Nokia 3.1 game review. Review of smart watch No.1 G3

Cheap smartphones are often referred to as devices like the Moto G6, which costs about $225. However, many buyers do not agree with this statement and are not ready to pay more than $200 for a new smartphone. Some people can't afford it, others just don't see the point in it and aren't mobile device enthusiasts.

Such buyers still have a wide choice, but this choice is not the most pleasant. At around $100 you enter the territory of terrible devices with poor software, outdated specs and minimal functionality. At best, you'll find an Android Go smartphone like the Alcatel 1X. At least it has a good operating system, but the internal components are boring.

We'll go a little higher and for $159 we'll find a cheap device that doesn't look that cheap. We are talking about Nokia 3.1.

Nokia 3.1 smartphone

Specifications

Video review of the Nokia 3.1 phone:

What I liked

Nokia 3.1 immediately leaves a favorable impression thanks to the quality of its hardware components and the size of its body.

Appearance

Lightweight flat plastic fits comfortably in the hand, the curved glass in front goes into the side frame. The metal frame gives the device the feel of 2 times more expensive models. It seems that even if Nokia didn't try so hard and used simpler materials, the device would still be ahead of its clumsy plastic competitors.

Screen

Many manufacturers even try to offer the largest screen possible at a low price. Nokia 3.1 is content with a 5.2-inch panel with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It's nice to see a screen that doesn't look too big or too small. True, the frames around the screen are quite large, as a result of which the device seems longer than usual.

The screen quality is very good for this price range. The resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels is more than enough for this size, and the viewing angles and brightness are also above expectations. The only two drawbacks are the rather high minimum brightness for viewing in the dark and the lack of a night mode.

Possibilities

The rest of the hardware specs are also quite good. There is a headphone jack that can be used to listen to FM radio. The speaker was surprisingly loud. Its quality isn't great, but it's loud enough for listening to podcasts and the like.

There is a strong Bluetooth connection even through walls, often the signal strength exceeds the capabilities of flagship smartphones. Surely this is facilitated by the plastic back side. Either way, it's a pleasant surprise, even if it's just Bluetooth 4.2 instead of the more modern 5.0 version.

Camera

It’s unlikely that a $159 device deserves an extensive description of its cameras. They are here, they work and there is nothing more to say.

The 13MP main camera gets the job done and the app has a very simple interface. Like , this device does not shoot very quickly, but in this case this can be forgiven.

With HDR support and a steady hand, photos come out with rich colors, but there are problems with dynamic range and clarity of detail. Focusing is slow, sometimes requiring several attempts to lock onto the subject. Otherwise there is nothing to complain about. The main thing is not to have high expectations, especially when shooting in low light.

operating system

Nokia has decided to join the Android One program. Nokia 3.1 is a perfect example of a smartphone that will benefit the most from this software. Due to the extremely low characteristics, such smartphones are already slow. In addition, their manufacturers like to install a lot of unnecessary applications and functionality for which they do not have enough computing power. Nokia 3.1 does not have such problems, since it runs a pure, stripped-down version of Android.

The interface is simple, and Google apps work just as well as on Pixel smartphones. Also, the presence of Android One increases the likelihood of future software updates, although at the time of writing the review, Android 8.0 was installed with the May 5 security update. I would like to believe that the next update will come soon.

Battery

Simple software and a relatively small screen mean low power consumption. As a result, a not very large battery with a capacity of 2990 mAh is installed. There were no problems working throughout the day without having to look for an outlet. By evening, about 20% remained; Nokia 3.1 performs especially well in standby mode. If you don't touch your smartphone, almost no energy is consumed.

It's a pity that the microUSB interface is used here. In 2018, I would like to see all smartphones using the new USB-C, but so far this interface is not available on many more expensive models.

What I didn't like

The Achilles heel of the Nokia 3.1 is its poor performance. Given such specifications, this did not come as a surprise.

Performance

The octa-core MediaTek MT6750 processor is installed, which can be compared with the Snapdragon 425. This review considers the smartphone version with 2 GB of memory, which by modern standards is the bare minimum if you want to quickly and smoothly switch between running applications.

Under average load, 400-500 MB of memory remains free. A couple of additional apps can quickly deplete this supply, as you'll soon notice by having to relaunch apps you recently quit.

Due to such a processor and memory, the device is not as smooth and stable as we would like. We can say that the performance is mediocre. Applications take a long time to open, and when multitasking, everything happens slowly. If you start listening to music and switching between other applications at the same time, you will have to wait a couple of seconds until the window finally opens. We can say that this smartphone is designed to work with one application at a time.

There is cautious optimism about the capabilities of Nokia 3.1 with a memory configuration of 3/32 GB, which is sold in some countries. At this price you can find competitors with a similar amount of memory on faster processors.

In this case, the storage capacity is 16 GB. After synchronizing with a Google account and restoring applications from the cloud, the storage was 95% occupied. The system itself takes up 8.8 GB, so the user has about 7 GB left for his needs.

On average, an application takes up 50-100 MB, some exceed 200 MB. You will have to carefully choose what to install here.

Fortunately, there is a slot for installing a SIM card. Adaptive storage allows this card to be integrated as part of the internal memory. A Samsung 32 GB memory card was installed, to which 2 GB of data was quickly sent to reduce the load on the internal memory. Any owner of this smartphone will need to do the same, if not immediately after purchase, then very soon. Make sure you have a high quality memory card as its speed is important to overall system performance.

Conclusion

In general, we can say that Nokia 3.1 could cost more. It has the right size to allow for comfortable one-handed operation. The quality of the screen leaves a favorable impression, the camera does its job, and the battery allows you not to think about recharging during the day.

Android One is a bonus, especially when the next versions of Android start coming out. The big drawback is the low operating speed, so it’s better not to run many applications at the same time. The low storage capacity and lack of a fingerprint scanner are also not encouraging, since modern smartphones should not have such problems.

At $159, the Nokia 3.1 doesn't have many worthy competitors to choose from. At this price, you can look for a Moto E5 Plus with a larger screen, a larger 5000 mAh battery, a fingerprint scanner, and 3/32 GB memory. For $189 you can purchase a Moto G6 Play with a larger and higher-quality screen, a faster processor, and 3/32 GB of memory.

pros

the screen is better than expected,
solid materials and good style,
Android One,
full day of work,
memory card support.

Minuses

low performance,
2 GB memory,
there is no fingerprint scanner,
microUSB interface.

Conclusion

At a low price you can purchase a device with a good foundation. It has an attractive screen and not the worst internal components. This is a compact device among many larger modern budget smartphones. The speed and lack of a fingerprint scanner are disappointing, but you'll get a clean Android One system.

This budget smartphone with an elegant appearance, released as part of the Android One program, boasts a “high” screen with HD+ resolution, an NFC interface for Google Pay, as well as a 2-band Wi-Fi module (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz) and a separate slot for microSD memory expansion cards. In this Nokia 3.1 review, we'll find out whether it has the right to claim the laurels of its predecessor, last year's bestseller Nokia 3.

At the end of May, HMD Global updated its portfolio of entry-level and mid-level smartphones. The world premiere of Nokia 2.1, Nokia 3.1 and Nokia 5.1 (successors to last year's Nokia 2, 3 and 5, respectively) took place in Moscow. As you can see, the updated 2018 models with pure Android 8 (Oreo) received an additional digit after the dot in their name. To begin with, we decided to test Nokia 3.1, taking into account, in particular, the fact that its predecessor (our review) turned out to be the best-selling in the line of devices of this revived brand.

Nokia 3.1 review: technical specifications

Model: TA-1063
OS: Android 8.0 Oreo (Android One)
Processor: MediaTek MT6750N 8-core 64-bit processor, ARM Cortex-A53 cores (up to 1.5 GHz)
Graphics subsystem: ARM Mali-860 MP2
RAM: 2 GB
Built-in memory: 16 GB, eMMC 5.1, microSD/HC/XC memory card slot (up to 128 GB)
Screen: capacitive, IPS-matrix, 5.2-inch diagonal, resolution 1440x720 pixels (18:9), pixel density per inch 310 ppi, protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 2.5D, oleophobic coating
Main camera: 13 MP, f/2.0 aperture, autofocus, LED flash,
Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.0 aperture, fixed focus, 84.6 degree viewing angle
Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/b/g/n (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, microUSB for charging/synchronization (USB 2.0, USB-OTG), NFC, CTIA 3.5 mm for audio headsets
Network: 2G, 3G (HSPA+, up to 42 Mbit/s), LTE Cat.4 (up to 150 Mbit/s), LTE bands: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 38, 40
SIM card configuration: nanoSIM (4FF format) + nanoSIM (4FF format)
SIM card operating mode: Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS)
Navigation: GPS/GLONASS, A-GPS
Radio: FM tuner
Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, light and proximity sensors
Battery: non-removable, 2,990 mAh
Colors: black, white, indigo
Dimensions: 146.25x68.65x8.7 mm
Weight: 138.3 g

Nokia 3.1 review: design, ergonomics

The quality of the updated smartphone under the famous brand turned out to be excellent. While maintaining the classic style, in a polycarbonate case with rounded edges and a metal frame, the company's designers managed to create a device that is simply pleasant to hold in your hands. Of course, Nokia 3.1 attracts attention with graceful curves of lines, aluminum edges with a “diamond cut”, onto which protective glass with a 2.5D effect smoothly “flows”. But there is clearly no need to boast about the “frameless” design here - the frames around the display are quite wide. The pleasant-to-touch plastic of the back cover readily collects fingerprints, which are best seen against a dark background.

With dimensions of 146.25x68.65x8.7 mm, Nokia 3.1 weighs only 138 g. Thanks to the “tall” screen proportion (18:9), the device body is noticeably narrower (68.65 mm) than 5.2-inch smartphones with classic aspect ratio (16:9). For example, the width of the case (our review) is 72.8 mm, while that of Huawei Honor 8 lite is 72.9 mm. For the updated device, three body colors were provided - black, white and indigo.

The entire front panel of Nokia 3.1 is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass (“no number”) protective glass with rounded edges.

There have been no noticeable changes in the arrangement of structural elements of the new smartphone. A speaker grille is placed in the center above the screen, to the left of which is traditionally the front camera lens, and to the right is the Nokia logo.

But the touch control buttons “Back”, “Home” and “Recent applications”, designated as “triangle”, “circle” and “square”, are on-screen in Nokia 3.1, so the impressively sized “chin” under the display is now empty.

The power/lock button and volume rocker are located in the upper part of the right edge of the case, which is very convenient for controlling with your thumb.

The left edge is occupied by two closed slots, one of which has separate spaces for two subscriber identification modules (nanoSIM format), and the other is intended exclusively for a microSD memory expansion card. This, of course, is an undeniable advantage of Nokia 3.1.

An unpretentious decorative grille for the “multimedia” speaker and a hole for the “talk” microphone surround the microUSB connector at the bottom end of the case.

But the 3.5 mm connector for an audio headset is already at the top end.

The back panel of the smartphone is decorated with an embossed Nokia logo.

At the same time, in its upper part a photo module protrudes slightly, consisting of a vertically located main camera lens and an LED flash. Above them there is a hole for an additional microphone.

At the bottom of the panel there is a place for the Android One logo, and from other inscriptions you can find out that this smartphone model was developed by the Finnish company HMD Global and manufactured in China.

Thanks to the “high” 5.2-inch screen, the smartphone is comfortable to operate even with one hand. At the same time, the quality of materials and workmanship deserves the highest praise.

Nokia 3.1 review: screen

The updated bestseller has a “high” 5.2-inch screen with HD+ resolution (1440x720 pixels), the pixel density per inch is approximately 310 ppi. The IPS matrix used is distinguished not only by good viewing angles, but also by color rendition, as well as good contrast and brightness. Corning Gorilla Glass with a 2.5D effect has a high-quality oleophobic coating applied to it.

The backlight level can be adjusted manually or automatically (the "Adaptive brightness" option). With the minimum screen backlight, it is quite comfortable to read in the dark, and at its maximum, the image can be seen even on the street on a sunny day. The AntTuTu Tester and MultiTouch Tester programs were able to recognize up to ten simultaneous clicks on the capacitive screen.

In the settings it is suggested to activate the screen backlight with a double tap. In the "Screen image scale" section, you set the size of the interface elements.

Nokia 3.1 review: cameras

The main photo module of Nokia 3.1 received a 13-megapixel sensor, which was supplemented by a lens with an f/2.0 aperture and autofocus, as well as an LED flash. The maximum image resolution is 4160x3120 pixels (13 MP) with a frame aspect ratio of 4:3.

The front camera, like its predecessor, was equipped with an 8-megapixel sensor, a lens with a viewing angle of 84.6 degrees and an f/2.0 aperture. But now her focus is fixed. The maximum resolution for a 4:3 aspect ratio is already 3264x2448 pixels (8 MP).

The main camera can shoot video in Full HD quality (1920x1080 pixels, 16:9) with a frame rate of 30 fps. The front one is content with only HD resolution (1280x720@30 fps, 16:9). The settings provide simple fast and slow (640x480 pixels) shooting modes. Content is saved in 3GP container files (AVC - video, AAC - audio).

The interface of the Camera application is laconic, without frills. From the main screen, you can activate the HDR mode, decide on the flash, go to settings, or change the rear lens to the front one. At the same time, in the “Photo” mode, you can easily adjust the brightness of the image directly in the viewfinder. When shooting, keep in mind that the autofocus of the main camera is very slow.

In the “Manual” mode, you independently select not only the level and method of exposure assessment, but also presets for white balance and focusing. Pressing the power/lock key twice allows you to quickly open the Camera app. To release the shutter, in addition to a special icon, it is also proposed to use the volume rocker. Examples of photos from the main camera of Nokia 3.1 can be viewed, for example,.

Nokia 3.1 review: sound

The "multimedia" speaker of Nokia 3.1 commands respect - there are no hints of the sound of your own vuvuzela, which is usually inherent in budget devices. At the same time, acceptable sound purity is maintained at high volume levels if you activate a dedicated amplifier for the speaker. No additional sound settings are provided, and it is suggested to use “Play Music” as a standard music player. The smartphone has a built-in FM tuner, which requires a wired headset as an antenna.

If you open the “For Developers” section, it turns out that when paired with certain headphones, for example, Ausdom M05 (aptX), high-quality audio transmission (AAC codec) is supported via Bluetooth.

Nokia 3.1 review: hardware, performance

Unlike its predecessor, equipped with a 4-core processor (MediaTek MT6737), the Nokia 3.1 has a MediaTek MT6750 mobile chipset hidden under the hood. This chip, designed for budget smartphones, features an 8-core processor with two quartets of ARM Cortex-A53 cores, one of which clocks at up to 1.5 GHz and the other at up to 1.0 GHz. An accelerator with two ARM Mali-T860 MP2 execution units is responsible for graphics processing. The 16GB and 32GB storage variants of the smartphone come with 2GB or 3GB of RAM, respectively. We received a device for testing with a combination of 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory.

TestingNokia 3.1 . Results in the AnTuTu benchmark

TestingNokia3.1.Results in the GeekBench benchmark

The performance of Nokia 3.1, compared to , has, of course, increased thanks to the new processor. For example, for the same version of AnTuTu Benchmark 6.2.7, the increase in “virtual parrots” was more than 55% (42,371 versus 27,274). However, for “heavy” games you should count on minimal settings. The presence of a full set of sensors in the smartphone, including a gyroscopic sensor, makes it possible to run AR applications (with augmented reality, Augmented Reality), such as Pokémon Go.

You can increase the amount of built-in storage in Nokia 3.1 using microSD/HC/XC cards with a capacity of up to 128 GB inclusive. Let us remind you that this smartphone has a separate slot for memory expansion. Support for USB-OTG technology ensures the connection of conventional flash drives.

In terms of communications, compared to , there have been no significant changes. Two subscriber identification modules of the nanoSIM format (4FF) operate in DSDS (Dual SIM Dual Standby) mode, and in the 4G network the LTE modem (Cat. 4, up to 150 Mbit/s) supports, among other things, “Russian” frequency bands LTE-FDD: b3 (1800 MHz), b7 (2600 MHz) and b20 (800 MHz). Other wireless communications include Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/b/g/n (5 GHz + 2.4 GHz). The last option can be safely added to the advantages of the new product.

Another trump card was the presence of an NFC interface, which, for example, activates quick pairing of devices via Bluetooth, and also allows you to use the contactless payment system Google Pay. But, unlike, we were unable to read the Troika transport map on the updated smartphone.

GPS and GLONASS satellites are used to determine location and navigation; there is also support for A-GPS technology.

Nokia 3.1 review: autonomy

The battery capacity of the Nokia 3.1 has increased slightly compared to the one (from 2,630 mAh to 2,990 mAh). Since the new product does not provide fast charging, it will take about an hour and a half to fill an empty battery of this capacity by about half using an adapter (5 V/2 A).

The AnTuTu Tester program rated the energy efficiency of Nokia 3.1 at 7,013 points. A set of videos in MP4 format (hardware decoding) and HD quality played continuously at full brightness for just over 7 hours.

In the Battery settings section, you can enable the power saving option in standby mode. In addition, it is easy to disable or activate automatic switching to power saving mode at the appropriate battery charge level (5% or 15%).

Nokia 3.1 review: software features

Thanks to the Android One program, the Nokia 3.1 smartphone runs on the stock version of the Android 8 (Oreo) operating system right out of the box. Its interface looks exactly the same as on Google Pixel phones, and HMD Global promises to release fresh updates earlier than other manufacturers, whose launcher interfaces have been heavily redesigned compared to the stock version. It is expected that regular OS updates for two years as part of the Android One program will ensure the safety and security of new smartphones.

The only thing worth noting in the home screen settings is the ability to change the shape of the icons.

Using System UI Tuner, you can partially “tweak” the Android interface. To access this function, you should open the notification shade and tap and hold on the settings icon (gear wheel).

Nokia 3.1 review: purchase, conclusions

First of all, the Nokia 3.1 smartphone is captivated by its pleasant appearance and high-quality materials. The aspect ratio of the “tall” (18:9) screen provides better ergonomics compared to the classic aspect ratio (16:9) with the same diagonals. Among other advantages of the new product, it is worth noting the NFC interface and 2-band Wi-Fi module, as well as a dedicated slot for microSD cards. It is worth mentioning separately the benefits of prompt software updates that the Android One program promises.

So, compared to its predecessor, improvements in the new product, in addition to ergonomics, affected the size and resolution of the screen, the base processor, the main camera and the built-in battery. However, among the shortcomings of the updated bestseller, there are still low performance and the absence of a fingerprint scanner.

As for the price of Nokia 3.1, at the start of sales it was 11,990 rubles. Let's face it, it's not cheap. After all, for about the same money (11,490 rubles) you could buy, for example, (our review) with a “high” 5.99-inch screen (Full HD+ resolution) and a fingerprint scanner. It has a more powerful processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625), increased amounts of RAM and internal memory (3 GB/32 GB), as well as a higher capacity battery (4,000 mAh). This smartphone also boasts 4K video shooting and an infrared port. But there is no NFC interface, as well as a dedicated port for microSD memory cards, and with Android 7.0 (Nougat) installed, you can hardly count on the latest updates.

Review results of the Nokia 3.1 smartphone

Pros:

Nice design and quality materials
NFC interface and 2-band Wi-Fi module
Separate slot for microSD memory expansion cards
Quick software updates thanks to Android One

Minuses:

High price for such hardware
Low performance
Lack of fingerprint scanner

Advertising campaigns for OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 were based on the fact that these smartphones are “flagship killers” (Flagship Killer slogan). In the case of the first model, this bold statement was partly true, since it was one of the first to receive a Snapdragon 801 processor (overclocked version of MSM8974AC), 3 GB of RAM, and also boasted unusual packaging and CyanogenMod 11S firmware, adapted specifically for 1+1 . And all this for $299! Attempts to position OnePlus 2 as a “killer” only caused bewilderment. It had the usual characteristics for the market, a controversial design and a rather crude Oxygen OS firmware. The delay in the release of the device did not contribute to such a high-profile title. In order not to completely turn into the meme of “killers without balls,” the company has reconsidered its approach to promoting the new OnePlus 3. And rightly so. Talk less, work more. OnePlus 3 has become one of the most interesting and noteworthy flagships of 2016. If you like, he has finally become a flagship killer. Really, without quotes.

OnePlus 3 Specifications:

Network (Europe/Asia): GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA (1/2/5/8), FDD-LTE (1/3/5/7/8/20), TDD-LTE (38 /40/41)
Network (China): GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA (1/2/5/8), FDD-LTE (1/3/7), TDD-LTE (38/39/40/41), TD-SCDMA (34/39), CDMA (BC0)
Network (USA): GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA (1/2/4/5/8), FDD-LTE (1/2/4/5/7/8/12/17), CDMA (BC0)
Platform (at the time of announcement): Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Oxygen OS or Hydrogen OS firmware
Display: 5.5”, 1920 x 1080 pixels, 401 ppi, Gorilla Glass 4, Optic AMOLED matrix
Camera: 16 MP, 1.12 µm, f/2.0, Sony IMX298 sensor, phase focus, hybrid stabilization (optical + digital)
Front camera: 8 MP, 1.4 µm, f/2.0, Sony IMX179 sensor
Processor: 4 cores (2 cores 2.2 GHz + 2 cores 1.6 GHz), Snapdragon 820
Graphics chip: Adreno 530
RAM: 6GB LPDDR4
Internal memory: 64 GB UFS 2.0
Memory card: no
Navigation: GPS, GLONASS, BelDou
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac)
Bluetooth 4.2
3.5mm jack
USB Type-C 2.0
Two nano-SIM slots
Fingerprint scanner
Battery: non-removable, 3000 mAh, fast charging Dash Charge (5V, 4A)
Dimensions: 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35 mm
Weight: 158 g

Video review and unboxing

Design and equipment

I still remember the packaging of OnePlus One fondly. The OnePlus 3 has just a regular box, but everything in it is laid out more neatly than the OnePlus 2. The set of accessories includes: a USB Type-C cable, fast charging with Dash Charge support, documentation, a couple of stickers. The smartphone is placed in a tray made of hard plastic and with a little modification it could easily be used as a case. However, OnePlus did not bundle the new product with a case of any kind, preferring to earn additional income (it sells several branded cases made of plastic and with a wooden base). A protective film is applied to the glass.

The OnePlus 3 was originally presented in graphite color (like ours), and recently the soft gold color debuted. In my opinion, the dark color suits the device better.

The design of the OnePlus 3 is definitely a success. It doesn’t seem original, but it doesn’t cause rejection (like the same OnePlus 2 with an incomprehensible design of the camera area). From the front the device looks like Meizu, from the back it looks like HTC. But when you pick up 1+3, neither Meizu nor HTC come to mind. The device is thin and light. Comparable in size to Huawei P9 Plus, Meizu MX6, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - they all have 5.5" screens. The camera protrudes quite strongly; it is protected from damage by a metal frame and tempered glass (probably Gorilla Glass 4). In the unboxing I said that you can forgive a camera that sticks out if it takes great photos. After half a thousand frames taken, I dare to assure you that the use of such a large module is justified. OnePlus 3 turned out to be a cool camera phone, more on that below.

The location of the key elements of the case can be seen in the photographs. I would like to note the presence of an LED, the colors of which you can choose for a number of events yourself. Below the screen there are two touch keys, indicated by dots, and a touch Home button, whose fingerprint scanner is protected inside by ceramic glass. You can be sure that the accuracy and speed of fingerprint reading will not degrade over time, since it is very difficult to scratch the pad. In the review of OnePlus 2, I criticized the work of the scanner, but here there is no reason for negativity. Everything works quickly and clearly.

The Home button, alas, cannot be pressed, but two additional functions out of the seven presented can be assigned to it. They are activated by long pressing and double pressing. I linked turning off the screen to the first method, and launching the camera to the second. Very comfortably! By the way, the same can be done with the touch buttons to the right and left of Home.

I also didn’t like the audio mode switch on OnePlus 2, but in OnePlus 3 it was greatly improved, you can and should use it. The tray on the right side is capable of accepting two nano SIM cards, and, unfortunately, there is nowhere to put a microSD (Chinese companies either promote hybrid trays or don’t seem to notice them - I don’t understand this).

The top end is completely empty, but the bottom has a bunch of everything: a couple of screws, a multimedia speaker, a USB Type-C socket, a microphone and an audio jack. The speaker produces above average volume and plays clearly. The bottom end is beveled and it turns out that the speaker is directed slightly down towards the surface, which makes the sound significantly amplified - the engineers thought this through very well (usually companies simply cut holes at the bottom end and there is a reflection effect, but not so noticeable).

The Home button is straight, there are no gaps, the mechanical keys do not play or shake. Our OnePlus 3 is built beautifully! And I cannot award such a characteristic to either the HTC 10 or the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, which cost almost twice as much (the first has an uneven screen and the Home button is crooked, and the second has gaps the size of a fingernail between the back glass and the aluminum frame).

The decoration of the front side is a 5.5” Full HD screen with Gorilla Glass 4 and an Optic AMOLED matrix. Essentially, the company took a regular AMOLED screen, optimized color rendering, brightness, behavior in different lighting conditions, and added a beautiful Optic annotation. The settings include white balance adjustment and night mode, which reduces the negative effect of blue light. However, I advise you to go to the developer section (if you forgot, it opens after repeatedly clicking on the build number in the “About phone” section) and enable the sRGB color mode there. With it, the vibrant colors inherent in all poorly calibrated AMOLED panels disappear and the white balance is adjusted in the warmer direction. Looking at a 1+3 display with the sRGB scheme is much more pleasant than with the default parameters. As for the 1080p resolution at 5.5” with the PenTile matrix structure, of course Quad HD looks more advantageous. However, keep in mind the price at which higher clarity is achieved. Since QHD has 1.7 times more pixels than 1080p, the performance in games is almost 2 times worse, and this also affects power consumption. How can one not praise OnePlus engineers for making the right choice?

Software

One of the main advantages of the first OnePlus was the CyanogenMod 11S firmware. Over time, OnePlus and Cyanogen Inc fell out and the Chinese manufacturer was forced to quickly develop its own platform, whose dampness was clearly evident on OnePlus 2. I note that OnePlus is simultaneously creating two firmware for China and the rest of the world. The global Oxygen OS is a kind of advanced modification of vanilla Android, while the Chinese Hydrogen OS is very specific and does not look like stock at all. The first versions of Oxygen OS for OnePlus 2 were so clumsy that many could not stand it and switched to Hydrogen OS, overcoming all the inconveniences associated with it. I hasten to please you that the current version of Oxygen OS for OnePlus 3 is quite well optimized and the company has already released several important updates that improved multitasking, video recording, added an sRGB scheme and fixed a bunch of small but unpleasant bugs. In its current form, Oxygen OS (at the time of writing - 3.2.2) is based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. In terms of flexibility and functions, it is already quite different from vanilla Android, but it has not yet come close to the sophistication of CyanogenMod. And I like this position of “Oxygen” - somewhere in the middle between two extremes.

The shell has a Shelf screen, where popular applications and in-demand contacts are located on shelves. Reminders, weather, widgets are also displayed there. You can change the size and shape of icons on desktops, select a grid of programs in the application menu, and also hide the Google search form (though you can’t put anything in its place - a glitch). On the multitasking screen, applications can be blocked from cleaning, and there you can use the “broom” to unload all background processes. The notification shade contains various switches, whose order can be changed (but unnecessary ones cannot be removed yet). Access to quick search and the curtain is implemented using swipes up and down (can be disabled).

There are other gestures in the settings: activating the screen by double tapping, launching the camera by drawing the letter “O”, turning the flashlight on and off with a checkmark “V”, controlling music. In the “Screen” section there is a night mode slider, and there is a function to activate the camera by double pressing the lock key. The use of an AMOLED screen made it possible, without much damage to battery life, to implement the “black and white screen” function, that is, activation of the display when receiving notifications (you can call it by waving it above the glass).

In the “Individual settings” item, a dark theme is enabled throughout the system (relevant for AMOLED, since the pixels are simply not illuminated to display black) and when activated, it becomes possible to specify an accent color for some graphic elements. You should definitely look at the “Buttons” item if you want to disable hardware keys in preference to virtual ones. In the same section, “recent” and “back” are swapped, and functions for double-pressing and long-pressing all buttons at the bottom of the display are indicated.

The company did not limit the set of pre-installed programs to just Google applications and services. She added a good “Gallery”, a simple music player Music (it does not have any audio settings) and a file manager with the self-explanatory name “Files”. A sufficient minimum that can be easily expanded through the Play Store.

The Qualcomm audio codec built into the Snapdragon 820 once again pleased us. Paired with the Beyerdynamic DT1770 Pro headphones, there is a volume reserve of one notch, and the sound is clear and energetic, although it feels like it’s not easy to drive the 250-ohm 1+3 headphones. The model performed better with the Denon D600. To my ears, OnePlus 3 sounds a little better than Xiaomi Mi5, Sony Xperia X Performance (the Japanese one is let down by a weak volume reserve) and noticeably better than Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. If you compare the 1+3 with the Meizu Pro 5 with a dedicated amplifier and DAC, its presentation is less refined, but I can’t say that the OnePlus model is much inferior. I hope Meizu’s autumn flagship will be able to set a new bar for quality.

There's been a lot of talk about poor Wi-Fi reception on the OnePlus 3 (and it's not the owners who are shouting about it the loudest). I received the phone with Oxygen OS 3.1.3 firmware and immediately updated to 3.2.1, and after a while 3.2.2 came out. Most of the time I used 1+3 with firmware 3.2.2 and I can’t say anything bad about Wi-Fi - the download speed from the Play Store reaches 6 MB per second, web pages open quickly, the connection is not lost (about 10 minutes from the router at home) meters). But I read the reviews on the forums and tried to figure it out. Apparently, many were confused by the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge has a speed on the same Wi-Fi network at 2.4 GHz that is about one and a half times higher (I have not seen any complaints about the OnePlus 3 with Wi-Fi at 5 GHz). This confused me too. However, I ran a similar test (Speedtest) on Meizu MX6 and Huawei P9 Plus and they, like OnePlus 3, showed about 50 Mbit for upload and download. And S7 edge and Huawei Nexus 6P provide up to 100 Mbit. As it turned out, the advantage of the Galaxy and Nexus 6P models is their support for 2X2 MIMO technology. In this mode, data is received and transmitted in two streams, and therefore the speed is higher than others. I don’t rule out that in earlier versions of Oxygen OS the Wi-Fi signal was lost or interrupted, but I can’t confirm or deny this simply because I used OnePlus 3 with the latest software. I have no complaints about him now. But I want to complain about the inability to watch HD videos on YouTube running at 50p or 60p. The glitch is purely software and has not yet been fixed.

Camera

For the main camera, OnePlus chose a 16-megapixel Sony IMX298 sensor with a pixel size of 1.12 microns and phase focusing, added optics with an f/2.0 aperture to the module, and also implemented a dual stabilization system, including optical and digital. The result is an advanced photo module that pleases with frames in the vast majority of scenarios. Frames from OnePlus 3 are characterized by good detail, correct color reproduction, moderate sharpness and high dynamic range.

The camera app is simple, although it doesn't lack functionality. At the top left there are HDR and HQ switches. Usually it is enough to activate HDR Auto, but if you have time to understand the composition, then it is worth turning on the HQ mode, with which the camera instantly takes several frames and compares them with each other to produce one picture with a minimum of noise. Experienced photographers will appreciate the ability to save photos in RAW and manual mode with changing focus, shutter speed, white balance and ISO. The exposure control appears when you touch the screen, then changes the brightness in a circular motion. A few examples in comparison with competitors:

OnePlus 3 and HTC 10

OnePlus 3 and Meizu MX6

OnePlus 3 and Sony Xperia X Performance

OnePlus 3 and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

As you can see, in almost all comparative photos next to Meizu MX6, HTC 10, Sony Xperia X Performance and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, the OnePlus flagship performed at the same level or no worse. The only scenario in which the 1+3 is clearly inferior to the SGS7edge is home scenes when shooting active subjects (cats and children). The shot on the OnePlus 3, as a rule, takes a little longer (most likely, the noticeable advantage of the S7 edge in the form of f/1.7 aperture affects it) and if the child moved, the photo will be blurry. Of course, with the S7 edge, blurring is by no means excluded and does occur, but it produces such defects less often (by the way, Meizu MX6, Pro 6, Xperia X Performance and HTC 10 in this scenario are also no match for the Korean flagship). However, if you catch a moment when a subject indoors is frozen or posing, then the OnePlus 3 will easily beat the S7 edge in terms of white balance and detail. This is how OnePlus, without unnecessary loud statements, took and created one of the best mobile cameras.

The front camera produces good selfies for the following parameters: 8 megapixels, pixel size 1.4 microns, aperture f/2.0, Sony IMX179 sensor. In my opinion, OnePlus 3 takes selfies no worse than the Galaxy S7 edge, Meizu MX6 and HTC 10, but is inferior to the autofocus Xperia X Performance and Huawei P9 Plus, as well as the Xiaomi Mi5 with ultrapixels.

The main camera records video in UHD resolution. Thanks to hybrid optical stabilization (digital + optical), the picture is quite smooth, without the “aquarium effect”. Tracking focus is available, it is fast and accurate. However, it is not able to detect small objects, and in this case touch focus comes to the rescue (the exposure after touching can be adjusted). With the first firmware, OnePlus 3 had terrible sound, but in one of the latest updates the audio track was greatly improved. Recording on the front camera takes place in Full HD, the quality is also excellent. Usually, video shooting is a weak point of Chinese smartphones, but OnePlus did a great job here.

Benchmarks and Performance

OnePlus 3 is not the first and not the last smartphone in our review with the Snapdragon 820 chipset. And the more I test phones with this processor, the more convinced I am that it behaves very differently in devices from different manufacturers. While HTC 10 showed very strong throttling and excessive heating, OnePlus 3 demonstrated an almost complete absence of throttling and the highest fps in games that I have seen on Android phones. You heard right. Xiaomi Mi5, Sony Xperia X Performance with a similar chip and the same resolution have a significantly lower frame rate per second (and also lower for the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge with Exynos 8890, Meizu Pro 6 with MediaTek Helio X25 and Huawei P9 Plus with Kirin 955).

Dead Trigger 2 shows an average of 50-60 fps, in GTA SA and Assassin’s Creed Identity the frames per second value is almost always at 29 fps (the games are not very well optimized), in Real Racing 3 and Asphalt 8 a stable 30 fps is observed. Stable 60 fps are visible in Reckless Racing 3, Sky Force Reloaded, World of Tanks. Even in Titan Quest and Hitman: Sniper, the speed of OnePlus 3 allows you to play without discomfort. There are several factors that have a positive impact on the gaming orientation of the device: excellent heat dissipation from the 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 820 chip with Adreno 530 graphics (in games the battery temperature does not exceed 40 degrees, the phone feels only slightly warm), fast internal memory UFS 2.0 (64 GB), large amount of fast RAM (6 GB LPDDR4). Speaking of RAM. If you've been following the gadget from the very beginning, you've probably heard that with early software, 6 GB was not used optimally - applications were aggressively unloaded from memory, which, of course, was not befitting a flagship with such an amount of RAM. However, a couple of updates ago this was corrected, so now OnePlus 3 can store a bunch of programs in memory without any problems.

Indicators from benchmarks are presented in screenshots. Pay attention to a series of AnTuTu runs, in which the device heroically demonstrated a complete absence of throttling: 3D indicators in all six tests were at 58 thousand. For comparison, for Xiaomi Mi5 this figure quickly drops to 28 thousand, for Xperia X Performance - to 48 thousand, for HTC 10 - to 38 thousand. But there is only one processor everywhere and 1+3 does not have excessive heating. How did they do it? I don't know, but competitors like HTC and Xiaomi should be tense.

A 3000 mAh battery in a phone with a 5.5” screen was the norm last year, but today you want to have at least 3500 mAh. I'm afraid that using such a battery in conjunction with an IPS screen would not lead to anything good, but OnePlus chose AMOLED. She did the right thing, since the smartphone easily provides about 5-6 hours of active screen time on a single charge (of which 2.5 hours are games). In the test for continuous video playback with maximum screen brightness, the phone lasted a full 15 hours, and the discharge in the game Asphalt 8 in an hour at a comfortable brightness level was 14% (more than 7 hours of continuous play!).

The real autonomy of OnePlus 3 once again proves that there is no need to judge a phone by its technical characteristics on paper. However, with active use, you will still have to charge the phone every 1-2 days, but with Dash Charge charging, this takes very little time. The company claims that in half an hour the charge rises to 63%. In 30 minutes it was replenished to 62%, which, in general, is the same thing. In 10 minutes the charge increases to 19%, in 15 minutes - to 30%, and it took 1 hour 10 minutes to charge 100%.

conclusions

OnePlus 3 is not positioned as a flagship killer, although it honestly deserves that title. It turned out that behind the beautiful metal wrapping there is a real productive animal - one of the best gaming smartphones. I was also pleased with the camera and the simple firmware with a slight touch of geekiness (I’m sure the gestures and features with buttons are unlikely to leave anyone indifferent). The autonomy not only did not disappoint, but even surprised. Honestly, I expected worse from the OnePlus 3 after the less than satisfying experience with the OnePlus 2.

If you are planning to spend about 30 thousand rubles on a smartphone, then OnePlus 3 should be first on the list. For this money you will get a high-quality device with cool hardware and an active, albeit small, community. There are few reasons not to buy or at least consider purchasing 1+3. For example, you need a compact phone with a small screen. By the way, official sales in Russia recently began, the RRP is 34,990 rubles (although you can find cheaper ones, for example, in OZON). The price is tempting, isn't it?

We would like to thank the online store GearBest.com for the OnePlus 3 test sample. Remember that you can return part of the money spent through the Letyshops cashback service (a VIP account is provided upon registration). We also suggest looking at prices for

Nokia 3 is the manufacturer's best-selling smartphone, which is a worthy competitor to Chinese phones in the budget segment. But achieving success is not enough; it is also important to maintain your primacy, for which the Nokia 3.1 smartphone was released in 2018. During the review, we will have to figure out how good the new product is, what its pros and cons are, which will help you decide on the choice of a new device.

Specifications:

Screen: IPS, 5.2", 1440x720 (18:9)
Processor: eight-core MediaTek MT6750, 1.5 GHz
Operating system: Android 8.0 Oreo (Android One)
RAM: 2 GB
Built-in memory: 16 GB
Memory card support: microSD up to 128 GB (separate slot)
Communication: GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz || UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz || LTE 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20
SIM: 2x nano-SIM
Interfaces: 3.5 mm audio jack, micro-USB, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, FM radio, NFC
Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
Cameras: main - 13 MP, f/2.0, flash, autofocus; front - 8 MP, f/2.0, viewing angle 84.6°
Sensors: proximity, lighting, accelerometer, microgyroscope, magnetometer
Battery: 2990 mAh
Dimensions: 146.25x68.65x8.7 mm
Weight: 138 grams

The smartphone went on sale in branded cardboard packaging, the design of which has not changed at all. The delivery set was not a cost-saving factor, so out of the box we get a MicroUSB cable, a charger, a clip for accessing SIM cards, documentation and a wired headset.

Nokia 3.1 smartphone design

The build quality of the case is at the highest level, as one would expect from a manufacturer of this level. When developing the design of Nokia 3 1 ds black 32Gb, we adhered to the classic style, but decided to save on materials. In this regard, we get a plastic case with rounded edges and a metal side frame that strengthens the structure. The materials may not be premium, but the smartphone turned out to be very practical - the matte finish does not slip at all. But the fingerprints remain and are especially visible against a dark background.

The design attracts attention with graceful curves of lines and diamond-cut aluminum edges that smoothly flow into the protective glass with rounded edges. Nokia 3.1 does not strive to follow the latest trends, so the display is surrounded by wide bezels.

Nokia 3.1 is one of the few phones in 2018 that can offer a truly compact body with dimensions of 146.25 x 68.65 x 8.7 mm and a weight of 138 grams. But this is not due to the minimal frames, but to the plastic, which itself is very light and the small 5.2-inch screen. There are three body color options, each of which deserves attention - white, black and indigo.

The display occupies only 69% of the entire area of the front panel; the frames around its perimeter are huge. A protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass of an unknown generation with a 2.5D effect is installed on top of it.

All elements are in their usual places; the manufacturer did not offer anything new, following a simple and proven method.

Above the screen we see a standard picture - a slot for the earpiece, light and proximity sensors, a selfie camera lens and the Nokia logo on the right.

Although there is enough space below, it was decided to use on-screen navigation keys.

At the top of the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker. This is convenient, because the thumb rests on them by itself and you don’t have to stretch.

On the left there are two trays, one of which can accommodate two nanoSIMs, and the other is dedicated specifically for a MicroSD card. This is a big plus, because you no longer have to choose between memory capacity and a second SIM card.

The bottom edge of the case is allocated for a MicroUSB connector, a microphone and a speaker located on the sides of it.

On top there is something that can no longer be found in most modern smartphones - a 3.5 mm audio jack.

At the top of the back of the device there is a single camera module and an LED flash for it. A little higher there is a hole for an additional microphone. The back design focuses on the Nokia logo, which is highlighted in original relief.

Nokia 3.1 is one of the few smartphones in 2018 that boasts a truly compact display. And this is good, because not everyone likes phablets and there should always be freedom of choice. It’s comfortable to use the phone even with one hand, and thanks to the matte finish it doesn’t tend to slip out.

The Nokia 3.1 smartphone has a compact 5.2-inch display, which is one of its main features and will help it gain its army of fans, because large manufacturers have long forgotten about this segment. It works at a low resolution of 1440x720, but with such a diagonal this is not critical. With these characteristics we get 310 pixels per inch. Of course, the picture is not perfect, but individual pixels are almost impossible to see. The screen has a modern aspect ratio of 18:9, and Gorilla Glass with rounded edges is responsible for its protection.

The viewing angles are maximum - colors practically do not change even with a significant tilt. The brightness reserve is enough to maintain readability of the image in sunny weather. But there are not many display operating modes. Nokia 3.1 dual sim does not have an eye protection mode that reduces harmful blue light. The function became very popular in 2018 and almost all state employees are equipped with it. The good news is that even despite the budget positioning of the device, its screen has an oleophobic coating. In terms of quality, it is inferior to flagships, but the finger glides well, and fingerprints are removed with one movement of the hand.

Performance

Last year Nokia 3 used a weak MediaTek MT6737 processor with 4 cores. In the new product the situation has not changed much. A more modern MT6750 chip is used, but you shouldn’t expect performance miracles from it. Its first disadvantage is the 28-NM technical process, which cannot be called energy efficient. For comparison, modern flagship processors use a 10-nm process technology, which makes them virtually cool and consume less battery power. This cannot be said about the hero of our review - its processor does not spare the battery charge, but at the same time it does not provide any performance. The chip is based on 8 cores with a frequency of up to 1.5 GHz.

Nokia 3.1 2018 technical specifications suggest two memory options - 2 + 16 GB or 3 + 32 GB. Quite a bit, but at least the volume of built-in storage can be increased by installing up to 128 GB in a separate MicroSD slot. It is better to take Nokia 3.1 with 3 GB of RAM, given the gluttony of the system, 2 GB will not be enough and applications will be regularly unloaded from memory.

Test in Antutu

The characteristics of the smartphone allow you to play Tanks only on minimum graphics, delivering an average of 54 fps. This is enough for a comfortable game, but at higher settings the situation is much worse - on average 26 fps, and in moments of difficult scenes the game begins to slow down, which can decide the outcome of the match not in your favor.

In Injustce 2 the situation is much worse, which is why it is simply impossible to play it - 23 fps on the lowest graphics. The performance is negatively affected by the 28-NM technical process, which is why, after a short time after the start of the game, the case begins to heat up noticeably, which leads to throttling.

The Android One shell works quickly, it’s not for nothing that the manufacturer used a simplified interface, realizing the inferior technical characteristics. But when it comes to multitasking, you may experience slight stuttering when switching between applications.

The sound of Nokia 3.1 is not satisfactory - the external speaker sounds clear and has a sufficient volume reserve. The same situation applies to headphones. As for a budget employee, everything is very worthy and the sound will definitely not disappoint you.

Interface

The interface has become the main feature of Nokia 3.1. A simplified Android 8.0 Oreo shell is used, which allows you to get the most out of the hardware's capabilities.

Wireless communications

As expected, the Nokia 3.1 ds smartphone does not support 5 GHz Wi-Fi, but it does have an NFC chip, which is a pleasant surprise. This is very rare in the budget segment. It is not installed on purpose, trying to focus on its flagship devices and leaving the advantages to them, but Nokia decided to go a different route. The phone copes well with basic functions - Wi-Fi and 4G Internet are fast, there are no problems with connection quality. GPS quickly finds satellites and does not lose them throughout the entire route.

Nokia 3.1 battery life

Nokia 3.1 has a battery with a modest capacity of 2990 mAh. It seems like a little, but this is already progress - 360 mAh more than the Nokia 3. But along with this, the diagonal and screen resolution have been increased, so you should expect approximately the same results. In FullHD video playback mode at medium brightness, the phone lasted a little over 11 hours - a very decent result. You can count on a day of active use. Towards late evening you will have to look for an outlet. But if you are not a very active user, then the full charge can be extended for 1.5-2 days.

Nokia 3.1 camera review

Nokia 3.1 uses one 13 MP main camera with f/2.0 aperture. The camera has an automatic or manual mode, where you can manually aim at the subject, adjust the exposure and white balance.

During the day you can count on good photos, but remember that the quality is highly dependent on lighting conditions. The same applies to shooting indoors - if there is good artificial lighting, you will get a decent result, but in the twilight there will be a lot of noise in the photo. There is autofocus, but it works slowly, which is why you can miss an important shot. Don't rush, otherwise the result will be blurry.

At night, detail drops to a minimum and an abundance of noise appears. The quality is terrible, such photos are not suitable even for social networks.

HDR comes to the rescue in almost any conditions. It greatly affects the quality of the photo, expanding the dynamic range and highlighting details in dark parts of the frame.

No HDR

The front camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels and a similar f/2.0 aperture. It was deprived of autofocus. The photo quality is not outstanding, but in good lighting you can still get a more or less decent photo.

Video is recorded in FullHD quality at 30 frames per second. The quality leaves much to be desired - autofocus often loses the subject, exposure jumps. In addition, there is no stabilization of any kind, so it’s not worth shooting on the move at all.

Conclusion

Nokia 3.1 is a bright representative of the budget category, in which almost everything is good for its price. The update of the model range was a great success; the smartphone outperforms its predecessor on almost all fronts. Compared to the previous generation, the diagonal and resolution of the display have been increased, but even despite this, it remains compact and stands out with a modest 5.2-inch diagonal. Other technical characteristics have also improved - the phone has a more powerful processor, a 360 mAh battery larger than its predecessor and, most importantly, an NFC chip, which is so lacking in most budget category devices. All this makes Nokia 3.1 one of the best in its price category.

Advantages:

There is NFC, despite the budget;
Good build quality of the case;
Separate slot for MicroSD;
Excellent autonomy results;
Decent display.

Flaws:

No fingerprint scanner;
Photo quality is highly dependent on lighting conditions;
Large frames and plastic body.

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Remember the times of flagships costing 30,000 rubles? So they haven't gone anywhere. And OnePlus 3 is living proof of this. A productive, high-quality, technologically advanced smartphone for reasonable money—that’s our hero in a nutshell. And for more details please ask OnePlus 3 review.

OnePlus is a series of extraordinary Chinese smartphones that creates a lot of noise in the mobile electronics market every year. This is because the device (now in its 3rd generation) offers not only maximum characteristics at the lowest price, but also technology and its own unique features. This happened this year with the release of 1+3. I can immediately say that the smartphone turned out to be much more interesting than its own. For my taste, 1+2 was somehow unconvincing and passable. Good hardware (at the time of release), a good camera, but it clearly wasn’t a flagship killer. With the new product everything is different.

Judging by the policies of this Chinese startup, a crusade for global domination is not an option for it. In more than three years of the company's existence, it cannot be said that it has grown much. As before, it cannot compete in the scale of its business with Xiaomi or Lenovo, not to mention other competitors represented by A-brands. And I can’t say definitively whether this is good or bad. For you and me, consumers, the main thing is that the product is good, that the quality does not suffer and that there is support. All this is here and thank God!

Equipment

OnePlus knows how to pleasantly surprise and does this already at the unboxing stage. The “velvet” surface of the box, extremely pleasant to the touch, gives the impression that a Hi-End quality product is hidden inside.

The first thing that catches your eye is the device itself. A simple protective film is already applied to the screen from the factory. It may not be scratched after three seconds, but fingerprints remain on it for the dear soul. It was immediately decided to get rid of her.

The back side also has its own films.

Inside, a USB Type-C cable and a Dash Charge power supply are neatly folded, which provides the device with unbridled agility while charging. Let's talk about this in the section on autonomy.

Headphones are not included and are not needed. If a user bought 1+3, most likely he belongs to the geek community. But these guys have no problems with having good, comfortable headphones, carefully chosen for themselves.

Among other things, the box contained a plastic box (very similar to a case) with a paper envelope on the back side. Inside there were all sorts of pieces of paper, a paperclip for removing SIM cards and stickers. Cool, fan-made “merch”.

Design

First impression - wow! Second - stop! He reminds me of something. It turns out that the device is very similar to the one presented last year. In the hand, it looks exactly the same: the same metal, thin, with sloping corners on the back and a protruding camera in the middle.

I still have one of these, so it is possible to evaluate the similarity of the two devices at once.

In any case, the smartphone turned out to be very pleasant. The assembly was completed with five plus marks. The quality of the materials is excellent.

The metal is pleasant to the touch, smooth, but also quite slippery. It’s easy to drop the device from your hands. In addition, the camera at the back, which protrudes strongly above the body, has a sharp rim, so it will either scratch itself or scratch the surface on which it lies. I would recommend buying case for OnePlus 3. Still, the thing is expensive and, unfortunately, slippery. It's better to put it all in a protective case.

Regarding the reliability of the case, the fingerprint scanner button, and so on, it’s worth watching the video below. I warn you, it is better not to watch for the faint of heart. On the other hand, you will be pleasantly surprised.

The device is quite thin and you can clearly feel it in your hand. In terms of other dimensions, it does not stand out in any way from its 5.5-inch counterparts on the market.

	Length	Width	Thickness	Weight
OnePlus 3 (5.5’’)	152,7	74,7	7,35
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (5.7’’)	153,5	73,9
iPhone 6S Plus (5.5’’)	158,2	77,9
Huawei P9 Plus (5.5’’)	152,3	75,3	6,98
Xiaomi Mi5 (5.15’’)	144,55	69,2	7,25

The tray for SIM cards (no space for Micro SD was provided) is hidden on the right side. Supports two Nano cards. Interestingly, there are plastic plugs there from the factory. Apparently, for those who have never seen what these same “nano SIM cards” look like.

All external organs are located at the lower end. There is a microphone (to the right of the Type C port), a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a multimedia speaker (to the left). Its location is not the best, because I am used to holding the smartphone in landscape orientation when the Home key is on the right side. In this case, the palm “successfully” covers the speaker. You have to turn the device over.

The speaker quality is good. It is loud, there is no distortion or other criminal noise. If only they were!

The front panel is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 4. Of course, it is curved on the sides. The glass rests on a barely noticeable plastic side, which connects it to the metal body.

There is an LED indicator in the upper right corner. The sensors and front camera are in their proper places.

The display cannot be called frameless in the modern sense of the word (it is far from Nubia Z11), but the width of the frames is still minimal. This adds points to the phone's appearance. I did not notice any inconvenience in using this.

Under the display there is a Home key (touch, not pressed), and on the sides of it there are completely invisible touch buttons.

It is very difficult to recognize them both in daylight and at night, so you will have to get used to pressing blindly. The thing is that their backlight is very dim.

For a couple of seconds, two barely noticeable dots light up and that’s it. The time they glow cannot be adjusted.

The buttons can be reassigned to each other to your liking: swap places, assign an action when held, when pressed twice, and so on. I set the double tap to launch the camera (the same as on) - it’s very handy.

A nice bonus is the presence of a physical alert mode switch on the left side. It has three settings: all notifications, priority mode and absolute “silence”. All this can be customized from the menu.

I really liked the switch. He really belongs here, which couldn’t be said about . While using it, I constantly missed calls and notifications because at some point I discovered that I had accidentally touched the lever.

Fingerprint's scanner

The recognition speed is almost lightning fast! and in comparison with them, clumsy cows. The first one still hasn’t gotten enough sleep.

Those same 0.2 seconds that allegedly take to unlock every second Chinese smartphone, but in fact a marketing fake, are more real here than ever. Touch it - it's done. Touch it - it's done. And so you can get stuck for a couple of minutes, which is what I did.

In general, the touch button coating is made of ceramic. It is impossible to scratch or push through it, as the video I shared above clearly proves.

Display

At first glance, you can see that you are dealing with an AMOLED panel. Firstly, the peculiar caustic color rendition, which is characteristic of AMOLED matrices, catches the eye. But it’s worth paying tribute to, recently the panels have grown a lot: they have retained high contrast, excellent reproduction of black, but at the same time, the “eye-watering” colors have almost completely disappeared and become more or less similar to natural ones.

diagonal 5.5 inches
resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels
dot density 401 ppi

In general, here we have Optic AMOLED, that is, special attention was paid to color calibration. I don’t know how it really is, but the screen is simply excellent. Saturated, bright, beautiful, contrasting - everything is perfect with it.

Viewing angles are excellent. Even when tilted along the diagonal axis, nothing fades, and that same lilac fog that is characteristic of IPS matrices does not appear.

Regarding the screen temperature setting, there is only one modest bar. Pull the slider to the left - a bluish glow comes out, pull it to the right - a warmer one.

Personally, I'm glad to use Full HD resolution. And less processor resources are used and power consumption is lower, but the result is the same - the picture is smooth, there is no graininess. What else do you need?

CGG 4 glass has an excellent oleophobic coating. Fingerprints accumulate within reasonable limits and are easily removed.

Of course, there is also a night mode. There are no special settings for it. You can only set the intensity of the yellow glow and that’s it.

I liked several features that the manufacturer implemented here. In sleep mode, the screen may briefly light up in black and white when new notifications arrive. In the same way, you can light up the display if you move over it with a Jedi gesture. It works 9 out of 10 times, which is not bad.

OnePlus 3 (model A3000) specifications

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor (model MSM8996, four Kryo cores: 2 operating at up to 2.2 GHz, others at 1.6 GHz)
Adreno 530 graphics
RAM 6 GB LPDRR4
64 GB UFS 2.0
Optic AMOLED display with a diagonal of 5.5 inches and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (401 ppi)
main camera 16 MP (Sony IMX298 matrix, pixel size 1.12 microns, f/2.0 aperture, electronic and optical stabilization, 4K video recording, shooting in RAW format)
8 MP front camera (Sony IMX179 sensor, pixel size 1.4 microns, f/2.0, fixed focus)
3,000 mAh battery (power supply 5V, 4A)
Sensors: light and proximity sensor, accelerometer plus gyroscope, Hall sensor and fingerprint scanner
connectors: USB Type-C (2.0), 3.5 mm audio port
Dimensions: 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35 mm
weight 158 grams

Wireless capabilities:

2G, 3G 4G (LTE Cat. 6)
Wi-Fi (802.11 ac), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC
support for two Nano SIMs
Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, digital compass

There will be only two colors on sale: dark gray and gold. The latter appeared on sale quite recently and remains rare.

The wildest thing is, of course, 6 gigabytes of RAM. After rebooting and cleaning, 4722 MB are available. Even this free memory is more than what I have on my desktop computer! We made it, they say.

Quite recently it was revealed to the world. He overtook our hero in processor, but received the same types of memory: LPDDR4 and UFS 2.0.

Navigation on a smartphone is hassle-free. Satellites are caught a few seconds after launch. The only thing is that I couldn’t catch a single Chinese satellite, and they are found in our region. Maybe it's the wrong time of day?

Perhaps this is all you need to know about the characteristics of the smartphone.

Read on:
- Productivity
— Modifications
— Photo and video capabilities
— Software stuffing
- Sound
— Battery life
— Bottom line