I disagree... to access to Edl mode you also have to dismantle your phone, it is not only a matter of account authorization (that Xiaomi stopped to do anyway).
OnePlus it is still more free (as freedom) and flexible than Xiaomi. With Oneplus you can flash any rom you want, lock or unlock bootloader, you always would have a way to do a factory restore your phone without risk.
With Xiaomi right now, if you wrong something, you can loose your phone.
About 12$ to pay some indian is always a risk, because it is an unofficial procedure and a lot of people out of there on the net lie sayng to unlock the phone, and instead they steal your money, knowing that for a few $ you will not go to the police.
Oneplus is more expensive ? yes, a bit more, it is true, but freedom is priceless.