Introduction
Do we have a good one for you today – the Honor 6X goes up against the popular OnePlus 3T. Both devices use an all-metal design, offer a solid build quality, and proper specifications, which is unusual considering how cheap the Honor 6X costs. The Honor 6X sports a dual camera set up to allow photographers to add special effects to their photos, while the OnePlus 3T offers higher specs and a great camera of its own. Which one of these devices has what it takes to win this competition? Let’s see just what these two smartphones have in common and just how much they differ.
The Honor 6X and OnePlus 3T do have a few things in common. The displays are the same 5.5-inches in size, and the physical size is almost identical with the Honor 6X weighing in only 2 grams heavier. The displays use different technology but use the same FHD resolution. They both use a different processor and GPU, and they both pack a 64GB memory option with expansion available only with the Honor 6X via a microSD card. The primary camera areas are very different – the Honor 6X uses a 12MP and a 2MP sensor while the OnePlus 3T uses a single 16MP sensor. Both have a fingerprint sensor for unlocking your device, but only the OnePlus 3T is the only one that can authorize mobile payments as the Honor 6X does not have an NFC chip. They both come with the usual suspects – WiFi, Bluetooth (v4.1 in the Honor 6X and v4.2 in the OnePlus 3T), GPS and USB port – a microUSB v2.0 on the Honor 6X and the newer USB Type-C reversible port for charging and data transfer on the OnePlus 3T.
Please take a thoughtful look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below, and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at each device in greater depth and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information, we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.
Specifications
Honor 6X
Huawei’s Honor series is their midrange offering, and it has always offered good specs at a reasonable price, and the Honor 6X continues in this direction. The 32GB model goes for only $250 and $299 for the 64GB model. It has a robust all-metal design with rounded corners that make it a pleasure to hold. It uses 2.D-curved glass that pairs up nicely with the curved sides. The Honor 6X is only 8.2mm thick and rather light at only 162 grams. For the price, it is surprising that Huawei was able to give the Honor 6X dual cameras and it takes decent pictures. Let’s see how it stacks up to the more expensive OnePlus 3T.
The Honor 6X sports a 5.5-inch IPS LCD Full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 403 pixels-per-inch (PPI). Huawei designed processor used in the Honor 6X, the HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core with four cores clocked at 1.7GHz and four cores clocked at 2.1GHz. Their Mali-T830MP2 GPU is onboard to handle the graphics. The base Honor 6X packs 3GB of RAM and offers 32GB of expandable internal memory via a microSD card, but Huawei claims there will also be a 4GB/64GB option available shortly.
The Honor 6X uses an unusual dual camera setup with the secondary camera using only a 2MP sensor. The primary camera is a 12MP, and it uses the 2MP secondary camera to deliver a “professional-grade bokeh effect.” It comes with Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) and a LED flash. The front-facing camera (FFC) is an 8MP lens for selfies and video chatting. The Honor 6X uses a large 3340mAh non-removable battery with rapid charging.
After you pick up and starting using an Honor 6X, you forget it is a mid-range smartphone as it has an excellent build quality and good looks. It comes with a fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device but no NFC chip, so mobile banking is not an option. Huawei added a feature to prevent eye fatigue that filters out the blue light. It measures 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2mm, weighs in at 162 grams, and comes in Gray, Gold, and Silver. Pricing is about $250 for the 3GB/32GB model and only $300 for the upcoming 4GB/64GB model. It comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a planned upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat. The Honor 6X is a GSM device, and it will function on AT&T or T-Mobile in the US.
OnePlus 3T
When the updated Snapdragon 821 was available, OnePlus decided they would update their OnePlus 3 with the new processor and gave it the name of OnePlus 3T. Physically the two phones are identical looking except for a subtle color change to a Gunmetal color and a Gold version that is now available. According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 821 is 10-percent faster processor than the original Snapdragon 820. Improvements also include an increase in battery size from 3000mAh to 3400mAh and OnePlus added a scratch-resistant lens cover on the primary camera. Besides the 64GB model, you can now purchase a 128GB model – neither one is expandable. This decision to update midstream makes us curious as to what to we will see this spring in the OnePlus 4. We are looking at an all-metal device that has excellent build quality at a decent price but how does it hold up to the Honor 6X?
OnePlus, like Huawei does not like to use QHD displays and the OnePlus 3T does not disappoint their fans by coming with a Full HD display. It does, however, sport the OnePlus’ new 5.5-inch Full HD Optic AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and a respectable 401 PPI. OnePlus included the new Snapdragon 821 with the same dual-core clocked at 1.6GHz and another at 2.15GHz and running the same Adreno 530 GPU. OnePlus packs in a full 6GB of DDR4 RAM and 64GB of the faster UFS 2.0 non-expandable internal storage, although you can now order 128GB of internal memory.
OnePlus carried over its excellent camera area from its original OnePlus 3. It uses the same hardware but does have a more scratch-resistant sapphire covered lens. It comes with Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF,) a LED Flash, a large f/2.0 aperture, and OIS for stability. The FFC camera increased to 16MP from only 8MP with a f/2.0 aperture to take great selfies and for video chatting. The OnePlus 3T has a larger 3400mAh non-removable battery that includes their Dash Charge that will give you up to a 60-percent charge in only 30 minutes.
OnePlus finally joined the ‘big boys’ by including both a fingerprint sensor and NFC chip on their OnePlus 3T. This allows the device to make mobile payments as well as Android Pay purchases with a swipe of the finger. It would be so nice if OnePlus would include a model that will work on Verizon and Sprint so that more users could enjoy the experience. It runs mostly stock Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out-of-the-box with OnePlus’ OS called OxygenOS on top but is now upgraded to Android 7.0 Nougat. The OnePlus 3T measures 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm and weighs in at 158 grams. It will cost you about $440 USD for the 6GB/64GB model and about $480 for the 6GB/128GB model, and there is a choice of Gunmetal or Soft Gold.
…And The Winner Is…
The Final Word
I had to pick the OnePlus 3T as the winner in this comparison. Comparing it to the 4GB version of the Honor 6X, the price of the OnePlus 3T is about $140 more, and you still get 2GB more RAM.
The OnePlus 3T has a better AMOLED display, much better processor and GPU, more RAM, a better camera area, NFC capability, and is running Android 7.0 Nougat. These features are well worth the extra money.
However, is money is really tight, you should not be disappointed in the Honor 6X. It has decent specs and a decent price – certainly one of the better bargains as long as you do not want to make mobile payments.
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