OnePlus may have a one-phone-a-year strategy, but the Chinese smartphone maker has released variants of their device, the newest being the OnePlus 5T in a metallic red they call ‘Lava Red’.

Like the Star Wars Limited Edition variant launched a short while ago, the Lava Red too is a limited edition device and unlikely to remain on the shelves for long.

While it is, however, it can be bought from Amazon.in, for Rs 37,999 and from Oneplus’ experience store in Bangalore, and experience zones in Mumbai and Delhi NCR. It is also available at Croma stores.

The phone could cost up to Rs 17,545 less as part of an exchange offer. Other offers include a three-month no cost EMI on credit cards, an instant Rs. 1,500 discount for HDFC Bank debit and credit cards users, Rs. 2000 Exchange Bonus with every purchase of the OnePlus 5T on amazon.in, a three and six month no cost EMI, using Bajaj Finserv cards on OnePlus official e-store.

From the front, the Lava Red OnePlus 5T is all black with no other accents (such as white borders) clashing with the red on the back. The red back is smooth and metallic finished and a little more slippery than the sandstone versions launched earlier. Cases have already started to appear online and in stores and the box includes a transparent back protector.

Here’s a tip: the Lava Red version looks particularly interesting in a black sandstone case with the fingerprint sensor, edges and camera becoming vibrant red accents and standing out against the black.

The Lava Red device is identical in all other ways to the recently launched OnePlus 5T but is only available in the higher specs version with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.

OnePlus has seen a surge in popularity over the past two years in India, a region which India MD Vikas Agarwal said had not even been in the company’s initial plans but which was was now one of the most important owing to the tremendous response from Indian fans. The OnePlus 5T has a vastly improved camera, a super fast fingerprint sensor, face unlock that is also very fast (and different from Apple’s more complex Face ID or Samsung’s Iris Recognition), and a fairly pure Android experience that makes the phone fast and powerful.

The much-loved alert slider remains intact on the new version allowing users to silence their devices or cut low priority calls and messages with a touch.

At the same time, all is not good news for OnePlus as the company admits 40,000 users’ credit card details were exposed because of a breach of its online store in the US, now quarantined and being investigated.

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