OnePlus decided to launch their new flagship phone, the OnePlus 3 via Virtual Reality. The process was simple. Download their Loop VR app from the Google Play store and open it at 5.30pm UK time.

Well, that was the first flaw by OnePlus. The app upon opening needed to be updated before it could be used. The download was 604mb. Now anyone waiting to watch the launch could have been on mobile data and or not the fastest wifi speeds. I really think that the app should have had a big warning saying that minutes before launch, you will need to update that app and that the app is 604mb.

So after patiently waiting for the app to download, I started to view the show with my Google Cardboard. The VR experience was pretty cool. The launch was not a live stream, hence the 604mb was mainly VR created video.

Within the VR world, you were able to explore and discover new features about the phone in different rooms, see the 360 degree office and a lot more. Pretty cool to be honest. Then you had to find 3 badges to get the ability to purchase the phone using the VR store. The different areas had lots of cool content and highlighted various aspects of the phone. The UK price is £309 for a 64gb storage, 6gb ram OnePlus 3. Yes, 6gb ram!

So after finding all 3 badges, going to the VR store section, you entered your email. OnePlus then sent a special link. So in reality the payment aspects were not done in VR.

All in all, super cool experience. And now to the specs. You will notice the OnePlus 3 includes nearly everything including NFC.

– Android 6.0 Marshmallow
– Display 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED ,1920×1080, 401 ppi, Gorilla Glass 4
– Processor Snapdragon 820, Quad-core, 2.2GHz,Adreno 630 GPU
– Storage 64GB UFS 2 – no micro SD card slot
– RAM 6GB LPDDR4
– Rear Camera 16MP IMX298, f/2.0, 1.12-micron pixels,PDAF, OIS,RAW, 4K video, 720p slo-mo
– Front Camera 8MP IMX179, f/2.0, 1.4-micron pixels, Fixed focus, 1080p video
– Connectivity USB 2.0,Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2,NFC, GPS, GLONASS
– Network bands GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
– Network bands (North America) WCDMA: Bands 1/2/4/5/8,FDD-LTE: Bands 1/2/4/5/7/8/12/17,CDMA EVDO: BC0
– Network bands (EU/Asia) WCDMA: Bands 1/2/5/8,FDD-LTE: Bands 1/3/5/7/8/20,TDD-LTE: Bands 38/40/41
– Network bands (China) WCDMA: Bands 1/2/5/8,FDD-LTE : Bands 1/3/7,TDD-LTE: Bands 38/39/40/41,TD-SCDMA : Bands 34/39, CDMA EVDO: BC0
– CAT 6 (LTE)
– SIM Dual Nano SIM
– Audio – bottom facing speaker, dual mics with noise cancellation, OnePlus Music, Dirac HD,
– Charging USB-C, Dash Charge 5V/4A,Battery 3000 mAh,Non-removable
– Security One-touch fingerprint
– Sensors – Fingerprint sensor, Hall sensor, , Accelerometer, Gyroscope,
Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor and Electronic Compass
– Hardware keys and on-screen navigation ,Alert Slider
– Custom icon packs, Gesture Control (Display On + Display Off),OnePlus Shelf
– Vibration motor
– RGB LED notification light, Night Mode Display, Dark Theme, System Accent Colours
– Dimensions 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35 mm
– Weight 158 g
– Colours Silver, Gold