No matter what kind of a smartphone user you are, the first things that strikes your eye about a smartphone is the smartphone itself. From anodized aluminum designs to chamfered edge beauties, a marriage between glass and metal to polycarbonate robustness, we’ve seen them all. But what makes a truly evocative design is one that you achieve when you learn from your previous product through usage, sound quality compliance and more importantly, feedback from your community, for they are your biggest asset.
If you look at all the second-generation devices to come out from manufacturers over the past decade, a design re-think was initiated as a radical measure. To stand out from the crowd. To be unique. While it might go a long way in bringing a product to life in a way that blows one’s mind, refinement isn’t necessarily a backtrack. In fact, it is a design masterstroke.
A Brief Throwback to the OnePlus One
The inspiration behind our design goes back to our first creation, the OnePlus One. The OnePlus One was a uniquely well-crafted design with even weight distribution throughout the phone and felt good in your hands no matter which way you held it. A design break-through for a full-sized smartphone if ever there was one. When our product finally made it into the hands of the consumers, meticulous design and precision craftsmanship were on show ensuring attention to detail. And, of course, the remarkable Sandstone Black back cover provided that all-important and unique grippy feel to the device. So, where do we go from here for our showcase product?
The 2016 Flagship Masterpiece
When creating the OnePlus 2, we scrutinized our earlier phone to its very last element and aesthetic detail before arriving on how it could be improved better. It wasn’t a revolutionary change we went looking for but a re-think on improving an existing design that held its own when it came to elegance, ease of use and practicality.
The first thing you notice when you pick up a OnePlus 2 is a feeling of solidity not easily attainable or felt in any smartphone. It feels light to hold and has an aspect to it which gives you that all-important feeling about its sturdiness. What further captivates you is the subtle addition of a metallic frame that envelopes the phone - a fine blend of aluminum and magnesium that gives this smartphone its pristinely polished stainless steel frame. Our exclusive design ensures ideal antenna reception, temperature regulation and greater performance.
As Nicholas Burroughs rightly said, minimalism isn’t lack of something, it’s simply the perfect amount of something. And the OnePlus 2 is all about hitting that chord. A seamless yet fluid unhindered experience is what you get when you gaze your eyes over it. Nothing that impedes or takes your attention away from the gorgeous screen that looks back at you. Another step in the right design direction was when we incorporated a mesh contour to our Alert Slider for a better grip under your finger. For us, a human touch is a necessary element that goes into each and every one of our design statutes.
The chamfered edges provide a uniform curvature, machined-drilled speaker holes provide uniformity and the tapered back casing gives an illusion of the smartphone floating when rested upon a flat surface. The display, with its floating edge design, gives the phone a beautiful, mirror-like effect. The devil is in the details.
There is another design element we brought back: the Sandstone Black StyleSwap Cover, a head-turner that packs in form, unstated beauty and functionality. Durable enough to withstand the daily rigour of wear and tear with a rugged smoothness unlike any other. Alex Fitzpatrick, Deputy Tech Editor at TIME, in a
recent article related other premium smartphone back covers to soap bars, leading to “I am screwed” moments and resultant expensive repair costs. On the other hand, during his time with the OnePlus 2, he associated our back cover to a smooth sandpaper that’s grippy, yet comfortable, and even went so far to say he’d go case-commando. It’s really that good.
Another thing we brought to the OnePlus 2 is simplicity. Our newest StyleSwap covers, available in four gorgeous finishes (Rosewood, Carbon Fiber, Black Apricot and Bamboo) can change the feel and look of the device without altering its beautiful form factor. Switching covers has never been this easy, and the best part about it all: no tools required. The covers snap into place for a fit that is extremely secure yet easy to remove. Unique, expressive and utilitarian - just like it should be.
In the end, being a technology company, it is a given that design is at the heart of everything we portray to the world. A design philosophy ingrained with technological ingenuity. That is who we are.
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