Well, the day finally came: I received my One this morning. I thought I'd share my first impressions with you guys
If you want to know the details about my shipping times, you can see them in
this thread. So, on to my first impressions!
The packaging of the One is really beautiful and feels very premium. I would even dare to say it is better than Apple packaging, which isn't easy to beat in my opinion. As many have said before me, the unboxing is an experience on its own. I would post some pictures, but I think there are already enough of those around here. There will be some in my full review though
Now, the phone. The first thing I noticed, apart from its size, is the unique back cover. I really
love the feel of the material used. I think what would describe it best is rough cloth. Setting up the phone was a breeze and only took a minute or two. The first thing I did after that was rooting the phone so I could restore all my apps and their data through Titanium Backup (I followed the steps outlined
here, it was also really easy). A good thing to know, by the way, is that
rooting the OnePlus One does not void its warranty (
source &
source).
Now, on to that size I was talking about. One thing I'd like to point out is that I have always been
very sceptic regarding large phones. Naturally, I was afraid the 5.5-inch display would be too big for me. Well, good news: it isn't! I was used to it after a couple of minutes. Also, the phone doesn't annoy me at all when it's in my pocket. One thing that should be noted though is that it is definitely not invisible when in your pocket; quite the contrary actually. I feel like I'm holding a huge sign stating “Hey, guys, there's a big phone in my pocket!”. Other than that, as I said, I got no problem at all with the size. One-handed use isn't too complicated, however when reaching for the other end of the screen, the part of my palm under my thumb often touches the right end, which messes up the detection. I can reach the top and the bottom of the screen without much trouble though. This would however be more of a problem if I was using the capacitive buttons.
Regarding performance, the phone is really fast and responsive, as expected. Battery life has yet to be really tested, but my phone came with a 45% charge, which lasted easily for 7 hours and 51 minutes with 2 hours and 15 minutes of screen-on time, after which there was only 6% left and I decided to plug in the phone. This is definitely a big improvement coming from my Nexus S, which had trouble getting me more than an hour of screen-on time on a full charge.
Last but not least: the screen. It is very sharp. Also, it seems the default setting is no longer a warmer tone (so the display displays real white). Regarding the yellowing at the bottom of the screen, I am happy to report I have none
(and I've looked at my phone from all possible angles). For people interested, my phone was quality controlled on 2014.06.20
Stay tuned for my full review on my website, which should come in a few days If there is anything in particular you would like to see in my review, let me know. Also, I would post it sooner, but testing the battery takes time
One last thing: do not beg me for invites, as I do not have any yet and have already 9 invites reserved, which is more than I'll get at first. Beg, and I will ignore you, no questions asked.Click to expand...
