OnePlus announced the successor to its popular OnePlus One smartphone earlier this year and it has since followed it with the new OnePlus X. The OnePlus 2 was described as the "flagship killer" for 2016 and it is available through an invite-only system for £239. The OnePlus X comes in two versions - Oynx and limited-edition Ceramic. The Oynx model will cost £199 and be available from 5 November, while the Ceramic model will cost £269 and will be available from 24 November, although there will only be 10,000. 

One of the most interesting things about the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X is the operating system - OxygenOS. This is an interface based on Android Lollipop but OnePlus has added a few extra clever features to give users something different and more useful, such as the choice of SwiftKey as a default keyboard during setup.

READ: OnePlus X vs OnePlus 2: What's the difference?

OnePlus told us it moved from CyanogenMod to its own operating system with the new smartphone in order to gain more control and implement features quicker. CyanogenMod will continue to support OnePlus One for the next couple of years but OnePlus told us the plan was always to develop its own operating system in house.

So what is so special about the OxygenOS? We played around with it on the OnePlus 2 to find out. Here are seven features the OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X will offer. Check out the gallery for more pictures.

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Shelf

Users will have a choice between Shelf and Google Now launchers. Shelf is currently in Beta but we were able to get an idea about what it will be offering.

Swipe right from the main display and you'll get onto Shelf. It features an interchangeable image at the top, along with the weather and location. Beneath the image is where you will find your most frequent contacts and most frequent apps.

These will refresh every six hours, but you can also delete them and replace them with other widgets so you can customise it to suit you and your needs best.

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Buttons

Buttons is an option found within the normal settings section. It allows you to enable or disable on-screen navigation buttons, as well as swap the order the recent and back buttons are displayed.

This is handy for those that are left-handed as they might feel it is more natural to have the recent and back buttons the opposite way round to the usual layout on a typical Android device.

The Buttons option also allows users to enable or disable the home button and select actions for the home button, such as what you would like to happen after a long press, or a double tap.

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Gestures

Gestures is another option within the settings menu and there are four gestures available that will make it easier to launch certain apps. One isn't quite as unique as others, but the other three are a great idea.

Double tapping the display will wake up the OnePlus 2 or OnePlus X, while drawing an O will open the camera and a V turns the flashlight on.

Music control is the fourth gesture available, all of which can be turned off individually or altogether. Drawing II with two fingers will play or pause your music, and < or > will skip or go back to the previous track.

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Customisation

Customisation is one of our favourite of the OxygenOS features. It not only allows you to change the display to dark mode, which is something that Android M will be offering eventually, but it also allows you to change the accent colour.

On the normal display mode, the accent colour remains as the default blue but in dark mode you can choose from eight colours, meaning you can have bright orange on a black background for example. Dark mode looks great and it's much easier on the eye in low-light situations.

Within this section, you can also change the LED notification light. BlackBerrys offered this feature, enabling you to set specific colours for specific contacts or apps, and while the OnePlus customisation isn't as advanced, it's a nice touch.

Again, you get eight colours to choose from and there are four settings available to change. Global notification, battery full notification, battery charging notification and battery low notification can all be altered to one of the eight colours.

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Fingerprint

The OnePlus 2 introduces a fingerprint sensor to the front of the device, just like Apple and Samsung both offer on their latest and not so latest smartphones. Sadly the OnePlus X doesn't have a fingerprint sensor so this feature is for OnePlus 2 users only.

OnePlus says the fingerprint sensor will unlock your device in under 0.5-seconds and the fingerprint option within the settings menu allows you to register up to five prints. This is the same as Apple.

To register a print on the OnePlus 2, you have to place your finger on the sensor and lift it after you feel a vibration. Once saved, you will be able to rename and delete each print.

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App Permissions

Another option within the settings menu is app permissions. This isn't entirely unique to OnePlus as Android and iOS both offer ways of monitoring apps and what they are allowed to do, but the OxygenOS does offer a little more control.

It depends on the app as to what you are able to control but you'll be able to turn various things off individually, such as keeping the app awake all the time, using location services, allowing access to the camera and allowing access to contacts.

It isn't just a case of toggling the various restrictions on or off though, you'll also be able to see when the app you have selected last gained access to your location or you contacts or your camera, for example.

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Audio Tuner Controls

OnePlus has partnered up with MaxxAudio in order to provide users with full touch and slide DAC audio controls. To access the audio settings, you have to be listening to music, watching a film or playing a game - these are the three settings than can be customised and then saved.

Pressing the volume button will bring up a separate box that has the three settings within it, along with three bars on the right. Select the setting you want to customise and then select the bars.

You are then redirected to a another display that allows you to control everything from the flat levels to the treble, bass, space and dialog. The settings you select are then saved under the music, game or movie category you have selected until you change them.