Chinese OEMs have taken over the smartphone market, but there are very few Android devices in the market that have been executed like the OnePlus 3. The handset’s beautiful aluminium design is paired with powerful hardware and a decent software to offer a top-notch smartphone experience.
And unlike previous years, buying a OnePlus 3 this time around is significantly easier since there is no invite system involved. You can simply head over to OnePlus’ website and order the handset right away. If you have already gotten your hands on what is arguably one of the best smartphones to be released around the $400 price point, check out some tips and tricks below to further enhance the experience of using it.
Always use the Dash Charger
One of the key new features of OnePlus 3 is the company’s own proprietary Dash Charge technology that is capable of charging the handset from 0-50% in just 30 minutes, with a full charge taking just over an hour. For a phone that comes with a 3000mAh battery, this is blazingly quick. However, the catch here is that to attain this super quick charging speeds, you have to use the supplied charger and cable with the handset.
If you use any other charger or USB cable, you will not be able to enjoy the fast charging speeds of Dash Charge. This might not seem like a big deal, but once you get used to Dash Charge and need to charge your phone with a non-Dash Charge charger, you will realise just how long the phone takes to charge.
Enable Dark mode
OxygenOS on the OnePlus 3 has matured greatly compared to when it first made its debut on the OnePlus 2. This time around along with a bunch of customisation options, the OS also packs in many nifty little features. One such feature present in OxygenOS on the OnePlus 3 is a Dark Mode which is essentially a dark theme for the OS.
The dark theme is the perfect combination for the AMOLED display of the OnePlus 3. Apart from looking gorgeous, it will also help in saving a tiny bit of battery life as well. To enable Dark mode on the OnePlus 3, head over to Settings -> Customisation -> Dark mode. Even better, you can customise the accent color to your liking, in case you are not fond of the blue over black theme.
Customise the navigation buttons
One of the advanced customisation options offered in OxygenOS is the ability to switch between on-screen and capacitive navigation keys and reorganise them according to your liking.
However, my favorite customisation option related to the navigation buttons on the OnePlus 3 is the ability to set long press and double tap shortcuts for the physical capacitive buttons. This allows you to set shortcuts for frequently used options that you can access quickly from anywhere in the OS. So, for example, you can open the camera app by double tapping the home button. Similarly, you can set a long press of the Recents button to open a voice search or turn off the screen.
You can find the option to set shortcuts to the capacitive buttons in OxygenOS under Settings -> Buttons. Remember that these options will only be available if you are using the capacitive buttons.
Alert Slider
One of the best features of the OnePlus 3 has to be the Alert Slider. Being able to toggle between priority, silent, and all for your incoming notifications by simply moving the slider up or down is something that you can truly start appreciating once you have used it. Since every notification has different priority for everyone, OnePlus was smart enough to include an option to customise the Alert Slider in OxygenOS. Simply head over to Settings -> Alert Slider and you will be able to customise which notifications go under Priority and Silent respectively.
Unlock the bootloader
If you are someone who loves tinkering around with their phone or plan on rooting your OnePlus 3 eventually, my recommendation would be to unlock the bootloader of the handset before you proceed to set it up. This way down the line, whenever you decide to root the handset, you can do so without worrying about losing all your data and installed apps. And since unlocking the bootloader of a OnePlus device does not void its warranty, you are not going to face any issues while claiming any in-warranty repair — if the need ever arises.
Lock apps using fingerprint scanner
The fingerprint scanner on the OnePlus 3 can only be used to lock/unlock the device. OxygenOS in no way takes advantage of the sensor to deliver additional features like being able to lock/unlock apps using it etc. Nonetheless, since OxygenOS 3 is based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, third-party apps have access to the APIs related to the fingerprint scanner. This means that you can use third-party apps like App lock to lock/unlock apps using the fingerprint scanner of the OnePlus 3. You can find the detailed steps here.
Night mode
Taking a cue from Apple, OnePlus has included a handy Night mode option in OxygenOS for the OnePlus 3. Enabling the mode reduces the blue rays being emitted from the display that cause eye strain and might affect your sleeping cycle. As the name suggests, Night mode is something that you should enable when the sun sets. The feature might seem like a gimmick, but if you are someone who uses their phone before going to sleep, you will notice the benefit within a few days.
Night mode on the OnePlus 3 can be enabled by going to Settings -> Display.
Customise LED notifications
The OnePlus 3 comes with an LED notification light that is hidden at the top bezel of the handset. LED notification light is a common feature that most phones nowadays come with, but for some reason, none of the OEMs allow the LED to be customised in anyway — except OnePlus. Inside the Customization menu in Settings, you will find the LED notifications option that will let you customise the color of the notification light on a per-app basis. Once you have it set up the way you want, you can know which app has a new notification without having to pick up your device or wake it up.
Switch to sRGB mode
The 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED display on the OnePlus 3 has been talked about a lot thanks to its poor color accuracy. This issue is not something that will be immediately obvious to most people or going to affect them in anyway. Nonetheless, my recommendation would be to switch over to the sRGB mode for the display as it displays more accurate colors.
The sRGB mode for the display was added by OnePlus in the OxygenOS 3.2.1 update. This mode can be enabled from the hidden Developer Options menu inside the Settings menu.
What are some of your favorite tips and tricks for the OnePlus 3? Drop in a comment and let us know!
