It’s been a few months since I sold my iPhone 5 and went back to a BlackBerry as my daily phone. I had been using a Z10 on the side for a few months now (prior it was a Q10). As a colleague at work said to me “Oh, you have the s–t phone too”, I was looking forward to a new and better phone.
Chance was on my side and I was able to order a OnePlus One on the evening of July 25th. I claimed the invite and within seconds I had paid with PayPal and was anxiously waiting for my new phone to arrive. I wasn’t eager to spend 4 hours driving to the border to save $10 in shipping and scam my way past the border to avoid tax. Shipping to Canada cost an additional $28 USD. They ended up shipping using DHL and I received it on July 29th.
The breakdown of costs for me is as follows:
$349 for the phone
$27.99 shipping to Canada
$376.99 USD paid via PayPal, linked to my Amazon VISA which charges only the FX rate.
This becomes $407.67 @ $1.081381469 USDCAD via Amazon VISA
DHL COD cost $58.28.
$42.18 for Ontario tax + $10+$1.30 processing fee + $4.25+$0.55 COD.
Total cost out of pocket is $465.95 CAD.
It has a very premium feel as soon as you remove it from the inexpensive bubble-wrap mailer they used to ship. The detail they put into designing the packaging makes for a very memorable experience. I sat at the red pull tab for five whole minutes. I texted my friend who told me “There is a brown box, a white box, and a red box. Three levels to clear before you complete the task!”
I promptly started pulling on the string and documented the experience with photos to share with you here. It’s been a while since my last fling with Android — my last device was a Galaxy Nexus, though I was forced to give it up for an iPhone 4 soon after due to corporate email support at my workplace. I will write about my experience with the phone after I’ve had a chance to use it more.
Yes I left the stock screen protector on as I am waiting for a variety of screen protectors to arrive and did not want to chance scratching my screen.
I hope you enjoy.
