As the OG of community-led brands, OnePlus might’ve had renegade origins and lofty ideals to change the smartphone status quo. However, the OnePlus of 2023 is a whole different beast. While value positioning is still a core aspect of the company’s market strategy, it isn’t all that OnePlus is about anymore. Today, the brand has a smorgasbord of options across price segments. It ranges from phones like the affordable Nord series and affordable look-alikes of flagships with the R-series to a true-blue flagship foldable.
Ten years later, OnePlus isn’t just about affordable performance anymore, but value remains at the heart of its product lineup.
As a day-one OnePlus fan, I’ve tried out practically every phone the company made. Along the way, I’ve had experiences, good and bad, of devices that genuinely changed the smartphone industry, innovated with pop-up cameras and incredible design, and, ever so often, missed the mark with lacking software. Ten years later, these three OnePlus phones stand out as my favorites.