OnePlus’s next smartphone is close at hand and with the launch potentially just around the corner, there’s already a lot to know about the next “flagship killer” from one of the more recognizable startups that has now been around for nearly half a decade. Granted, OnePlus doesn’t refer to its phones as “flagship killers” anymore, and most of the information about the OnePlus 6 that has surfaced so far hasn’t been confirmed, but chances are that some of the information is correct, and it won’t be too long before the phone is officially announced which will then lead to the outing of all of its details. That said, in regards to the OnePlus 6, much information has already been leaked and could give some insight on what to expect when the high-end Android device finally launches.
Release Date
Up until a week ago, there wasn’t much to go on in terms of the announcement/release date for OnePlus’s upcoming phone, but back on April 9, a rumor surfaced which suggested that the OnePlus 6 would be launching in China on May 5. The word launching is used specifically, but many times the word “launch” will be used in reference to the announcement, which technically isn’t technically the same as a release as phones usually aren’t available immediately once they’ve been officially unveiled. That would be totally different however, if the phone actually launched on the same day as the announcement. It’s entirely possible that OnePlus could do this with the OnePlus 6 but there’s no way to know for sure until the announcement happens.
Update: May 2
OnePlus has confirmed that there will be numerous pop up events hitting happening on the day of the announcement, with stores showing up in the U.S., Europe, India, and China. Interested consumers will be able to find these stores in London, New York, San Francisco, Paris, Berlin, Milan, and Beijing, as well as quite a few others.
Update: May 10
pre-bookConsumers in India will reportedly be able to the device as early as May 13, which is just days before the official announcement takes place. The pre-bookings start on May 13 and go till May 16, with OnePlus India’s official Twitter page noting that this would allow consumers in the region to reserve their device before anyone else.
Design
When it comes to design, the biggest element or at least the one that is likely to get the most attention is perhaps the notch. The term refers to an area at the top of the screen which houses the earpiece and front-facing camera sensor. The cutout was debuted on the iPhone X and then other Android manufacturers have since followed. OnePlus being one of those manufacturers. At first, the OnePlus 6 notch was just a rumor, but over the last couple of weeks, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei officially confirmed that the device would come with such a cutout, and both prior to his confirmation and after it, renders and leaked images had surfaced displaying that a notch was present. Notches aside, there are other notable parts to the OnePlus 6 design to pay attention to.
OnePlus is known for being a fan of making its phones a tad bit differently. First there was the Sandstone back of the OnePlus One, then the use of ceramic, and eventually the use of wood for replaceable back covers, though OnePlus would hardly be the first OEM to use wood for the backing of a phone. A recently leaked image of the OnePlus 6 suggests that it may come in a variant offers a wood back. It’s also possible that the device will have wooded Style Swap covers and the leaked image just happens to show one of them, either way, it would appear that the OnePlus 6 will have wood options available for consumers in one way or another. It also looks like the device will keep the 3.5mm audio port which seems to be located on the bottom next to the USB Type-C charging and data transfer port, and the phone once again has a rear-facing fingerprint sensor and dual rear cameras.
There’s also reportedly going to be a special Infinity War edition of the OnePlus 6 coming out in perhaps celebration of the film, which releases this month. This is according to reports that state it will be released in the UK and India, so there’s no guarantee the IF version of the phone will make it to other countries. The phone will also not have different specs from the original so those hoping to get their hands on one for a more powerful model will be a bit disappointed. It will come with a different look, though, so it might just be the perfect fit for Marvel fans. There have also been a number of concept renders mocked up, as well as at least one leak which allegedly shows the live image of the phone, which may point to what to expect from it in terms of design.
Update: May 3
OnePlus has been rumored to be releasing an Avengers edition of the OnePlus 6, and the packaging for that phone has just been leaked, showing off the familiar Avengers “A” logo on the front of the box. The rumors peg the device for a launch in India but there’s not much detail on whether or not it’ll be available elsewhere.
Update: May 9
While the phone was suspected to be coming in Black and perhaps a White color, a recent leak shows the OnePlus 6 in Black and White, more or less confirming that these will be two available color options for the phone at some point after release.
Update: May 10
More renders have surfaced of the OnePlus 6, this time in CAD renders. While these aren’t actual images of the phone or press images, they do match up with previous leaks that showed off the design, which means this is what consumers can look forward to if they decide to purchase this phone.
Update: May 13
Over the weekend a new set of leaked images surfaced, found on the Amazon Germany website along with details about the phone and showcasing the entire design just days before it’s scheduled to be officially announced at OnePlus’ event. The listing page was taken down pretty quickly but not before the leaked images were grabbed. You can view them in the gallery just below.
Price and Specs
When it comes to pricing, one thing that consumers and loyal OnePlus fans can be assured of is that the phone will be priced competitively. That does not mean it won’t cost more than a few hundred. It’s likely to be around the $500-$600 range in the U.S. which would keep it close to the pricing of the last couple of OnePlus devices, and that would make it quite a bit less than competing flagships with similar specs. Recent rumors have pegged the OnePlus 6 as coming to China at a price of 3,799 yuan for the 128GB model, while the 256GB model is rumored to cost 4,399 yuan, which are equal to $602 and $697 respectively, though the exact U.S. pricing will probably be slightly different. At least one rumor has also suggested that the U.S. version of the 8GB model would cost $749, which would make it not only OnePlus’s most expensive phone to date, but it would also be exactly the same cost as the Galaxy S9, though it would come with significantly more storage and RAM, so there’s that. A recent leak revealed the OnePlus 6 will be an Amazon exclusive in India, much like its predecessor.
In terms of specs, the two above-mentioned storage options are said to be the amounts of internal memory that OnePlus plans to offer, which will be 128GB or 256GB, keeping in mind that if these are correct, there’s no certainty that OnePlus will launch both versions everywhere it launches the phone in general. Internal storage aside the OnePlus 6 should also be coming with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, and have 8GB of RAM, so it will likely be on par with other top-end phones from 2018. OnePlus has been consistent with using the best processor available at the time for the majority of its phones, so using the Snapdragon 845 was to be expected and probably won’t be a surprise to anyone.
So far, it doesn’t appear there have been any rumors regarding what quality the cameras will be or how many megapixels each sensor will offer, but they should at least be on point with what was on offer with the OnePlus 5T. In fact, if a recent rumor about the phone’s cameras is to be believed, then it’s possible the OnePlus 6 will have some very good cameras and imaging software on board. The rumor in question suggests that the OnePlus 6 may end up with a triple-digit score from DxOMark, which is still considered to be the benchmark standard for cameras. If this ends up being true, it would make the OnePlus 6 one of the best smartphone cameras out there when it launches. Naturally, the OnePlus 6 will come with Oreo for the software and quite likely Android 8.1, which is the current belief from the rumors. There’s been no concrete evidence of screen size but a concept render of the device has envisioned a 6-inch panel, which is certainly a possibility and wouldn’t be too different from the OnePlus 5T or OnePlus 5 in terms of size.
Update: May 10
While each region is different in terms of what consumers will get for bonuses, whether from pre-orders or trade-in programs, it seems that European consumers are going to be getting up to €280 in savings, or at least have the potential to save that much on the purchase based on the device they trade in. It’s not mentioned which countries in Europe will be supporting the trade-in offer, so it’s likely that OnePlus will mention this detail following the announcement of the phone.
Update: May 14
Following the leak of the phone on Amazon’s German website, a Dutch retailer today reportedly confirmed certain pre-order details about the upcoming device, such as the price for the region which is said to be around €500, though this is a tiny bit less than the rumored price from the Amazon leak which listed the price at €519. Other details were included as well, like the storage options said to be at 64GB and 256B and come with 6GB of RAM and 8GB of RAM respectively.
Cases
The OnePlus 6 has leaked its fair share of times since the beginning of 2018, but it hasn’t been all about the phone. As with most phones which usually demand attention from consumers, there are going to be a decent number of cases available for protection and customization. The OnePlus 6 is no different and has had a number of cases for it leaked over the past month. While this does well to showcase what case options will be around for those that want to buy them, they usually also end up showing the phone’s design. The most recent leak shows a variety of cases from Olixar, and in the case image, you can clearly see the front and back of the phone, complete with the notch, dual rear cameras, rear-facing fingerprint sensor and more. You also see what appears to be the repositioned alert slider, a feature which has already been rumored to be moving to the right side of the phone, so this would seem to add some credence to that particular rumor from a week or two ago.
Update: May 12
If you like putting cases on your device to help keep it protected then you may have quite a few options to choose from. Another leak shows off various cases that look to offer a combination of both style and function, with a leather-like design on the back in addition to what looks like a smooth, durable plastic, and coming in various colors such as Black, Red, Gold, and Blue. There are also appear to be some clear shells and a couple of other designs as well, and of course the phone in the images with the cases show off the design of the phone, which adds to the myriad of leaked images for the device that are already out there.
Features
One of the popular features of the OnePlus smartphones since the OnePlus 2 has been the alert slider, which has been an easy way for users to adjust the notification alerts between the different modes that were incorporated into Android some time ago. The alert slider isn’t new, but as briefly mentioned above the OnePlus 6 is due to be released with the slider repositioned and placed on the right side instead of the left, so it was worth mentioning here under the features section of this post. While the slider may not be new, it has been rumored that OnePlus would be adding a new function to it and allowing the camera focus to be adjusted with the slider. In terms of new features that will be accompanying the OnePlus 6 and which haven’t been present on older OnePlus smartphones, the company has reportedly mentioned that the phone would come with navigation gestures. Gestures aren’t new to Android devices, but they will be new to any device from OnePlus in a native format as they will actually be baked into the software of the OnePlus 6 and won’t have to be grabbed from a third-party launcher. That’s about as detailed as it gets, however, as OnePlus has stayed tight-lipped on gestures beyond the fact that they’ll be available.
Another feature that is potentially going to be included is a hideable notch. According to a report from earlier in the month, the OnePlus 6 will feature a hideable notch due to feedback from users expressing distaste for the notch in general. If this is the case, then it should be similar to the hideable notch that was seen in a leaked video for LG’s G7 Neo that was on display at MWC 2018. Though it’s worth keeping in mind that while the notch has been confirmed for the device by the company itself, the ability to hide it has not been. The OnePlus 6 will also be the company’s first smartphone with some degree of water resistance, with the firm recently hinting at something in the vein of an IP65 rating.
Update: May 7
Slowly but surely more hints and teasers are starting to make their way onto the web, and one of the latest from OnePlus seems to be teasing that the phone will come with a heart rate sensor. This wouldn’t be the first smartphone to come with such a feature but it would be the first from OnePlus, which might suggest the company is taking a more health-focused approach this year, at least in some capacity.
Update: May 9
After Google officially announced the Android P beta, OnePlus followed suit with an announcement of its own, confirming that OnePlus 6 owners would get access to the Android P beta software, and in turn access to all the new features that will be a part of the final rollout of Android P that Google plans to launch later in the year.
Update: May 14
A new teaser from OnePlus leading up to the announcement on May 16 hints that the OnePlus 6 will come with camera features that are powered by artificial intelligence, which sounds like a page out of LG’s book, as the company just announced the G7 ThinQ very recently and it comes with quite a few A.I-powered camera tricks. The leak doesn’t reveal much information, but it does mention A.I. alongside the image of the camera with the shape of eye around the sensor.
Wrap Up
It goes without saying that most of the information in this preview hasn’t been confirmed and lots of the details are subject to change, as all of the information is based on rumors and what little confirmed details have been put out there by the company. Nevertheless, those who find OnePlus devices exciting will probably have much to look forward to as the OEM prepares to unveil its next Android device. On paper and judging by the rumors, the OnePlus 6 is shaping up to be a powerful and competitive smartphone, but powerful and competitive exactly remains to be seen.