49Even though I was never actually able to buy this one myself, I remember at the time a
03:52lot of the creators and the sort of tech people that I followed, they were all talking about
03:57this and they were also all switching to it when they could get their hands on it.
04:00There really was a big buzz around it.
04:03And so it wasn't just about the phone, it was also about the beginning of the OnePlus
04:07community.
04:08So that was the OnePlus One from 2014, but actually the momentum continued with the launch
04:13of the OnePlus Two in 2015 and actually there were over a million people who signed up to
04:18get one of those personalized invite codes to actually buy one.
04:22And again, we had a flagship killing price of just £239 for this when it launched.
04:28And this definitely feels like a refinement of the first.
04:30In fact, if I bring the One back in side by side, we've got the similar sandstone material
04:35on the back, but now we've got this more premium metal frame around the sides.
04:39Also, big jump up to the USB-C port, as well as having a fingerprint reader built into
04:45this front home button and also for the first time on an Android phone, this alert slider.
04:52But I think more significantly is this was the first OnePlus phone to come with what
04:56we now know as Oxygen OS.
04:59So it was a nice little upgrade, but there were a couple of problems with this.
05:02Firstly, it had the Snapdragon 810, which had some performance and overheating issues.
05:06And also OnePlus have said they could have done a better job with the launch of the Two
05:10by having better customer support at the time.
05:13They really just grew so fast from the initial one, they weren't really set up in time.
05:17Definitely some growing pains there then, but fair enough, they held their hands up,
05:21they took in that customer feedback that they needed to improve their support and they did
05:26as the years progressed.
05:27So a nice little upgrade, but a couple of sort of issues there with the Two.
05:30But then just a few months later, later on in 2015, we had this guy, which I'd actually
05:35forgotten about, but it's the OnePlus X, which is, well, unmistakably similar to a certain
05:42fruit based rival, like the iPhone 4, it looks very similar to it.
05:47And it was actually meant as a bit of a budget alternative to the OnePlus 2, surprisingly,
05:51because this was already like £239, but the X came in at £199, and it offered a slightly
05:56smaller 5-inch screen, also the previous generation Snapdragon 801.
06:02But for £199, this was an absolutely stunning phone, both in terms of design and also obviously
06:07with that OxygenOS software, it was just lovely to use.
06:11So funnily enough, even though it was supposed to be a budget version of the OnePlus 2, honestly
06:16I'd have easily gone for this one instead, and actually I think it's one of the most
06:19underrated OnePlus phones.
06:22Then, it was the OnePlus 3 where I think they really found their feet, and actually
06:26you can see straight away just from this metal design, it feels a lot more premium, and actually
06:31it was kind of similar to the popular M7 and M8 HTC phones at the time, I love those phones,
06:38and this really did feel like a step up in terms of the design, the build quality.
06:42We also had a big spec bump with this up to the Snapdragon 820, it also debuted their
06:47Dash Charge technology, which later became Warp Charge.
06:50We also have an AMOLED screen, OxygenOS obviously, and it was also the first OnePlus phone you
06:55could buy without one of those pesky invite codes.
06:59So this was a proper flagship killer, although it was a little bit more expensive than we
07:02were used to, starting at £329 or $399, so nearly £100 more than the OnePlus 2, but
07:09at the same time it was still half the price of the competing Galaxy S7.
07:13And OnePlus really made an effort to bring this to the fans, to the community, with pop-up
07:18and launch events, and since then they've held more than 150 of them in 38 different
07:23cities around the world.
07:25But then just 5 months later we had the launch of the OnePlus 3T, and so began the dual phone
07:32launch cycle that we're used to now, and actually this will always hold a special place in my
07:37heart because it was the first OnePlus phone I ever bought and used as my daily driver.
07:41I loved this thing, and essentially the T-Series, not that T-Series, would basically be the
07:46slightly refined and upgraded versions of the phone.
07:49So the 3T here added a 128GB storage option, a much better selfie camera, as well as a
07:54bigger battery, and it started from £399 or $439, so it was a slight price increase
08:00over the 3.
08:02So can you guess what comes after the 3T?
08:04Well that's right, it's the 5.
08:07They actually jumped ahead of the 4 because in Chinese language the number 4 sounds a
08:12lot like death.
08:14So they jumped straight to the 5 in June 2017.
08:17This was the first OnePlus phone to come with a dual camera system.
08:21But as we're used to with modern phones, the second lens isn't a ultrawide or telephoto,
08:26it was actually a 20 megapixel sensor that was used to give us 2x lossless zoom, so in
08:32a way it was for zoom, and also to help with bokeh in portrait shots.
08:36And it also began OnePlus' slight obsession with cramming in as much RAM as possible,
08:41offering an 8GB version of the phone for £500, although it started from £450 with
08:466GB of the stuff.
08:48So I really like the 5, but actually the 5T here is also a little bit nostalgic for me
08:52because the last time I saw this particular model of phone was in the back of a taxi in
08:57Berlin during an IFA trade show, and that was also the last place I saw it because I
09:02left it there never to be seen again.
09:04So it's good to see this again, it's also one of my favourite colours of OnePlus with
09:09this red metallic finish.
09:11It's beautiful.
09:12And the 5T trimmed the bezels so we have a much higher screen-to-body ratio, they also
09:16added face unlocking, but pretty much the same specs and also the same price as the
09:205, so a fairly modest upgrade overall.
09:24And around this time they also opened their OnePlus Lab where community members could
09:28come in and try the phones a little bit early and create sort of unbiased reviews, and again
09:32give feedback to OnePlus.
09:34But then fast forward to May 2018 and we had this guy, the OnePlus 6, which actually was
09:40incredibly popular, I think they sold like a million units of this in the first month,
09:44but the biggest controversy with this was the notch.
09:47Not everyone was a fan of it, although you can see that they really did trim the bezels
09:51and it meant they could squeeze in a much bigger and also a taller screen into a similar
09:55form factor.
09:57And it was also the first time since the OnePlus X that we had an all glass body on a OnePlus.
10:03But then like clockwork, six months later we had the OnePlus 6T, and actually at the
10:07time this was the best and the fastest selling OnePlus.
10:11And with this we got an even smaller teardrop notch, as well as an improved camera, a much
10:15bigger battery, and also the first time on a OnePlus, an in-screen optical fingerprint
10:20reader.
10:21But sadly this was also the first OnePlus phone that didn't come with a headphone jack.
10:26Although the 6T series was also the first time we saw a McLaren edition with their signature
10:30papaya orange color accents, and also a bump up to a frankly ludicrous 10 gigabytes of
10:36RAM with a massive 256 gigs of storage.
10:39So now we're up to the 7 series, and this is where things get really interesting because
10:43it's the first time they start launching two phones at the same time.
10:47But the 7 Pro here was the first OnePlus to cost over $700, but the point was that you
10:52now had options.
10:53You could go for an upper mid-range phone for a little bit less money, or a proper flagship
10:58rival, which included this very nifty pop-up camera at the top here.
11:02So we had an entirely bezel-less screen, which was also curved by the way, whereas
11:06the standard 7 is actually a flat screen, which I know a lot of people did prefer as
11:10well.
11:11We also had a much smoother 90 hertz refresh rate the first time we had a high refresh
11:15on a OnePlus, plus a QHD resolution, and also this triple lens camera setup.
11:20But actually I think most significantly is that there was a 5G model of this, which was
11:24actually the very first 5G supported phone to launch in the UK.
11:28So the 7 Pro was actually quite a big upgrade for OnePlus, but then we move on to September
11:332019 with the refreshed 7T and 7T Pro.
11:38And I remember when I reviewed this because I really felt that the cheaper 7T stood out
11:43because it brought over the matte frosted glass body from the 7 Pro and also the 90
11:49hertz refresh and the triple lens camera into this new nifty round camera module.
11:54And so it had pretty much everything you needed for a still reasonable £550 or $600.
12:00So I think for me, the 7T is a real highlight.
12:04Whereas the Pro was a little bit bigger with beefier specs, we still had the pop-up selfie
12:08camera and also improved camera sensors.
12:10But in my book, it didn't really justify the £150 price premium over the 7T.
12:17Which brings us to the year that I think most of us would rather forget, 2020.
12:22And just as the world was shutting down, we had the launch of these two, the 8 and
12:26the 8 Pro.
12:27And this was the first time on the standard model, so the 8, that we had 5G support.
12:31We also had a bigger battery and also wireless charging for the first time.
12:36And also as you can see, we had the transition away from the notch to the hole-punch selfie
12:41camera.
12:42The 8 Pro went further with a 120 hertz QHD screen.
12:46We also had official IP water resistance for the first time and a new camera lens setup,
12:50which included this photo-chrome colour filter, which ended up causing OnePlus a bit of a
12:56headache as it turned out it could actually see through certain materials, like some plastics
13:00and even clothes in some cases.
13:02Although an update quickly disabled this.
13:05But as well as the two new phones, last year also saw the launch of OnePlus' Idea campaign
13:10where again, members of the community, literally you guys, could submit ideas for new software
13:15features and improvements, which would then be voted on and then where possible, actually
13:19integrated into the phones.
13:21So again, another good example of OnePlus actually listening to consumer feedback.
13:25So far so good then, but actually it's this next phone which really stood out for me and
13:30I think even now is one of my favourite OnePluses of all time.
13:34It is the OnePlus Nord.
13:37It came out last summer for a much more affordable £379 or $399.
13:42And with this, they really did go back to their roots, or their true north, hence the
13:46name Nord, with a good, affordable phone.
13:49We missed out on some of the flagship specs, but the mid-range 5G enabled Snapdragon 765G
13:55is more than fast enough for most of us and paired with the lovely 90Hz screen, this quad
14:00lens camera setup on the back and also these dual selfie cameras up front, including an
14:04ultra wide lens, this really had everything you needed.
14:07Now this didn't come out that long ago and given some price reductions that we've seen
14:11on this, it's still a pretty competitive budget phone and it's also one of the phones
14:16featured in the sale right now.
14:18So if you fancy yourself an even cheaper Nord, then click the link below.
14:22OnePlus really have made a lot of phones in 7 years, but then came the OnePlus 8T, although
14:26bizarrely no 8T Pro.
14:28So at this point, you could choose between the 8 Pro, then the 8T or the OnePlus Nord.
14:35So you had options at all different price ranges.
14:38And the 8T clearly took some design inspiration from the Nord, but I think this one did struggle
14:42to stand out a little bit, although we did get Warp Charge 65, a bigger battery and a
14:47120Hz screen.
14:48But this really was a good all-round phone and actually still pretty good value at £550.
14:54So as we've been going, the prices have been obviously getting higher as well, to meet
14:57with inflation and also because they just wanted to produce better phones and also offer
15:02better support and these things cost money.
15:04But towards the last couple of years or so, they really have put more effort into giving
15:09us more affordable options, starting with the Nord, which I still think is great, but
15:13then phones like the OnePlus Nord N10, which I have here and also the even cheaper N100.
15:19And the N10 here cost just £329 when it launched, which was £50 less than the regular Nord
15:25and it also made it one of the cheapest 5G phones you could buy.
15:29Obviously the camera and the specs were appropriately cut down, but it still had a 90Hz screen and
15:34with the slick OxygenOS software, it's lovely to use.
15:37Crikey, that's a lot of phones.
15:39But that brings us to, well, right now with the latest OnePlus 9 series.
15:44If you haven't already watched my full review and comparison of these, check it out after
15:48this video.
15:49And these do bring a whole host of upgrades, but the highlight really is the partnership
15:52with Hasselblad.
15:53OnePlus know that they've consistently offered good, but never quite the best cameras on
15:58the market.
15:59And while this is just the start of a three-year deal, and with the 9 series we're getting
16:03software and colour optimisations, it's going to be really exciting to see where this
16:07partnership goes with upcoming phones.
16:10Although personally, between the two, I would probably go with the standard OnePlus 9, which
16:15cost £629, it's still very good value and while the Pro gets Quad HD, a slightly better
16:20main camera sensor with OIS and a telephoto lens, I still think this is the best bang
16:25for buck.
16:26And breathe.
16:27That was a lot of phones, but hopefully you're still with me and I haven't bored you all
16:32to death.
16:33I found this absolutely fascinating to see the transition and the progress over the last
16:37seven years.
16:38We really have come a long way.
16:39If I had to pick a favourite, I think it would be between the 3T because this was my first
16:44ever OnePlus, or honestly I think the Nord because I still think it's incredible value
16:48for money.
16:49But what about you?
16:50Which OnePlus phone do you think is the best of all time?
16:53Let me know in the comments below and also check out their One For All event, which is
16:57running until the end of the week, April 23rd I believe it is, where you can get some good
17:01deals on various phones, including the Nord and the 8 series.
17:06It genuinely is great to see a brand really working with the community hand in hand to
17:11improve the brand, to make the products better.
17:13If you want to see more videos like this or just more of me, then don't forget to hit
17:17that subscribe button and I'll see you guys next time right here on The Tech Chat.