Amazon to start selling OnePlus One in India from December 2nd

Smartphone dubbed as ‘2014 Flagship Killer’.

By Dileep Thekkethil

BENGALURU: OnePlus One smartphone, which is also dubbed as “2014 Flagship Killer”, will make its way to the Indian market via the online retail Amazon.in on December 2.

The Chinese manufacturer has not yet revealed the price of OnePlus One in India, but being a mid-range smartphone, the price of the 16 GB version is estimated to be somewhere in between Rs. 18,500 and Rs 19,000.

According to the press release by OnePlus, “The two platforms have been integrated so that invites claimed into a OnePlus account will be used to purchase the device on Amazon.in. Starting today, users interested in buying the One can log on to oneplus.net/in and register their interest for an invite. The One will be available for purchase only on Amazon.in with invites starting December 2, 2014.”

OnePlus officially started functioning in 2013 and in just one year’s time, the company created a huge impact across the tech arena by offering “top-spec” smartphones moulded in premium design and built quality.

The company’s new tie up with Amazon India is the first step towards the expansion of its brand in India. It is also important to note that the tie-up with Amazon.in is the company’s first local partnership.

Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus said, “Our company focuses first on our users and our product. We want to provide the best possible experience for our Indian users who have been so supportive of our vision. To do that, we are investing heavily in our Indian operations and partnering with the fastest growing and most admirable e-commerce company in the market, Amazon.in”

Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager of Amazon India said, “We are very excited to bring this much-awaited phone for our customers in India. And we are having real fun with the unique marketing initiatives for the launch. It fits right into our philosophy of bringing wide and unique selections and experiences for our customers.”

OnePlus has also made a special video to announce its partnership with Amazon.in

Only customers who are intimated via invites will get a chance to own the new OnePlus One. For getting the invite from OnePlus, interested buyers have to subscribe to the OnePlus newsletter. Selected few will receive the invite on their email with a unique link pointing to the Amazon website from where they can buy the device.

OnePlus One is a 5.5 inch smartphone with a 1080p touchscreen display. The phone is powered by a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad-Core processor with Adreno 330 GPU. The operational capacity and performance of the device is enhanced by Qualcomm’s heterogeneous computing approach.

The powerful processor of OnePlus One is coupled with 3 GB of LP-DDR3 RAM running at 1866MHz, allowing a flawless multitasking experience.

Also, the Snapdragon processor is equipped with a 4G LTE multimode modem, enabling faster internet across six cities in India, where 4G is currently available.

Coming to the camera department of the new device, OnePlus has used a Sony Exmor 13 MP IMX21 rear camera that can produce astounding images. Adding to this the phone also has a dual LED flash to brighten the image.

OnePlus One also has an impressive 5 megapixel front camera for selfie enthusiasts, giving an extra-wide 80º viewing angle that can capture more area than normal smartphones.

OnePlus One will be available in 16 GB and 64 GB variants. The price of the 64 GB version is not expected to go beyond the Rs. 25,000 mark.

OnePlus One boasts of a high capacity 3100 mAh battery that fits perfectly into its sleek body. According to the product description of the device OnePlus has used a new technology called Display RAM to reduce the power consumed by the smartphone, allowing users to run the device all day long.

The phone also has a slew of connectivity features such as Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, GPS and NFC, and a hand full of sensors like proximity sensor, light Sensor, accelerometer gyroscope etc.

When launched on December 2nd via Amazon, OnePlus One might have a huge demand like what was witnessed for Xiaomi’s devices during the early days of its launch in India. Flash sales have proved to be a successful selling strategy in India and this has even caused websites to crash owing to high demand.

When OnePlus One was launched in the US, the subscribers were given a one-hour window for buying the product. The same is expected to happen in India when the device opens up for sales via Amazone.in.

Looking at the specifications of OnePlus One, it is the best smartphone available in India in its class. If the device performs flawlessly as stated by the start-up company, it will become the next big thing in India after the tremendous hype created by Xiaomi smartphones.