OnePlus 3 vs OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus One: What has changed?

OnePlus has officially announced their latest flagship smartphone – the OnePlus 3. It boasts a 5.5-inch Full HD display, Snapdragon 820 CPU, 6GB RAM, and Android Marshmallow. If you’re curious about what has changed compared to its predecessors, then check out the comparison below.

OnePlus 3	OnePlus 2	OnePlus One
5.5-inch Optic AMOLED Full HD display, 401ppi	5.5-inch LTPS IPS Full HD display, 401ppi	5.5-inch LTPS IPS Full HD display, 401ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 4	Corning Gorilla Glass 3	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
2.15GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core CPU	1.82GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core CPU	2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core CPU
Adreno 530 GPU	Adreno 430 GPU	Adreno 330
6GB RAM	4GB/3GB RAM	3GB RAM
64GB internal storage	16GB/64GB internal storage	16GB/64GB internal storage
16MP PDAF rear camera w/ OIS, LED flash	13MP Laser AF rear camera w/ OIS, dual-LED flash	13MP AF rear camera w/ OIS, dual-LED flash
8MP front camera	5MP front camera	5MP front camera
Dual-SIM	Dual-SIM	Single-SIM
4G LTE Cat.6	4G LTE Cat.4	4G LTE Cat.4
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac	WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac	WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
NFC		NFC
Bluetooth 4.2	Bluetooth 4.1	Bluetooth 4.1
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Fingerprint scanner	Fingerprint scanner
USB Type-C	USB Type-C	MicroUSB
3,000mAh battery w/ Dash Charge	3,300mAh battery	3,000mAh battery
Oxygen OS (Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow)	Oxygen OS (upgradable to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow)	CyanogenMod / Oxygen OS (upgradable to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow)
152.7 x 74.7 x 7.4 mm	151.8 x 74.9 x 9.9 mm	152.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm
158 g	175 g	162 g

What has changed?

Display

OnePlus has kept the screen size to 5.5-inches with Full HD resolution or 401ppi. Still good in today’s standards, but it now uses an Optic AMOLED screen instead of LTPS IPS LCD found on the 2 and One. Glass protection received an upgrade as well, now sporting Gorilla Glass 4.

CPU and RAM

This part gets a major upgrade and now boasts a Snapdragon 820 CPU – the same processor found in the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5. While the OnePlus 3 was able to keep up with the competition in terms of CPU, the company obviously wants to get ahead with RAM and opted for 6GB instead of 4GB.

Camera

OnePlus upgraded the camera as well on the 3 with 16MP sensor with OIS compared to the 13MP in the 2 and One. Changes were made in the AF department as they dropped Laser AF in favor of Phase-Detect AF. They also equipped it with a single LED flash instead of the usual dual-LED which felt like a downgrade. Camera design sucks, by the way, and looks similar to those found in affordable mid-rangers. As for the front camera, it was upgraded to 8MP from 5MP.

Storage

In the OnePlus 2 and One, the company gave buyers an option to choose between 16GB or 64GB storage. But since they have already introduced the OnePlus X with 16GB ROM (expandable via microSD) and 3GB RAM in late 2015, the company decided to just offer it in 64GB.

Connectivity

The OnePlus smartphones arrived with LTE connectivity in tow. The 2 and One had LTE Cat.4 so OnePlus upgraded the 3 with LTE Cat.6. It’s worth noting though that Snapdragon 820 supports up to Cat.12 but the company opted for a lower variant. Our guess is to make the device more affordable and to factor its regional limitations or availability.

As for other features, it still has WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Fingerprint scanner, and USB Type-C. NFC made a comeback after it was dropped in the OnePlus 2.

Battery

Battery gets a little downgrade compared to the OnePlus 2. From 3,300mAh it’s now down to 3,000mAh but supports Dash Charge (5V 4A). That said, the OnePlus 3 is…

Dimensions

… thinner and lighter compared to the past two predecessors. It now measures 7.4mm thin and weighs in at 158g. It is also available in three color options – Gray, Black, and Gold.

The OnePlus 3 will retail for $399PHP 23,416INR 33,815EUR 380CNY 2,904 (~Php18,500USD 315INR 26,725EUR 300CNY 2,296) and goes on sale today.