[OnePlus 5 Guides, News, & Discussion] jhs39:
I had a Pixel XL that I wasn't happy with for a number of reasons, the most serious being that the phone ran way too hot and shut down on me several times when I was using the GPS on hot summer days leaving me stranded for hours since the phone wouldn't run for more than a minute and I needed GPS to get home. Google and Pixel Support consider this completely normal and acceptable behavior for the phone I paid a thousand dollars for but I was less than thrilled. Based on the glowing reviews, impressive hardware specs and more reasonable price I thought I would be much happier with a OnePlus 5. At this point, I actually wish that I had kept my Pixel XL.

Right out of the box I noticed something that wasn't right--3.5mm headphone plugs wouldn't snap into the headphone jack on my OnePlus 5. I tried headphones by Beats, Bose and Skullcandy and also purchased two plug adaptors on Amazon from different companies so I had a total of five standard 3.5mm headphone plugs, none of which would snap into the headphone jack. Multiple people complained about the same issue on the One Plus 5 Community Support Thread. I've owned a whole lot of Android phones of varying quality over the years but the only other phone I ever owned that had a headphone jack with the same issue cost me $30. The headphone plug was held in place by nothing but pressure. This worked fine for about three months then inevitably the connection loosened and wired headphones became unusable because any phone movement created audio distortion. I bought a Bluetooth adaptor.

I wasn't happy with the sound quality on Bluetooth--there were persistent sound dropouts that were annoying but I encountered a more serious issue--when Bluetooth was enabled on my OP5 LTE mobile data was completely disabled. Unless I had a WiFi connection no app that required a data connection worked. Turning off Bluetooth didn't restore mobile data either--I had to turn off Bluetooth and reboot the phone to get my mobile data back again. But since the headphone jack was bad I needed to use Bluetooth to listen to music and when I enabled Bluetooth the whole thing started over and I had no mobile data again.

I was told this was not normal behavior (I never had to use Bluetooth before) so I clean flashed the latest build of OOS and fresh installed all of my apps instead of restoring them from a Google cloud backup to ensure that the OP5 got a clean start and was set up like new. This didn't fix my Bluetooth/mobile data problem but now I also had a brand new issue--no GPS. I live in a large city and have never had a problem getting an immediate GPS signal on any phone. But the OP5 couldn't connect to GPS and Maps was offline. I drove around to different locations throughout the city for over an hour with Maps unable to get a GPS signal and offline for the entire time. Yes, location settings were set to High Accuracy. Yes, I tried a different GPS program--Co-Pilot which also couldn't connect to GPS and stayed offline.

Then I contacted OnePlus Support which is an experience I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy and was so frustrating and surreal I felt like I was trapped in a Franz Kafka novel. OnePlus support said I couldn't return my OP5 since I had owned it for more than 15 days and refused to acknowledge that there was actually a manufacturer's warranty in addition to the return policy. I got so angry I was probably screaming, my head was pounding and I hung up. Ten minutes later when I had calmed down I called OnePlus Support again, spoke to an entirely different person and encountered exactly the same issue--the person I spoke to said I couldn't get my phone repaired or exchanged because it was beyond the 15-day window.

I purchased insurance so I called Assurant and explained that OnePlus was refusing to honor the manufacturer's warranty. Assurant told me I couldn't file a claim with them because the insurance didn't cover anything that was supposed to be covered under the manufacturer's warranty and since my phone was defective rather than damaged and still under warranty there was nothing they could do. I should have just had an "accident" with my phone, paid the deductible and gotten a replacement from Assurant but instead, I called OnePlus for the third time.

The person I spoke to insisted that the problem I was having with the headphone jack was because I was using OMTP headphones and the OP5 had a CTIA jack. She wanted me to send OnePlus pictures of all the headphones I had tried and suggested that I purchase the official OnePlus Headphones to ensure compatibility. For those who don't know audio only headphones are neither OMTP or CTIA and should work with either type of jack. OMTP and CTIA are incompatible standards for headphones that have 4 rings on the 3.5mm jack, one of which is for a microphone function. I tried to explain that my issue with the headphone jack had nothing to do with OMTP and CTIA and that I actually considered not having a GPS signal a more pressing problem but I got nowhere. I asked to speak to a supervisor and got nowhere with that person either, lost my temper and hung up again.

Ten minutes later I called OnePlus Support again, argued with the support person again, demanded to speak to a supervisor again. I finally got this supervisor to acknowledge that there was supposed to be a manufacturer's warranty on my OP5 in addition to the 15-day return policy. It took two hours of talking with multiple people at OnePlus Support to get anyone to acknowledge the existence of a manufacturer's warranty. The supervisor emphasized that my phone would be inspected by their service center and that if OnePlus didn't agree that my phone was defective I would have the option of paying the full cost of repairs or paying to have my phone shipped back to me. She acted like sending the phone back to them would probably be pointless unless I was willing to pay to have it repaired. Then she reluctantly asked me for a lot of information to initiate an RMA--the phone's IMEI Number, date of purchase, place of purchase, order number, my e-mail address and phone number--then after asking for all of this information said I should initiate an RMA through the OnePlus website instead and hung up on me.

I initiated the RMA. The RMA was approved that same day but it was two additional days before I received instructions to send my phone to an authorized service center in Texas at my own expense via UPS or FedEx with tracking and insurance. That cost me $30.

I had my OP5 for four months. I'm skeptical that the phone will actually be repaired because from a cost perspective repairing it makes no sense. If there's a hardware problem on the motherboard then the entire motherboard needs to be replaced. The motherboard is 70% of the cost of the phone and when you add in labor it ends up costing roughly the same to completely replace the phone. Since my OP5 is in RMA I'm stuck using my old Nexus 6P. Maps immediately connects to GPS on the 6P with no issues and several people I have spoken to say the call quality is much better than on the OP5.

I'm sure a lot of people here love their OP5 but it has probably the worst physical build quality of any phone I have ever owned that cost me more than $100 dollars. In addition to the bad headphone jack out of box, the USB charging port also feels like something you would find on a $30 phone. When you insert a cable the port feels soft compared to other phones and like something that won't hold up under extended use. Then there are the buttons which aren't at all tactile or solid or the alert slider which feels like it's equally low quality. The cheapest Samsung phone on the market has much better build quality than the OP5. After the OP5 had been out for less than a month people were already reporting that their USB Port was loose and the phone would only charge if the cord was inserted just right and that their power buttons had become soft and mushy. Imagine how well these parts are going to hold up after the phone is a year old?

When you add the fact that two years in a row OnePlus screwed customers who purchased their Spring flagship phone by discontinuing it after 4 months so they could put out a superior T version in Fall, the fact that OOS is easily the most unstable and buggy stock operating system that you will find on any Android phone, the poor build quality and unbelievably bad customer service--the OnePlus 5 is probably the worst $710.94 that I have ever spent. That was the purchase price including car charger, phone insurance, and shipping. For that kind of money, I definitely didn't expect to be using my Nexus 6P again after 4 months.