OnePlus 6 Review

The OnePlus 6 is the fastest Android phone in the market, which can now also shoot photos in low-light conditions.

Love it or hate it, but you certainly can’t ignore OnePlus. Ever since 2014, when the Chinese smartphone maker burst into the scene, OnePlus has managed to disturb the flagship applecart (no pun intended), which was once ruled by Apple and Samsung. Well, OnePlus is back, doing what it does best, as it has recently launched its latest kingslayer – the OnePlus 6. The brand has already managed to win hearts with its competitive pricing – the OnePlus 6 ranges between ₹34,999 and ₹44,999. But surely it has more to offer than just smart pricing. So, we find out whether the OnePlus 6 can give the Cupertino and Korean-based giants a run for their money.
 
If looks could kill

OnePlus has ditched the aluminium unibody and opted for Corning Gorilla Glass 5 body, which also protects the edge-to-edge 6.28-inch display. The OnePlus 6, is available in three colours – Mirror Black, Midnight Black and Silk White. Our test unit had the Mirror Black shade.

Now, the phone’s 6.28-inch display is bigger than the previous model’s 6.1-inch, but due to the 19:9 aspect ratio, the phone nicely fits in your palm. The OnePlus 6 gets the same Optic AMOLED display as the 5T, but the colours here look sharper, as OnePlus has tweaked the resolution from 1080 x 2160 to 1080 x 2280. 
 
A notch up?

A lot has been talked about the infamous notch, and I’d like to start off by breaking the myth of it not being a ‘me too’ feature. With edge-to-edge screens becoming a rage, phone manufacturers have to house the camera, speaker, LED notification light and other sensors somewhere, and that’s where the notch comes in. The new smartphone comes with an option to hide the notch by creating a black bar. The process is quite simple. Go to the settings option, select display and then click on notch display, where you can keep or hide the notch area.

‘The Speed You Need’?

When it comes to the software, this is where OnePlus comes into its own. Its latest flagship phone uses Qualcomm’s most powerful processor, the Snapdragon 845 flagship processor, which is seen in many top-of-the-line Android phones. What makes the OnePlus 6 stand apart is it’s insane 8GB RAM, however, there is also a 6GB RAM option. The extra GBs of RAM ensure that the OnePlus 6 can multitask smoothly by running many apps at the same time without slowing down. Another more crucial advantage of extra RAM is that it also future-proofs the phone. This way the new and heavier updates and apps don’t bog down the handset and, at the same time, increases its longevity. 

OnePlus has always tried to keep their Oxygen operating system along the lines of stock Android, which allows the user to customise it according to their preference. They have added additional features like the Shelf, which lets you access your recently used apps, contacts and other information, such as storage and data usage, with just a swipe from the home screen. Like the Apple iPhone X, the OnePlus 6 also comes with new gesture controls, which replaces the three navigation keys on the bottom bezel – Back, Home and Menu controls. But unlike the iPhone X, you get an option to stick to using the traditional keys, if you find the gesture controls bothersome, that is.

Coming to additional tweaks, we updated our test phone to Oxygen OS 5.1.6, and it now boasts Portrait Mode for the front camera, Light Bokeh Effect for the rear camera, battery percentage in the status bar, dual 4G network service and Do Not Disturb option. Apart from this, the phone now automatically answers calls when it’s connected to a Bluetooth earpiece.

Say cheese

OnePlus phones continue to undercut many expensive top-of-the-line handsets in terms of both hardware and software, but its weakness has been its cameras. On paper the OnePlus 6 is equipped with the same 16-megapixel and 20-megapixel twin cameras, but the former camera’s sensor has been improved, enabling it to take better photos in low-light conditions. The OnePlus 6 now comes with the much needed optical image stabilization (OIS) and electronic image stabilization (EIB) to ensure that there is very less camera shake, minimising unwanted blurring of photos. 

The OnePlus 6 also boasts slow-motion video recording that can capture footage at up to 480fps. It’s not quite as dramatic and slow as the Samsung Galaxy S9, but it’s effective.

Coming to the OnePlus’s 3,330mAh battery, it manages to provide enough juice for almost an entire day. We used it for posting social media updates and, at the same time, paired it with car infotainment system and played music for 2-3 hours. All-in-all, before we called it a night, it still had 15-20% of battery life left. Yes, if you stream TV shows and movies then the battery depletes a lot faster, which incidentally is the case with all phones.
 
Hit or miss?

The OnePlus 6 is a gorgeous looking phone, which comes with loads of features. Keeping in mind its price tag, it’s the best in the business. But is it a flagship slayer? Not quite! The glass body, the improved cameras, the fast and easy to use OS make the OnePlus 6 an attractive buy, but other flagship models continue to have superior cameras, offer wireless charging option, have higher display resolution, expandable storage and are both water and dust proof. The OnePlus 6 might not be a game changer, but for what it offers, it certainly comes close to the Galaxies, iPhones and Pixels of the world. And besides, it’s the fastest Android phone in the market. It is an all-rounder smartphone that you simply can’t go wrong with. And the best part is that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to own it.