Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus is allowing users to get a feel of the OnePlus 2 smartphone before buying it. The company, which had earlier tied up with on-demand cab service provider Ola Cabs (for a limited time), has now entered into a similar partnership with Bharti Airtel. As part of the partnership, prospective buyers can go to Airtel stores in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, from September 4 onwards. According to OnePlus, this includes 50 Airtel stores in the three cities mentioned above.
Further, customers who upgrade to the Airtel 4G SIM or buy a new Airtel 4G connection, will also be given an opportunity to win OnePlus 2 invites. These can then be used to buy the OnePlus 2 smartphone. Both, the chance to win invites and get a physical feel of the device, will be available only in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai for now, but the company says the offer would be extended to Airtel 4G stores in other cities soon.
The initiative with Airtel addresses two major issues that consumers have had with OnePlus’ smartphones so far. For one, being an online only device, there was no way for users to try the phone out before buying it. More importantly though, most users have complained about how difficult it is to get an invite for the OnePlus 2. The company currently has a queue of nearly 5 million users who are waiting to get invites for the OnePlus 2.
OnePlus had earlier promised that it would offer a better invite system this time, while also trying to meet wider demand globally. Following the OnePlus One’s successful run in India, the country became one of OnePlus’ major focus areas. While OnePlus continues to sell the OnePlus One in the country, off invites, the OnePlus 2 is not expected to be available without them at the moment. In fact, the fact that OnePlus launched the OnePlus 2 in India on the same day as its global launch, it will be a long time before the company decides to put this phone off invites.
You can check which stores the OnePlus 2 will be available on, here.