Adding modern stylishness to a device is often achieved by using aluminium for the casing, because it delivers a clean, attractive look and is just as popular for its durability when protecting phones that, for all their minimalist beauty, take a beating in day to day life.

But this time OnePlus, the Chinese company that makes Android devices, really is making a fashion statement. In partnership with French fashion retailer Colette, the OnePlus 3T Colette edition – usually available in gunmetal or soft gold only – was launched in March in a limited edition brushed metal black.

Not without more than a little fanfare, too, because the phone launch was a celebration of the 20^th anniversary of the Colette brand and experience. There were only 250 of the OnePlus 3T Colettes made, and they went on sale exclusively at the Colette store in Paris at 11 a.m. on March 21. The phone was not offered at any other store location, and is not otherwise available on any online shopping platform.

So what will lucky buyers of the €479 phone be getting for their money, besides an attractive fashion statement with the Colette on a limited edition case made from a space-grade aluminium alloy? That could already be enough, but OnePlus 3T Colette includes all the features of the standard version, which has been well received for its performance in the midrange smartphone market.

At 7.3 mm, the metal case is light and thin, with an intentionally designed balance of soft curves and sharp lines to give it a comfortable feel. Apart from the aluminium, the rear camera is housed in stainless steel and shielded with sapphire glass to protect against the inevitable drops and scratches.

The phone comes with a Qualcomm®Snapdragon™ 821 processor (2.35 GHz), which the company says has increased performance without sacrificing power efficiency. That efficiency also is boosted with a new 3400 mAh battery that delivers a 13 percent increase in capacity over a prior OnePlus 3 iteration.

That power play also means that users can charge the phone even while gaming, live-streaming and other power hungry operations are ongoing, and a full day's charge is available in as little as 30 minutes. It's because the phone carries more current than some other fast charging systems do, but OnePlus says their proprietary process will do so at lower temperatures, and with the same size and weight system.

The phone also packs 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM, designed to support graphic-intensive games or shooting 4K video. Storage is available up to 128GB, which is a more than adequate level for most mobile users. It also incorporates UFS 2.0 data transfer technology, which the OnePlus designers prefer to eMMC5.1.

Since keeping the experience smooth and latency-free was a design priority, the company also has implemented a new file system to accelerate boot speeds and transfers, to keep up with the ever evolving universe of apps people want.

But if they wanted a black OnePlus 3T, well – there's no app for that. Success depended on what kind of speed hopeful buyers could muster while making that physical trip to Colette's in Paris, hoping to score the OnePlus 3T Colette in a black aluminium that made it an exclusive find in both phone and fashion.