OnePlus revealed the phone on 28 July 2015 via virtual reality, using Google's Cardboard visor and its own app.

On 29 June 2015, it was confirmed that the device would also feature a fingerprint sensor, which is similar to Apple's Touch ID.

According to co-founder Carl Pei, there will be 30 to 50 times more invites from the start to match the greater demand for the OnePlus 2.

[15] On 12 October 2015, OnePlus held its first open-sale for 1 hour from 12-1 pm HKT/CEST/PDT exclusively to 32 countries via the company's website, with the exception of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Israel and Singapore.

The handset incorporates an aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis, with the volume and power keys along with the new notifications control switch having a polished stainless steel accent and with the rear of the phone accompanied with a textured Sandstone Black plastic back cover.

[18] Compared to its predecessor the phone is 1 mm shrunken height and width-wise but 8% thicker and heavier due in part to its larger 3,300 mAh battery.

[22] The handset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 v2.1 64-bit octa-core chip purposefully underclocked to 1.8 GHz to avoid any overheating issues.

[24] For its rear-facing camera, the OnePlus 2 utilizes an OmniVision OV13860 13-megapixel image sensor with features including a 1/2.6-inch sensor size, f/2.0 aperture,[25] laser autofocus,[26] optical image stabilization, dual tone LED flash, 4K and slow motion 720p video recording ability.

Compared to its competitors the Samsung Galaxy S6 and LG G4 which both have 16-megapixel sensors, the smaller megapixel count of the OnePlus 2, "allows for individual pixels to be made bigger.

[36] OnePlus released OxygenOS 3.6.0 in July 2017, with included Android security patch level 1 June 2017 and small fixes.