OnePlus One goes up for pre-order -- no invite needed

OnePlus One has attracted lots of attention from the media and consumers without even being generally available, as virtually every other flagship smartphone is today. Many have chosen to play by the company's rules, asking and waiting for the invites which give them the option to purchase the device. It's a pretty unusual way of selling and buying smartphones, but it seems to have only boosted One's appeal.

If you have not yet had the chance to buy One, you should know that today OnePlus is making it generally available to pre-order, as it temporarily drops its invite-only system to get One in the hands of more consumers.

In this case, "temporarily" does not mean a month, a week or even a day. No. One will only be offered for pre-order between 11 AM and 12 PM EST (8 AM - 9 AM PST; 15 - 16 GMT). Yes, that is right -- if you do not have an invite, you have an hour to make that pre-order. There is some good news though.

"To make things a little easier, you can go ahead and get your order just the way you want it. Save your cart, mark your calendar, and relax", says OnePlus. A "Prepare my pre-order" button will allow you to add the 64 GB One to your shopping cart, as well as various accessories like cases, covers, screen protectors and earphones.

The 64 GB One runs for $349 (€299 for those ordering in Europe). As far as I can tell, at the time of writing this article, there is no way to select the lesser 16 GB model which costs $299. Shipping is, obviously, not included, nor are any taxes that you may have to pay locally, once your order arrives. To save the contents of the shopping cart, just hit "Save my pre-order" at the bottom of the respective page.

For more information regarding One's specifications, check out this article. Since it was announced more than six months ago, its off-contract price has remained the same. It is fair to assume that after the one-hour of pre-orders, OnePlus will bring back the invite-only system.