Debugger
OnePlus Is Launching an Ecosystem to Compete With Apple’s
Why pay more than $1,000 for a phone and earbuds?
Over the last few years, Apple has built a formidable, deeply integrated ecosystem around its products with services like iMessage and hardware like the Apple Watch and AirPods, allowing the company to sell these devices to iPhone owners at a premium relative to competitors. So far, few other manufacturers have nailed a similar experience.
Shenzhen-based OnePlus is trying, though, to build an alternative ecosystem — for half of the price. You can now buy both the company’s latest high-end phone, the OnePlus Nord, and its AirPods-style OnePlus Buds for under $600. Though other manufacturers have tried their hand at ecosystems of their own, OnePlus may change the game with a combination of high quality at an affordable price—a marked contrast to Apple or Samsung.
The OnePlus Nord has all of the specs of a top-end smartphone, like a 90Hz AMOLED display, 5G support, and a powerful 48-megapixel camera. But it retails for the equivalent of $480, almost half of the price of the latest iPhone, while the OnePlus Buds are just $79.
Buying an iPhone 11 Pro and a pair of AirPods, by comparison, will set you back more than $1,158 — close to double what OnePlus is…
