
OnePlus 5: Full, in-depth review
A value-driven flagship with few trade-offs
Pros
- Great performance
- Outstanding battery life
Cons
- Flavorless design with no IP-rating
- Pretty ordinary display
Bottom Line
If all you care about is getting the best performance for the best price, then the OnePlus 5 is a hard bargain to pass up.
-
Price
$ 599.00 (AUD)
Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus have finally made their official entry into the Australian market. Their pledge: to deliver a value-driven smartphone with no trade-offs. A product for customers who aren’t afraid of a bargain but never want to settle for anything less than best-in-class performance.
Of course, the bigger question isn’t whether or not the OnePlus 5 can actually pull this off. It's whether or not Australian customers have room in their wallets, pockets and hearts for yet another Android-based smartphone brand.
[Related: Inside Look: OnePlus Sydney Launch Event]
[Related: OnePlus 5 Australian Launch: Everything You Need To Know]
Although OnePlus say they've already sold out (and restocked) a lot of the stock for their soft-launch, it still feels way too early to really determine whether or not they'll be able to stand out among the throng of Android-based smartphone brands out there - especially in a year where both Nokia and BlackBerry have successfully managed to rejoin the fray.
Fortunately, it's not too early to weigh in on the quality of their latest flagship product, the OnePlus 5.
The Pitch
According to OnePlus, there’s no reason you can’t squeeze the prestige, polish and performance of an iPhone or Galaxy smartphone into a product with a better price-point. From their conception, they’ve pushed pushing back against the idea that cheaper has to mean worse and the OnePlus 5 is their strongest embodiment of that ideal yet.

Their fifth flagship device in less than four years, The OnePlus 5 builds on the company’s past precedents for keeping pace with the performance benchmarks set by the competition. It also promises to make strides on the photography front as well, cementing the brand as a real challenger to devices like the Google Pixel and HTC's U11.
[Related: 10 Surprisingly Good Photos We Took On The OnePlus 5]
The short version is that this is both OnePlus’ “best smartphone ever” and one well worthy of the brand’s Down Under debut.
Where can I buy it?
Since OnePlus isn't officially available in Australia, you'll only be able to import the device through online and grey market resellers like Amazon and GearBest. If you're looking for more info, here's everything you need to know about buying OnePlus in Australia.
Brand Post

Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Miofive 4K Dash Cam review: This friendly road watcher is ‘here for you!’
- 2 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 3 Asus TUF Gaming VG28UQL1A review: This 4K monitor plays nice with consoles
- 4 Firewalla Gold review: Powerful home network security in a tiny box
- 5 Acer Aspire 5 review: An affordable laptop that’s enjoyable to use
Latest News Articles
- Desktop CPU shipments plunge to lowest total in nearly 30 years
- AMD’s next-gen Ryzen 7000 CPUs will arrive before September ends
- Intel will raise CPU prices after losing $500M this quarter
- Microsoft says PC market ‘deteriorated’ in June
- Windows 12 could be coming in 2024 as Microsoft shakes things up
Resources
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers

Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world

Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles

PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Top 10 best Android and Apple phones for under $600
- 25 Essential Party Games On PC And Console To Play With Family And Friends
- Mesh Wi-Fi vs Traditional Routers: Which is better?
- Which flagship TV is best? Sony 4K HDR Bravia 2016 versus LG 4K HDR OLED 2016
- 10 Blu-ray movies / Best looking Blu-ray movies