A super-value phone that sets a new standard among sub-￡200 mobiles. Not perfect, but bloody good.

Fab design; Great performance; Stunning value

Dodgy Auto brightness setting; Mushy low-light photos

This is a shame, especially after the excellent camera on the OnePlus 2 , and it rather brings down the handset as a whole. The OnePlus X has a lovely screen, great build quality and excellent battery life, but when its performance levels are roughly on par with other smartphones in this price...

There's a reason the list above is almost all positives and a few negatives, but those few negatives could be a huge deal breaker for some. Still for $250 it's very difficult to be overly critical of a device that's built this well and performs nearly as well, all with the latest build of OxygenOS...

Low price; high value; Fast device; great multi-tasking; Amazing build; AMOLED screen; Size of the device; Dual-SIM; good network band support even in the US; OxygenOS with plenty of tweaks; FM Tuner; MicroSD card support

Camera is just bad in most situations; Battery life was all over the place; LTE could be spotty in the US; No NFC

OnePlus had a happy 2014 thanks to its first phone, the OnePlus One , but 2015 was harder, with only a lukewarm reaction to the OnePlus 2 . The Chinese company then brought out the OnePlus X towards the end of the year to see it into 2016 – and it's a phone with an even more attractive price tag...

As a company, OnePlus is a bit frustrating to follow. It's manage to produce two outstanding Android phones in the last two years, but it's still a gamble trying to buy one. Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Fab design; Great performance; Stunning value;

Dodgy Auto brightness setting; Mushy low-light photos;

OnePlus has a formula: make phones affordable. We're huge fans of the OnePlus 2 handset , which effectively carved a new standard by delivering near-flagship quality for a middling ￡239 price-point. With the OnePlus X, however, the formula has been tweaked.

Build quality trounces near-priced competition; microSD expansion; AMOLED screen delivers deep blacks

Graphical limitations in this configuration; no NFC; no fingerprint scanner

Priced at just $250, a premium body and good internals make the OnePlus X quite a steal. Of course, OnePlus' infamous invite system does return, but small windows for open sales will be available, before gradually becoming free from requiring any invitations.

- Sleek; accessible design - AMOLED display leveraged well via Dark Mode and Ambient Display - Performance still reliable; even if not blazing fast - Return to microUSB port; at least for now - Battery above average - Expandable storage - Great price; makes it accessible for just about anyone

- Snapdragon 801 really showing its age - Lack of NFC; wireless charging; fast charging - Camera is inconsistent; especially video - Software still needs polish; somewhat buggy - Lack of LTE bands makes phone not futureproof in US

The OnePlus X offers Gucci looks at a Gap price. In addition to a sleek glass design, the affordable $249 unlocked phone also offers some clever features via its OxygenOS, which is based on an aging version of Android. You also get decent performance out a quad-core processor and expandable memory.

Beautiful design; Affordable price; MicroSD card slot

Short battery life; Mediocre cameras; Heavy for the size

The OnePlus X is the best-looking phone for $250, but lacks solid LTE support in the U.S.

Gorgeous design; Low $250 price; Stunning AMOLED screen; Slim and lightweight; Almost stock Android OS

Limited U.S; LTE support, No NFC/Android Pay, You need an invitation to buy one, Slippery, fragile glass design