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Hello Folks,
Welcome to our monthly “Why OnePlus” series! Every month, we talk with users around the globe—from the Mediterranean to the Ganges river—to listen to each heartbeat pumping blood around OnePlus Community.
Last month we heard from one of community's favourite moderators from India, @camohan
Going forward, with an aim to talk to people all over the globe, this month I flew all the way to France (not exactly, I can't even leave my house) to meet Victor or as you may know him, @Vito B.
Victor has a lot of amazing experiences to share. From cars to smartphones, the transition couldn't have been smoother. Oh! and did I mention he even was a youtuber for a while? 
Did you know that it was a special OnePlus finish that ignited his passion for tech? It was love at first sight. (actually touch)
As someone who truly loves tech, he has spent an ample amount of time with MANY smartphones, don't be surprised if he mentions, Google Pixel or Essential in the thread. But in a world of smartphones which one is his favourite? Well, no need to guess, he will tell us himself!
Being a core community user before joining OnePlus, Victor has a first hand experience of how it is to be on either sides of the fence, so we invited him to answer the ultimate question - Why OnePlus?
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Without further ado, I present to you
@Vito B.
- Hello Victor, thank you so much for joining us in the second installment of our Why OnePlus? series. Before I ask you the difficult questions xD , why don't you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
Hi OnePlus Community, my public name is Victor but for you it’s Vito. Don’t ask where it comes from, it would be too long. I am french, I have studied automotive technologies and now I am at OnePlus, trying to entertain you on the french social media accounts.
My passion for smartphones and tech in general started back in 2014. Yes, with OnePlus. Since then, I used to have a Youtube channel, work for Renault and in January 2019 I joined OnePlus team.
It’s like combining my passion with my job, what a life!
- Do you recall the first time you held a OnePlus in your hand? What were the initial impressions?
Oh yes, I remember very well! It was the OnePlus One Silkwhite, and that back finish... Boy, it was so amazing, so smooth.
But what was even better, is that I had this feeling of being part of something,
part of this small community of people that know what represented OnePlus for the smartphone industry.
- When exactly did you decide to join OnePlus and how would you describe the events that led it ?
That’s a very interesting question, but first I need to give you some background. From 2014 to 2018, alongside my job as an engineer, I was also doing some Youtube videos. It all started back with the OnePlus One and some hardcore ROM review (PacMan, Ressurection Remix, etc). At the end of 2015, I met the one and only Akis during the first french event: the OnePlus Cinema. We have met again for OnePlus 3 launch at Colette, and then we started to meet regularly to talk about OnePlus and life. We became good friends, and he helped me a lot for my Youtube stuff during those times. After summer 2018, we started discussing about me working at OnePlus as the french team was growing. I was really considering this as I love sharing my passion, sharing OnePlus philosophy, and also I wanted some changes in my professional life. It was a big decision at it implied to work in a field I have just worked in for fun. When I signed the contract I was so happy, it was some kind of achievement but also a huge challenge.
It was the beginning.
- Which is your favorite OnePlus phone? If it wasn't for OnePlus what would be your choice of daily driver?
I have a little place in my heart for the OnePlus X, I really enjoyed using it. I had the occasion of trying almost all brand, and I have to say that if it wasn’t for OnePlus I would choose Google Pixel and/or Essential (even if the brand is now dead).
- I believe the France community is pretty exclusive! You have your own SOoP's, Weekly updates which you call Bulletin's and a dedicated spot in The Lab. What do you have to say about the French Community?
IMO french community has been one of the strongest since 2014.
I always remember the very active french subforums (for those who remember the old forum version).
Locally we have been very lucky to have Akis to handle it back in 2015. Since then, we have seen the community growing, and what’s amazing is that we still have a lot of early adopters there.
Now, I am trying to help and engage with our local fans as much as possible by creating local contents and campaign.
- Has your transition from a OnePlus user to staff member, impacted your perception of OnePlus? If so how?
One thing that hasn’t changed is my perception of the product. For me OnePlus has always been the best tech at the right price. When I see the OnePlus 8 Pro, I feel like it is the most complete device ever released by OnePlus.
But of course, like all company there are always ups and downs. Being behind the fence made me realise that OnePlus is full of passionate people, and because we still are small teams, it creates a strong bond to go thru difficult moments. It makes you realise that behind a brand like OnePlus,
You have real humans that are working very very hard to bring OnePlus’ vision to the world.
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OnePlus 6T Pop-up at FNAC Terns, November 2018
- As a community manager, which project/campaign did you enjoy working on the most?
The one thing that immediately comes to my mind is the OnePlus 7 Series keynote trip. Being able to bring some fans to the launch event has been an amazing experience, and I received a lot of positive feedback which is a big reward.
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OnePlus 7 Series Launch Event with Community, May 2019
Thanks a lot to the Writers’ club for the invite. Hope that my answers were enough interesting for you to read and that you stay home and healthy.
See you on social media and maybe soon IRL ;-)
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I think you all may have questions for Victor and since we have him with us, we invite you to
ask him anything! Starting now, we will pick
10 questions from this thread until
5th May 2020 and he will start answering them on
6th May 2020. Questions will be considered on a rolling basis so post yours' soon
Well, that is it from me in this installment of,
Why OnePlus? We will be back again, next month, with another awesome guest! Until then stay healthy, stay safe and most importantly,
Never Settle!
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