Introduction

 A quality act is hard to follow, especially so, when you've already done it twice and you are gunning for nothing short of gold with a "never settle" attitude. The third flagship in OnePlus's modest device lineup represents a new and quite difficult approach to the task, juggling between the classic start-up style formula of high-end specs on a budget and a newly found business maturity and company growth. It is a difficult mix, to say the least and yet, somehow, the OnePlus 3 seems to make it work.

 On many levels, the handset preserves that very same fiery attitude and approach that earned the original OnePlus One its "Flagship killer" reputation, but at the same time, it is a radically different device, stemming from a now bigger and stronger OnePlus, that has transcended the need for Guerrilla marketing schemes and the dreaded invite system into a much more mature company.

This is a theme that gets carried over to the OnePlus 3 as well. Sure, it still has that specs-centric excitement to it, but overall, it is a lot more toned-down, mature, if you will, even boring to some. The fact of the matter is that it might not be the most powerful device or the most attractive and ingeniously designed one, but it is undoubtedly a collection of reasonable and well thought-out choices.

Design and build quality

As already mentioned, the OnePlus 3 isn't particularly exciting in terms of design. Don't get us wrong, the 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm body comes with an exquisite finish, a combination of smooth rounded shapes and some sharp well-defined edges and is truly elegant. Plus, the phone can boast a surprisingly slim profile for its metal-clad build.

There is not much really novel or too flashy about the phone's exterior and that is probably its biggest strength. Amid a sea of devices, desperately trying to stand out with things like detachable modules, case add-ons and, arguably, unnecessary curves and accents on all sides, OnePlus has decided to stick to a very restrained approach.
All the controls are logically laid out. Nothing is really out of place and it is nice to see that OnePlus has stuck with its few, but important customizations in this respect as well. Fans will be pleased to hear that the fingerprint reader, touch-enabled, always-on sensor on the front is still a thing and is insanely fast and accurate. So is the notification slider on the side. It allows you to quickly switch through notification modes.
The only beef we really have with the OnePlus 3 is the camera bump. It sticks out quite a bit, which is a natural side-effect of having a 7.35mm body. The device also sadly lacks water-proofing, but that is basically nitpicking, considering the price point. The absence of expandable storage, on the other hand, can not be forgiven quite so easily.

Display

The OnePlus 3 is equipped with a 5.5-inch screen, which still seems to be right in the sweet spot for media consumption and web browsing by current standards. The 1080p resolution has been among the most controversial aspects of said display and frankly the whole phone. The panel uses a Diamond Pentile pixel arrangement, which is far from ideal for this size and resolution, but with a pixel density of 401ppi, it looks pretty sharp from a user standpoint.

It also uses AMOLED technology, one produced by Samsung, to be exact. But, since it is designed by OnePlus specifications, it uses an Optic AMOLED moniker, instead of the familiar Super AMOLED one. Still, you get the punchy, vibrant colors, associated with the technology, as well as the benefit of deep blacks and infinite contrast. 

Speaking of colors, the OnePlus 3 has a tone slider, which allows for custom adjustment. You can easily opt for a more AMOLED feel or choose to go with accurate colors with an average deltaE as low as 6.0, by cranking the setting all the way up. This also affects brightness - 403 nits on the first setting and a respectable 433 nits at the far end of the slider.

Battery life

The OnePlus 3 is equipped with a sealed-in 3,000mAh battery. The OnePlus 3 managed to clock in a respectable 66h endurance rating. This actually falls in line pretty well with what we have seen from previous OnePlus phones - 61 hours total on the OnePlus 2 and exactly 66 hours on the original OnePlus One as well. The traditionally excellent call time has now become even better at almost 32 hours. Video playback has also received a major improvement. The weakest link seems to be the browsing time.
A lot of this can be attributed to the power-efficiency of the 1080p AMOLED panel, as well as the almost stock approach to Android.

Charging on the OnePlus 3 is handled beautifully thanks to the company's new Dash charging technology. It is a variant of Oppo's industry-leading VOOC and it can actually bring the 3,000 mAh battery from 0% to 60% in just under 30 minutes with no overheating. A whopping 20W dash charger is also conveniently included in the retail package.