Also see: Best Black Friday Phone Deals Also read our full in-depth OnePlus 2 review and OnePlus 3 review.
OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus 3: Price and UK availability
When it first hit the headlines with its OnePlus One flagship killer, OnePlus was the company whose phones everyone wanted but no-one could get hold of. A frustrating invitation-only system that saw consumers instead purchasing their handset from unofficial grey-market sites such as Geekbuying and GearBest. Also see: OnePlus 3 UK release date, price, new features and specification. As we’ll note below, that £60 gets you some serious improvements in build, performance and photography, but if your budget is lower the OnePlus 2 is still a magnificent Android phone.
OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus 3: Design and build
Here we come to perhaps the most instantly obvious difference between new and old: OnePlus has really worked on the design of the OnePlus 3, producing a phone with a truly premium look. Whereas the plastic OnePlus 2 had that instantly recognisable sandpaper-like flimsy rear cover and was something of a slab at 151.8×74.9×9.85mm and 175g, the new OnePlus 3 has a much more svelte metal unibody design with chamfered edges, and is just 7.35mm thick and 158g in weight. (Also see the smaller OnePlus X.) Attention to detail is seen everywhere you look in the OnePlus 3, from the flush 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 screen to the grippy, textured surface of the Alert Slider. The screen, still 5.5in and full-HD (1920×1080) in resolution, might sound the same as that of the OnePlus 2 on paper, but OnePlus has moved up to an Optic AMOLED technology. Comparable to Samsung’s SuperAMOLED, this screen tech offers vibrant colours and very good contrast. Also see: Best smartphones 2016.
OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus 3: Core hardware and performance
As you would expect, OnePlus has beefed up its flagship’s core specs. Where the OnePlus 2 had the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor with Adreno 430 graphics the OnePlus 3 has the Snapdragon 820 with an Adreno 530 GPU. The company has ditched the 16GB model and opted for 64GB of storage as standard (still with no microSD support), and boosted the RAM complement from 4- to an enormous 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM. We thought performance from the OnePlus 2 was brilliant, but the OnePlus 3 leaves it firmly in the shade. As you’ll see from our benchmark results below, in our standard Geekbench 3 test it outperforms all 2016 flagships bar the Samsung Galaxy S7, and in our GFXBench graphics tests its lower screen resolution gives it the edge. Also see: Best Android phones 2016.
The battery in the OnePlus 3 has been reduced slightly, from 3300mAh in the OnePlus 2 to 3000mAh in the newer model. Both are non-removable and charge over USB-C, but the OnePlus 3 charges much faster thanks to a new Dash Charge (5V/4A/20W) adaptor. The company says you can achieve more than 60 percent in 30 minutes. In our Geekbench battery test the OP3 actually performed better, with 3735 points against the OP2’s 3390. Also see: OnePlus Power Bank review.
OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus 3: Other features
While the OnePlus 3 still features the same fast fingerprint scanner as the OnePlus 2, built into the home button, and dual-SIM (both Nano-) functionality, it’s done fans a favour by returning the NFC connectivity it removed from the OnePlus One. Both phones support 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (4.1 in the OP2 and 4.2 in the OP3), 4G LTE and GPS. Also see: Best dual-SIM phones 2016.
OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus 3: Cameras
The rear camera has been upgraded on the OnePlus 3 from a 13Mp sensor in the OnePlus 2 to a 16Mp Sony IMX298 camera with the addition of phase-detection autofocus and a new manual mode. Both feature an f/2.0 aperture and optical image stabilisation but, interestingly, while the OnePlus 2 has a dual-LED flash, the OnePlus 3 has merely a single-LED flash. The 5Mp camera at the front of the OnePlus 2 has also been upped to 8Mp in the OnePlus 3.
OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus 3: Software
OnePlus phones run a custom version of Android known as OxygenOS. Whereas OxygenOS 3.0.2 is now rolling out to the OnePlus 2, the OnePlus 3 comes preinstalled with OxygenOS 3.1 based on Android Marshmallow. Both offer a slick software experience with plenty of customisation options, as well as gesture support.
OnePlus 2 in pictures
OnePlus 3 in pictures
Marie is Editor in Chief of Tech Advisor and Macworld. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she’s worked in tech media for more than 17 years, managing our English language, French and Spanish consumer editorial teams and leading on content strategy through Foundry’s transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.
