Introduction
The Google Pixel 3 XL and OnePlus 6T are considerably different smartphones, both in terms of the design, their internals, and even their approach to taking pictures, and yet, both of these phones are respective flagships for Google and OnePlus, and are worth comparing. Both of these smartphones are regarded to be amongst the best Android phones in the market at the moment, even though the Pixel 3 XL has been a subject of way more controversy compared to the OnePlus 6T. That being said, let’s compare these two smartphones and see what they have to offer, as per usual, we’ll kick things off with the spec sheet.
Specifications
Design
The design of a phone is always important, if you don’t like it, chances are you won’t buy the phone, and that goes for both the way phone looks, and the way it feels in the hand. Now, both of these handsets are made out of metal and glass, though the approach to their designs is quite different. The Pixel 3 XL has a small glass plate on the back, while the rest of its back sports some coating on top of metal which makes it noticeably grippier than the OnePlus 6T. The OnePlus 6T sports glass on its whole back side, and is quite slippy, but it also looks much better compared to the Pixel 3 XL on the back, as light reflects the phone in a certain way, especially on Midnight Black, Purple Thunder, and McLaren Edition variants, while on top of that, the OnePlus 6T does not have a fingerprint scanner on the back, so the design looks cleaner as well. If we flip the phone to the front, you will notice a chunkier bottom bezel on the Pixel 3 XL, and a huge notch at the top of the display, one of the tallest out there, if not the tallest one. The OnePlus 6T, on the other hand, offers a rather small teardrop notch, which is much less obtrusive. Coming down to dimensions, the OnePlus 6T is both shorter and narrower than the Pixel 3 XL, despite the fact it has a slightly larger display, but it also has a taller display aspect ratio compared to the Pixel 3 XL. The Pixel 3 XL is a bit thinner, though. So, what’s the verdict? Well, we lean on the OnePlus 6T’s side here, the PIxel 3 XL is not much to look at, to be quite honest, and even though it’s not as slippery as the OnePlus 6T, that notch is really an eyesore, and the same goes for a number of other aspects on the device.
Winner: OnePlus 6T
Display
Both the Google Pixel 3 XL and OnePlus 6T have rather large, and really solid displays. The Pixel 3 XL comes with a 6.39-inch QHD+ P-OLED panel, which is much improved compared to the Pixel 2 XL’s panel, which was plagued by issues last year. The OnePlus 6T features a 6.41-inch fullHD+ Optic AMOLED display, which offers those deep blacks like the Pixel 3 XL, but it comes with a lower resolution. Truth be said, for most people both of these phones will do an awesome job when it comes to display quality, and most people won’t even notice the difference in resolution. Both displays are quite vibrant, and both are protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass, though the OnePlus 6T ships with Gorilla Glass 6, while the Pixel 3 XL comes with a sheet of Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Both displays come with DCI-P3 coverage, though the Pixel 3 XL’s display also supports HDR output. All of that considered, we have to give this one to the Pixel 3 XL, it’s a higher-res display, and even though both are really, really good, the Pixel 3 XL gets our vote here.
Winner: Google Pixel 3 XL
Performance
Ah… performance. Performance is one of the most important aspects of a smartphone, because if a phone is not performing as it should, as you expect it to, you probably won’t tolerate it, no matter how great its camera or display are. Well, you’ll be glad to know that both of these phones deliver in this area, and when Google’s Pixel phones get compared to anything else, they usually come out on top in this category, but that’s not the case this year. The Pixel 3 XL had, and still has, some issues when it comes to performance, Google did fix the memory management issue earlier this month, an issue that was plaguing the Pixel 3 XL, but there are some additional problems with the device, which prevent it to be the best-performing phone out there, especially considering how optimized the OnePlus 6T’s software is, and that powerful hardware that is attached to it definitely helps. The OnePlus 6T comes in 6GB, 8GB, and 10GB RAM flavors, while the Pixel 3 XL includes 4GB of RAM. It’s not all about specs, but they certainly do help, and OnePlus’ OxygenOS experience is extremely optimized this year, so we have to give this one to the OnePlus 6T.
Winner: OnePlus 6T
Battery Life
In terms of battery life, chances are that neither of these two phones will disappoint you. The Google Pixel 3 XL comes with a 3,430mAh battery, while the OnePlus 6T packs in a 3,700mAh unit. That being said, the Pixel 3 XL offers wireless charging, Qi standard, and 18W fast battery charging, while the OnePlus 6T doesn’t have wireless charging, but its proprietary wired charging is considerably faster than the Pixel 3 XL’s. In terms of sheer battery endurance, both phones are really good, but the OnePlus 6T has an edge here, as it managed to last longer in our testing, as we were left with more battery at the end of the day with the OnePlus 6T than the Pixel 3 XL, with similar usage, though your mileage may vary. The point is, both are really good when it comes to battery life, and chances are that you won’t need to charge either of them during the day, unless you’re a really hardcore user. With that in mind, this category will go to the OnePlus 6T, despite the fact it doesn’t offer wireless charging, as its charging is considerably faster, and it lasted longer in our testing.
Winner: OnePlus 6T
Cameras
Most people these days do not carry a camera with them, their smartphone is their main camera, and thus this is a really important aspect of every smartphone. The OnePlus 6T has a solid camera setup, on par with the OnePlus 6, while the phone also introduced a new mode for nighttime photography called Nightscape. That being said, despite the fact the Google Pixel 3 XL has one less camera on the back compared to the OnePlus 6T, it’s the superior camera smartphone in this comparison. Very few smartphones can compete with Google’s Pixel smartphones when it comes to cameras, especially in low light, as Google’s camera algorithms do most of the heavy lifting. Something similar can be said for front-facing cameras as well, as the Pixel 3 XL offers an ultrawide angle selfies, which is something that the OnePlus 6T cannot offer. So, if you’re getting a smartphone simply because of its camera, the Pixel 3 XL should probably be your choice.
Winner: Google Pixel 3 XL
Conclusion
So, the bottom line is, both of these devices are really good, which is kind of what we’re used to when it comes to comparing today’s flagship smartphones. Each of these phones is better at something, if you need a camera that can shoot great pictures in low light, and you want a higher-res display, go for the Pixel 3 XL, if you’re looking for a sleeker-looking phone, which offer better performance and battery life, then the OnePlus 6T should be your choice. There are some other things to consider here as well, of course, the Pixel 3 XL offers a set of stereo speakers, front-facing ones, which are much better than a single speaker on the OnePlus 6T, but on the other hand the OnePlus 6T is much, much more affordable smartphone, and you can save up over $200 if you get it over the Google Pixel 3 XL. With all of that considered, we do think that the OnePlus 6T is the winner of this comparison, though some of you may think differently, of course, and that’s perfectly fine.
Winner: OnePlus 6T