OnePlus One pre-orders open in October, but you'll have to be fast

Those who've been hoping for an invite to buy the OnePlus One will soon have an equal chance to pre-order this great and cheap handset.

OnePlus will launch a new pre­-order system in October, letting anyone virtually line up and purchase the smartphone. Sound too good to be true? It kind of is - there is a limited purchasing window and you'll have to be fast.

Prospective OnePlus One buyer first in line will get the handset as long as it's in stock, otherwise OnePlus will jot down pre-orders. The company isn't putting any limits on the number of reservations it will take, but it noted users will receive a longer shipping date estimate if it's flooded with requests.

"No matter what, we'll always tell you our best approximation for when it will ship before you submit the payment authorization," OnePlus wrote in a blog post. The company did offer assurance it wouldn't charge customers unless the device ships.

So to recap: Pre-orders will open to everyone next month, but you'll have to be early in line to actually get one. You can still pre-order the phone, but it may take awhile to get to you if a lot of people place orders. Think we've got it.

Never settle

The OnePlus One is one of the best smartphones available for a low price of $299/£229 (about AU$320). However, getting an invite to actually buy the handset has been a huge headache for interested buyers.

With this new ordering window open to all, many more will at least get the chance to put their hands on the 5.5-inch handset. On top of a full HD display, the OnePlus One features a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU.

The OnePlus One is more than on par with flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 at a fraction of the price. What's more, the handset comes running a variant of pure Android 4.4.2 KitKat called CyanogenMod 11S, which includes a host of additional settings and greater personalization options.

• Speaking of great smartphones, we really dig the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus