OnePlus X now slightly cheaper in Malaysia, no invites needed

Smartphone startup OnePlus had been infamous for how difficult it was to purchase OnePlus devices through its invite system. But that has since changed for its second generation smartphones. The OnePlus 2 was a Maxis “exclusive” (just like the OnePlus One) where you even buy one outright without a Maxis data plan. Following the “2016 flagship killer’s” footsteps, the new OnePlus X was also available for purchase in Malaysia without any invite system. DirectD was one of the first to offer the OnePlus X in Malaysia on November 5th 2015, with an asking price of RM1,299. DirectD’s price has since dropped to RM1,288, to match OnePlus Malaysia’s official retail price, when the latter “launched” the OnePlus X for the local market on November 26th, with Brightstar Malaysia being its official distributor. While you can physically buy the OnePlus X from Brightstar dealers, the price will likely be at RM1,288 still. Lazada, who was the official pre-order partner of OnePlus X from November 27th to December 3rd, are now selling both Onyx (black) and Champagne (white with gold band) color models of the OnePlus X for RM1,239; a 4% discount.

While the OnePlus X is now considered to be a mid-range, it has specifications of a flagship from 2015. The display’s a 5-inch 1080p AMOLED at around 441ppi, protected by Gorilla Glass 3, housed in a body that’s 6.9mm thick, which OnePlus said is its thinnest device yet. The back is also glass, and has the same chamfered glass edge. The two sandwich the aluminum chassis in the middle, where its anodized aluminum band has 17 micro-cuts to form grooves along the perimeter.

It runs on Snapdragon 801 with 3GB of memory and 16GB of storage. Unlike the OnePlus One, this X now has two nano-SIM slots with the second one accepting microSD cards as well, up to 128GB in size. The main camera has a 13-megapixel sensor, an f/2.2 aperture, and phase detection autofocus (PDAF) that can lock on a target in just 0.2 second. The front camera is also not too shabby, at 8 megapixels with an f/2.4 aperture. Powering the device is a 2525mAh lithium-ion polymer battery. Another feature not found on the OnePlus One is the physical three-step Alert Slider that you could use to easily put the phone into vibration/silent mode.

Now that OnePlus is no longer partnering with Cyanogen, it is implementing its own OxygenOS 2.2.0 skin on top of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. That frees the company up to implement its own useful little features; most of which are hardware-dependent. Now that the OnePlus X is using an AMOLED panel, OxygenOS could implement its ambient display feature that will only light up specific sections of the screen to show notifications, in “duochrome”. Making use of the proximity sensor, the phone can also wake the screen up if it detects it’s being brought out of the pocket or bag. Gestures are still here, where you can double-tap the screen to wake it up, or draw letters on it to launch certain apps. Last but not least; even though stock Android Lollipop does not offer this out of the box, OxygenOS has its own App Permission UI to easily control what information third party apps have access to.

OnePlus X specifications (with 10 images)

• Dimensions and weight: 140 x 69 x 6.9 mm, 138 grams
• Color options: Ceramic, Champagne, Onyx
• Display: 5” 1080p AMOLED (~441ppi), 71% screen-to-body ratio, Gorilla Glass 3
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
• CPU and GPU: 2.3GHz quad-core Krait 400, Adreno 330
• Memory and storage: 3GB RAM, 16GB eMMC v5.0
• Card slot(s): Dual nano-SIM slots, microSD up to 128GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
• Cellular: GSM / HSPA / LTE
• WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot, 2.4GHz (no 5GHz)
• Other connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, BDS, GLONASS, FM radio, micro-USB 2.0, no NFC
• Sensors: Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, ambient light, HALL
• Main camera: 13MP, f/2.2 aperture, 1/3“ sensor size, 1.14µm pixel size
• Video recording: 1080p at 30fps, 720p at 120fps
• Front camera: 8MP, f/2.4
• Battery: Non-user-removable 2525mAh lithium-ion polymer cell
• Operating system: Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with OxygenOS 2.2.0
• Other features: Physical Alert Slider, dual microphone with noise cancellation, 1 LED notification light, on-screen or capacitive navigation keys (multicolored)

Perhaps the only potential deal-breaker of OnePlus X is the lack of NFC, just like its bigger sibling OnePlus 2. Or maybe their lack of fast-charging too. In any case, the price is not too bad, considering its Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB RAM are still perfectly capable to handle Android Lollipop. In fact, the older OnePlus One JBL Edition is still selling for RM1,399 at DirectD, a hundred ringgit more than the X. The One has a larger display and larger battery, but only supports a single SIM card, has no microSD slot, and no Alert Slider.

The two Lazada product pages for the Onyx and Champagne colors of OnePlus X are sold and fulfilled by Seven Mobile, but it claims to have a one-year local manufacturer warranty by Brightstar Malaysia.

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