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Some pretty big news has rolled out of the OnePlus camp this morning. For starters, they’ve unveiled their new Bamboo StyleSwap Cover. If you don’t remember, StyleSwap allows you to customize the backplate of your phone and they aren’t just for show. Bamboo, for instance, will feature a nice smooth surface and a woody design. They’ll also have kevlar backings made out of actual kevlar, and a denim option has been confirmed, as well.
The Bamboo option will be here by the end of August says OnePlus, and you’ll need to pay $50 if you want one. That’s pretty steep for half a case, but they have to make money somehow because they are certainly taking a loss on the phones themselves. And if you didn’t get the color you wanted at launch, you’ll be happy to know that the Sandstone Black and Silk White covers will be available for $30 each.
The second bit of news is even more exciting — more invites! If you haven’t already grown tired of the OnePlus One invite circus show, you’ll be happy to know that they have over 5,000 on tap in the coming days. Here’s what you need to do to enter for one:
- Go to the contest page: http://oneplus.net/blizzard-of-invites
- Log in with your email or Facebook account.
- Perform at least one of the listed actions before the deadline.
The contest closes tomorrow, July 23rd, at 9:15PM CST/3:15PM CET/9:15AM EDT/6:15AM PDT, so you should have plenty of time to enter if you’re interested in one. We’re not sure how large demand still is for these things, but 5,000 seems to give you way better odds than the 100 invite contests they were doing before. Let us know if you’ll be trying for one of your own.
the contest is for the n00bs as those who have received sharevites have either given them to friends or longstanding members of the oneplus forum.
hahaha NOOBS hahaha got ’em, kill ’em, pwned.
I think you mean adults, who have no time for this nonsense.
Got an invite in the mail last week. Still trying to decide if I want the phone for myself (though I have Sprint, so I’d have to switch carriers), if I want to buy the phone and then sell it on eBay, or if I want to just sell the invite (not sure if I can even do that).
Oddly enough, I’m still really happy with my Nexus 5. Odds are that I’ll stick with this until the next Nexus (Nextus?!?) phone hits.
If you have a N5 already, idk why you’d go to this. It’s not much of an upgrade.
Just sell on eBay for $600, people would bite! LOL
I also came from a Nexus 5. Ordered 2 OnePlus phones just last week (Mistake on their part, somehow my 1 invite allowed me to order 2 phones) kept one and sold the other. Not a whole lot of profit to be made off of Ebay. I just sold my extra OPO for $460 on Swappa, the price is quickly going downhill now that the invites have started to ramp up. I ended up making about $70, which isnt bad, but the demand is certainly dwindling.
last week? The invite probably expired
Invites are good for 24 hours, so your decision has been made for you. BTW – my One is perfect – love it!
Shared invites last 7 days.
A contest for me to BUY their product? Nah I am good.
They should call this contest Blizzard of Self-Inflicted DDOS…
I like there idea of the replacement backs, but at $50 is a little expensive in my opinion. If they were $30 I would probably buy them. So far I’m looking the sandstone black feel.
$50 for a bamboo cover? The cost of that can’t be more than a couple dollars tops.
They got to make a profit on something…
I agree that it’s overpriced though.
Wow, I can see all 5100 people who are going to have the one+ after this giveaway just lining up to buy the custom covers.
Yawn~ this company can go screw itself
Are the covers soaked in urine before shipping, or is that just the display?
Not touching anything made by this company or Oppo.
great marketing.. but expensive cover
Wow thus company is really trying hard to hold the public’s interest. Nobody cares about invites for a phone that has been pushed back more the Lebron’s hairline.
You clearly haven’t been on the OPO forums. Multiple dozens of daily threads of users begging and giving invites. I was quite the skeptic registering in April. Bought the phone last week although being a very satisfied moto x owner. The phone is quickly growing on me. Hate the size but the thinness, weight, and battery life make up for it.
Company and phone is not vaporware. If it gets some traction, it will set a new precedent for the price war and carrier freedom. This is the kind of phone we need to get behind to get rid of the subsidy /contract nonsense that is poisoning the carrier system (nexus included).
More hoops to jump through to buy their product. Will people ever be able to buy a 1+1 without going through this nonsense?
Awesome. Now it’s gonna match with the yellow on their screens.
I entered the contest. If I win I’ll send them a email and ask them to shove that invite up their booty
I’m in. My dad needs my Nexus 5 so I’m settling for this until something new drops. That bamboo reconvinced me to give em another shot.
One Plus clearly doesn’t want you to buy their phone… I mean they’re going to tell you themselves to Never Settle.
When Dell introduced bamboo cases for PCs a few years ago, it caused grief among recyclers.
Recyclers are used to having metals, plastics and other “tech” materials entering the waste stream. They have the technology to sort them. Bamboo is something else. There is no easy way to separate it, so that cover could contaminate a batch of materials that might otherwise recycle quite nicely.
But since when did the tech sector consider the environment when designing products?
So, congratulations to OnePlus for being environmental hooligans.
I’m in. I already ordered one last weekend but I want to buy my brother one as a surprise birthday present.