The newest flagship from the company OnePlus is the OnePlus 5.
OnePlus has been competing with the major smartphone manufacturers by delivering flagship
specs at a slightly lower price point and so far they’ve been doing a pretty good
job.
I haven’t had one of their phones fail my test yet, but since OnePlus claims this phone
is their thinnest phone yet, maybe it will be the first to fail.
Let’s get started.
[Intro]
This Midnight Black OnePlus 5 feels solid right out of the box.
It’s a slab of thick glass and cold metal that deserves to be put through my durability
test just like every other phone.
The Mohs scratch test is first.
Since OnePlus is advertising Gorilla Glass 5 on this device, we know that the scratch
resistance is going to be on par with the Galaxy S8 and the iPhone 7.
It’ll scratch at a level 6 with a deeper groove at a Mohs 7.
The strongest screen I’ve ever tested was the sapphire screen of the HTC U Ultra, which
scored a level 8.
Either way, keys, coins, and razors will not scratch the OnePlus screen.
Speaking of un-scratchable, the home button is made from ceramic, a material harder than
glass.
This means that the fingerprint scanning touchpad won’t be damaged by anything normal, unless
of course your phone is tumbling around in a bag full of uncut diamonds which would actually
be a fantastic problem to have.
Until then, physical fingerprint scanner damage is not going to happen.
The front 16 megapixel camera with electronic image stabilization is covered by the Gorilla
Glass 5, and while that sentence probably makes no sense to the average person, people
familiar with my videos know that the camera lens is not going to be getting scratched
or damaged.
The earpiece is made from metal.
No worrying about it ever falling out or tearing.
So far this phone is made from some pretty solid materials.
On the back of the phone we have one of my favorite new features: the dual cameras.
When I first used a dual camera phone, I thought it was going to be a gimmick, but after using
it, it’s definitely a feature that’s here to stay for a while.
The regular 16 megapixel camera and the 20 megapixel zoom lens are both covered by the
same piece of glass and are scratch resistant.
The flash is plastic, but that’s normal and nobody cares.
Now it might have crossed your mind that this phone looks a lot like another popular phone
on the market right now, and you’re not wrong.
The iPhone 7 Plus and the OnePlus 5 are eerily similar.
The iPhone does look slightly more premium with its aluminum body curving right up to
the lenses, but it also has about half the megapixels as the OnePlus 5.
My buddy Saf over at SuperSaf TV does some pretty sweet side-by-side camera comparisons
so it will be interesting to see what he says about the cameras.
I’ll link his video in the video description.
The OnePlus 5 and the iPhone 7 Plus do have a pretty similar physical footprint though.
Now back when the company OnePlus starting making phones in 2014, they released the OnePlus
One, whose name might have been based off the exclusive invite-only system that was
required to buy one of their phones.
The OnePlus 2 was also invite only.
And finally with the OnePlus 3 they got rid of that invite system.
You might have noticed that they skipped the number 4.
Skipping the OnePlus 4 might be out of respect to some Asian nations who are superstitious
of the number 4.
The number 4’s pronunciation is very similar to the word for death.
Nokia has also been skipping the number 4 with their phones for the exact same reason,
and that’s a pretty valid reason.
Nobody else in the world wants to buy a phone named “death” either.
You also might be thinking to yourself that a razorblade is a bit extreme for a scratch
test and I agree.
I did try some more realistic objects like my keys.
They initially left a mark but the marks rubbed completely off.
I also tried a metal coin, scratching the anodized back metal, and these marks as well
could be magically erased from the back of the phone with my finger.
Pretty darn impressive.
The anodized aluminum, just like on the iPhones, can handle your basic coins and keys scratching
it, but it can also be damaged by sharp rocks, razors, or that sack full of diamonds we were
talking about earlier.
It is durable, but not invincible.
The volume button is made from metal along with the mute switch that I wish was a feature
on more cell phones.
I’ve come to miss it on my own Galaxy S8.
The dual SIM card tray and power button are also metal.
Down here at the bottom of the phone we have our USB-C slot and even a headphone jack.
If you don’t mind the lack of water resistance, this device has pretty much every useful tool
a person could want in a cell phone.
It looks like the phone is made out of premium feeling metal everywhere and that makes me
happy.
Time for the burn test.
The OnePlus 5 is rocking a 5.5 inch AMOLED screen and lasted a surprisingly long time
under the heat from my lighter.
It was burning for about 40 seconds before I noticed a faint white mark forming on the
pixels.
The pixels never did recover, so like if you ever drop your phone in a fire, try to rescue
it as soon as possible.
Or, you know, just don’t drop your phone in a fire.
And finally we have the ultimate test of build quality, the bend test.
Since OnePlus was bragging about thinness on this phone, I was slightly nervous that
the phone would break.
Turns out I had nothing to worry about.
The screen does pop out from the frame which shows us that there is no waterproofing adhesive
like we saw during my iPhone 7 test, but the phone locks out after the pop and does not
bend any farther.
It’s even less flexible from the front side since that screen is set down inside the metal
frame keeping things from moving around at all.
This OnePlus 5 definitely passes the bend test.
One interesting thing is that OnePlus is advertising 2.5D glass on their phone.
If you remember the HTC U11 advertised 3D glass.
You can tell that the 3D glass has a major curve to it while a 2.5D is more of a bevel,
leaving the glass itself flat allowing it more give and play during and stressful situation.
The rigid 3D glass combined with that flexible metal from on the U11 is what got it obliterated
during my last durability test.
The OnePlus 5 also has a plastic buffer between the glass and the metal which will help the
screen survive against impacts or drops.
The subtle differences in construction that you normally wouldn’t notice go a long way
in the durability of a device.
But like always, you can plop a case on your phone and just have nothing to worry about.
I always have a case on my phone.
I’m pretty impressed with the OnePlus 5.
They have continued their tradition of solid build quality.
Physically it might look a lot like the iPhone 7 Plus, but it’s several hundred dollars
cheaper, has more megapixels in the cameras, and includes a headphone jack.
So it gets a thumbs up from me.
It will be fun to tear it open and see if they include a bright red battery inside like
they did in the old days.
Come hang out with me on Instagram and we’ll find out.
Thanks a ton for subscribing, and thanks for watching.
I’ll see you around.