When you’re a brand new Chinese smartphone maker with absolutely no recognition in your own country, let alone in the West, you need some marketing wizardry to make your product successful. That’s exactly what OnePlus did last year with the OnePlus One where, despite an annoying invite system, the no-name company managed to sell more than a million smartphones. OnePlus obviously wants to achieve the same success this time around, and in order to do that the company is doing a product unveiling unlike any the world has ever seen. Next month, the company will be hosting the world’s first-ever product unveiling in virtual reality for the OnePlus 2
The $299 OnePlus One proved that you can get a flagship-quality smartphone without paying traditional flagship prices. And now its successor is almost here. OnePlus will officially unveil its next phone, the OnePlus 2, on July 27th at 7PM PT (10PM ET). The company has already shared a few key specifications for the device; it’ll be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chipset and will feature a USB-C port — making it one of the first major smartphones to adopt the brand new, more convenient USB standard. But that’s pretty much all we know at this early stage, leaving plenty for OnePlus to tease over the next few weeks before the whole story is revealed next month. And the company has a unique plan for the unveiling: you’ll be able to experience it in virtual reality. “In our industry, product launches tend to be the same. An auditorium, a keynote, and a seated audience. For the OnePlus 2 launch, we didn’t want that barrier between us and you,” OnePlus wrote in a blog post today. “A VR launch lets you stand right next to our team and our fans as we unveil our new flagship. You’ll be able to look around as you check out the phone in a new way and maybe even find a few hidden Easter eggs.” The company will be releasing its own Google Cardboard headset tailored for the One soon, an endeavor that it’s “definitely losing money on” per the blog post.
