People were lining up around a New York City block to buy this $530 Android phone

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

• OnePlus devices are one of the few Android smartphones that people line up for in masses, like they do with new iPhone releases.
• Oddly enough, OnePlus devices aren't nearly as popular as Apple's iPhone or Samsung's Galaxy phones.

On Monday, OnePlus hosted a small event at a popup store in New York City where people lined up around the block to get a chance to buy the new OnePlus 6 smartphone.

Those at the head of the line started lining up around 6:30 a.m., more than 12 hours before the store opened its doors. Others took days off work and travelled from New Jersey and Long Island to stand in line. There were even some tourists from Italy.

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Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

The only other phone that gets massive lines of eager buyers is Apple's new iPhones:

AP

Few Android phones garner as much hype as the OnePlus 6.

And yet, it's not a massively popular device. In New York City, I'll see many more Samsung and Apple devices than OnePlus devices. Pedestrians walking by the line had no idea what "OnePlus" was when they asked me what the line was for.

While it might not be a popular device, it's a fantastic smartphone that easily contends against the $1,000 iPhone X. It doesn't have certain features like wireless charging or an official water resistance rating like the iPhone X, but OnePlus fans waiting in line made it clear that they don't really care about those kinds of features. The majority of them were lured by the OnePlus 6's comparatively low price tag and supreme performance.

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

Some of those in line even owned the latest Samsung Galaxy S9, which is barely two months old and has almost every feature under the sun. They were willing to switch to the OnePlus 6 - a phone that has fewer features.

Why?

"Stock Android" was the most common answer, which refers to the clean and simple version of Android that you'd usually find on OnePlus devices, as well as Google's Pixel 2. Samsung's version of Android is altered, and the company's redesigns can result in a relatively slower performance, at least compared to the other phones that run stock Android.

Unfortunately, you won't find OnePlus phones at your carrier store to try it out for yourself - you'll need to head over to the official OnePlus website if you're interested in buying it. But you can take my glowing coverage of the OnePlus 6 and the massive lines that OnePlus loyalists form as an indication that it is, indeed, a great smartphone. Just note that it's not available on Verizon.