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[Let’s Talk] Cheetosdust Entries Jun 4, 2018

Cheetosdust , Jun 4, 2018 :

This feels like opening a time capsule. Not an old one, but still a time capsule - one with great memories. The Let’s Talk threads didn’t break the mold of the forums, but they were the perfect window to look through and write; they fed the pure and unadulterated hunger to just write. I saw so many great posts and I saw that the community only needed a gentle push to start typing away.

When I entered, I didn’t expect much other than finally having a few places where I wasn’t afraid of writing long posts. It turns out, me and @NeVeR_SeTTLe were the winners of the brand new OnePlus 6. It was a shock, it still is when I think about it. It’s a great feeling being appreciated, but it was also a sense of belonging somewhere when I was writing them.

And now we are here. I’m opening this well-preserved time capsule and reuniting all my entries on a single post. I hope there’s a new edition and that you - yes you that’s reading this - can find the will to enter, to let the rest of the community know what you feel or think about the new topics. Maybe you will be the next winner, but even if you are not, I hope you feel somewhat a little bit more connected to what you can think, to what you can write.

To OnePlus and @Ruby G. my special thank you - for thinking and executing a great idea. After all, these forums really are the backyard of the company. To all that entered or that are going to participate if there’s a new edition of Let’s Talk, you have my thank you and admiration. And now, here are all my entries compiled for you on a single thread. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing them.

[Let's Talk] Was there anything about the most recent OnePlus device that surprised you?

A smiley face. That was the beginning of this surprise on a new OnePlus device but I didn’t know it. When I first saw it on a video, I was intrigued, but I assume it was a gimmick, a play on the feature that was on Android from quite some time then. Maybe a feature to let the users know that OnePlus could do something like Apple was doing with Face ID or Samsung with the face and iris unlock.

Like almost every feature on the OnePlus devices, you have to try Face Unlock to understand how well it works.

It’s not the most secure method, sure, but it just boggles my mind seeing it in action. It’s fast, almost instant; almost like the phone can guess when you are going to look at it. Skeptical, I tried to fool it, I tried to point the camera somewhere else and look at it, trying to catch if off-guard. I bought the 5T when it was launched, and I couldn’t trick it so far.

The major problem with Face Unlock at launch was how it performed in low light. It’s understandable, since it uses the front camera. However, OnePlus launched something called Assistive Light. Again, I was sure it would be a gimmick, something that would only work half of the times and only when you looked at the phone at a certain angle.

Again, I was wrong, oh so wrong.

I managed to unlock the phone with my face in scenarios with no exterior light at all. You have to wait a second for the screen to turn white, obviously, but it actually works quite well. I tried to broke it, I tried to see when it would just stop working. For me, it struggles when you have light coming from behind your face, but it’s not a deal breaker, I can assure you that.

A couple of days ago, I stopped to think about the times I now use the fingerprint sensor. Face Unlock changed so much the way I interact with the phone, that actually reaching with my finger gives me a sense of failure. Mind you, the sensor is fast and not a stretch at all.

This proves how a good implementation can change the way you look at a phone - no pun intended, maybe. Point is, you have options. When I bought the phone I was counting on using the fingerprint and forget about the “gimmicky” Face Unlock. Well, with the updates and the improvements, I now find myself going the other way around - using it non-stop and starting to forget about the fingerprint until I’m reminded by an app that’s a more secure way to validate your information. For example, my banking app requires my fingerprint.

This and the Dash Charge were revelations to me. The gestures are now fast approaching that category - your brain gets used to swiping away and, like I wrote in another thread, my muscle memory tends to mimicate that behaviour when I’m using other devices.

They are not perfect, obviously, and with this I’m not saying OnePlus reached a plateau where they should stop improving them. What I’m saying is that I like to be surprised like this; I love discarding a new feature only to be surprised when I’m starting using it. The company did this several times now and I can’t wait to find out what’s the “next” Face Unlock or Dash.

[Let's Talk] How does your favorite OnePlus device compare to other devices?

The device you carry in your pocket says something about you. In the last few years I had two OnePlus phones, the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 5T, and another Android phone, the Samsung S8+. With the Samsung, you get the looks; you get the unquestionable eyes on your hand when you take your phone out of your pocket.

With the OnePlus phones, you get something else: you get your heart on the device every time you use it.

I’m not going to turn this into a war between devices, but I’ll write that at the end of the day, from my own experience, the Galaxy S8+ is a phone that are used for others and the OnePlus is a phone used by - and for - me. And this means that the Samsung is an object of status, lust and even maybe jealousy. My favourite OnePlus device is a phone that I can rely on, a piece of technology that practically never let me down.

I’m not going to write it’s perfect, because it’s not; I’m not going to write that the Galaxy is not a good phone, because it is. However, to understand these phones you have to use them, you have to actually experience what they can do for you, with you.

Maybe you’re thinking I’m writing about my OnePlus 5T. I’m not. I’m actually writing about my OnePlus 3. The screen and the camera are better on the S8+, obviously, but the performance and the clean almost stock experience gave me a better understanding of what an Android phone can be. For me, that phone was like a clean slate on the Android scene - before the OnePlus 3 I was using an iPhone 6, and at the time, that phone was not exactly a budget phone.

It’s funny, you know, I fell in love with it, the first OnePlus device I used extensively, because after one, two, six months, reaching for the pocket, reaching for the device that was there, I was reaching for something made for me, for my experience, not so that others could look at it and drool.

There something I called the outer experience - looks, status, etc - and something that’s actually what matters to me: the performance behind the screen. What a workhorse that phone was - and still is. I feel like I could just put my SIM card on it and continue where I left. I know exactly how that that phone was going to perform, because the way he did almost since it was launched.

The Android competition I used have more options, like a Swiss Army Knife, it can do almost everything, but my favorite OnePlus device does few, but better. You have to choose the right device for your pocket and I’m sure other brands are better than OnePlus for certain pockets. But for me, the user who wants a phone that runs alongside my needs, the brand with the plus and the square is the one for now.

[Let's Talk] What are your tips and tricks for keeping your device in good shape?

There are a few factors that can keep your phone in good shape. One of the most important is one nobody can control, and that’s luck. Sometimes a phone can drop in the most stupid way and sometimes you can avoid an identical drop in the most miraculous way. That said, I actually think you can try and influence that luck.

I never broken a screen and all my phones are in mint condition - the OnePlus 3 has a little scuff on the bottom, but actually need to search for it. Some people say to me they are unlucky; say that their phones - or other piece of tech - just break on their hands. And then I actually watch how they treat their equipment.

On my OnePlus devices, the 3 and the 5T, I left the pre-applied screen protector. It’s not the best in the world, but it’s actually really well applied - I couldn’t do that even if I tried a hundred times. It works rather well, if you have in mind that its purpose is a first line of defense and that having that doesn’t mean you can throw the phone to a table and hope for the best.

That’s my first advice: if you buy a OnePlus device, just leave that as it is. Other than that, treat your phone thinking about the long run, not the next hour, day or week. Clean the damn thing, try to keep the earpiece without any speck of dust, use a toothpick to remove it as soon as it’s there. Use a cue tip to clean the edges that may be exposed by its cover - you may not notice, but your hand is always touching those parts.

And maybe even more important: clean the parts that are easily forgotten. Take off the cover of the phone and check if there’s anything stuck there, clean the back of the phone and the actual cover. Fun Fact - I actually like to take of the cover and just admire it. When, like me, you use a cover for the most part, you tend to forget how the phone actually looks.

Keeping the phone in a good shape it’s not a scientific method, but actually common sense. You pay for it, might as well don't treat it like trash. Phones are so fragile these days, that it’s the least you can do. The covers sold by OnePlus may not be the most protective, but for me, especially the Silicon one, gets the job done. I like to keep my devices brand new, but I’m not in the market to buy a bulky and rugged case, so OnePlus seem to nail that middle ground.

Maybe you think differently, but it drives me crazy knowing I have something with visible damage, like it’s a dead pixel and I can’t look away. Maybe a small scuff is perfectly fine for you and that’s not a problem, it certainly is not my problem. But keep your phone cleaned and mind how you actually use it.

Nurture the phone, nurture what you paid for. Sometimes, luck can run out, sure, but when that happens, try and have a clear consciousness about how you took care of it. This is even more clear to me with a phone that I fell in love with. Like I mentioned, I really like the OP3 and I keep taking care of it, even if it’s not my primary phone at the moment.

It doesn’t matter if it cost you 100€ or 1000€. When you buy something, you’re actually in a “relationship” with the product. If you want to keep it clean, working and looking nice, you have to do the basics and hope luck don’t run out. It’s common sense, it’s not slapping a cover on it and leave it there for three years, it’s not going to the beach and just throw it in the towel, it’s not “forgetting” about it on your backpack.

Bottom line is: try and take care of your devices today like you did when you unboxed them.

[Let's Talk] What is it like being a OnePlus fan in your country?

It always start with a double take. When I saw another person on the street with a OnePlus phone, I have to double check.

“Is that a..?” my brain asks to confirm what the eyes already saw.

I’m from Porto, Portugal. It’s the second biggest city in a small country, so we don’t have a lot of OnePlus fans around, we certainly don’t have as many as India, for example. I’m sure the company want to sell more phones in every single market they are present, but I like it this way. For me, it’s like a secret club, like there’s only a few that got the key.

The first time I saw a person holding one was near Trindade (no, not like that @dsmonteiro ). It was a OnePlus 2 and at the time I already owned a OnePlus 3. It was such a strange feeling to recognize the phone he was holding. I was not using a cover in mine, so I showed him the back of the OnePlus 3. We nod and smiled. Every time I think about that, it was literally like a secret society where we bonded for 4-5 seconds and never saw each other again.

I don’t really care about what other people think of the phone I’m using and I certainly don’t go and smile to every single people I see using a Galaxy or an iPhone. However, with OnePlus is different. I don’t know if that’s because the company's deep roots in its community or if my brain, used to check a bunch of people discussing the phones online, just think of this as a briefly extension of that part. I felt like I knew that person already from somewhere, I felt like he had an username attached.

Being a OnePlus fan in Portugal feels like the streets are a continuation of the forums, where customers can be someone from around here - seeing a OnePlus phone in the hands of another person gives you the sense of unity. After that, I saw maybe two or three strangers with a phone. It was always a surreal experience.

I’m not the only one. I have someone in the family who owns a OnePlus 5 and every time he sees another person with a OnePlus he has the exact same reaction as me. “Today, I saw a man with a OnePlus One”; “Yesterday, I saw a OnePlus 5T”. It’s always a moment to remember or at least a moment that deserves a comment.

But maybe the most bizarre moment happened at a Fnac store. I was playing with the new iPad to check the new 120hz screen and in front of me was the iPhone X. A couple went there and started playing with the phone and the man said something like “it’s the first iPhone in years that’s different”, adding, “But I just wish OnePlus open a store here”.

It was such a weird and fuzzy feeling to hear this. I had my 5T with me at the time and I regret to this day not coming up to him and say “hey, I have one”. But yeah, I don’t think it was my place, especially since he was with, I imagine, his wife or girlfriend. Point is: this is the feeling of hearing or seeing "OnePlus" being mentioned here in Portugal. At least for me.

I don’t know if the brand is selling more phones in Lisbon or if there’s a small city that can be used as a case study. But here, where I live, it’s just like that. I imagine that there are people using OnePlus devices that are really bad persons - I mean, they are everywhere -, but I feel that above all it’s a happy family; we are all part of a small happy family. I just hope that if the family gets bigger one day, this sense isn’t diluted.

Thanks @Ruby G. for providing me a space where I can write about from where I’m from.

[Let's Talk] If you could design a line of accessories for your OnePlus device…

Look back at who you were three, four or ten years ago. We grow older and we adapt, mature, we seek different things in life as our tastes evolve. Companies should have this in consideration, as they evolve as well. You shouldn’t forget your younger fanbase, but you should also cater the tastes of those who matured with you.

I’m not going to speak for the tastes of others, the illusive “we” I continue to see around here. So, if I was designing a line of accessories to my OnePlus device, I would bet almost everything on simplicity. And to keep things simple, I’m only going to mention three accessories and a bonus one. All of them, out of a mind where the Scandinavian design rule as king.

A Leather Case. Simple, but elegant. I love Sandstone and Silicone, but they will always be attached to specific situations. If I want to take my OnePlus device to a place where I need to be on my best, I would love that my phone would be on the same style. No flashy features or textures, no highlights, just a classic look, a stealth one where the phone can disappear until someone notices it in a conversation or when the hand brings it up.

For me, a great design is unobtrusive. Let the eyes stumble upon it instead of shouting it at them. I know OnePlus had a Leather Cover for a phone before and I know the feel of a great Leather Case when I hold one - I have one on my iPhone 6 right now. You, OnePlus, are in a position where you can make the best cases for your devices, lead by example and show that you also matured putting on the table choices to those who did you with you.

The Headphone Jack will make an appearance on the OnePlus 6, we all saw it being confirmed. However, I think there’s room for a pair of Wireless Bullets or Wireless Icons. I know about the importance of a good DAC, as I use one from FiiO on my laptop to drive my Audio-Technica. Not for those who seek the best sound, but for those who want convenience.

All black with a light red accent. No wires, just a piece of metal and rubber that sits comfortably in the ear. An exceptional pairing system and touch controls for skipping songs, maybe take the occasional call. Unintrusive so the users can keep doing whatever they are doing and so comfortable you forget about them.

Aspire to create something that can surprise. Not by promising the best earbuds in the market, but actually surprise when the users start to use them. We all know what happened with the AirPods - mocked at first, embraced when the word of mouth started spreading. I believe you have the knowledge and the engineering to do something like this.

When I go for a long walk and the cord wraps around the phone in the pocket, that’s not convenient at all, it breaks the immersion of my thoughts fueled by the song. Again, I know a lot of users are not ready to say goodbye to the headphone jack, however, you can produce these as a choice. We have different types of cars, houses and clothes; we can have different types of accessories to listening to music. One isn’t necessary a cannibalization of the other.

I think it’s safe to say most of users love Dash Charging - I believe it one of those features that was too good to be true until people actually started using it. I know about the VOOC technology, but that’s not the point. The actual point is, try and master and improve a technology that satisfies the users, that make them remember OnePlus when they use it.

A Powerbank with Dash Charging is, for me, the next logical step. When you have something so synonymous of a brand, when you keep the same quality and excitement in a second or third line of products, you keep it associated with said brand.

I saw the OnePlus 6 being about speed. What better way to complement the speed of a phone with something that can keep that speed going? You are home, you are surprised at how fast your phone charges; you are way from home, keep that surprise going connecting to a magical “brick”; a brick that can keep the slogan “a day's power in half an hour”.

If you can plug your OnePlus device to a Powerbank with that possibility, it’s a seamless experience and even better, it’s technology working to make your life easier. A Powerbank with Dash Charging - Because walls are for hanging paintings.

And finally, just a quick line of thought to a limited edition of accessories as a bonus. Remember the special t-shirts with a “5” that were given when the OnePlus 5 was launched? Why not create something unique and with a limited run to let fans celebrate the launch of a new product? A cover or a piece of gear. Give them - or sell them - to the best members of your community. Not only here in the forums, but to the fans around the world who are with you since the early years. OnePlus is a very lucky company, you have a fanbase with a core made out of pure dedication.

Thank you once again for the opportunity, @Ruby G.. I really like these threads as they are a great way to channel something more special.

[Let's Talk] What's the best life advice you've ever gotten?

During my life, a few people have told me even fewer words that still echo inside of me. Not only the words, but the moment and the feelings attached to them. I can lie and dance around the figure of being impune to periods less than ideal; I can pretend I lived my life without my knee touching the ground.

But when my knee was on the ground when the sun was nothing but a warm coat to the shoulders of the others, when someone was all the humanity to me and looked me in the eyes. The expression of a helping ladder, all the books in the world with that look, that’s still a snapshot of a friendship. And she said:

- Always search between the rubble.

And left me with my thoughts. She was still there by my side, but she knew all it was needed was silence. There’s always a sense of an organized bookshelf when an advice clicks with you, at least for me. In the next ten minutes, it was like I could actually feel all those cloudy and gray feelings being rearranged. Two humans frozen and just feeling, side by side, like a warmth celestial hug was hugging them, was hugging us, was immortalizing a friendship beyond two beating hearts - because these are the moments that can live even with a beating heart and a memory.

And then, then she looked at me again and added:

- Even when you are under it.

That was the whole advice that still is the best life advice I ever gotten. “Always search between the rubble, even when you are under it”.

At the time, it was clinical. The best words chosen to be delivered with the best timing. I never asked her if she came up with that and never asked what she actually meant. It’s not needed. Like with the great books and the great poems and the great art, it’s also about what you get from something, not only what the writer or the artist meant.

For me those words still give me hope, still make me feel that the sun can be a warm coat for my shoulders as well. When you look between the rubble, you have hope; and when you are under the rubble, you have hope for yourself. Even if you are all the way down there, look for the people who are looking for you, feed the hope with the faces and the love and the care of the people you have in your life.

If you feel like you have all the rubble in the world over your shoulders and even if that rubble is so thick that the sunlight is nothing but a distant light shining on other's faces, just search and search and search; push the knee you have on the ground to lift the whole body until you are stepping on that same rubble.

Mark that place and dance on top of it, eat your way out of the rubble if you have to. There’s a friend for you, you just have to look for her/his eyes. If it eludes you, look closer, look harder. Lose yourself in those words, because sometimes words can make you stronger, can make you take the bite and the first bite of something sour is always the hardest.

I searched between the rubble to find myself under it. And sometimes that’s the first bite you have to take. Find your way and open a window, until that window is a door, until that door is just there to be kicked down. Because sometimes, what you need is someone’s eyes telling you “hello, it’s time to get out of here”. Sometimes, a sunny day is the rest of your life waiting for you.

Hope this makes any sense @Ruby G. And thanks for the opportunity to give my friend and her advice a voice.