Handsets

OnePlus looking to get off the invite system by October, but is that too late?

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OnePlus One DSC06079

When OnePlus originally launched the OnePlus One, they mentioned they’d need to sell phones via an invite-only system over a traditional pre-sale / first come, first serve setup. Many people forgave them for this considering they were still a very new company and likely had no other choice than to resort to unorthodox tactics.

Many contests (controversial and otherwise) have already given tens of thousands of folks the opportunity to buy one, but there are still a ton of would-be buyers left in the dark. So when is it all going to end? Thankfully, we have a new answer — OnePlus hopes to wash their hands of this invite stuff at some point in October. That much was confirmed in an Ask Me Anything session over at the Android subreddit.

Unfortunately that doesn’t mean stock is going to be readily available at that point. Shortages will still be prominent. The only difference is you’ll be able to pre-purchase the device without an invite. You’re still subject to the first come, first serve rodeo, which means you could be pre-ordering a phone that you might not see for a couple of weeks to a month. In fact, some might argue that this is even less savory than the invite system — at least when you have an invite you know there’s a phone waiting for you.

It’s unfortunate that OnePlus is taking so long to wean off the invites. Some might wonder if October is much too late. IFA Berlin kicks off next week, and we’ll be seeing exciting new smartphones from Motorola, Samsung, Sony and other major players announced (many of which are due for worldwide launch the very next month). Granted, none of them are likely to be as powerful as the OnePlus One for a $300 price point, but at least folks would be able to buy those phones as soon as they’re available.

Only time can tell if OnePlus ended up missing their first boat, but for now all anyone can do if they truly have their hearts set to buy this phone is to more actively pursue invites or just wait for the circus to be over with. Let us know if you’ll still be looking to buy one of these things by the time October makes its way to the forefront of the calendar.

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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96 Comments

  1. September is looking to be a crazy month for tech, from the iphone to IFA. In short, yes it will be.

    1. The S5, M8, OnePlus and Z2 were appetizers, here comes the main courses.

  2. Too late.

  3. No its not too late I have One plus phone it beats or competes to any phone upcoming in the market hardware wise and cynogenmod makes the phone really awesome. Its a dream come to true for people who want a great cutting edge hardware and great open source os marriage. :)

    1. They’re planning to release it near the same time as the upcoming Nexus phone……. and I don’t think it’ll compete with the upcoming Nexus phone. I think they missed the boat.

      1. Spec wise nexus 6 and 1plus is the same except 1plus is 5.5 inch screen.. price wise 64 gig 1+ is $350.. (Guessing) nexus 6 screen 5.2 inch 32 gig $400

        1. the camera on the new nexus and the processor CPU on the new nexus will probably be better. that plus faster android updates on the new Nexus, will probably win me over.

        2. No, new Nexus is rumored to have a 64bit processor. Next gen

    2. You can slap CM on any phone. It’s the price that makes it attractive to most people.

  4. Yes it has great specs and yes it has an excellent price point but these guys have shot themselves in the foot one too many times, so yes, its definitely too late.

  5. Depends on what everyone else does and how carriers handle the new releases. Stranger things have happened in the tech world.

  6. Way to late. That phone has become old news now, in October it will be ancient. Definitely to late. But hopefully they achieved what the wanted to and could using the system that was right for them as a start up.

  7. Too late. Nexus will be out around then.

    1. Or they will be expecting a OnePlus Two to be announced a few months later

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  8. It’s never too late for a bargain like the 1+1.
    People continue to wait for invites,so,I’d say there’s your answer……………….

    1. the New Nexus will be released around the same time… and it will be a much better bargain than this phone… I think they missed the boat.

    2. They won’t have to wait for an invite around Halloween, Google will already be taking orders

  9. If the phone is available in october, they will have successfully started to sell a phone which is old-news….. They may have missed the boat indeed… I was interested in buying one… but now that Oct/Nov is right around the time the New Nexus is being released, its too late for me…

  10. there’s still tons of people waiting to get invites so no they haven’t missed anything. those who don’t want it never wanted it to begin with.

    1. Not true. I wanted it in the beginning. But now, due to massive delays, I have to decide if I want it over the New Nexus which will come out around the same time as this…… and I dont think this can compete with the New Nexus…… too much time has passed…. the boat has sailed.

      1. thankfully you’re not every single person and we don’t know what the nexus will be or how much it will cost.

        1. And you’re not every person either. I was interested in the phone early on as well, but it’s turned into a joke. Bad PR, constantly low stock, and sub par support turned me off of them. Making people jump through hoops for the opportunity to give them money? Are you kidding me? If it was because of a limited time sale that would be one thing. But all this for the opportunity to buy something at regular price. They would’ve been better off going with a first come/first serve preorder from the get go. It’s a good idea in theory, but they need the manufacturing behind it to make it work, and better quality control as well.

    2. How many tons are we talking?

      Ton = 2000 lbs
      Average weight of American male = ~200lbs

      You’re looking at maybe 50 people looking for invites? XD

      1. tons meaning the forum continues to gain more members despite all the doom mongering by the “scorned lovers” who didn’t get an invite yet.

        people complaining never wanted the phone and jumped ship once they read about the invite system. i hate the invite system too but the fact is they simply didn’t have devices to sell and people would’ve been waiting to get a phone shipped to them if they opened pre-orders on launch day. at least with the invite system you don’t have someone holding your money.

        1. What they should have done was built up the inventory, then hyped up the phone and then delivered

        2. And why couldn’t they charge you when the device is finished? Many places do that, and more people would’ve probably gotten their devices by now had they done that. FFS there were people stockpiling multiple invites and selling them like they were scalping tickets to a sold out concert.

  11. Too late. Between the invite system, lack of carrier distribution, and their quality problems, they will really be behind.

  12. If I ever broke my G3, and I am saying IF, I am still not getting oneplus LOL

  13. Too late it is dead Nexus X and new xperia is going to kill it. bye bye Oneplus :!

  14. One who?

    New Nexus, Moto X+1, New Sony, and the big daddy… iPhone6. Too late.

    1. ‘Big daddy iPhone 6’? More like weakling little sister.

      1. Make no mistake. The iPhone 6 is going to be huge. BGR reports Apple is anticipating selling 70 to 100 million iPhone 6 phomes! Some of the tech blogs say they haven’t seen this much built up excitement since the iPhone 4. Plus, with the launch of the iWatch, Apple is going looking attractive. Even I may take the plunge.

        1. Costly mistake. The watch will rope in millions in sales but leave people with a rotten Apple taste in their mouth and those waiting for the iPhablet are going to be disappointed when they see that it’s a wannabe Note 3/4 competitor with none of the same features

          1. Most of us who read this site have reasons for disliking Apple. However, it would be a mistake to not expect the iPhone 6 and iPhablet to be huge sellers.

          2. They will have people returning the 6L or might like the size and get turned onto the Note 3/4

    2. I’m sure the masses will love having 7 rows and 5 columns of icons. The advancement will truly be monumental. Customisation? Who needs that when we can make most decisions about your phone for you? Let’s not forget the screen. It’s bigger! As big as the Galaxy S3 and Note 2 was 2 years ago! It’ll support 3rd party keyboards, something no one has ever done in history! Are you hyped up on the crap we’re spoon-feeding you that we’re claiming is the best crap you’ve ever smelled and eaten? Yes, you are! Now, stfu and give me your money. Spread the love between your fellow Apple sheep… I mean people.

  15. Yes it’s too late with all the new releases coming to the consumers hand.

  16. Its too late for the One+one, but not One Plus…they better start working out the kinks and think about the One+Two

    1. Great point. But there are plenty of people who would like a 64gb beast of a phone for less than $370 which will still sell whether it is the best phone on the market or not. But you are right about that, they need to start working on the next model.

  17. I still want one and when I buy my new house if another provider can compete with VZW for coverage I’ll probably get one. Peace out over priced control freaks.

    1. T-Mobile already has faster download LTE speeds than Verizon….

  18. New Nexus built by Motorola, new Moto X +1, iphone 6, Galaxy Alpha, Note 4, i mean where would you fit the One plus 1 in all of these devices? should have made it available to everyone about 3 months ago.

    1. the nexus may be the only real threat to the ONE. the other devices mentioned will cost twice as much while not being twice as good in quality and design. the moto x1 will have hardware even more dated then the ONE and if you want to talk optimization of hardware the same can be said for the ONE.

      1. as for the Moto’s processor, i think Moto knows how to optimize software to boost performance. they proved this with a dual core processor last year that had no problem keeping up wtih flagship devices at that time. price is still on the one’s side as it offers good specs for the best price! i still like the one but its about to get over shadowed by phones from proven OEM’s

      2. Some may cost twice as much, but not all of them. And the Moto x+1 is using either a SD800 or 801. There isn’t much difference between the two, and the 801 is what the OnePlus One uses.

        1. the point is people are stating that the ONE will be outdated yet the same can be applied to the x1 which cancels it out leaving the nexus 6 as the only real threat to the ONE.

  19. maybe in the us it might be a little late , but the rest of the world will slob out the mouth for this phone for years. remember, someplaces 300 smakers is still alot of money.

  20. The new Nexus devices that will offer comparable specs but costing more will cause the oneplus one to sell nicely through the holidays. If a 64GB version of the Nexus 6 or Nexus whatever cost 450+ people will buy the One. I’m glad I bought the One because this phone is going to continue to compete in performance for a while. And with that low price it’s an easy decision.

    1. wait and see.. maybe the 32gb goes for sale at $349 and the 64gb goes for sale at $399

    2. People won’t have to beg, plead, and jump through hoops like trained monkeys to buy a Nexus.

  21. Yup too late for the first release unless they come up with a newer version.

    1. and another contest competition to be able to order 1

      1. That’s great for them. I will never buy one.

  22. OnePlus: You should have fired the idiot who came up with the Invite system before you even launched. I can’t believe you managed to mess up the image of the best Android hardware/ software combo to date. It’s sad. I’m no longer interested. There’s the Moto G/ X, Android-One devices and the Nexus 6. Such a pity you couldn’t smell the coffee earlier!

  23. Then everyone can have one burning a hole in thier pocket!

    1. oh yea, cause no other manufacturer has had issues and you know the details behind it also.

    2. That happens to all manufactures.

  24. Too late.

  25. It is definitely too late. I have moved on and look forward to the next nexus (nexuses?) I can’t believe all of the stupid crap people had to do and at the end of the day still did not get the phone. Not interested in their business practices

  26. Haha, thats funny I have had 3 invites but I have yet to buy it. I moved on as soon as the G3 was available. I actually got another invite yesterday. Oh well OPO maybe next year I will try out one of your devices but it was a little too late when I got my invite, my eyes were already set on the G3 by then.

    1. Why no share your invite wit me. I’ve been looking for one a long time now. I’m still very interested in oneplus one

      1. Sold my first invite…bought with the second. Lol Amazon how some of us have multiple invites and others none.

      2. Then you haven’t jumped through enough hoops yet and haven’t begged enough on their forums. Get down on your knees, kiss their behinds, and ask really, really nicely and they might, just might, *invite* you to *buy* their product.

  27. Actually the $300 is not that accurate. When you include shipping and custom tax, the real cost is close to $480 which is not a so attractive bargain anymore. On top of this, adding the burden of the invite system kills the motivation. OnePlus better workout with distributors.

    1. There is no tax. I’ve bought 3 already. It’s 349 plus shipping which is another 11 bucks. That’s it. Came out to 360 total for the 64 gig model.

      1. They are referring to if not bought in the US. If you got one exported there are taxes on it.. Quite a bit.

      2. Pls sent invite for oneplus one my email I’d is [email protected]

  28. They were too late last month… Cant buy now while so many new things are on the horizon. They missed out on so many sales.

  29. The OnePlus has been available for purchase for months now on swappa and oppomart at a slight premium. Even with the 100 dollar hike at oppomart, it’s still leagues cheaper than similar spec’d flagships unlocked. People need to get over it and stop complaining. There’s currently 30 or more listings on swappa.com of people selling the OnePlus at cost if you factor in shipping costs.

  30. So many intolerant haters of OnePlus. I’ve had one for a couple of weeks now and it’s great. To get the negative response like this from Android fans is baffling. If you want predictable controlled smart phones go buy an iPhone or fire phone. It took LG how long before they finally made something decent. Early LG’s sucked. The first OnePlus phone is amazing. I love being part of a start-up trying to create a phone for the world. How many countries is this phone in? How many carriers? Look at the task at hand don’t overlook why this really is exciting and deserves hype instead of hate.

    1. The phone might be great, but I’m not going to jump through hoops and beg and plead for the privilege of buying their product. Sell the product or don’t. A first-come, first-served waiting list would be fine, but this invite system is just plain stupid.

    2. Agreed. I won an invite but certainly wouldn’t have gone out of my way to buy it. Awesome device though… Coming from note 3

  31. Too late for me. I was contemplating leaving Verizon

  32. I don’t know if it’s too late for me. I’m waiting for the release of the upcoming Samsung Note 4 and the Nexus 6 before deciding on a new smartphone. The OnePlus is still a possibility, but the urge to buy is a lot lower than it was a few months ago.

    1. I’ve just received mine and put my note 3 away. Unless Sammy make the n4 design much better and debloat it somewhat I think I may give up on the note series after having all 3.

  33. Judging from the number of people on the one plus forums begging for an invite I doubt it’ll be too late. Mine will be here Tuesday and although I have many reservations about the phone on paper it is still the best phone out but the worst business model ever.

    1. How is this phone the best on paper? The LG g3 is better in almost every way: higher resolution screen, ois camera, more ram, smaller footprint etc.

      1. Same ram…more storage…you can’t see a difference on resolution.. I have an ois camera and its not all that…footprint is fine for me. Price is far far far cheaper. Best on market ;-) oh bigger battery …slightly oh no stupid buttons

        1. True with the ram! To trigger happy with my criticism there. In my opinion, and for my use (torrents + dlna TV) extended storage trumps 64gig built in. My argument was really that it’s beaten on paper. (LG g3) Ois is not all that, the resolution is not a huge difference, but it better on paper and also slightly in real life situations and so is a smaller footprint.

          I guess that I am just disappointed in how the whole one plus thing turned out. I’ve always loved cm because it saved all my Samsung phones from being horrible. When I heard about the one plus it sounded like a dream. But forget the invites! In my country it’s not even available if I had an invite! But thankfully the g3 came along to solve my thirst for specs – better on paper

          1. I was with the same opinion the first invite I got so I sold it…second invite I decided to grab it. So with selling the first invite I guess I paid 75 less then everyone else. So even better. the invite system is going away they will probably actually step up in sales and PR…the invite disasters not much different than Google not having the Nexus 4 in stock for the first 3 or 4 months it was out on the market.
            1+1 will learn how to sell stuff

          2. Yeah! And the Nexus 4 didn’t sell here either for an even longer time (think it was like a year after almost). Hope one plus will expand their market to the country that invented the GSM network and thirsts for the latests and greatest in phones. Not just sell to our neighbors like a taunt!

        2. Was sure I would absoluty hate the g3 buttons, but for me they were just neutral. Nor better nor worse. They make me feel absoluty nothing…

  34. No. The phone is too darn big. I’m waiting for the Moto X+1.

  35. Too late. The were once saying late June for general availability, when they missed that and continued the ridiculous invite system, it was too late. Worse for them, there will be bettter speced phones out by them.

  36. $480??? What the heck are you talking about???? I paid $362 with tax, shipping, whatever for the $350 64gb sandstone black one. I still got the email and can show you. You paid $480, you overpaid by over $100

  37. How is it too late. People are still looking for invites on reddit, android central and the OnePlus forums. It might be too late for some, but if they want to over pay for lesser specs (moto x+1) go head. The note 4 is a niche phone for a niche market. The nexus 6??? What nexus 6??? anybody have any reported specs on the nexus 6?? Has Google confirmed there WILL be a nexus 6??? This time last year there were already pictures of the nexus 5 and the nexus 5 came out on Halloween last year. That’s 2 months away, you guys want to wait 2 months for a rumor that will likely not have better specs than the ONE+. Last year’s nexus 5 didn’t have better specs than the flagship’s from last year. Also how will Google gave better specs than the OnePlus one for $350? If it has better specs it’ll be around $100 more at least. OnePlus sells the phones for cost, no marketing budget or anything, you guys really think Google will sell a phone with equal or better specs for $350??? They can’t put a better screen, processor, camera and more memory and RAM on a nexus 5 and still charge $350, that’s what the nexus 5 costs with worst specs than the one+. You guys need to wake up, the nexus 6 will be nice but it’ll either cost more or the specs won’t compete with the OnePlus like the moto x+1. It’s better than the moto x, not better than the OnePlus spec wise. The nexus 6 will be better than the 5, doesn’t meant it’s gonna compete with the OnePlus One

  38. by october? lol that should be right around nexus 6 time. cya opo

  39. No biggie, I have been enjoying mine for 2 months now and loving it.

    Ian B

  40. Won’t be too late, but the lack of support for Tmobile’s PCS LTE band make the phone a non-option for me to even consider. A lot of their new LTE is going to be on that band, and I live in a rural area likely to have it. I need a phone that can support it. It’s not a new function, the old GS4 from last year supports it so long as it’s T-mobile branded.

  41. Yes, it’s too late.

  42. How is it too late?? I’ve just received mine and having spent a day with it, my note 3 is in the drawer. This is a truly exceptional device.

    1. Can u Send me invite for oneplus one my email Id is [email protected]
      Plsssssss

  43. IMO depends on the how much the Nexus 6(X?) ends up costing…

  44. 2 ways opo will be done: 1. nexus keeps decent pricing and ups storage/$ or 2. Nexus introduces 64 bit Android and performance and battery life are amazingly better. Still there are many CyanogenMod fans.

  45. Of course it is too late. Pre orders should have happened after the first invites were completed. What kind of company does invites for over 3..4 months!? Morons. Just release the damn phone already. But luckily the Red Nexus 5 has no invites.

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