OnePlus 5: Full, in-depth review

Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus have finally made their official entry into the Australian market. Their pledge: to deliver a value-driven smartphone with no trade-offs. A product for customers who aren’t afraid of a bargain but never want to settle for anything less than best-in-class performance.

Of course, the bigger question isn’t whether or not the OnePlus 5 can actually pull this off. It's whether or not Australian customers have room in their wallets, pockets and hearts for yet another Android-based smartphone brand. 

[Related: Inside Look: OnePlus Sydney Launch Event]

[Related: OnePlus 5: Unboxed]

[Related: OnePlus 5 Australian Launch: Everything You Need To Know]

Although OnePlus say they've already sold out (and restocked) a lot of the stock for their soft-launch, it still feels way too early to really determine whether or not they'll be able to stand out among the throng of Android-based smartphone brands out there -  especially in a year where both Nokia and BlackBerry have successfully managed to rejoin the fray.

Fortunately, it's not too early to weigh in on the quality of their latest flagship product, the OnePlus 5.

The Pitch

According to OnePlus, there’s no reason you can’t squeeze the prestige, polish and performance of an iPhone or Galaxy smartphone into a product with a better price-point. From their conception, they’ve pushed pushing back against the idea that cheaper has to mean worse and the OnePlus 5 is their strongest embodiment of that ideal yet.

Their fifth flagship device in less than four years, The OnePlus 5 builds on the company’s past precedents for keeping pace with the performance benchmarks set by the competition. It also promises to make strides on the photography front as well, cementing the brand as a real challenger to devices like the Google Pixel and HTC's U11.

[Related: 10 Surprisingly Good Photos We Took On The OnePlus 5]

The short version is that this is both OnePlus’ “best smartphone ever” and one well worthy of the brand’s Down Under debut.