Here's great news for people looking for a high-end smartphone but priced for the masses.

Chinese startup One Plus, based in Shenzhen, is now getting ready to take pre-orders for no other than the One. It's called One, and it's the smartphone tech enthusiasts across the globe have been waiting for and lusting after for months.

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One Plus founder Pete Lau believes this will be the answer to what most people have been desiring in a smartphone - reliable, fun to use, and priced low.

In fact, compared to those big-name smartphones like the new iPhone 6 or the Samsung Galaxy S5, the prices of which are usually hidden inside a carrier plan, the One sells for a very low US$299. That's it. After you pay the price, the One is yours. And if you take it to a carrier like T-Mobile, which offers a discount on your plan if you bring your own phone, you'll end up saving some substantial cash.

Today's high-end smartphones could cost you US$650 - or maybe $200 up front when you sign up for the plan and the phone, and a monthly fee of $25 to $27 for the next two years before the phone becomes yours.

With the One, you're in for a great bargain.

And the quality?

New York Times tech reporter Farhad Manjoo says he has been using the One for a couple of weeks, and he says it's one of the best smartphones he has ever used.

The One has a spare design, loaded with the latest tech specifications, and runs Cyanogen Mod, a version of Google's Android OS that is said to be a lot more flexible and user-friendly than the different flavors of Andoid.

Pre-orders for the One will start this month, but until that system goes live, the only way to get to buy one - or One - is by snagging a coveted invitation.

Pete Lau believes their device, like many other good-quality smartphones made by other Chinese start-ups, is shaking up the mobile industry in China and other parts of the developing world. Remember Xiaomi? This summer, this other start-up surpassed Samsung as China's top smartphone vendor.

But One Plus has great plans for extending its market beyond China. Carl Pei, head of the global division, said his staff is now composed of a one-third Asian, one-third European, and one-third U.S.

"We don't really think of ourselves as a  Chinese startup," Pei says.

He is expecting that very soon, sales of the One outside of China will surpass sales in its home country.

Incidentally, HTC's flagship phone is also called the One. So you might as well call this new unicorn in the smartphone market the One Plus One.