The flagship killer needs to find its teeth again

When OnePlus came out with their very first phone, they blew the market away. At a time where flagships were already breaching the Php 30K mark, the OnePlus One shattered expectations with its $300 price tag despite being armed with a flagship Snapdragon processor.

But as OnePlus’ popularity increased, so did the prices for its phones. There was a time where OnePlus was the undisputed king when it came to flagship killers, but that’s no longer the case. Even if you discount the Pocophone F1, their latest offering is handily beaten price-wise if you consider both price and performance of the offerings of Xiaomi, Honor, Huawei and even ASUS.

OnePlus really needs to take the approach of Pocophone and start shedding unnecessary features to drop the price of their offerings down to competitive levels. I mean, sure I complained about the F1’s plastic body a bunch when I first saw it (and continue to complain because, well, plastic) but what you get in exchange in terms of hardware outweigh the aesthetic complaints of most people (two-bit journalists included).

Because the way things are going, OnePlus is being out OnePlus’ed by their competition. Huawei’s sub-brand is expected to release their newest 7nm Kirin 980-powered flagship soon, and even traditional brands like Huawei and ASUS were able to release more competitive phones than what they have now. And while there’s a chance that the OnePlus 6T will retail at the same level as the 6, even money says it’ll be even more expensive than the model it is replacing. That’s bad news for OnePlus. There’s no shortage of flagship killers now, and at this rate, they’re fast becoming just another flagship alternative.