“Is Samsung better than OnePlus?” This is a question that’s been cropping up every few months since OnePlus was founded nearly a decade ago, and if anything, it shows how valuable hype and brand power can be.
The reality of the situation is that OnePlus has been slowly but surely losing the qualities that made it unique in its early days. As time went by, OnePlus became more and more like the OEMs it used to challenge, yet the company is riding that initial hype wave that was created when the term ‘flagship killer’ took off thanks to OnePlus’ then-valiant marketing campaigns.
The story of OnePlus is certainly an interesting one. It’s the story of a small company that challenged rivals much bigger than it and punched above its weight. The company was founded nearly 10 years ago and the first smartphone it manufactured — the OnePlus One (seen below) — became the world’s first so-called ‘flagship killer.’ Samsung certainly didn’t have an answer to OnePlus back then, but let’s just say that’s no longer the case.
OnePlus and its first phone took the world by surprise. The One offered flagship-grade specs at mid-range prices and great software support, but more than anything, it gave customers a sense of satisfaction from being different. Needless to say, OnePlus masterfully marketed itself as the underdog who’s capable of challenging even the biggest players, and many customers wanted to be a part of that success story.
This approach gave OnePlus a strong brand identity early on, and it continues to this day, even if the company’s philosophies have changed in recent years.
So, is Samsung better than OnePlus in the new decade? Well, at the risk of sounding biased, we believe it is, but let us explain the reasons why we think Samsung is a superior OEM, and indeed, why customers who choose Samsung over OnePlus will most likely have a better user experience.
OnePlus may have seemed like it had the higher moral ground back when it released the OnePlus One at a killer price, but it turns out that the company’s business model wasn’t sustainable in the long run.
Over the years, OnePlus slowly became more like the run-of-the-mill Chinese OEMs. Its phones have gotten more expensive and less capable of challenging costlier devices on both the hardware and software fronts.
OnePlus’ design language is lagging behind the competition, and for example, the entire OnePlus 9 series uses displays with a round punch hole in the corner — a design element that Samsung has reserved for its low-cost Galaxy phones.
One of the biggest reasons why people used to love OnePlus phones was because the company had initially offered an almost-stock version of Android OS with a few extra customization options on top. In fact, it was one of the very few OEMs to do this, which meant that Android OS enthusiasts who didn’t want to own a Google / Nexus phone didn’t have too many other choices. OnePlus came in like a breath of fresh air in a sea of devices crippled by bloatware and custom UIs — like Samsung’s own, now-abandoned TouchWiz.
Aside from abandoning the idea of stock Android OS, OnePlus has also stopped offering the best firmware support around.
The company used to take pride in its timely firmware releases and great support. Buying a OnePlus smartphone used to mean that customers would receive more major Android OS updates before support for their phones would be abandoned.
