OnePlus 2 to be available in India sans invite on October 12

OnePlus has announced that its latest flagship, the OnePlus 2, will be available for purchase on Amazon India without any invite on October 12, which is coming Monday. However, the open sale will last for just one hour - 12:00 to 1 PM.

"While we’ve alleviated the invite demand to a reasonable extent on account of faster roll-outs, we feel that we owe it to you all to make it a bit more convenient this time around," the Chinese smartphone manufacturer said in a blog post.

It's worth mentioning that this would be the first open sale for the "2016 flagship killer" ever since it was released back in August this year. The handset, which went on sale in Malaysia last month, costs INR 25,000 (around $385) for the Sandstone Black variant (64GB).

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Upcoming OnePlus Mini has all of its specs detailed

Before the end of the year, OnePlus will unveil a new, even more affordable device. This has so far been confirmed many times by the Chinese company's management. Yet understandably OnePlus execs haven't disclosed any information about the upcoming device's specs.

That said, today a new rumor comes to seemingly reveal all of that. Before we delve into it, however, do note that all of this comes from an anonymous source, and as such you shouldn't take any of it for granted. Furthermore, the source itself claims that these details are from a prototype that's already two months old, which means that certain hardware specs may have changed in the meantime.

The phone could be called OnePlus Mini, since it will have a 5-inch touchscreen (with 1080p resolution and 2.5D Gorilla Glass on top). It will be powered by MediaTek's Helio X10 chipset (MT6795T), which comes with a 2.2 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU.

2GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable eMMC 5.0 storage are in, but you can forget the previously talked about dual-camera setup. On the back we'll see a 13 MP unit with a Sony IMX258 sensor with f/2.0 aperture, complemented by a dual-tone LED flash. The selfie shooter will have 5 MP resolution and will be of the wide-angle variety in order to fit as many people into your "groufies" as necessary.

The battery capacity is said to be 3,000 or 3,100 mAh, which you'll charge through a USB Type-C port. Interestingly, some sort of quick charging support will be baked in, unlike in the more premium OnePlus 2. It's the same situation with NFC and an IR blaster, both of which will be integrated into the OnePlus Mini despite not having made it to the bigger device.

A fingerprint sensor will be on the back of the OnePlus Mini, and the handset will also have a 1.2W front-facing speaker, an FM radio, and IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. Its shell will be plastic.

For all of this you'll only need to pay around $250, if the source of this rumor has it right. The OnePlus Mini should become available in November or December, though it's unclear if invites will be required for buying it.

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OnePlus offering 3,000 OP2 invites in India

A total of 3,000 OnePlus 2 invites are up for grabs in India, where the Chinese company is running a competition that will go on for 2 days (today & tomorrow). Dubbed #InviteCarnival, the competition involves answering love quizzes, puzzles, and trivia.

"Be among the first few to answer them and bag an invite," the company said on its official forum. "Total of 3,000 invites are up for grabs! With the passage of time, we will roll out more number of invites."

As with any competition, there are some rules and regulations: only one entry per contest will be considered; only one invite will be shared with one fan; you are allowed to participate in as many contests as you want; winners will be selected on the first come first serve basis.

Hit the last two links below to participate.

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High-end Yu 5050 has specs detailed ahead of tomorrow's unveiling

As we told you a few days ago, Micromax-backed Indian smartphone maker Yu will hold an event tomorrow during which it's expected to reveal a new device. And it looks like most of this handset's specs have been leaked already.

First off, a Yu 5050 has been spotted entering India for testing purposes by a specialized website tracking imports into the subcontinent. This also helpfully tells us that the phone's screen size will be 5.2".

Next up, the same Yu 5050 has turned up in the databases of two different benchmarking apps for Android - GeekBench and AnTuTu. And thanks to this we find out that the handset will come with QHD resolution, a 21 MP rear camera, an 8 MP selfie snapper, 32GB of storage, 3 or 4GB of RAM, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 SoC at the helm. It runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

What's even more interesting is that the Yu 5050's price is rumored to be around $310 unlocked. That would make it cheaper than the OnePlus 2, for example, and it could end up being the cheapest phone powered by the Snapdragon 810 chipset. On the other hand, the two different RAM amounts seem to indicate we'll see two versions of the 5050, in which case the lower-end one is probably going to start at that price.

One thing to keep in mind is that such benchmark reports are not at all impossible to fake. Then again, we'll officially find out everything there is to know about this phone in less than 24 hours.

Source 1 • Source 2 • Source 3 (in Chinese) | Via 1 • Via 2

OnePlus 2 starts receiving the OxygenOS 2.0.2 OTA update

OnePlus has started the rollout of a new OxygenOS 2.0.2 OTA update for the OnePlus 2. This OTA update is being seeded in phases, and it might take a while to reach all OnePlus 2 owners.

As per the official OnePlus Forum post, the new update bundles four key improvements: better fingerprint recognition accuracy, stability tweaks for the front facing camera, improved Camera preview experience, and bug fix for the unexpected volume muting issue.

This OTA is an incremental update to fill the gap for the promised Oxygen OS 2.1.0 update which is under development and is expected to be release by mid-September. Take a look at the OnePlus 2 review if you want to know more about this hyped 'flagship killer'.

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OnePlus 2 gets its first OTA update

OnePlus is rolling out the first ever OTA update for the OnePlus 2. The Oxygen OS 2.0 on the phone is getting updated to v2.0.1, which brings with it several key improvements.

The official update log includes:

• Added a patch for the Stagefright security exploit
• Improves battery performance
• Improves user interface logic and coherence
• Fixed an issue with pinch-to-zoom in Google Photos
• Fixed an issue where Dark Mode would cause instability in certain apps
• Fixed an issue related to import/export of contacts stored on SIM card
• Additional support for global carrier APNs
• Other improvements and bug fixes

The update is already available in India and weighs in at 1.1GB, with the servers being slow right now so it's going to take a while to finish downloading. Not that it should be a problem as most people still don't have an invite.

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OnePlus 2 could be announced in July

So far OnePlus has only committed to releasing its next smartphone sometime during the third quarter of this year - so from July to September.

Now though a new rumor from China wants to give us a more concise time frame, at least for the phone's announcement. So the OnePlus 2 is said to be made official at some point in July.

This apparently comes from a source that's been reliable in the past, for what it's worth. Perhaps more interesting is that the new OnePlus device is also rumored to start at CNY 1,999 in China, which currently translates into $322 or €285.

If this turns out to be true, we expect the handset to be offered internationally starting at $349 and €349, respectively. That's going to be $100 and €100 more than what the OnePlus One is being sold for now, and $50 over its launch price. However, these levels are still incredibly affordable considering the specs of the OnePlus 2.

The phone should reportedly come with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chipset, 3GB of RAM, a 13 MP rear camera, and a 1080p touchscreen. Other details haven't been conclusively leaked yet, but the OnePlus 2 is going to run the in-house developed Oxygen OS based on Android 5.1.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

OnePlus 2 test unit appears on a poster

A couple of days ago OnePlus launched the second edition of its Photo Mania contest. We wrote in detail what you need to do to enter, and the prize is a mysterious involvement in a secret project for the launch of the hotly anticipated OnePlus 2.

It is this OnePlus 2 that popped up on the company's Facebook page, promoting Photo Mania 2015. But before you get too excited, you should know that the pictured device is an "engineer test unit", so not much is really revealed. It's also a safe bet that it's a render of the test unit instead of an actual physical phone, though we don't doubt the existence of such.

Not much can be said about the upcoming OnePlus 2 on that image alone, except that it has a display and a camera and the latter is only by deduction, as we can only see the front. We can also assume that the small eyelets on either side of the screen won't be a feature of the smartphone's body, but are maybe a part of a case, which protects the test unit from prying eyes.

The contest deadline is June 15, but we'd be surprised if the OnePlus 2 launches immediately after. An announcement sometime in Q3 is a more likely outcome.

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Android 5.1-based OxygenOS will debut alongside OnePlus 2

OnePlus announced in its official forum that the Android 5.1-based OxygenOS will debut alongside the hotly anticipated OnePlus 2. The Chinese manufacturer is hard at work on the successor of OnePlus One at the moment.

OxygenOS arrived on the OnePlus One back in April - the currently available build of the custom ROM is based on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. The manufacturer promises to increase the speed of its updates once OnePlus 2 debuts. OxygenOS will then be the company’s only ROM.

A CM12.1 ROM based on Android 5.1 Lollipop will arrive soon for the OnePlus One. The company has a preview build currently in testing.

Furthermore, OnePlus will soon release a fix for the One’s touchscreen issues. Both OxygenOS and CM devices will receive the patch.

OnePlus 2 was confirmed earlier today. The device is expected to debut in Q3 this year.

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OnePlus 2 confirmed, will also launch with invites

As promised, OnePlus had some news to share on Monday, though it’s a mix of good and not-so-good from the Chinese phone-maker. It all depends on how you feel about the company’s invite system, which helped keep prices down while constricting supply for the OnePlus One.

First, the good news. OnePlus is ditching invitations for its flagship One. Moving forward, you’ll be able to buy the year-old smartphone anytime you want. The company says this is a permanent switch, so there’s no need to rush out and order one immediately.

Now for the bad news. That unpopular invite system will return soon with the launch of theOnePlus 2. The company didn’t offer any other details on when to expect its follow-up flagship phone, but confirmed that you’ll need an invitation to buy one. That should mean similar low prices for the new device along with the same tricky ordering process we experienced with the original handset.

Based on recent rumors, we’re expecting the OnePlus 2 to offer a faster processor, a sharper 5.5-inch display, a bigger battery and maybe even a biometric scanner. We may also get another cheaper model later this year, though OnePlus hasn’t confirmed plans for a third device yet.

As an extra bonus, OnePlus is offering a 75 percent discount on its Flip Covers and Premium Screen Protectors for one day only. You can also order the swappable Bamboo rear covers without an invitation while supplies last.

Hopefully we’ll learn more about the OnePlus 2 soon, since it sounds like the company is almost ready to unveil the device. Until then it may be worth holding off an ordering the original One, unless you just can’t wait for a new smartphone.