OnePlus has announced a new pre-order system for its high-value smartphone, the OnePlus One.
If you haven't been following events surrounding the OnePlus One, then you should know two things: 1. it's a great high-end Android smartphone with an unbelievable lower-mid-range price. 2. buying one is stupidly difficult.
Up to now, in order to be in with a chance to obtain one of these tasty handsets, you'd have to have been given an exclusive invitation. How you obtain one of these invitations is a bit of a dark art, combining appealing to the good graces of existing owners and hanging around the OnePlus forums and social media channels like a virtual stalker.
Now OnePlus has announced a new pre-order system, which will go live in late October. The trouble is, it sounds as if it will only be marginally less annoying than the current system.
Periodically, the young manufacturer will open a brief pre-order window during which you can put your name down for a OnePlus One handset. If you miss this, well, you'll have to wait for the next one to arrive.
Even if you do get in, there may be a bit of a wait. If there's any stock free (which we feel is unlikely), it will be shipped immediately, but if not the company will give you its best approximation of when it might ship (with payment being held until it does).
In fairness, OnePlus explains its reason for this approach, and it sounds perfectly fair. Because the company is in the unusual position of operating with pretty much no hardware margins - hence the phone's low price - it can't afford to have excess stock on its hands.
In other words, in order to give you a cheap, high quality phone, OnePlus has to essentially make each One handset to order.
Hey, it beats queuing around the block overnight for a £600 smartphone, right?
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