OnePlus has established themselves as a top tier brand with immense value proposition. Being 2018, the leak stream had us unsurprised when OnePlus announced their flagship Android Smartphone for the year. That said, images do little to no justice to what the OnePlus 6 feels like in hand. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the OnePlus 6 finally feels a much more premium product compared to its asking price.
There are several subtle yet noticeable changes that make this phone worthy of the flagship tag. The earlier versions of this phone had a distinctive characteristic of their own. But, the OnePlus 6 sports the elements to stand proud against smartphones twice the price. Let’s take a look at the OnePlus 6 and what it offers as an arguably affordable flagship package.
Small notch, large display
The OnePlus 6 is not immune to the 2018 trend of notches. Although the notch is rather well designed and is easily negated with a tap. The display is a gorgeous 6.3-inch 19:9 OLED panel with 2280 x 1080 resolution. In theory the display size seems unmanageable but the overall footprint of the phone is similar to it’s predecessor.
This is one of the few phones that sport a minimum chin bezel along with a notch on top. OnePlus phones are popular for their quality OLED displays and the OnePlus 6 is no exception.
Premium feel, better connectivity
It is hard to explain how a phone feels. If you use a metal back phone and want to understand how a glass back phone feels, flip your phone and try holding it. The OnePlus 6 is wrapped with Gorilla glass 5 at the front and glass on its rear. Increasing connectivity speeds demand change in elements used by our phones.
Glass back not only ensures better connectivity with dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 5.0, but also a premium feel in the hand. The glass curves and blends into the aluminium frame. This illusive design makes the phone feel thinner to hold than it actually is. Overall, the OnePlus 6 manages perfect balance between premium feel and connectivity.
Beastly hardware
OnePlus has done it again. For the price, it is hard to imagine the specs OnePlus packs in their flagship devices. The OnePlus 6 sports Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 845 SoC, Adreno 630 GPU with up to 8GB RAM and 256 GB of UFS 2.1 storage. There are three options available in India – 6GB RAM with 64GB storage, 8GB RAM with 128GB storage and a special edition Avengers edition sporting 8GB RAM with 256GB storage.
Apart from best of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, OnePlus allows you to choose the best of LTE networks with dual nano SIM support. The camera system at the rear comes with better dual optics than the one found in the OnePlus 5T. This time around, the 16MP rear shooter has a 19% better sensor size at 1.22μm along with OIS. Both the 16MP and 20MP rear shooters are capable of shooting at f/1.7 aperture.
There is a 16MP f/2.0 shooter up front which can take normal and group faux-bokeh photos. These cameras feature pro mode for manual controls and raw image capture. Both these Sony sensors are top tier like the rest of their hardware siblings. The alert slider has changed sides and now moves just above the power button. This feels like a natural space for the slider avoiding two handed usage to toggle a button. All this hardware is powered by a dash charge supported 3300mAh battery. This method of USB Type-C charging is still the quickest means of charging any smartphone. Oh and did we mention, this phone sports a headphone jack!
Smart and fast software
Oxygen OS on the OnePlus 6 is as close to stock Android as a ROM can be. Out of the box, the phone comes with almost no bloatware. OnePlus includes gaming mode on their phones but this time around you can take it a notch further. Users can allocate data priority to their games connected to the internet, limit background data usage and also save battery doing so. Then there’s AI which has been implemented in a subtle manner for faux-bokeh and overall phone performance.
Android P beta support was extended to this device before OnePlus announced it. Hence, the OS AI and project treble assures that the phone will remain swift through its ‘tech’ life span. Oxygen OS has proven itself and we do not doubt it’s viability further.
An affordable flagship
Priced at INR 34,999 for the variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB Storage, the starting price for a OnePlus device has seen a hike. Considering global inflation rate on smartphones, this seems fair. Let’s not talk about the iPhone X at all, ssshhhhh! The OnePlus 6 with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage will cost you INR 39,999. While, the special Avengers edition OnePlus 6 with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage is priced at INR 44,999.
These prices are quite less when you compare Android flagship smartphones from companies like Samsung, LG and others. OnePlus manages to dominate the value preposition. Offered in limited all glass back colour variants – mirror or matte black, carbon black (Avenger’s Edition) and soft touch white, the OnePlus 6 feels premium as a smartphone. Overall, it would be safe to say that this is the best smartphone OnePlus has made and we expect nothing less.
Extras
The OnePlus 6 brings in slow motion video capture with 480fps HD (720p) recording for up to 60 seconds. If Instagram is your go to social media app, this is the feature for you. Treble support also assures that the phone will get at least two Android OS upgrades in the future to come. The headphone jack also packs in a powerful DAC for audiophiles and enthusiasts to drive large driver headphones with ease.
OnePlus also announced their first wireless earphones with dash charge capabilities. They claim that a 10 minute charge can give you up to 5 hours of music playback. Priced at INR 3999, these earphones also come with magnetic locks and are sweat proof. Speaking of proof, OnePlus claims that the OnePlus 6 can handle rains and a dip in the puddle but did not attach a certification to the device. We are happy to see a beautiful design be weather proof as well.
Yes, the phone still misses on wireless charging in 2018. But, I would take Dash Charging over slower-than-normal wireless charging any given day. We do hope OnePlus cracks dash wireless charging and serves it with their future iterations. Until then, OnePlus 6 looks great as a 2018 flagship and a notch worthy competitor in a crowded Android space.
