The OnePlus 3 will first go on sale from a virtual reality storefront in space
After doing the OnePlus 2 unveiling in virtual reality last year, the company is going even further by offering the first purchases for the OnePlus 3 from an in-store VR experience. As part of the effort, the company offered its own headset, the LoopVR, built in connection with AntVR.
OnePlus accepted 30,000 pre-orders for the "free" headgear (you have to pay shipping). They went fast, and it’s unclear if the company will sell more later.
No specific date was offered for the OnePlus 3 launch, but the company did detail that you’ll buy the phone from a virtual storefront at an imaginary spaceship headquarters.
If you missed out on the LoopVR, it’s probably not much to worry about. AntVR's headset that it built in connection with Lenovo was universally panned by reviewers and buyers. You might want to just stick with Cardboard until official Daydream gear hits the market.
Why this matters: OnePlus likes to go weird, and it’s definitely one-upped itself this year. CEO Pei recently said the next phone would launch by the end of the second quarter, which means it should be sometime before June 30. The OnePlus 2 was pretty solid, and a good value, so we're curious to see how its successor will compare.