Content Table
Right from the launch of OnePlus 3, OnePlus has not only tasted the success but also has mastered in making flagship smartphones at an unbeatable price. The all new Oneplus 6 carries the same momentum. It carries a flagship processor, has a brand new design, improved cameras and yes is little costly too. But, Is it worth to buy? Does it carry OnePlus’s winning streak? What’s new in this device when compared to the 5T? Lots of and lots of questions. Let’s find out their answers in our OnePlus 6 Review.
Before we move further here’s a quick introduction from the specs of OnePlus 6 :
| Display | 6.28 inch Optic AMOLED 2280x1080p, 19:9 ratio Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Adreno 630 |
| Storage | 64/128/256GB non-expandable |
| RAM | 6/8GB |
| Rear Cameras | 16MP f/1.7 + 20MP f/1.7 Dual LED flash, OIS+EIS 4K@60FPS, 720P@480FPS |
| Front Camera | 16MP f/2.0 EIS, 1080p |
| Battery | 3,300 mAh Dash Charge |
| Software | OxygenOS (Android 8.1 Oreo) Android P beta available |
| Sensors | Fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, compass, gyroscope |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, headphone jack |
| Dimensions and Weight | 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.8 mm 177 grams |
| Price | Starts at ₹34,999 ($529) |
UNBOXING
The OnePlus 6 comes in a typically styled OnePlus box with 6 mentioned right in the middle. On the top-middle of the white box, there’s a red colored OnePlus logo. Open the lid and you have a red colored crate featuring the phone on the top, with a pre-applied plastic screen protector. Underneath, you’ll find the super awesome Dash charger and a red USB type-C cable for it. The red crate also has a pocket and inside it, you’ll find a silicone plastic case, SIM ejector tool and some paperwork.
DESIGN & BUILD QUALITY
The most striking thing about the OnePlus 6 is its new design, which swaps out a full aluminum chassis for glass panels on both the sides. Despite being a glass back, OnePlus 6 doesn’t support wireless charging, which is quite weird because almost all glass phones out there support wireless charging.
Anyway, the Mirror black edition looks stylish and does feel premium. It do attracts fingerprints but it looks really good and is a pleasure to hold in hand. The glossy back also makes the device a little bit slippery but OnePlus claims that the phone’s durability is just as good as prior models with metal bodies. But glass is glass, and even though the OnePlus 6 uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides, it’s still easily get scratches and if you drop it enough times, it will certainly shatter.
When we receive the review unit, we were always scared about dropping it. Well, if that’s a problem for you too, then you can go for Midnight black or Silk white variant.
Well back is good but at front, it has a notch! Though, OnePlus clears why they’ve opted for the notch, and we’ve gotten used to of it. And believe me my friend, sooner or later you’ll also have to get used to of it. Well if you don’t like it then there’s an option to hide the notch here and since it’s an AMOLED display, it just blends in perfectly.
Apart from notch, everything is great. Buttons are tactile and nice. At the right of the device we have a power/unlock key and the volume rocker is on the left, fall easily under thumb and finger when you’re holding the phone in portrait. OnePlus continues with its alert slider, but this time it is on the right, which makes sense because it’s easier to access, allowing you to easily switch between silent, do not disturb and sound modes. 
Thankfully, OnePlus doesn’t ditch the 3.5mm jack, which is good and allows you to plug in your headphones without the need for a clunky adapter. The charging port available at the bottom of the handset is USB type-C and is super quick, thanks to the dash charge. At the bottom of the device, you get a micro speaker, charging port and audio jack.
We just wish that OnePlus had fitted the stereo speaker this time, but sadly you’ll get only one micro speaker like the 5T.
DISPLAY
Well the display is really good on the OnePlus 6. All thanks to the 6.28-inch Optic AMOLED display (2280x1080p). Though it has a notch but it really looks good! Since it’s an AMOLED panel, the colour reproduction, viewing angles, visibility in sunlight all are at point. But if, you don’t like the colors on the display, OxygenOS gives you an option to adjust the color calibration. The display panel is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, so you don’t have to worry about usual scratches and scuff.
SPEAKERS
The 5T comes with a single speaker, and we expect OnePlus 6 to come with a Stereo one. But sadly, it has there’s only a mono speaker and it’s very easy to block when holding the phone in landscape. Sound is surprisingly loud and the sound does not distort even at max volumes. The beautiful AMOLED display with the speaker makes an amazing multimedia experience.
CAMERAS
– Rear Camera
The cameras on the OnePlus 6 have undergone with quite a few upgrades. At the rear, the OnePlus 6 packs a 16MP f/1.7 plus 20MP f/1.7 camera setup. If you know about or own a 5T then i know it sounds like the same camera setup but there’s OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) now and the sensor is larger. The sensor is claimed to be 19 percent physically larger, allowing for more light to be captured, which should mean better detail and sharper shots. The secondary 20MP camera is supposed to be used in low light and for depth effects.
Click here to see full size OnePlus 6 images.
To be honest, most of our shots came out looking good, but we weren’t blown away. I mean photos captured from the OnePlus 6 have great colors, great detail and decent dynamic range. But sometimes colours look a bit oversaturated. The portrait mode was slightly disappointing, taking a few seconds to isolate subjects from even simple backgrounds. Though it’s good in daylight but don’t expect much in low light (in case of portrait mode only).
Low-light performance on the OP6 really stood out. Even on a dark, we were able to take shots that captured a lot of colour and detail.
Click here to see full size OnePlus 6 images.
Moving on to videos, the OnePlus 6 can captures 4K@60FPS, so i tried it out. And well, the video looks great but were not as stable as I’d hope. I also tried out 4K@30FPS and it has the same problem. No matter how straight I kept the OP6 while recording, the videos always came out tilted at an angle.
Pro tip- If you want stable nice looking videos from the OnePlus 6, just shoot at 1080p.
There’s also super slow mo mode but it shoots at 480 FPS (Frames per second) while super slow mo on S9 and P20 Pro captures 960 frames per second. The super slow mo mode or i should say slow mo mode shoots great videos but only when there’s ample light. In low light videos turn out like this-
Click here to see OnePlus 6 Video Samples.
– Front Camera
The Front camera has a 16MP f/2.0 sensor which is pretty good. Selfies taken in good lighting have great detail. In low light, the photos do struggle a little bit due to the noise. After an update we received the portrait mode in front of the device and it was great. You can see some samples here.
Click here to see full size OnePlus 6 images.
Overall i think OnePlus has decent cameras. Portrait mode is average and simple photos are great. Low light shots are good and Portrait selfie is even better.
PERFORMANCE
The OnePlus 6 has flagship Snapdragon 845 SoC along with upto 8GB of RAM, which can do everything, and yes it does. Just throw anything and it handles it smoothly. This SoC has eight Kryo 385 cores, integrated Adreno 630 graphics, improved security and image processing subsystems, a faster LTE modem, and even hardware dedicated to AI processing.
Heavy games at their high settings like PUBG, Marvel Contest of Champions, Asphalt 8 and Marvel Future Fight don’t even make this phone break a sweat and since there is 8 gigabytes of RAM, multitasking on this phone is a breeze. Benchmark scores of this device are just flawless. It scores 267128 in Antutu benchmark while in Geekbench it scores 2416 and 9093 in single-core and multi-core, respectively.
Again, to be honest, i haven’t faced a single lag or stutter on this phone. It was totally a bug-free and smooth experience and as my review unit is gone i miss it a lot.
SOFTWARE
OnePlus 6 comes with Android Oreo 8.1 based Oxygen OS skin. And i just love it. OxygenOS feels like stock Android with some added features and I really like that. The Face Unlock is really fast and works even in the dark, thanks to the Assistive Lighting feature.
There’s a lot to discover within the Settings app, including controls for giving the on-screen buttons additional functions, night and reading modes, a choice of system fonts, and configurable colours for the notification LED.
There are also iPhone X like gestures here. Short swipe up from the bottom-centre takes you to the home screen from within any app, or continuing the swipe upwards takes you into the app switcher. To go back, you just have to swipe upwards on either side of the screen.
There’s also a Gaming Mode that not only suppresses non-essential notifications, but can also limit background apps’ Internet usage, which can make a difference in online games.
Oxygen OS also handles the notch very well. Third party apps and games also works well with the notch. Android P beta with Treble support will also be available to OnePlus 6 which is again amazing.
BATTERY & CHARGING
Well that’s the point on which OnePlus never disappoints you. It’s Dash Charge technology is no doubt the fastest of them all. The OnePlus 6 goes from 15 to 70 percent in just half an hour. And charges fully in just around 1 hour and 15 minutes. Isn’t it awesome?
Starting at 100%, our OnePlus 6 was at 67% in 13 hours on moderate usage, which involved me making calls, texting, playing some games and using social media. On heavy usage when i took a lot of photos & videos it lasted me for around 12 hours, which I’d say is pretty great.
CONNECTIVITY
OnePlus 6 comes with all latest connectivity options, we’d expect. There are two Nano-SIM slots, obviously no microSD card slot for storage expansion. It has NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, dual SIM with dual 4G VoLTE support, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/a etc.
VERDICT
So that’s everything about the OnePlus 6. So now the most important question- Is it worth to buy? Well, in my opinion, yes. I know there’s no IP rating and even it doesn’t have a QHD display, and yes how can i forget about wireless charging. But listen, they aren’t really dealbreakers. Are they?
The OnePlus 6 offers you an ergonomic and well-crafted design, top-end hardware, amazing software, decent battery life and some great cameras, for a starting price of ₹34,999!
One of the biggest surprises about this phone is that it’s only marginally more expensive than the 5T, despite the new screen, SoC, and glass body. Surely, it doesn’t offer you everything that the iPhone X or the Samsung Galaxy S9+ offers. But hey, it is approximately 40% cheaper than the S9+ and way cheaper than the iPhone X!
So, should you buy the OnePlus 6? Well, if you are looking for a new phone, then the OnePlus 6 must be in your list. It’s a phone worth recommending.
Some Pros and Cons-
Pros:
• Well-crafted design
• Large display
• Improved cameras
• Flagship performance
• OxygenOS
• Dash Charge
• Decent battery life
Cons:
• No IP rating
• No wireless charging
• QHD display
• The “notch”c6
