OnePlus One is the best smartphone you can’t buy. Ok, that’s not necessarily true, it’s just really, really hard. It all comes down to invites, which the company gives out during occasional raffles or online contests, that allow lucky winners to then buy the phone.
The invite system has received a decent amount of ire among anxious would-be owners, and the OnePlus team’s less-than-great marketing strategy hasn’t helped them out either. Now, according to a OnePlus-featured Android subreddit AMA, the Chinese company is finally looking to do away with the invite system altogether to be replaced with a pre-order system. The team mentioned that they were shooting for a September timeframe, but delays pushed them back into October.
Of course, Reddit AMA deadlines aren’t exactly the most reliable, but it would be great news for the fans who’ve been wistfully waiting for invites. October will be almost 6 months after the smartphone’s limited launch in April. In technology terms, that’s half a lifetime. Also, OnePlus One might find much more competition in October (See: iPhone 6, Moto X+1, Galaxy Note 4, Nexus X) than there would have been during the slow months of the summer. However, the One still brings a reasonable bargain for $US300, so it may yet find its way into quite a few pockets by the year’s end. [Digital Trends]