Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Can you believe that there was once a budget Android brand that had people queueing up for the opportunity to buy their phone? A brand that seemingly came from nowhere to inspire the kind of adoration we'd only ever seen for a new iPhone launch.

This was the central genius of the OnePlus One, a decade ago. $299 for a phone with flagship specs and software tailor-made for Android power-users... only, because of the need to wait for an invite code YOU can't buy it.

Here's our retrospective on this fan-favorite Android phone, a decade on!

0:00 Intro
0:25 You can't buy it
1:26 OnePlus origins
3:00 Classic hardware revisited
4:08 Specs and performance
6:20 Growing pains
8:13 Software
10:10 Cameras
10:47 Wrap-up

Subscribe: bit.ly/pocketnowsub
howtogeek.com

Follow us:
flipboard.com/@Pocketnow
facebook.com/pocketnow
twitter.com/pocketnow
instagram.com/pocketnow

Graphics provided by: Motionvfx.com