Skip to main content

Want to help a great cause? Make a bid on the OnePlus X Ceramic

OnePlus X
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
To try and put its questionable marketing history in the past, OnePlus kicked off an eBay Giving Works auction for the OnePlus 2 back in August. With the $250 OnePlus X now available and the company’s second birthday coming up, OnePlus saw fit to return to the charitable auction block with the ceramic version of its budget smartphone.

Because of its already limited availability, OnePlus will only put five of its OnePlus X Ceramic smartphones on eBay Giving Works. All of the money gained from the auctions will go to the charity Water, a non-profit organization that tasks itself with introducing clean and safe water to over 663 million people who don’t have as much access to it as others do. The organization finds solutions to issues with wells, filters, rainwater catchments, health education, and more.

The OnePlus X is already an impressive smartphone on its own, equipped with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, 3GB of RAM, and a 5-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 AMOLED screen. What sets the Ceramic version apart is OnePlus’ use of ceramic for the rear panel, which is made over a period of 25 days. It must be baked, crafted, and polished to make the scratchproof and rather stunning finished body.

Impressive smartphone aside, OnePlus has seemingly turned over a new leaf compared to previous promotions, which included having people make a video of them smashing their phones in the hopes of getting a OnePlus One. What really set off quite a bit of controversy for OnePlus, however, was last year’s cancelled promotion that had women draw the OnePlus logo on their bodies in an effort to have the “most-liked” image, thus netting them a free OnePlus One. Unsurprisingly, both promotions were heavily scrutinized, which didn’t help OnePlus’ public image in the slightest.

If you’re ready to let bygones be bygones, however, the auctions, which will go for another four days from today, initially started at $0.99. However, you might need to widen your wallet quite a bit, as all of the five auctions currently go for at least $835. Auction winners will get the OnePlus X Ceramic, as well as a physical OnePlus X Ceramic invite to share. The overall highest bidder will be given “a very special surprise,” though OnePlus didn’t specify what that surprise is.

Editors' Recommendations

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
The OnePlus Watch 2 is the Wear OS smartwatch I’ve been waiting for
Person wearing OnePlus Watch 2 with a green strap on their left wrist.

The OnePlus Watch 2 -- the company's first Wear OS watch -- has entered a market that Samsung dominates. However, OnePlus' popularity as a smartphone brand can be expected to bring small, yet meaningful changes that benefit not only OnePlus users, but all of the Wear OS segment in general.

For almost a decade, Samsung and Apple have predominantly been the default options if you want a smartwatch that is actually useful and goes beyond flashy features. With Samsung shifting gears and migrating from its own Tizen OS to the (relatively) more universal Wear OS platform and Google releasing its own Pixel Watch after struggling with an identity crisis in the smartwatch world, the platform has much more traction than it did a few years ago. As OnePlus carves its way into the segment, it has the opportunity to entice people who don't wish to live within Samsung's limitations when using a Galaxy Watch with another brand's phone.

Read more
Don’t buy the OnePlus 12 — 6 reasons to wait for the OnePlus 13
OnePlus 12 in hand with OnePlus 12R in the background.

OnePlus 12 Prakhar Khanna / Digital Trends

OnePlus has made a significant name for itself in recent years with some of the best Android phones out there. Its most recent endeavor, the OnePlus 12, is a fantastic flagship for anyone who wants something that's not just another Samsung Galaxy or Apple iPhone.

Read more
Does the OnePlus 12 have a curved screen?
OnePlus 12 held in person's hand running Real Racing 3.

The OnePlus 12 is the newest phone from OnePlus — and one of the best new phones of 2024. It features a 6.82-inch 2K (QHD+) AMOLED display that uses LTPO technology. It also has a triple-lens rear camera system comprising a 50MP primary sensor, a 48MP ultrawide sensor, and a 64MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom. Additionally, it's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and has up to 16GB of memory and other exciting features. It's a packed spec list, to say the least.

However, there's one thing we haven't addressed yet: Does the OnePlus 12 have a curved screen? And if so, is it a problem you should worry about? Here's what you need to know.
Does the OnePlus 12 have a curved screen?

Read more