You need to check out the new OnePlus 5 before buying any other Android smartphone

If you're familiar with previous OnePlus models, you'll immediately recognize the OnePlus 5 as a OnePlus phone — you get the all-black glass front with the oval fingerprint scanner that's typical of OnePlus design.

The OnePlus 5's metal back is a plain and utilitarian — there's nothing there, save for the camera, flash, and OnePlus logo. Gone are the antenna lines from the OnePlus 3 and 3T, which makes for a no-frills design on the OnePlus 5's back. And there are only two colors to choose between: dark gray and black. Minimal indeed.

High-resolution displays above 1080p are quickly becoming the norm for premium Android flagships, but OnePlus stuck with a 1080p display for the OnePlus 5. While it's not as sharp as the Galaxy S8's or LG G6's display, the OnePlus 5's was plenty sharp. I never wished it had a higher resolution.

The $479 dark-gray model has 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, and the $539 black model comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

Keen OnePlus fans will notice that the OnePlus 5 costs more than the $439 OnePlus 3T, which may be irksome. At the same time, the OnePlus 5 is still one of the cheapest premium Android smartphones you can get.

With a depth of 7.25 millimeters and weight of 153 grams (5.4 ounces), the OnePlus 5 is incredibly slim and light compared with the iPhone 7 Plus and Galaxy S8 Plus.

In almost every respect, the OnePlus 5 is more of a classic smartphone compared with the feature-laden smartphones from Samsung, LG, or Apple. That's because the OnePlus 5 doesn't have most of the fancy new features from the latest premium models.

Here's a list of what the OnePlus 5 doesn't have compared with the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8:

• Ultra-narrow borders (Galaxy S8)

• Rounded display corners (Galaxy S8)

• Curved-edge display (Galaxy S8)

• A display with a higher resolution than 1080p (Galaxy S8)

• A display with an unusual aspect ratio (Galaxy S8)

• Water resistance (Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7)

• An invisible home button (Galaxy S8)

• Wireless charging (Galaxy S8)

• Iris scanning (Galaxy S8)

• Facial recognition (Galaxy S8)

And yet, even though the OnePlus 5 is missing all those features, I never felt I was using an outdated phone. I was never yearning for the Galaxy S8's iris scanning, ultra-narrow borders, unusual aspect ratio, curved edges, or wireless charging.

With the OnePlus 5, you're not paying as much for the latest flagships from Apple, LG, or Samsung either.

The OnePlus 5 is one of the fastest smartphones I've used. It glides effortlessly through my day of opening and using several apps.

The OnePlus 5's stellar performance is partly due to the 8 GB of RAM in my review unit, which is the most RAM I've seen in a smartphone. To put that into perspective, the computer I'm using right now for work has 8 GB of RAM.

RAM, for the uninitiated, makes for speedy and smooth multitasking. It's like your phone's back pocket where it keeps things like apps that you recently opened handy for when you need to open them again. The more RAM you have, the more apps you can run in the background without throttling your phone's performance.

Like many Android smartphone makers, OnePlus adds a layer of software, or launcher, to run on top of stock Android. Unlike most, however, OnePlus' Oxygen OS launcher is relatively lightweight and keeps the overall look and feel of stock Android.

It's not the same as Google's Pixel launcher, which makes the Pixel feel more modern than stock Android. Yet Android enthusiasts will recognize the classic, pre-Pixel stock Android aesthetic from the Nexus smartphones of old.

However, that doesn't mean the OnePlus will get Android updates as quickly as Google's Pixel. At the same time, OnePlus is one of the fastest to release updates after Google does.

The OnePlus 5's camera takes great photos in bright environments, similar in quality to the Galaxy S7's and iPhone 7's photos.

OnePlus has improved the camera since the release of the OnePlus 3T. It has added faster auto-focusing that OnePlus claims is 40% faster than the OnePlus 3T. I'll be doing a separate, full breakdown of the OnePlus 5's camera where I thoroughly test it against the Samsung Galaxy S8's.

OnePlus also added a pro mode that offers more DSLR-style controls over settings like ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and white balance. You can also take pictures in RAW format, which is great for those who want to edit their photos, as those photos aren't compressed and contain all of a photo's data, unlike the standard JPEG format.

The photo above was taken with the OnePlus 5 in a low-light environment. Despite having an f/1.7 aperture that is similar to the Galaxy S8's and designed to allow more light to hit the camera sensor, the OnePlus 5 still can't compete against the Galaxy S8 in low light.

Compare it with the same photo taken with the Galaxy S8:

OnePlus claims there's a 0.2-second lag between the moment you lay your thumb on the OnePlus 5's fingerprint scanner and the phone unlocking, but it feels instantaneous. It let me unlock my phone more quickly than the Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7 to do whatever I needed to do — that's incredibly meaningful for such an oft-used and important device as your smartphone.

The OnePlus 5's fingerprint scanner is accurate, too. I never had to press my thumb against the fingerprint scanner twice to unlock the phone during my time with it.

OnePlus' Dash Charging feature is like the fast charging you'd find on the Galaxy S8 but a little different — in a good way. The OnePlus 5 can charge at full speed no matter what you're doing on the phone, which means it can charge faster during short bursts of charging.

OnePlus' Dash charger keeps the OnePlus 5 cool during charging, even when you're using it. As a result, the OnePlus 5 doesn't throttle the charging speed or the phone's performance. That usually occurs when a smartphone gets hot from charging, especially when you're using it while it's plugged in.

It lets you switch your phone to silent or vibrate mode without having to wake your phone's screen. OnePlus phones are still the only Android phones that let you do this.

I would strongly consider the OnePlus 5 if I were in the market for an Android phone, but it's not an outright, clear-cut decision. That's because I prefer phones that get timely updates directly from Google, and only the Google Pixel fits that bill.

However, if you don't mind getting Android updates a little later, the OnePlus 5 is a clear winner for its price tag. Sure, you wouldn't get as many features as you would with the Galaxy S8, but most of those features seem expendable after using the OnePlus 5.

The OnePlus 5 has the features and performance that make a smartphone great, and I'd strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

You can preorder the OnePlus 5 now from OnePlus' website or buy it when it goes on sale on June 27.