24 hours with the OnePlus 2: your questions answered

So remember yesterday when I unboxed the OnePlus 2 and removed the free included screen protector, thinking it was part of the packaging? Yeah, Iâm kind of a n00b when it comes to OnePlus phones. But judging from the comments, so are many of you â and thatâs awesome, because it means we can all learn something together. Join me as I answer five of your most-asked questions in our 24-hour OnePlus 2 roundup!
24 hours with the OnePlus 2
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How do dual SIMs work?

The first question weâre hitting is the one that was asked the most often in the unboxing comments: how does dual-SIM management work on the OnePlus 2? Itâs actually pretty straightforward: you pop in two nanoSIM cards from your preferred GSM operators (here in the States thatâs AT&T and T-Mobile only) and when you power up the phone for the first time, the OS prompts you to choose which SIM you want to use for voice calls, SMS, and cellular data. You can choose to route calls and SMS through one SIM and data through the other, or limit one SIM to voice and run data and SMS through the other; whatever you want. Signal strength information for each SIM is displayed on a pair of side-by-side signal graphs next to the battery meter.
The OnePlus 2 apparently detects which SIMs are inserted and automatically downloads APNs appropriate for each so you donât need to program them yourself, which is nice. You can also switch settings on the fly if you run out of data on one card, for instance, or you see the opportunity for better reception on the other network.
This is prerelease software, so switching between networks sometimes requires a restart to work properly. Also, the carrier string doesnât always display the correct network: our unit frequently displays âAT&Tâ when weâre actually passing data over our T-Mobile connection. OnePlus tells us this is a known issue with OxygenOS, and that a fix is on the way.
Does it Overheat?

This question has its roots in the OnePlus 2âs Snapdragon 810 processor, which has been widely criticized for its poor thermal performance. But while a better designed processor is always a nice thing to have, the OnePlus 2 hasnât shown any evidence of handicap in the 24 hours Iâve been using it. Does it heat up when playing 3D games for a long time? Sure. But ironically, it doesnât get nearly as hot as Samsungâs Galaxy S6 does under similar loads. Eagle-eyed readers of Pocketnow will recall that I predicted this very outcome in an editorial from several weeks back.
This also shouldnât come as a surprise if youâve seen our HTC One M9 review coverage: that phone runs just fine on the Snapdragon 810 and the OnePlus 2 seems to do the same. Unless youâre running repeated back-to-back benchmarks for the express purpose of heating it up, the OnePlus 2 should be just as snappy and responsive as any other modern Android flagship. And neither the processor nor the dual-SIM setup seems to negatively impact endurance: we got 4.5 hours of screen-on time on our first cycle, despite heavy use.
Howâs the camera?

The OnePlus 2 uses an optically stabilized 13MP OmniVision OV13860 sensor for its main camera, and the viewfinder heavily resembles the Google Camera app with its swipe-in controls from the left. Youâve also got HDR and Beauty shooting modes, along with OnePlusâs Clear Image setting, which stitches ten individual photos together into a higher-resolution shot.
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After a day of shooting, probably the biggest standout of the OnePlus 2 camera thus far is its HDR mode. It doesnât just brighten up the shadows; it seems to amp up the saturation (and maybe the temperature too) for a somewhat livelier shot. Iâm only seeing a slight improvement in the Clear Image photos, though, and the optics seem especially susceptible to lens flare. My first impression of night shots is that theyâre average ⊠as long as you wait for the camera to get focus before hitting the shutter release. This added focus time makes for a longer pocket-to-picture delay; you can compensate for this by setting a double-tap on any of the hardware keys to launch the camera, but that wonât help when the phone is locked. Similarly, the ability to trace a circle on the powered-off display to launch the camera is clever, but itâs also cumbersome.
What about that switch?

Thereâs a big sliding switch on the side of the OnePlus 2 whose sole purpose is to change the notification mode. The switch simplifies Lollipopâs somewhat convoluted alert situation: if you want to silence the OnePlus 2, all you have to do is slide the switch all the way to the top and âwhether the screenâs on or offâ the phone is muted. Slide it to the center position to restrict inbound alerts to Priority only, and switch it to the bottom position to allow all notifications.
I remember this feature from the Palm Treos of over a decade ago, so itâs surprising itâs taken Android this long to catch up. While itâs a bit counterintuitive to flip it up for silence and down for ringers, thatâs a minor complaint. By the way, if you have an Android Wear watch and you want to override the switch selection without taking your phone out, you can still do that; the slider is a software controller, not a hard-wired switch.
Howâs life at the Oxygen (OS) bar?

Finally: howâs life on OnePlusâs custom build of Android 5.1.1, OxygenOS? Well judging from the talk over at the OnePlus Forums, people who are currently on CyanogenMod probably wonât dig it. OxygenOS ditches many of the cool features that make the CM builds so useful, like the ability to slide your finger across the top of the display to adjust screen brightness, or the shortcut of swiping down anywhere on the screen to deploy the notification shade. (Edit: the latter feature does exist, but requires the gesture to be performed on an empty spot on the screen.) By comparison, OxygenOS is simpler â more mainstream.
But weâre not talking about boring old stock Android here. I really like the added attention to customizability in OxygenOS. In some ways itâs like a preview build of Android M, with enhanced control of app permissions and the dark system theme available out of the box. You can also customize the accent color of the OS and the various colors of the notification LED (without downloading a custom app like Light Flow). Thereâs also the Shelf, which seems to be OnePlusâs version of a homescreen assistant. Like Google Now on a Nexus, itâs permanently anchored to the leftmost homescreen and by default it just shows shortcuts to recently used apps and frequent contacts â a less-than-helpful use of space. But fiddle around a bit with the settings, and you can drop any widget you want onto the vertically-scrolling ribbon. Widgets are smaller on the Shelf, not all of them fit well, and not every one can be fully accessed, but it could be a handy feature given the right assortment of apps. If instead you prefer to stick with Google Now, it doesnât look like you can replace the Shelf â but you can long-press the home button to call it up the old-fashioned way.
Concerns

Going into the review period, I do have a few concerns regarding what Iâve seen on the OnePlus 2 so far. First of all, the fingerprint scanner is really quick ⊠when it works. But the thing is, it doesnât always work. Thatâs not to say it doesnât properly read my fingerprint; it doesnât throw an error saying âTry Againâ as it would for a finger it doesnât recognize. Instead, many times it just buzzes and does nothing. And fingerprints aside, sometimes the capacitive home button itself doesnât do anything at all, whether itâs waking up the phone or closing an app. Iâve reported this issue to OnePlus; itâs possible I have a bad unit, but if itâs more widespread, then hopefully itâll be fixed in the next software update.
Iâm also concerned about recharge time. The wide availability of quick charging solutions on other phones has spoiled me: Iâm used to plugging in and getting half a battery in under a half hour. Iâll have specific charge time figures in a future update, but even after a day I can tell you that the OnePlus 2 doesnât top up nearly as fast. And while the reversibility of the Type C USB cable is handy, not being able to use any of my other USB cables to charge this phone is not.
Remember: itâs only been a day, folks! Whatâs more, weâre still a ways away from the first OnePlus 2 shipments hitting customers in the US and at least one software update away from the OxygenOS being final. So stay tuned for future OnePlus 2 features and our full review, and if youâve got questions, drop them in the comments below!