One Plus 3 Review

Design

• First full-metal design by OnePlus makes it far more attractive than previous phones
• New Soft Gold version offers a brighter alternative to the standard grey
• The OnePlus 3 has a mute switch, which many Android phones don't offer

The single biggest advancement from the OnePlus 2 to the OnePlus 3 is the design. I forgave the original OnePlus One's polycarbonate looks because the phone offered such fantastic value for money, but when the OnePlus 2 came round many people, myself included, wanted more than what was on offer.
Thankfully OnePlus has answered fan's calls for a more premium design, delivering its first metal uni-body smartphone in the OnePlus 3, cut from a single slab of aluminum.
The result is pleasing. The metal chassis signals the evolution of OnePlus brand from a slightly shaky Chinese startup to a brand that knows what it's doing, and knows what people want. It doesn't break any new ground in terms of looks, with flashes of iPhone, HTC and Samsung, but it's great to eyeball and hold in the hand.

You've got the choice of two colors. Graphite (basically Space Grey) was available at launch, but Soft Gold has only recently come into stock - and soft is certainly the right word.
In some light the gold finish looks almost silver, but it's pleasing understated and is a lot more tasteful than the slightly garish Rose Gold attempts of late.
Round the front you get a while panel instead of black on the graphite, giving the Soft Gold OnePlus 3 a brighter, lighter appearance.
It's a shame that OnePlus hasn't taken smartphone design in a new direction, but a quick look at the top phones across all the major manufacturers shows that there's a fair amount of – how shall I put this – 'borrowing' when it comes to styling.
Front-on the OnePlus 3 isn't anything special – it's a relatively standard black (or white, if you opt for soft gold) slab coated in Gorilla Glass 4, with the main feature being the indented fingerprint scanner-come-home-button oval below the display.
The fingerprint scanner is much quicker at recognizing your digits and unlocking the OnePlus 3 than it was on the OnePlus 2, with a quoted time of just 0.3 seconds. While I can't vouch for the exact speed I can see that it's impressively quick, and I didn't have any issues when using it. OnePlus says it's faster than Apple's Touch ID, and I'm inclined to agree.
Either side of the scanner you'll find touch-sensitive navigation keys which are only visible when tapped, with a single white LED illuminating for a couple of seconds before disappearing into the bezel.

OnePlus 3 price and release date

• Released in June 2016
• US$399 or £329
• Only available SIM-free from OnePlus

The OnePlus 3 launched at $399 in the US and hasn't changed in price, but it's not the same for those in the UK. Since July 11 the OnePlus 3 has cost £329, instead of the £309 launch price, due to the Pound weakening after the Brexit campaign.
Those in Australia have to continue waiting for the OnePlus 3 and there's no word of an official release yet.