OnePlus One Wins Smartphone Madness 2015

Your votes have been counted, and your decision is clear. The OnePlus One is your pick for the best smartphone.

As it made its way through the bracket this year, it took down the Apple iPhone 6, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and the HTC One M9. The final battle with the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL brought in thousands more votes than any other match-up, and the OnePlus One took 75 percent of those votes.

MORE: OnePlus One Full Review

This unlocked smartphone hasn't just earned your respect, it's also earned awards from the tech industry, including our Editors' Choice award. In our review of the phone we appreciated its crisp display, sharp camera and affordable $300 price tag. But the epic battery life of 13 hours and 16 minutes is truly remarkable. After all, the smartphone average is just 8 hours and 39 minutes.  

Yesterday (April 6), OnePlus rolled out its Android-based OxygenOS for the One handset. The update replaces the original Cyanogen OS and brings Android 5.0 Lollipop to the device. New features include gesture controls, such as double-tap to wake or drawing an O on the screen to start the camera. It also adds customizable lockscreen wallpapers and a reorganized quick settings menu.

In order to get the new OS, you'll need to follow some pretty detailed instructions on the company's site. It involves backing up your device, downloading two files to your Mac or PC, performing a factory reset in recovery mode and installing the new OS.

Currently the only way to buy the OnePlus One is to get an invite from a friend who already owns one. Or, each Tuesday, the company sells its phone for 24 hours, beginning at 8 a.m. GMT. Will you be logging in to buy one?

Anna Attkisson is the managing editor at Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag. Follow Anna Attkisson @akattkisson. Follow us @TomsGuide, on Facebook.

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Anna Attkisson
Anna Attkisson is the editorial director at Tom's IT Pro. After getting infected with the tech bug at Wireless World and Cellular Business magazines as an intern in 1998, Anna Attkisson went on to dabble in a sorts of publications covering everything from children’s fashion to cars. During the last 9 years she’s returned to her roots where she’s been writing and editing for Laptop Mag and Tom’s Guide, before moving on to Tom’s IT Pro. Follow Anna Attkisson at @akattkisson.
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  • Matt Williams 1979
    Happy to see the OnePlus won. I love the phone. OxygenOS is nice, very similar to stock Lollipop, but I am greatly looking forward to CM12S, which should be out any day now.
    Reply
  • mosc
    I'm still a believer that a phablet is too large. I prefer the 16:9 5.0" diagonal phone size. I hope they release a smaller version of this phone though the 801 isn't going to be up to par much longer...
    Reply
  • N_Cohen7
    anyone know what about the CM-12 update to Lollipop?
    Reply
  • foxesandcats
    Oneplus one: don't believe the hype. Mine is full of bugs and problems yet not a word of apology or a replacement from the oneplus team. Any other company would have apologised and replaced it instantly. Buy a oneplus one and you're opting in to be a guinea pig. Oh, and so what if it's 'affordable', it's still £269 of my hard earned money!
    Reply
  • Alpha3031
    Wonder what One Plus's next phone will be
    Reply