One Plus 6 – Review of the new Android Phone
OnePlus Android phones have been in the market for over five years now and have released this year in May 2018 its best brand phone the One Plus 6 in competition to the Samsung Galaxy S9, iPhone X and LG G7. Much of what makes the OnePlus 6 feel extra special is the completely new build and design. Its body is a complete glass, which curves around the rear and feels fantastic. There’s a rim of metal sandwiched between the glass to add some rigidity.
There’s a highly polished black version that’s gorgeous but a real fingerprint magnet, plus there’s a more conservative Midnight Black matte-finished model, and a stunning white-and-pinky-gold variation. The latter version was made with powdered pearl dust, and while that sounds like the beginnings of a mythical witch’s brew, it does give the phone a jewel-like finish.
Design
There’s been a switch-up in other classic OnePlus design aspects, too. The alert slide is still present, but it sits on the opposite side; and the fingerprint sensor is now an oblong shape, perched beneath the centrally positioned dual cameras. The alert slider lets you easily jump from silent to loud mode without unlocking the phone; despite being heavily rumoured in the run-up to launch, the OnePlus 6 doesn’t hold an IP rating for water resistance. However, the company has said that while the device holds no official rating; much work has been done to improve its protection against water. These come by way of extra seals around the ports and between the screen.
But despite the lack of IP rating, OnePlus appears confident that if you leave your phone in the bathroom; while you’re having a shower or the device is caught out in the rain, it will be fine. On the bottom of the phone; you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack – always nice to see and getting rarer by every phone launch – alongside the USB-C port for charging.
The full specifications of One Plus6 Android
The Phone Display
OnePlus 6 uses the Optic AMOLED screen panel that is good to look at. The colours are not as vibrant as the ones seen in Samsung Galaxy phones. The videos and images do pop up; and the blacks are deep enough to blend with the black screen bezels or even hide the notch. You have the option to hide the notch in the OnePlus 6, in case you were wondering. It is also possible to select which apps can use the fullscreen mode or not. OnePlus 6, has the best option to give users an expanded screen while keeping the front-facing camera and the speaker intact. The notch also includes an LED notification indicator that one can notice; when receiving a notification or while charging the device.
The 6.28-inch Optic AMOLED display with RGB supports the DCI-P3 colour space that is there in the OnePlus 3 and all the later models. With an expanded screen you get a 19:9 aspect ratio; which is usually helpful in viewing videos and clicking well-spanned images. Also, there is a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection so we’re hoping it may survive a couple of drops.
There’s no path-breaking or flagship-killing display feature in OnePlus 6 though. It has the same Adaptive Mode, Reading Mode, Night Mode and Lifts Up Display. Reading mode is also there that desaturates the entire screen turning it into monochrome.
The Phone Performance
One Plus 6 makes use of one of the most powerful mobile chips available in the industry – Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 so as expected, there are no lags or any kind of slow down while opening apps or moving between them. Instead, the UI animations and app launches, as OnePlus claims, are snappier. For an end-user, it’s difficult to say as you won’t be able to make out a difference. However, those coming from Samsung Experience, MIUI or any other interfaces may be able to spot the change. What boosts complex, heavy tasks is 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, which in our case is still overkilled. 6GB RAM would also do the same task at the same speed. In addition to a powerful octa-core processor and ample RAM; you get Adreno 630 GPU handling some of the graphic-intensive apps; and games such as Mortal Kombat, Modern Combat and more.
OnePlus 6 is a delight to use with the OxygenOS. The handset has Android 8.1 Oreo-based 5.1.3; which is as new as it gets and has all the features one would expect from the latest flagship. The new OxygenOS brings an Android security patch, adds configuration for showing or hiding the notch, support for super slow motion at 480fps and other camera-based features.
For those coming from different UIs, the OxygenOS might be a pleasant surprise as it is fast, customisable to some extent and near-stock Android by design. In case you missed it, you can even run the Android P beta version on OnePlus 6.
The Phone Gaming Mode
Oneplus6 has new features one is the new Gaming Mode and other new navigation gestures. The Gaming mode, which until the OnePlus 5T was known as the Gaming DND Mode, has been improved as it automatically lowers the amount of data for other apps and throttles the data assigned for the game being played. As for gestures, the OnePlus 6 now gives you an option to replace the stereotypical navigation bar and instead use swipe up gestures for the same. This feature can be activated from the Settings app and is comparatively easy to learn. Swiping up from the sides will take you a step back while swiping up from the centre will minimize whatever app is opened at that time. Swiping up from the centre without lifting your finger will open the multi-window screen.
The Phone Camera
One Plus 6 has the same 16MP+20MP dual rear cameras except for a better Sony sensor. The primary 16MP Sony IMX519 has an f/1.7 aperture and the secondary 20MP Sony IMX376K sensor too has the same aperture. The pixel size has also been increased in the primary sensor by 0.10um, which hardly makes any difference to your resulting shots. The camera is quick to capture moving subjects with a good amount of sharpness and clarity.
One of the major additions to the camera this time is the Optical Image Stabilisation OIS. The tech, which can be found in most of the flagship smartphones these days, was missing until now. The previous model came with EIS. Now, with OIS, you can expect stable videos and sharper shots of a moving subject. Also, the secondary rear camera has PDAF for better tracking of the subject in videos.
When talking of video the overall video recording performance is fluid and they do look good on a large screen as well. What’s new and improved this time is that the device can now record 4K resolution videos at 60fps, which is something that can be seen in the Samsung Galaxy S9+ phones. Also, while the OnePlus 5T came with 120fps slow-motion video recording support, the OnePlus 6 now comes with 240fps at full HD resolution and 480fps at HD resolution.
While the rear cameras have seen a slight upgrade, the front-facing camera stays almost the same as that in the OnePlus 5T. It has the same 16MP Sony IMX371 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture. The only change here is that the sensor now includes EIS for digitally stabilising videos. On the software front, there is a new Portrait effect feature that lets you add some new effects in the blurred background. For selfie lovers, this should come as a welcome change.
The Phone Battery
OnePlus 6 battery performance is not bad given it has the same 3300mAh capacity onboard as the OnePlus 5T. The smartphone, on a single charge, can run for over 12 hours easily on average use. End-users won’t get much to complain about here as the battery delivers over 6 hours of on-screen time. This is because of the less power consuming FullHD+ resolution screen and an efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor.
In addition, you get a bunch of battery-saving features as well. These include your regular battery optimisation for each app to the Battery Saver mode wherein the OnePlus 6 switches off vibration, location services and other background tasks. You can also set it up to activate automatically when the handset hits 5% battery or 15%. Some visual battery icon customisations are also there, something we have already seen in the OnePlus 5 and 5T.
While everything is positive on the battery side, one of the features we think OnePlus could’ve included was wireless charging. The company executive, at the time of the launch, did explain that the firm didn’t bring it as the charging rate is nowhere close to the standards set by the OnePlus Dash Charge. However, being a flagship smartphone and considering every other flagship from different companies have it, the company could’ve at least introduced the feature and may be improved upon it in the later version (maybe in OnePlus 7, who knows).
As for Dash Charging, the technology is one of the major plus points of the smartphone. It even works while the smartphone is in Gaming Mode and you are playing pokies as all the heating up takes place in the adapter instead of the phone.
The Phone Price
OnePlus normally provides its premium smartphones at mid-range prices, but the OnePlus 6 is an exception. The OnePlus 6 price in Australia for the 64GB variant starts from AU$753, whereas 128GB costs AU$853 and the 256GB model costs AU$970 respectively. Buy online or at different carriers.
