Here are the countries where you can get the OnePlus 2 today

The OnePlus 2, the smartphone billed as a “flagship killer” promising top of the line specs at a fraction of the price, is going on sale today, the company has announced. “On sale”, in this case, means that anyone who managed to secure an invite will get theirs, much like the phone’s predecessor, the warmly received OnePlus One.

According to the company, the 64GB version of OnePlus 2 is available today in India, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. It will retail for INR 24,999, RMB 1,999, TWD 11,499, and HKD 2,799, respectively. Other Asian territories such as Malaysia (MYR 1,488), Indonesia (IDR 5,399,000), and Singapore (S$538) will see the phone later in the year. The phone is also available in the US and the EU from today.

According to the official forums, the wait times for those who order are expected to be as follows: North America and Taiwan: 10-15 business days (including the delays the company announced); EU & Hong Kong: 3-5 business days; India: 5-7 business days.

Specs plus

The OnePlus 2 is a beefed up version of its predecessor, equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor, coupled with the Adreno 430 GPU. It has one more GB of RAM, bringing the total up to 4 GB, a 13 MP camera, and a 3,300 mAh battery. A 5.5-inch 1080p IPS LCD screen is the phone’s window to the world.

Notable additions include a fingerprint sensor, a slider on the side of the phone that toggles between notification settings (allowing the user to put the phone on silent and back), and swappable back covers. The covers give you a choice between wood (bamboo, rosewood, and “black apricot”), sandstone, and kevlar. The OnePlus 2 also sports a USB type-C port, which is not available in many other phones yet.

The biggest difference in the new phone is in the software itself. The OnePlus 2 runs its own version of the company’s OxygenOS, instead of the OnePlus One’s CyanogenMod. The new OS is based on the latest Android version (5.1.1), and is very close to Google’s “stock” incarnation.

While OxygenOS doesn’t offer the full customization power of Cyanogen, there’s still plenty to play with here, including custom gestures, a “dark mode” (which helps night viewing), custom LED notifications, and so on. There is also Shelf, a feature currently in beta, which is essentially the company’s answer to Google Now.

First impressions

I had the opportunity to play around with the phone during the launch event, and while I didn’t have enough time with it for a proper review, I liked what I saw. The metal casing and the various back covers make the OnePlus 2 feel hefty and premium – the sandstone cover especially felt good to hold. The fingerprint sensor allows for quick and easy access to the phone and generally worked well as many times as I tried.

My one niggle is that the OxygenOS doesn’t feel as snappy as Google’s stock Android is on Nexus phones. That’s to be expected in some degree, but it does stand out when going from a 2013 Nexus 5 phone to this. Likewise, the absence of NFC and wireless charging might irk some. But even so, there’s no denying the value for money at this price point.