OPINION: Following a strong start with the launch of the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R, OnePlus has had an ‘interesting’ first few months in 2025 – and not in a good way.
2025 kicked off with a bang, with the launch of the OnePlus 13 just seven days into the new year. It got out well ahead of the flagship competition from Samsung, Honor, and Xiaomi, whose flagships launched in late January, February and March, respectively.
It’s a fantastic smartphone with a high-end screen boasting LTPO 4.1 tech not seen on any competing smartphone, a capable Hasselblad-branded camera setup, Snapdragon 8 Elite power and incredible battery life thanks to a sizeable 6000mAh cell.
When we reviewed it at the beginning of the year, we awarded it a respectable four stars, and it has since made its way into the best smartphone chart we maintain. It was a strong start to the year for OnePlus, indeed, and it looked like it was only going to get better from there.
The OnePlus Open 2 blunder
Around the same time the OnePlus 13 was making waves in the tech press, we started to see leaks and teasers about the Oppo Find N5, an incredibly slimline foldable by OnePlus’ parent company. Given that the OnePlus Open was a reskinned Oppo Find N3, this excited OnePlus fans – this writer included.
Fuel was thrown onto the fire with confirmation that the Oppo Find N5 wouldn’t be widely available worldwide despite being given a ‘global’ release. Apparently, to Oppo, global means Singapore… and that’s about it.
This was an odd decision considering just how thin, light, and capable the foldable was compared to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but it appeared as if it was laying the groundwork for what we were all expecting: the re-badged OnePlus Open 2 for the UK, US, and European markets. Except that didn’t happen.
OnePlus Open project manager Vale G confirmed on the OnePlus forum that there wouldn’t be a OnePlus Open 2 in 2025. “We’ve carefully considered the timing and our next steps in foldable devices, and we have made the decision not to release a foldable this year”, noting that Oppo is “taking the lead in the foldable segment” with the N5.
It’s all fine and good wanting Oppo to take charge in the foldable space, but with the Find N5’s limited availability, it doesn’t make any sense to me.
OnePlus ‘meda’ mistake or two with the Watch 3
That’s not the only casualty in 2025, though; let’s not forget the (charmingly hilarious) misspelling of “Made in China” on the rear of the OnePlus Watch 3, which caused the company to delay the release of the smartwatch by over a month.
That’s understandable given how small the text is on the rear of the watch – I certainly didn’t spot it before it was pointed out to me – but that’s not the main issue with the OnePlus Watch 3; instead, it comes down to what some might describe as a misleading software promise.
OnePlus claims that the Watch 3 will receive three years of software updates and three years of quarterly security updates, which, on the surface, seems like a respectable offering. In my mind, that would mean the OnePlus Watch would end up with Wear OS 8.
The problem is that, despite shipping with the Wear OS 5 update pre-installed, OnePlus is counting Wear OS 5 as one of said software updates, confirming recently that “The OnePlus Watch 3 will receive 3 years of software updates (Wear OS 5, 6 & 7)”.
Things were looking pretty wobbly for OnePlus at this point, but apparently the company wasn’t quite done with shooting itself in the foot just yet.
OnePlus ditches the Alert Slider – for the second time
The latest casualty? The most iconic feature of OnePlus smartphones, the Alert Slider.
Taking to the OnePlus forum this week, co-founder and CEO Pete Lau confirmed that the Alert Slider is going the way of the Dodo. Lau explained that it comes down to the fact that the Alert Slider is a large bit of hardware for something as simple as switching between sound profiles, and OnePlus wanted it to do more.
The answer? What sounds like an Apple-esque Action Button that allows you to customise what the button does.
Lau reassures fans that the button will still allow users to switch between sound profiles, but the introduction also allows OnePlus to “better utilize the device’s space, explore new layouts, and make structural improvements while keeping performance top-notch.”
We’ve already had a preview of how this will go down with OnePlus fans, as this isn’t the first time the company has tried to do away with the Alert Slider. The OnePlus 10T shipped without the slider, and to say fans were furious is a bit of an understatement.
The company quickly reverted course with the subsequent release of the OnePlus 11, 12 and 13, all featuring the Alert Slider once again.
I understand consumer demands for more customisable hardware, especially if you keep your phone on silent 24/7, but the Alert Slider was possibly my favourite feature of any smartphone.
It’s not about quickly switching to silent mode – buttons can do that pretty quickly – but instead checking if your phone is already on silent by the position of the slider. This meant I didn’t have to get my phone out of my pocket, turn it on or spam any buttons to check, and if it were on loud mode, a quick flick would silence things.
I had similar feelings about Apple ditching the silent switch on the iPhone for the Action Button with the iPhone 15 Pro, a feeling I still have after using two generations of iPhones with the customisable side button.
Separately, these elements might be forgivable, but for this all to happen in the space of a few months, I can’t help but raise an eyebrow about the decisions being made behind closed doors at OnePlus.
I can’t pretend to understand the pressures and considerations of running a massive smartphone company, but I hope the company makes better decisions as 2025 continues.
