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Potential Samsung Galaxy S5 Killer Arrives for $299

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When it comes to buying a smartphone most consumers are focused on big names like Samsung’s Galaxy S5, the all-new HTC One M8, or even the upcoming LG G3. However, there’s a new smartphone that’s been announced today which rivals them all, and does so at half the cost.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is an impressive smartphone that will sell by the millions, but today a new alternative was officially announced that could potentially be a “Galaxy S5 Killer” or even squash Google’s own Nexus 5 smartphone.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S5 Hands-on Video

A new smartphone startup company out of China has been gaining tons of traction and attention claiming to never settle for something average, and that its device will be a “flagship killer” in 2014. They’re called OnePlus, and its first smartphone the OnePlus One was just announced today. After weeks of small hints and talking bad about the competition, this Nexus 5 and Galaxy S5 beating device is official, and we have all the details below.

oneplus-one-never-settle

Launching a brand new smartphone company and line in 2014 will be a challenge. Even long-time successful companies like HTC or Motorola have struggled to be competitive against Samsung and Apple, but OnePlus feels they can be successful. The plan is to offer a top-tier premium smartphone experience like never before, but at a price everyone can enjoy.

Essentially the all-new OnePlus One smartphone is everything the Samsung Galaxy S5 is, and more, only it’s half the price, and runs the same price as Google’s Nexus 5 that debuted in November of last year. This smartphone isn’t very well know, but consumers need to take notice before buying a Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8.

So what makes the brand new, revealed today, OnePlus One smartphone a Galaxy S5 Killer? Everything. The phone matches Samsung on almost all levels when it comes to hardware and specs, runs the latest version of Android, and offers tons of advanced additional features on top of Android 4.4.2 KitKat to make it more useful.

oneplus-one-never-settle-black

The OnePlus One comes with a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080p full HD display, so it’s slightly larger than the Galaxy S5. However, everything else is about the same under the hood, save for the camera. OnePlus added the Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor at 2.5 GHz, 3GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage to the device. Topped it off with a 13 Megapixel Sony Exmor camera on the rear, one that can record full 4k video, and added a 3,100 mAh battery for all day usage.

The internals are identical to the Samsung Galaxy S5, only the OnePlus One has a much larger battery that should help it last for hours and hours. The key difference here though, is the $299 price tag. The OnePlus One offers all of this for only $299 compared to the $649 asking price for the Galaxy S5.

OnePlus released a quick video highlighting the design, features, and specs of the new OnePlus One which is available below.

On paper, the new OnePlus One smartphone battles Samsung at every single turn, and puts up a good fight against the impressive new HTC One M8 too. However, there’s one more thing to consider aside from the price, and that’s the software on board.

CyanogenMod

CyanogenMod isn’t a household name like Samsung or Apple, but the company has been making custom smartphone software running Google’s Android OS for years. CyanogenMod is an extremely popular version of Android that was so successful they’ve now branched out from something as a hobby, into a full-fledged company launching on smartphone like the Oppo N1 and this new OnePlus One.

This new “Galaxy S5 killer” runs the absolute latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat, but is covered with a version of the popular CyanogenMod 11 software interface. The company adds key features to nearly stock Android, and designs it for the user. Buyers can expect tons of themes that can completely change the look and feel of your device on the fly unlike anything else on the market, gesture controls from the lockscreen like the HTC One M8 or LG G2, and even hands-free voice controls like the Moto X.

cm-themes

This new smartphone potentially can completely take on the Galaxy S5 with those stunning specs and the latest version of Android, and handily beats Google’s own Nexus 5 from last year for only $299.

Release Date

The release date is still somewhat a mystery, as the company promises the smartphone will be available starting tomorrow, April 25th. However it appears initial sales will be on an invite-only basis, but we’re expecting more details to arrive soon.

The OnePlus One will be available in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, UK and the United States. The 16GB Silk White model will debut at $299, while the 64GB Sandstone Black model will run users only $349.

According to the details provided by OnePlus, the phone has full 4G LTE support in the US, and will work wonderfully with AT&T. T-Mobile should also be supported, but we’re waiting for more details.

You can learn more by heading to OnePlus.net/One

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Nathaniel Stout

    04/23/2014 at 12:40 pm

    S5 killer a call b.s. on this the phone does sound good but I’m sorry it’s got along way to go before it even compares to any of the 2014 android line up and please stop comparing iPhone and android iPhone will never add up to android

  2. tyler

    05/06/2014 at 1:35 pm

    why do you think it does “not sound good”? Substantiated facts? It matches S5 on every front, but is half the price…

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