OnePlus 6— Worthy 6cessor?
If there was one word to encompass OnePlus, it would be: HYPE.
Since their inception, OnePlus One, the company has been generating hype and it has indeed worked in their favour….mostly.
Remember OnePlus 2? Yeah…that happened.
Leaving their past behind, OnePlus redeemed themselves with the OnePlus 3 and introduced the concept of a mid-cycle refresh, OnePlus 3T.
Following the traditional launch cycle, in June 2017 they introduced the OnePlus 5, or as people exclaimed: “iPhone 7 Plus running on Android”.
Fast forward to December 2017 and world witnessed the launch of OnePlus 5T. It was OnePlus’ debut into the world of “bezel-less” displays with its taller 18:9 (2:1 for you math nerds) aspect ratio display.
Before we proceed further, take a step back for a minute;
Doesn’t it feel like there’s a gradual paradigm shift in flagship release cycle?
Now, it’s biannual.
H1 -> “Proof of Concept Flagship”
H2 -> “This is what the H1 flagship should’ve been, a refined Flagship”
…and here we are, the OnePlus 6! It can be called as a refined OnePlus 5T with certain key differences which sets it apart from its predecessor while being relevant in the competition.
Design
OnePlus 6 has a modern design on front with a notched 19:9, 6.28" FHD+ (2280x1080) Optic AMOLED display,16MP selfie camera and an earpiece (which sadly doesn’t act as a secondary speaker).
While smartphones progressing towards higher resolution displays, OnePlus has managed to stick to it’s 1080p formula and to be honest it’s adequate. It’s neither potato-esque 720p nor a 4K overkill. Unless you’re into mobile VR, OnePlus 6’s FHD+ screen shall service you well. Fortunately, it doesn’t have the jelly effect from the upside down display panel of OnePlus 5.
On the back, it has a dual camera setup (more on that later) above the fingerprint scanner. Did I mention the fingerprint scanner is fast? LIKE BLAZING FAST?
What’s equally fast? The face unlock feature which is powered by just the 16MP front facing camera. No fancy IR sensors like the iPhone X, though. A security trade off? Yes, but at least you still get the fingerprint scanner.
At the bottom right corner, you’ll find the good old trusty 3.5mm audio jack which is rare as a unicorn these days. Also, you’ll be greeted by a single downwards firing speaker which, although loud, lacks bass and audio separation. It’d have been much better if the dual speaker setup (with earpiece acting as the secondary speaker) had been made available.
A stark difference when compared to 5T, is the introduction of “Metal-Glass sandwich” design. No more metal unibody, it has been replaced by smooth Gorilla Glass 5 equipped glass back and a metal sideframe.
Software
Oxygen OS makes a return here (remember Cyanogenmod?) and it’s as good as ever! It perfectly marries Google’s Stock Android with meaningful additions by OnePlus.
The notch really doesn’t bother me as it’s one of the smallest I’ve seen on smartphones till date. Yes, Essential PH-1’s notch is smaller but the chin kind of ruins the effect. OnePlus 6 on the other hand excels at reducing the chin and incorporating a not-so-obstructing notch.
Considering it has an AMOLED display, Oxygen OS gives you the option to completely hide the notch by turning off the display in that area. The final effect is really neat since “black” in OLED displays is literally “turned off” pixels.
It’s commendable how OnePlus has been delivering timely updates to OnePlus 6 so far. From system improvements to camera updates and security patches, OnePlus 6 is currently running on Android 8.1 Oreo and latest security patch with Android P coming later this year. If you can’t wait to taste the Android P goodness, you can even try the Android P Beta on OnePlus 6.
“Gestures” isthe hottest UX term in 2018 and Oxygen OS provides you with plenty to use when the screen is on and even when it’s off. Remember the navigation gestures on iPhone X? You can replicate that on OnePlus 6. Moreover you’ve got a slew of gestures like “Draw a V for Flashlight”, etc for when the screen is off for fast app/action access.
Battery
It packs a modest 3300mAh battery which easily lasts a day with enough room to spare. Also, the legendary Dash Charge makes a return which totally ruins your traditional charging schedule by charging approx 60–67% battery in 30 mins.
Credit given where due, OnePlus’ claim of “A day’s power in half an hour” is legit.
Idle drain is pretty impressive where it hardly loses ~5% battery overnight. When compared to some other devices with abyssmal idle drains, this is a godsent.
One thing which I’d have loved to see is wireless charging. Yes, it’s not fast but convenient! Considering the introduction of glass rear panel, everybody expected OnePlus to deliver wireless charging but alas, no show.
OnePlus 6T, maybe?
Performance
Although OnePlus is not pushing the “Flagship Killer” moniker, it does pack top of the line specs. Snapdragon 845, 8GB RAM, you name it and OnePlus 6 has it.
All this powerful hardware coupled with optimized software, makes for a smooooooth experience. I’m genuinely yet to face a hiccup or an app crash.
Having 8GB of RAM in a smartphone might sound crazy, as a majority of folks still have around 8GB of RAM in their laptops! But trust me, it’s a liberating feeling with no worries in the back of the head that some app must’ve been killed in the background with me losing the unsaved data. You can literally keep two graphically intensive games in background (PUBG Mobile + Asphalt 9? No sweat!) and easily switch between them without any one of them being terminated to save memory.
Camera
Although it won’t win any smartphone photography awards, OnePlus 6 donning a dual camera setup (16MP+20MP) with f/1.7 aperture, shoots impressive photos and videos under suficient light.
One area where it seriously lacks is low light. Unless you shoot in manual mode, you’re pretty much going to get a messy photo in low light. In low light it depends on slow shutter speed to gather light which results in blurry photos. The “fix” is to crank up the ISO and shutter speed. This will at least eliminate the blur and upto a point, gather more light.
Did I mention shooting slow motion videos at 480fps in 720p is a joy on OnePlus 6?
Selfie lovers will appreciate the level of detail provided by its 16MP front facing camera. Bonus, you can even shoot in Portrait mode as it’s not limited to the dual rear facing cameras. Portrait mode is not somehting I fancy, but if you do, you won’t be disappointed as it works well.
Should you buy it?
Sure, why not? It’s a very nicely built smartphone equipped with the best of
OnePlus 6 is currently priced at Rs. 32,999 for the 6+64GB variant and Rs. 37,999 for the 8+128GB variant; available in Midnight Black, Mirror Black and Pearl White colourways.
If you fancy yourself the power of Thanos, you can also opt for the Marvel Avengers Edition of the OnePlus 6.
Updates
- OnePlus 6 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM SKU (which was previously exclusive to Avengers Edition) is now available in Midnight Black for Rs. 43,999.
- OnePlus 6 is now available in Red! It’ll go on sale from 16th July for Rs. 39,999 on Amazon during the Amazon Prime Day sale.
- Starting from 1st August, you can score Rs. 1500 cashback on ICICI Bank credit card EMI transactions and avail 6 months no-cost EMI on all popular bank credit cards across all online and offline channels.
- Moreover, from 3rd August 2018, you can avail Rs. 1500 off on exchange of old smartphone on Amazon.
