OnePlus has now officially unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 6, following on from the OnePlus 5T which was first announced in November 2017, and the OnePlus 5 earlier in the same year. Consistent with previous releases from OnePlus, the OnePlus 6 sticks with the company’s core values by adopting the position of a very powerful Android smartphone at the spec level, mixed with a number of design traits that are on trend for the year of release. For example, in 2017 this meant the inclusion of a dual rear camera setup, while in 2018 this has resulted in the inclusion of a notch at the top of the display.
However, the notch is not the only main point to focus on with this new phone as there are also a number of design changes that have come through in general, as well as a number of improvements at the software level. For instance, the camera experience has always been at the forefront of the OnePlus phone experience and this is a trend that continues with this latest model through the introduction of new features designed to improve the quality of photos captured, and while this is once again a dual rear camera setup, the camera module has found itself the subject of a change in terms of where it is positioned on the back plate – marking a notable change from the previous generation’s iPhone and OPPO-like look. In addition, the OnePlus 6 maintains some of the core selling points that have become synonymous with the OnePlus name, such as super-fast charging and a very competitive price point. Although the OnePlus 6 is not quite as affordable as its predecessors were at launch.
OnePlus 6 Specs
The OnePlus 6, much like its predecessor, comes with an OLED panel, though it has a larger display with a different aspect ratio. The OnePlus 6 sports a 6.28-inch fullHD+ (2280 x 1080) Optic AMOLED display, which results in a 19:9 aspect ratio. The phone is fueled by one of the most powerful processors at the moment, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 64-bit octa-core SoC, which includes the Adreno 630 GPU. OnePlus has introduced three variants of the OnePlus 6, a 6GB RAM (LPDDR4X RAM) variant comes with 64GB of storage, while the phone’s 8GB RAM model is available in both 128GB and 256GB (UFS 2.1) storage flavors. It is worth noting that you cannot expand OnePlus 6’s internal storage, so what you buy is what you get.
A 3,300 mAh battery is included as well, and you will be able to recharge it rather fast using OnePlus’s proprietary Dash Charge fast charging technology. The device includes two SIM card slots (2x nano SIM), while a fingerprint scanner lies on the back, right below the phone’s cameras. Bluetooth 5.0 is included in the package as well, while Android 8.1 (Oreo) comes pre-installed on the phone along with OxygenOS 5.1. A set of 16-megapixel (f/1.7 aperture, Sony’s IMX519 sensor, 1.22um pixel size) and 20-megapixel (f/1.7 aperture) cameras are also included on the back, and these are RGB and telephoto cameras, respectively. A single 16-megapixel camera sits on the front of the OnePlus 6, while the phone measures 155.7 x 75.35 x 7.75 mm, and weighs in at 177 grams. 4 x 4 MIMO support is now part of the package as well, delivering the latest wireless advancements to OnePlus’s customers.
OnePlus 6 Hardware & Design
While not straying too far from the design of the OnePlus 5T, OnePlus managed to change enough pieces of the design on the OnePlus 6 that consumers should be able to tell the difference between the two fairly easily. Most notably, when it comes to design choices OnePlus has added a notch to the display at the top, housing the camera and earpiece and leaving just enough room for those two while also keeping a very slim bezel at the bottom of the display so as to maximize screen real estate. So while the notch may not be to everyone’s liking it serves a design-specific purpose.
In addition to the notch, OnePlus has also shifted the position of the rear-facing camera. The OnePlus 6 is still using a dual camera setup on the back but the camera module is now placed in the middle instead of the top left corner, and OnePlus has taken the round fingerprint sensor and made it a bit longer so it should be easier to tap. The alert slider has also been moved from the left side of the frame to the right side of the frame. Looking at the phone from both the front and back, everything is centered – the notch, the camera module, the LED flash module, the OnePlus logo, and even the “Designed by OnePlus” label at the bottom on the back of the device, resulting in more of a cohesive look. As far as colors go, OnePlus is keeping things a little more basic this time around, at least for the initial models of the phone, offering two versions of black – Mirror and Midnight Black, which are essentially glossy and matte finishes, as well as Silk White. The latter will be released three weeks from now as a limited-edition model with rose gold accents.
OnePlus has been known for creating devices which use more unique materials for its handsets. The OnePlus One for example, came with a sandstone back. The same isn’t exactly true for the OnePlus 6 but the company is using different materials for the Mirror Black and Midnight Black. The Mirror Black model will be coming with a reflective glass back, while the Midnight Black will offer a more matte finish. This design choice gives OnePlus the ability to keep the color more or less the same but still give each model a bit of a different look and provide customers with more options when choosing the color variation that best suits their tastes.
OnePlus 6 Cameras
As is the case with the majority of contemporary flagships, the camera on the OnePlus 6 is being touted as one of its main selling points, with the Chinese phone maker opting for a dual-lens setup for the third time in a row. The main imaging system of the new Android handset consists of a 20-megapixel sensor and a 16-megapixel one, both made by Sony, with the two being arranged in a vertical manner, centered near the top of the phablet’s rear plate. The setup is supported by a dual-LED (dual-tone) flash sitting below it, creating some additional space between the cameras and the fingerprint sensor, with the idea being to minimize the chances of the lenses getting smudged.
The imaging solution is hence largely similar to that of the OnePlus 5T, with the main improvements coming in terms of software and additional features such as the new “Slide to Focus” functionality allowing you to adjust your focus with the repositioned Alert Slider. Beautification mode support is once again part of the package, this time powered by artificial intelligence technologies. One major addition comes in the form of slow-motion capabilities meant to take on Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and Sony’s Xperia XZ2 lineup, offering 480fps recordings at a reduced resolution. While that’s half the frame rate of the aforementioned devices, the OnePlus 6 can record a minute-long video and let you choose which parts to slow down during post-processing, thus giving you more control over your clips. The primary f/1.7 lens is making a return with the OnePlus 6, together with the f/2.8 module sitting in front of the smartphone’s secondary camera. Phase detection autofocus and HDR support are unsurprisingly on offer once again, and optical image stabilization is now here to complement its electronic counterpart as well, supported by both cameras.
The front-facing camera is now sitting inside a display notch but remains largely unchanged from the hardware side of things, featuring a 16-megapixel sensor and an f/2.0 lens. The aforementioned Beautification mode improvements are touted as some of its highlights, together with Auto-HDR and maintained EIS support. Both the front and rear-facing setups are said to be offering improved low-light performance and quicker focusing mechanisms, with their Portrait and other automated modes being backed by new AI algorithms that can adjust shooting parameters in real time better than the OnePlus 5T did. Portrait Mode won’t be supported by the front camera at launch but will be included via an OTA update within a month of the phone’s availability. Judging from the carefully selected sample shots comparing the images delivered by the OnePlus 6 with those captured by some other contemporary flagships such as the Galaxy S9 and Google’s Pixel 2 XL, the newly announced Android device can take on its rivals in most scenarios and delivers results that are worthy of its high-end price tag.
OnePlus 6 Battery
OnePlus may have changed a handful of things about the new OnePlus 6 but one thing which seems to have stayed the same is the battery. The OnePlus 6 features a 3,300 mAh capacity battery just like the OnePlus 5T, so consumers aren’t going to get a bigger battery here. The device will support Dash Charge just like on the OnePlus 5T, and since it has the same capacity it should charge up to 60-percent in about 30 minutes or so. This presents little change in the way of the battery for OnePlus’ latest device, and although there is really no change, OnePlus may have no reason to change things with the battery if things aren’t broken and if there is no need for things to be changed in the first place.
That seems to be the case here, at least from OnePlus’ perspective, so device owners can likely expect pretty decent battery life that will take them through one or two days of average to mildly heavy use, and of course if things get a little bit heavier there’s always the Dash Charge to get things back in working order rather quickly.
OnePlus 6 Security
Similar to the OnePlus 5T, the OnePlus 6 does have two different ways to secure the device. That is with your fingerprint or with your face. Face Unlock does make a return on the OnePlus 6, and is still just as fast as on the OnePlus 5T, being capable of recognizing you in 0.4 seconds. With Face Unlock, you’ll be able to simply pull your phone out of your pocket and look at it, and it’ll be unlocked. Of course, that also means that it’s not going to be super secure, seeing as it is using the front-facing camera to verify it’s you, and that can be spoofed with a picture.
Those that want to use the tried and true fingerprint sensor, can still do just that. The fingerprint sensor is placed underneath the dual-camera on the back of the OnePlus 6. This isn’t OnePlus’ first rodeo with a fingerprint sensor, so it is a pretty fast and accurate sensor here. Obviously, it is more secure than using Face Unlock, and for many, it’s going to be a force of habit, coming from an older device – since most phones have a fingerprint sensor in the past three to four years.
OnePlus 6 Variants
OnePlus usually releases two models of its flagships each year although this year it has technically unveiled three different variants of the OnePlus 6. A 6GB RAM model comes with 64GB of storage, while an 8GB RAM variant is available in both 128GB and 256GB storage flavors. It is worth noting that storage is not expandable in either of these variants. It remains to be seen whether the company will keep this arrangement for the OnePlus 6T later this year, presuming that OnePlus does plan on releasing a “T” version of the OnePlus 6.
OnePlus 6 Availability
The OnePlus 6 will be available in Midnight and Mirror Black starting May 22, whereas the Silk White version will debut on June 5, starting at $529 for the 6GB/64GB model, $579 for the 8GB/128GB one, and going up to $629 for the 8GB/256GB model. That is significantly more than the OnePlus One was priced at when the company started out a few years ago. It has inched up in price every year, and it’s now priced even closer to the flagships from LG, Samsung, and Motorola. As always, you’ll be able to pick up the OnePlus 6 from OnePlus’s own website, and if you live in India, you’ll have the ability to also get it from Amazon as well.
OnePlus 6 Gallery
