Popular Chinese smartphone firm, OnePlus is reportedly planning to release its flagship phablet One in India by year-end.
Company's director (global operations) Carl Pei in a chat with The Economic Times has said that the company is making arrangements to release OnePlus One in India around December.
In the that order, OnePlus is already in talks with three major online retailers for distribution in India, similar to successful business model followed by Motorola and Xiaomi, with Flipkart.
Last month, the company initiated the hiring process for general manager to head its India operations so that the after-sales service, which is one of Indian consumers' main concerns, can be taken care of.
The flagship OnePlus One is said to come in two models 16GB and 64 GB storage variants with prices ranging from ₹20,000 to ₹25,000.
The news comes just days after Xiaomi global head, Hugo Barra announced to release Mi4 in December (or early January 2015), depending on the device's regulatory certification approval. The Chinese phone's hardware and antenna calibrations are being adjusted to make it compatible with India's network specifications.
Both Xiaomi Mi4 and OnePlus One boasts of top-of-the hardware seen inside Tier-1 brands like HTC One M8, Sony Xperia Z3, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (and Galaxy S5) and yet cost half the price of these premium devices.
Xiaomi Mi3 (and Redmi 1S) and Motorola's Moto E and Moto G (both Gen1 and Gen 2) have been successful in mid-range smartphone segment giving stiff competition to domestic players and once the new Xiaomi Mi4 and OnePlus One set foot in India, they are expected stir up a storm in upper mid-range segment.
Key specifications of OnePlus One:
| Model | OnePlus One | Xiaomi Mi4 |
| Display | 5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080p) IPS LCD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shieldPixel density: 401 ppi (pixels per inch) | 5.0-inch full HD (1920x1080p) screen with Sharp / JDI OGS (One Glass Solution) full laminationPixel density : 441 ppi (pixels per inch) |
| OS | CyanogenMod v11S based Android KitKat v4.4 | Android v4.4 KitKat with MIUI |
| Processor | 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 series quad-core CPU | 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 series quad-core CPU |
| GPU | Adreno 330 | Adreno 330 |
| RAM | 578MHz 3GB LP-DDR3 RAM | 3GB LP-DDR3 |
| Storage capacity | 16GB/64GB | 16GB/64GB |
| Camera | Main: 13.0-megapixel Sony Exmor IMX214 camera with 6 physical lenses, f/2.0 aperture, dual-LED flashFront: 5.0-megapixel (80-degeree) wide-angle camera | Main: 13.0-megapixel Sony IMX214 camera with 6 element lens, f1.8 aperture, real-time HDR, 4K video recording, CMOS sensor, 0.3-second auto-focus featureFront: 8.0-megapixel Sony (IMX219) 80-degree wide-angle camera with 5 element lens, f1.8 aperture |
| Battery | 3100 mAh | 3080 mAh (Li-Ion Polymer) |
| Network | 3G & 4G-LTE | 3G & 4G LTE, |
| Add-ons | Bluetooth v4.1, Wi-Fi Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 b/g/n/ac, NFC 65T (software card emulation, payment methods and multi-tag support), internal GPS antenna + GLONASS, LED notification indicator, downward facing dual stereo speakers (JBL) | Water-repellent nano-coating, IR-blaster, stainless steel frame, Wi-Fi (802.11 ac; dual-band: 2.4/5.0 GHz), Bluetooth v4.0, Bluetooth HID, and other standard connectivity features |
| Dimensions | 152.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm | 139.2 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm |
| Weight | 162 g | 149 g |
| Price | 16GB: $299/€269 (around ₹18,260)64GB:$349/€299 (around ₹21,320) | 16GB model: ¥1,999RMB (around $322/€239/₹19,400)32GB model: ¥2,499 RMB (around $400/€300/₹24,300) |
[Image Credit: OnePlus]
