10 years of OnePlus: A history of the phone maker's first decade

The OnePlus One and the OnePlus 12 are fundamentally 2 very different phones with completely contrasting strategies.

The company created an invite only system to manufacture a level of exclusivity and elusiveness to the company's first phone, the OnePlus One.

It was sold exclusively online, came with high end tech specs, but none of the external flair that mainstream smartphones might have employed to entice your average Joe .

And running in the show was a custom version of Android called Cyanogen OS, a spin off of the popular Cyanogen mod ROM.

By 2020 , OnePlus was edging closer to the flagships with it's eight Pro and now $ 900 phone that features a bigger 120 Hertz display.

The Nord was the first in a long line of budget or high value smartphones from the company.

The Open was a large screen foldable that many at the time thought might not be able to compete with Samsung and it's well established Z Fold series.

In early 2024 , OnePlus launched 2 phones in its 12 series that, despite looking pretty similar on the surface, reigned at two very different types of customers, the OnePlus 12 and the 12 R.

It could make a proper out and out flagship killer that it used to do back in the day .

But also complement it with a top shelf flagship smartphone worthy of competing with the best of the best.