Just like its predecessor, the OnePlus 2 comes with a Japan Display-made 5.5" screen of 1080 x 1920 resolution for a pixel density of 401ppi, still a pleasingly sharp, even at this diagonal. While QHD is getting common by the day and would've made a difference in web pages, we still prefer the 1080p screens as the lower resolution as it's less taxing on the performance and battery, while still being adequately sharp.
The display is an LTPS unit, a low temperature polysilicon LCD, meaning it shouldn't heat up too much even with the brightness cranked up for long periods of time. The LCD is also an IPS unit, which should offer wide viewing angles. Finally, the screen is covered by the new Gorilla Glass 3 for extra protection.
Naturally, the LCD has a standard RGB (red, green, blue) matrix with equally-sized sub-pixels of each color.
OnePlus 2's display is a major improvement over the previous generation. It offers much deeper blacks and excellent contrast, but had to sacrifice the high brightness. In fact, the maximum brightness is almost 50% lower than the OnePlus One.
The new display is among the better performance out there and we definitely like the improvement.
Display test
50% brightness
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
OnePlus One
0.39
317
805
0.75
598
799
OnePlus 2
0.158
180
1139
0.300
356
1187
LG G Flex2
0
152
∞
0
398
∞
Oppo R7
0.000
208
∞
0.000
362
∞
Huawei Honor 7
0.065
89
1372
0.322
450
1398
Huawei P8
0.05
77
1435
0.38
584
1516
Xiaomi Mi Note
0.09
130
1450
0.43
626
1453
Samsung Galaxy S6
0
208
∞
0
363
∞
Samsung Galaxy S5
0
274
∞
0
529
∞
Sony Xperia Z3+
-
-
-
0.68
789
1158
The sunlight readability is improved too, though not by much. The OnePlus 2 screen does a notch below the average performance, but is rather disappointing for a flagship. Taking the phone outside in a bright sunny day and you would lose most of the perceivable contrast and colors, though you would still be able to see what's happening on the screen.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Nokia 808 PureView 4.698
Samsung Galaxy E7 4.485
Samsung Galaxy A3 4.241
Samsung Galaxy S6 4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 4.033
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 3.997
Apple iPhone 5 3.997
Samsung Galaxy A5 3.895
Apple iPhone 6 3.838
Motorola Moto X (2014) 3.816
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 3.799
Vivo X5Pro 3.706
Samsung Galaxy A7 3.679
Oppo R5 3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom 3.675
Nokia Lumia 930 3.567
Apple iPhone 5s 3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5 3.549
Nokia Lumia 735 3.547
Motorola Nexus 6 3.543
Alcatel Idol X+ 3.527
Apple iPhone 5c 3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo 3.487
vivo X5Max 3.472
LG G Flex2 3.465
YotaPhone 2 3.453
Motorola RAZR MAXX 3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 3.419
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active 3.406
Nokia Lumia 925 3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5 3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 3.352
Oppo R7 3.32
Samsung Omnia W 3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S 3.155
Samsung Ativ S 3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini 3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom 3.118
Nokia N9 3.069
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL 3.065
Apple iPhone 6 Plus 3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note 2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier 2.958
Sony Xperia Z1 2.95
HTC One S 2.901
Lenovo S90 Sisley 2.892
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express 2.861
BlackBerry Q10 2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II 2.832
Sony Xperia Z3+ 2.824
HTC Desire Eye 2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1 2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus 2.801
BlackBerry Z30 2.79
Meizu MX4 Pro 2.765
Sony Xperia ZR 2.672
Huawei Ascend P1 2.655
Xiaomi Mi 4i 2.641
Sony Xperia Z3 2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 2.616
Sony Xperia T3 2.609
BlackBerry Passport 2.595
Microsoft Lumia 640 2.563
Nokia Lumia 900 2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G 2.546
HTC One Max 2.537
Nokia Lumia 720 2.512
HTC One 2.504
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua 2.503
Motorola Moto G 2.477
vivo Xshot 2.465
Sony Xperia Z 2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4 2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro 2.416
LG G Flex 2.407
Huawei Honor 7 2.406
HTC Desire 820 2.372
HTC One (M8) 2.371
Motorola RAZR i 2.366
Meizu MX4 2.366
Meizu m1 note 2.362
Sony Xperia ZL 2.352
HTC One M9 2.334
LG G4 2.317
Samsung Galaxy Note II 2.307
HTC One E9+ 2.305
HTC One (M8) for Windows 2.291
Oppo R1x 2.281
Oppo Find 7a 2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero 2.272
Apple iPhone 4S 2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim 2.262
Nokia Asha 311 2.25
Sony Xperia C4 Dual 2.235
Xiaomi Mi Note 2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014) 2.233
LG Nexus 5 2.228
Huawei P8 2.196
Nokia Lumia 820 2.193
HTC One (E8) 2.185
Oppo N3 2.181
Nokia Lumia 920 2.17
Huawei Honor 6 2.169
OnePlus Two 2.165
HTC One X 2.158
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML 2.149
LG Aka 2.145
Nokia N8 2.144
Nokia Lumia 620 2.142
Nokia 515 2.134
Archos 50 Diamond 2.134
HTC Desire 500 2.129
Sony Xperia C3 Dual 2.12
Sony Xperia acro S 2.119
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020 2.103
Oppo Find 5 2.088
Huawei P8lite 2.078
Sony Xperia SL 2.078
Nokia Lumia 630 2.056
BlackBerry Z10 2.051
Huawei Ascend Mate7 2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active 2.022
Apple iPhone 4 2.016
HTC One mini 2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3 2.001
Huawei Ascend P7 1.992
LG G2 1.976
Sony Xperia E4g 1.972
OnePlus One 1.961
Oppo R819 1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray 1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2 1.952
Sony Xperia Z2 1.944
Sony Xperia E3 1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320 1.941
HTC One mini 2 1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera 1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime 1.935
Sony Xperia J 1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500 1.931
ZTE Blade S6 1.927
LG Nexus 4 1.926
LG G Pro 2 1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 1.913
Nokia Asha 308 1.911
HTC Butterfly 2 1.905
Sony Xperia T 1.894
Meizu m2 note 1.892
BlackBerry Leap 1.892
Nokia Lumia 830 1.887
HTC Desire X 1.878
HTC Butterfly 1.873
HTC Windows Phone 8X 1.873
HTC Butterfly S 1.867
Huawei Ascend P6 1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate 1.845
LG G2 mini 1.838
LG G3 1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520 1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim 1.797
Sony Xperia V 1.792
HTC Desire 816 1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim 1.769
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini 1.759
Sony Xperia U 1.758
Meizu MX3 1.754
LG Optimus G 1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra 1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact 1.735
Acer Liquid Jade S 1.734
Sony Xperia SP 1.733
LG Optimus 4X HD 1.691
Oppo Find 7 1.691
HTC One V 1.685
BlackBerry Q5 1.682
LG Optimus Vu 1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) 1.675
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9 1.672
LG Optimus GJ 1.666
ZTE Nubia Z9 1.659
LG Optimus 3D Max 1.658
HTC Desire V 1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 1.622
Microsoft Lumia 532 1.615
Jolla Jolla 1.605
Microsoft Lumia 435 1.598
Sony Xperia Z Ultra 1.578
Sony Xperia go 1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160 1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core 1.563
LG Optimus G Pro 1.552
Motorola Moto E 1.545
LG Optimus 3D 1.542
Nokia Asha 302 1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime 1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320 1.488
Sony Xperia M 1.473
Oppo N1 1.47
Sony Xperia E4 1.467
Meizu MX 4-core 1.462
Nokia Lumia 610 1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 1.4
Sony Xperia M2 1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo 1.393
Microsoft Lumia 535 1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 1.38
Sony Xperia E1 1.372
Nokia Lumia 625 1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355 1.361
Sony Xperia L 1.351
Xiaomi Redmi 1S 1.35
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 1.35
HTC Desire 510 1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua 1.331
Sony Xperia miro 1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand 1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 1.315
Xiaomi Redmi 2 1.311
HTC Desire C 1.3
Nokia X 1.291
Sony Xperia C 1.283
Nokia Asha 503 1.281
Nokia Asha 501 1.27
LG Optimus L7 1.269
Nokia Lumia 510 1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame 1.245
LG Optimus L9 1.227
Meizu MX 1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young 1.22
Sony Xperia E 1.215
Nokia XL 1.204
Sony Xperia E dual 1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C 1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 1.18
Nokia Asha 305 1.178
Nokia Asha 306 1.175
Sony Xperia neo L 1.169
Sony Xperia tipo 1.166
Nokia Lumia 520 1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos 1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2 1.114
Battery life
OnePlus 2 is powered by a non-removable 3,300mAh battery, which means 6.5% more power juice than the original. Coupled with the brighter screen and the upgraded hardware, it's hard to make any predictions so we settled down to our trademark test.
The OnePlus 2 did improve the 3G talk time, but didn't impress in the video playback and web browsing tests. The standby performance turned out quite poor (less than the OnePlus One), which led to an overall decrease of the final endurance rating.
Despite our concerns, the OnePlus 2 scored a respectable overall rating of 61 hours - the expected time between charges if you use the device for an hour each of calls, browsing and video playback a day.
Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.
Connectivity
The OnePlus One offers a solid connectivity package out of the box, the notable exceptions being NFC and an IR blaster.
With quad-band GSM, and a combination of HSPA and LTE bands, the OnePlus 2 is truly a global device. The supported LTE is Category 4, which means theoretical maximums of up to 150Mbps of downlink and up to 50Mbps of uplink.
There's a full set of a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi standards on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot and DLNA media sharing on supported TVs and PCs.
There's stereo Bluetooth 4.1, as well as microUSB 2.0 with On-the-go support.
The OnePlus Two is among the very first devices to support USB Type-C, though that's not entirely accurate. Type-C is a new reversible connector for USB that builds on top of USB 3.1. The cable supplied with the phone ends on a USB 2.0 reversible plug though.
That's important to note for two reasons. The first one being speed - USB 3.1 Type-C cables can go up to 10Gbps, but the OnePlus 2 is limited to USB 2.0 speeds (480Mbps). The second thing is that Type-C connectors are meant to go on both ends of the cable since the standard allows for functionality to go both ways - that's data transfer and even charging. The new standard also brings built-in video output capabilities and native fast charging, neither of which are available on the OnePlus One.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow is going to add official support for USB Type-C connectors and then you should be able to charge connected peripherals. That's still not possible at this time though.
While there is no doubt that USB Type-C is the future, having the connector at present seems more of a drawback than a feature. As it stands now, it is equivalent of having a proprietary port on your phone, as you can no longer simply use any microUSB cable or charger with your OnePlus 2 without a compatible cable or adapter. It is pretty much what iPhone users have to deal with thanks to the Lightning connector, except right now there is a greater chance finding someone with a Lightning cable than a USB Type-C cable. Until this connector becomes more widespread, you'd have to rely on an adapter. Fortunately, you can buy one from OnePlus for $9.99 or even cheaper online.
We lacked a proper adapter, so we couldn't test how USB on-the-go and USB Host function.
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