OnePlus is a phone brand with a passionate fan base, with bustling online communities in its forums and Reddit, and its various lines of mobiles all inspiring hype when they near launch.

In that way, the company is a little like Apple, even down to the way fans often queue outside physical shops to buy the OnePlus phones when they launch.

So what’s the attraction? Well, the brand originally became known for its ‘flagship-killer’ products, which offered top-tier features and specs for lower prices. For the past few years, OnePlus has also  operated in the premium market it once sought to undercut.

Now, new OnePlus handsets are some of the most hyped products of the year, with people clamoring to see the next big thing from the company, something OnePlus does its best to kindle with a slow tease of information in the run-up to launches.

To help you understand more about OnePlus, including the products it releases, we run you through everything you need to know about the company.

A brief history of OnePlus

OnePlus was formed in late 2013, with the company releasing its first handset, the OnePlus One, in early 2014. The brand rapidly expanded, launching in new regions across 2014 and then putting out new phones on an annual basis.

Part of the reason behind OnePlus’ speedily growing popularity was its ‘invite’ system for buying its smartphones – you had to sign up to receive an invite to purchase the phone. This created extra hype around OnePlus devices, akin to ‘forbidden fruit’ – although the scheme was dropped with the launch of the OnePlus 3.

In 2018, OnePlus moved into non-phone products, launching its first wireless earbuds , which you can read more about further on.

Alongside Oppo, Vivo and Realme, OnePlus is owned by a tech conglomerate BBK Electronics. Its biggest sibling from that list is Oppo, however thanks to a merger in 2021, OnePlus and Oppo actively pool resources, with similar phones and software as a result.

What phones does OnePlus make?

OnePlus’ flagship line of phones is its numbered one: the OnePlus 7 and 8, for example. In recent years, these phones have had a ‘Pro’ version accompanying the standard model, enabling the brand to sell to the high-mid-range and fully fledged premium market at time.

The T-line of handsets, released roughly six months after the numbered line, takes the half-year-old phone and tweaks it little to encompass technological advances. The OnePlus 7T was an upgrade on the 7 , and so on. OnePlus has always maintained that a T-series phone isn’t a definite release, but precedent suggests they’re all but guaranteed.

In 2020, OnePlus launched the OnePlus Nord line of smartphones. These are mid-ranged devices, aimed at capturing the market segment the brand once held, but which it left with the increasing premium-ness ofits flagship line. There are some budget units in the Nord line, too.

OnePlus phone availability information

The numbered OnePlus phone series launches in the first few months of the year – typically April or March – with the T version of the device being released roughly six months later, around September or October.

The Nord line doesn’t appear to have an annual cycle – although it’s pretty new, so we could see such a pattern over time.

Generally, OnePlus phones are available the world over, although this isn't true of the Nord handsets, which have limited availability. The original OnePlus Nord wasn't released in the US, for example.

Other tech OnePlus sells

Alongside its ranges of smartphones, OnePlus also makes wireless earbuds, such as the Bullets Wireless and Buds . These are designed for use with OnePlus phones, and are often pretty affordable.

OnePlus is also taking its first steps into the wearable tech market, with the OnePlus Band fitness tracker already having been launched in certain countries, and the OnePlus Watch expected soon.

We’ve also seen a range of OnePlus TVs, but these are available in only limited countries.

Overwatch 2 patch notes: new Scoreboard is a game changer

The PvP beta for Overwatch 2 is in full swing, and there are some pretty big changes afoot.

The Overwatch 2 beta is live, and fans of the game who were lucky enough to get in are flocking to log in. Even as players report that Battleet and the game's official site are down, its popularity is surging on Twitch. So much so that it's topped Valorant's viewercount for the first time ever.

We're keeping track of all of the Overwatch 2 PvP beta live updates as they happen – and that includes the devs dropping the patch notes that reveal a new Scoreboard feature that's live right now. We've included the patch notes in full below as well, so you use the sidebar to navigate to the different sections.

Overwatch 2 patch notes: Scoreboard

You can scroll down for the full Overwatch 2 patch notes, but the biggest surprise is the addition of the Scoreboard. The game has ditched the Fire and Medal systems, which have been redundant thanks to new feature.

Scoreboard now displays key stats in real time for all players, including eliminations and deaths. It's a huge deal, especially considering the dialogue that's been built up around the absence of a traditional scoreboard.

The layout will be familiar to those of you who play other competitive games (and sports), which is a deliberate design choice. The patch notes say that the new Scoreboard provides "a more accurate and easier to read view of each player’s performance-related data."

The Fire system hasn't been forsaken completely though. The devs say they'll revisit it at some point "in the future" as it offers a source of "excitement and positive feedback around awesome plays made by you or your teammates."

Why wasn't Scoreboard an Overwatch feature before?

Way back when, in a 2016 GameSpot interview , former Overwatch design director, Jeff Kaplan, explained the real reason a scoreboard was missing.

"There's been a misconception in our community that Blizzard doesn't have a traditional scoreboard because they're, 'catering to the casuals,' and, 'they're a bunch of care bears,' and, 'It's all about toxicity,'. and, "They're a bunch of care bears," and, "It's all about toxicity.'

"I find those conversations really interesting, and I think that there are some valid arguments people have made in terms of toxicity, but that hasn't been the reason at all," says Kaplan.

He goes on to explain that despite 'iterating endlessly' on the old scoreboard and scoring system, it just wasn't doing the job properly.

"We want players to be able to look at the scoreboard and go, 'I know who's performing really well, and I know who's not.' If we just make it about kills and deaths, it doesn't tell the complete story of who's doing well and who's doing not."

Overwatch's character roster allows for numerous play styles and roles that expand beyond simple kill counts, or the objective.

"So we we basically stopped displaying any form of scores, kills, deaths because it really wasn't telling the story of who was doing their job properly to win or lose as a team. And really, what it's all about is, 'did you win or lose as a team?' None of that other stuff really matters at the end of the day."

So to see the new Scoreboard implemented – which was absent from the Overwatch alpha – is a surprise to everyone.

Read on for all of the changes present in the Overwatch 2 PvP beta. Note that the game is still a work in progress, so things may be tweaked and changed yet.

New Game Mode - Push

Push is a new game mode available on two brand-new maps: Toronto and Rome. Gameplay unfolds with two opposing teams fighting over control of a single shared objective, the Treadweather TS-1 Large Utility Robot, that starts in the middle of the map.

Each team fights to take control of TS-1 as they would a payload: by having teammates located next to TS-1 with no enemies nearby. When a team takes control of TS-1, it slowly pushes their team’s barricade towards the opposing team’s start location along the predetermined path. If TS-1 and the barricade reach the goal at the end of the path, then the team controlling TS-1 wins the game.

When the opposing team takes control of TS-1, it leaves the first team’s barricade in place and reverses its direction. TS-1 then quickly moves back along the path until it reaches the opposing team’s barricade, which then pushes towards the first team’s spawn.

Midway between TS-1’s starting location and each team’s end goal, there is a forward checkpoint objective along the path. When TS-1 pushes a team’s barricade to their forward checkpoint, that team activates a closer respawn location. This respawn location deactivates if the other team retakes control of TS-1, then moves TS-1 to a point on the path before the forward checkpoint.

Players have 8 minutes to push their team’s barricade to the end goal and win. If neither team’s barricade reaches its end goal after 8 minutes, then the team who pushed their barricade the farthest distance AND has control of TS-1 wins. The game enters overtime if control of TS-1 is contested, or the team who currently has control of TS-1 does not have the farthest distance pushed. Overtime ends when the team with TS-1 loses control of it, or when the team with control of TS-1 pushes their barricade to a distance exceeding the opposition’s

Assault Maps Being Removed

With the addition of the Push game mode and its new maps to Overwatch, we’ve decided to remove all the maps using the Assault game mode from both the Quick Play and Competitive map rotations

After examining all our maps and game modes, we noted that the Assault game mode has always been a source of discontent for many members of our community. We believe many of the issues for the Assault maps could only be solved by making major changes to the game mode and major reworks to the maps, resulting in complete level rebuilds. We’ve shifted our focus to create maps in exciting new locations across the world such as Toronto and Rome.

Although Assault maps will no longer be in standard rotations, all Assault maps (Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, Volskaya, Paris, and Horizon Lunar Colony) will still be available for use in custom games and the workshop. We’ll also look for future opportunities to bring them back into Quick and Competitive map rotations, as well as special events and arcade game modes.

5v5

For the Quick Play and Competitive Role Queue modes, the team composition now consists of 1 Tank, 2 Support, and 2 Damage heroes. For Quick Play Classic, Open Role Queue, and arcade modes such as CTF or Mystery Heroes, the number of players on a team is now 5 instead of 6.

With one fewer player on each side, individual contribution means more to the overall success of the team. Fewer players on the map also changes gameplay in a host of positive and sometimes subtle ways. Players have more space to spread out, and the battlefield is easier to understand with fewer visual effects and sounds happening around you.

The removal of one Tank hero in restricted role queues has allowed us to rework all our Tank heroes to be even more impactful and fun to play. This change increases gameplay clarity for all hero roles, and makes matches play more fluidly.

Tab Score Board

We’re making a large change to the Scoreboard screen by displaying key statistics in real time for all the players in the game, including eliminations and deaths. They’ll be presented in a new layout that mirrors other competitive games and sports. This new layout should provide players with an overall more accurate view of the game.

As a result of this change, we are retiring the Fire and Medal systems. Both systems are no longer as necessary with the new Scoreboard providing a more accurate and easier to read view of each player’s performance-related data. We do plan on revisiting the Fire system in the future, as it can provide excitement and positive feedback around awesome plays made by you or your teammates. These changes are a work in progress, and we are looking forward to hearing what the community thinks about these updates!

Sound

General

Tanks

Sony's cheaper 4K laser projector should tempt you away from a big TV

Sony has just unveiled its two latest 4K laser projectors, and while one of them is the kind of high-end price we usually expect for these things, the second is both smaller and much more affordable while offering most of the same image quality tech. It makes 4K laser a seriously tempting alternative to a giant-screen TV.

The new small and cheaper option is the called the Sony VPL-XW5000ES. Sony says it's "30% smaller in size and 35% lighter in weight" than the Sony VPL-VW790ES model that its two new projectors are effectively replacing, which means it'll be much easier to fit on a shelf or to ceiling mount, and will generally mean you're more likely to able to accommodate it in a room. Its exact dimensions are 18.1 x 7.9 x 18.6 inches / 460 x 200 x 472mm.

Sony the XW5000ES produces 2,000 lumens of brightness, but achieves this with a 30% reduction in energy use per lumen compared to the older model, meaning it's more efficient (and so will hopefully run cooler and quieter) than previous laser options.

The Sony VPL-XW5000ES will cost $5,999 / £5,999 (AU pricing is tbc) when it releases in "summer 2022" – expect July or August. That's obviously still a very high price compared to what most people pay for a 4K TV, but it's pretty much in line with the best 4K projectors , and – what really interests us – also makes it competitive with the best 85-inch TVs .

The likes of the Samsung QN95B cost more than this for an 85-inch model… and they're obviously only 85 inches. This projector is made to go bigger – much bigger –for the same price.

The Sony VPL-XW7000ES is its big sibling of the VPL-XW5000ES, though it's actually not too much bigger at 18.1 x 8.3 x 20.4 inches / 460 x 210 x 517mm. Its price tag, however, is a good deal bigger at $27,999 / £14,999, which is much more like the prices we're used to seeing for elite laser projectors.

For that extra cash you get a brighter 3,200-lumen output, a new 70mm lens that promises even sharper focus across the whole picture, and a 'Live Colour Enhancer' feature that's designed to give more vivid colors where it can, while intelligently making sure that elements such as skin tone don't become unrealistic.

Both models use the same "world's-smallest" SXRD 0.61-inch panel for projection, with native 4K resolution. They also both include Sony's X1 image processor, which has been a fixture in lots of highly rated Sony TVs . Excellent motion processing and upscaling from HD are two of this processor's hallmarks, but what's maybe most exciting is its 'HDR Remaster' capabilities – it's fantastic at taking SDR material and making it look HDR while keeping realism in the picture. For those with a library of HD Blu-rays, these could well be the best projectors available today.

And you can generally expect top-tier HDR performance from these projectors thanks to them being laser. Much like the best OLED TVs , laser projectors can go totally and genuinely black in areas that need it, meaning you get astounding contrast and range.

Finally, these models even promise to be great for gaming. At 4K 60Hz, Sony says you can expect around 20ms of lag, while in 2K 120Hz Sony says to expect 13ms, which is competitive with the best gaming TVs . The only downside is that you can't do 4K 120Hz – but then gaming TVs don't come in 120-inch sizes, so we'll call it a draw.