物美價廉的好手機 中國一加

For years, the tech industry has been waiting on a unicorn device: a great, low-priced smartphone.

多年以來，科技行業都在等待一臺像獨角獸一樣罕有的設備現身：一款出色、價格低廉的智能手機。

While most other technologies keep getting cheaper, many of today’s high-end smartphones cost upward of $650, which is more than the price Apple slapped on its very first iPhone, way back in 2007.

雖然大多數其他科技產品的價格一直在下降，但是目前很多高端智能手機的價格卻超過650美元（約合人民幣4000元），比蘋果公司2007年推出首款iPhone時的價格還貴。

That price is usually hidden inside a carrier plan; you generally pay only $200 or so when you sign up for the phone, and then pay the rest over the course of your contract. Still, the full price is nothing to sneeze at. If you keep your new iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S5 for two years, you are looking at a minimum of $27 a month just for the device. Top-tier smartphones cost more than most laptops and desktops, more than a lot of TVs and home appliances, and more than the fanciest dinner for two in New York (probably).

這個價格通常隱含在運營商資費套餐中的；當你簽訂購機合約時，一般只需支付200美元左右，然後在合約持續期間支付剩下的費用。儘管如此，手機全價仍然不是一個小數目。如果你籤兩年合約購買新的iPhone 6或三星Galaxy S5，僅僅是手機的價格，每月就需要支付至少27美元。高端智能手機的價格，比大多數筆記本電腦和臺式機，大多數電視機等家電都貴，甚至可能比紐約最豪華的兩人晚餐都貴。

Isn’t it time high-end smartphones were cheaper? Are they worth all that much money? Is there any way around the sticker price?

現在高端智能手機難道不應該便宜一些嗎？它們值那麼多錢嗎？有沒有什麼辦法來解決價格問題？

Well, a unicorn just galloped onto the horizon. This month, OnePlus, a start-up based in Shenzhen, China, will begin taking pre-orders for the One, a fantastic low-price phone that tech enthusiasts across the globe have been lusting after for months. (Until the pre-order system goes live, the only way to get a One is by snagging a coveted invitation.)

好了，一頭疾馳的獨角獸已經出現在了地平線上。本月，總部設在中國深圳的初創公司一加科技(OnePlus)將開始接受一加手機的預購訂單，這是一款夢幻般的低價手機，全球各地的科技愛好者已經垂涎數月之久。（在預購系統正式上線之前，買到這款手機的唯一手段就是弄到衆人求之不得的邀請函。）

I’ve been using the One for the last couple of weeks, and I’ve found it to be one of the best smartphones I’ve ever used. The One has a beautifully spare design, it’s loaded with the latest tech specs, and it runs CyanogenMod, a version of Google’s Android operating system that is far more flexible and easier to use than the cumbersome flavors of Android now stuffed into rival phones.

我使用這款手機已經有好幾周了，感覺這是我用過的最好的智能手機之一。一加手機擁有精美簡約的設計，採用最新的技術規格，搭載了CyanogenMod，這是谷歌Android操作系統的一個版本，相比競品手機繁瑣的Android版本，CyanogenMod遠遠更爲靈活。

Best of all, the One sells for $299. That’s not $299 with a carrier plan or some other commitment. That’s $299 total, or less than half the price of a top-tier phone from Apple, Samsung or HTC. After you pay that price, you own the phone. If you take it to a carrier like T-Mobile, which offers a discount on your cellular plan if you bring your own phone, you can end up saving a substantial bit of cash in the long run.

最重要的是，這款手機的售價爲299美元。不是合約價299美元，而是裸機總價299美元，還不到蘋果、三星和HTC高端手機價格的一半。你掏出299美元，這部手機就全歸你了。對於自購機入網用戶，T-Mobile等公司會提供一個資費套餐折扣，所以如果你購買一加手機，再享受這種折扣，從長遠來看，就可以省下不少錢。

And yet, the One is not going to work for most people — yet. That’s because it comes with many caveats and warnings. Among them: You will have a devilishly difficult time getting customer service for your phone, including getting it repaired if something goes wrong.

不過，對大多數人而言，一加手機並不合適——起碼暫時是這樣。這是因爲它附帶了很多注意事項和警告信息。比如，很難享受客戶服務，包括當手機出現問題需要維修時。

Still, the company may be on to something. If OnePlus can navigate the perils of the cutthroat smartphone business, it may be giving us a peek of the glorious future of great, cheap phones.

儘管如此，該公司還是有可能形成氣候。如果一加科技能夠在競爭十分殘酷的智能手機產業順利前進，它可能會讓我們窺見一幅美好的未來圖景：到處都是出色、便宜的手機。

OnePlus was founded late in 2013 by Pete Lau, a veteran of the Chinese tech business who was taken with the idea of creating a high-end smartphone for the masses. His vision was not unique; as the price of the components in smartphones plummeted over the last few years, a rash of Chinese start-ups emerged to make high-quality, low-price phones.

一加科技成立於2013年底，創始人劉作虎是中國科技行業的資深人士，一心想要製作一款大衆市場的高端智能手機。他的想法並非前無古人；近幾年來，隨着智能手機零部件價格的大幅下降，中國涌現出了大量初創企業，致力於製造性能卓越、價格低廉的手機。

These devices are radically shifting the mobile industry in China and other parts of the developing world. This summer, Xiaomi, another start-up that sells its low-price phones in China, surpassed Samsung as that country’s top smartphone vendor, according to the research company Canalys. Samsung’s profits are being battered by the intense competition from low-priced rivals.

這些設備爲中國等發展中國家的手機行業帶來了徹底的改變。根據研究公司Canalys的數據，今年夏天，中國的低價手機制造商、初創公司小米超過三星，成爲在中國市場份額最大的智能手機銷售商。低價手機的激烈競爭嚴重打擊了三星的利潤水平。

But OnePlus is unusual among Chinese phone makers in that it believes its market extends far beyond its home country. Early on, Mr. Lau divided the company into two semiautonomous units, one catering to Chinese consumers and the other devoted to the international market.

不過，一加科技在中國的手機制造商中仍然是與衆不同的，因爲它相信自己的市場遠遠超出國內的範圍。劉作虎早就把公司分成了兩個半自主的團隊。一個服務中國消費者，另一個致力於國際市場。

Carl Pei, who directs the global division, said that of OnePlus’s global staff, a third of the employees are from Asia, a third from Europe and a third from the United States. “We don’t really think of ourselves as a Chinese start-up,” he said.

國際團隊的主管卡爾·裴(Carl Pei)說，在一加國際市場團隊的成員中，有三分之一來自亞洲，三分之一來自歐洲，三分之一來自美國。“我們不太把自己看成是一家中國創業公司，”他說。

After winning a few glowing reviews this year in the American and European tech press, the One became a sensation among techies far beyond China. “Very soon our sales outside of China will surpass sales in China,” Mr. Pei said during a recent interview.

今年在歐美的科技媒體上獲得了幾篇熱情洋溢的好評之後，一加手機在距離中國千山萬水之外的科技迷中引起了轟動。“我們在中國之外的銷量很快就會超過國內，”裴最近在採訪中說。

While he would not provide exact sales numbers, Mr. Pei said the One was selling in the “mid-to-high four figures a day in the U.S.,” which he said constituted 30 percent of the company’s market. That would imply sales of 150,000 to 300,000 phones a month in the United States, and up to a million devices a month over all — a rounding error in the global smartphone business, but an admirable feat for a tiny, year-old start-up.

儘管裴拒絕提供具體的銷售數據，他說，一加在美國的銷量每天在5000到1萬部之間。他說，美國市場佔了該公司全部銷量的30%。這意味着該公司每月可在美國售出15萬到30萬部手機，而總銷量每月可達100萬部——這個數字可能只是全球智能手機行業的零頭，但對於一家創辦僅一年的小型創業公司來說，卻是一個令人欽佩的成就。

It’s not surprising that people are clamoring for the One. It is just about the fastest Android phone you can buy, and its 5.5-inch screen is stunning. My only complaint with the device has to do with the camera, whose pictures cannot match the sharpness and color accuracy of some of its rivals.

一加手機受到追捧並不出人意料。它幾乎是市場上運行速度最快的Android手機，屏幕5.5英寸，效果令人眼前一亮。我對這款設備唯一的不滿來自於攝像頭，它拍攝的圖片的清晰度和色彩準確度要弱於一些競爭對手。

Otherwise, the One is better than most other Android phones on the market, including Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and HTC’s flagship phone, which is also called the One. (Yes, there are now two Ones.) I give the OnePlus One the edge primarily for its user interface, which is cleanly minimal, uncluttered with all the pointless gimmicks and unnecessary apps found in many rival Android devices. In that way, the One is similar to Google’s Nexus 5, another high-quality, low-price phone — but over all, the One is more powerful, and far prettier, than the Nexus.

在其他方面，一加則優於市面上的大多數Android手機，包括三星的Galaxy S5 以及HTC的旗艦手機One。（沒錯，一加和HTC手機的英文都是One）。我認爲一加手機更勝一籌，是因爲它的用戶界面簡單幹淨，將同類Android手機上的那些毫無意義的花哨設計和不必要的應用程序一掃而空。在這一方面，一加手機類似於谷歌的Nexus 5，後者也是一款物美價廉的手機——但整體上講，一加手機比Nexus更強大，也漂亮得多。

The problem with the One, though, is that OnePlus’s future is far from assured — and that future matters to the longevity of your phone. “To be perfectly honest, we’re not sure about our business model,” Mr. Pei said, noting that at the moment, the company does not make much of a profit on each phone it sells.

不過，一加手機的問題在於，未來有太多不確定性——而它的未來影響着手機是否能長盛不衰。“開誠佈公地說，我們不確定自己的商業模式是什麼，”裴先生說。他指出，公司目前並沒有從它售出的每部手機中獲得多大利潤。

He added that in the future, the company might begin to make money by teaming up with software companies that would preinstall apps on the phone, or by expanding the range of accessories for its device.

他說，公司以後可能會通過與軟件公司合作，將應用預裝在手機上，或者是增加配件品種的方式來賺錢。

Even in the absence of a business model, the company is planning rapid expansion. It is hiring customer service experts to better handle problems, and it plans to hire local teams in some of its markets to provide faster service. It’s possible that by selling a great phone at a great price, OnePlus could stumble into profits, and become the next big global smartphone brand.

儘管尚無商業模式，這家公司計劃快速進行擴張。它正在招聘客服專家，來改進問題處理過程，它還打算在一些市場聘請本地團隊，以便提供更快捷的服務。通過以低廉的價格出售一款出色的手機，一加科技有可能掙得利潤，成爲智能手機的下一個全球大品牌。

But betting on OnePlus’s survival is a $300 gamble. Jan Dawson, an independent analyst, points out that by comparison, the established smartphone market does not ask customers to make such a leap. The major carriers now offer zero-down, interest-free financing plans for high-end phones, meaning that customers can get a $650 phone for $30 monthly installments.

但押注一加科技不會曇花一現，需要你花費300美元。獨立分析師揚·道森(Jan Dawson)指出，相較而言，老牌智能手機市場沒有要求用戶一次拿出這麼多錢。各大運營商現在都提供零首付、免息的高端手機融資計劃，這意味着客戶可以每月支付30美元，分期付款買到650美元的手機。

“Even though the iPhone may be significantly more expensive, today you’re going to be paying only a tenth of what you’d pay to get the OnePlus phone upfront,” Mr. Dawson said. If your iPhone breaks, you can always go back to the store to get it fixed. And if you want to get rid of it, there will always be a large, willing market to take it off your hands. Isn’t that certainty worth the extra coin?

“儘管iPhone的總價貴得多，但是你只需要當場支付一加手機十分之一的價格，就可以開始用它了，”道森說。如果你的iPhone壞了，你可以隨時拿回到店裏維修。如果你不想要它了，總是會有一個龐大市場願意接盤。這難道不值得多付一些錢嗎？

For many users, that will be true; the $650 smartphone isn’t going away tomorrow. But the One ought to give established players pause. Great, cheap phones aren’t just for China. Soon they’ll be everywhere, and eventually, one could be right for you.

對於許多用戶來說，這是大實話；650美元的智能手機不會明天就銷聲匿跡。但是，一加手機應該會給老牌手機帶來衝擊。出色、低價的手機不只適合中國市場。很快，它們就會變得無處不在，最終，你可能會覺得一加手機很合心意。