OnePlus 6 Review: This Is the Best Phone for the Money
No phone maker has done a better job delivering bang for the buck than OnePlus, and the feature-packed OnePlus 6 is another winner.
by GAURAVGK5
The OnePlus 6 is like a certain NBA team whose return trip to the Finals is guaranteed just by bringing back the same players. It was a pretty safe bet that as long as OnePlus made the requisite annual updates, like improving the device's processor and dual cameras, the OnePlus 6 (starting at $529) would be another hit.
Sure enough, OnePlus has defined this year's flagship killer, with all the performance and features you could possibly want from any smartphone, rolled into a package that costs hundreds less than top-tier offerings from Apple, Samsung and Google. And while the company's value-for-money trick might not be as surprising or special the fifth time around, cash-strapped buyers can't argue with the results.
Update July 2: OnePlus will be offering a red version of the OnePlus for $579 that includes 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. It goes on sale July 10.
Price and Availability
The OnePlus 6 begins shipping on May 22, and you can preorder it now direct from the company. The base variant, priced at $529 and clad in a Mirror Black finish, is $30 more expensive than the cheapest OnePlus 5T was, but comes with the same 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
ONEPLUS 6
THE GOOD
- Class-leading display
- Unrivaled performance
- Intuitive gestures
- Innovative glass design
- Super-fast charging battery
- Affordable price relative to premium phones
THE BAD
- A little too big
- Battery life has taken a hit
- Won't work on Verizon or Sprint
VERDICT
No phone maker has done a better job delivering value for money than OnePlus, and the new feature-packed OnePlus 6 is true to that goal.
9/10
Coughing up an extra $40 will grant you 8GB of RAM and double the space for media and apps. This configuration is available in the same guise as the cheaper one, as well as a matte-like Midnight Black and, as of June 5, a special edition Silk White colorway finished off with a hint of rose gold. Finally, topping the food chain is a variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, exclusively sold in Midnight Black and going for $629.
Like its predecessors, every OnePlus 6 is unlocked and compatible with GSM networks, including AT&T and T-Mobile. And if you're toying with picking one up yourself, a word to the wise: OnePlus makes limited quantities of all its phones, and it sells just one model at a time. Although the company has assured us it is building more of the OnePlus 6 than it did the 5T, that phone was discontinued after just five months — so don't say we didn't warn you.
OnePlus 6 Specs
Price
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$529/$579/$629
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OS
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Android 8.1 Oreo with OxygenOS
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Screen Size (Resolution)
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6.28-inch AMOLED (2280 x 1080)
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CPU
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
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RAM
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6GB/8GB
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Storage
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64GB/128GB/256GB
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microSD Slot
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No
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Rear Camera
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Dual: 16 MP (f/1.7) with OIS; 20 MP (f/1.7)
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Front Camera
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16 MP (f/2.0)
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Battery Size
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3,300 mAh
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Water Resistance
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None
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Size
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6.13 x 2.97 x 0.30 inches
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Design: Big and beautiful
After several years of fitting its handsets with aluminum, OnePlus has transitioned to Gorilla Glass 5 all around with the OnePlus 6. Skeptics might fear a step backward in durability, but OnePlus says it has lavished the same attention on these glass backs as it had with the metal on any previous OnePlus device, and the effort shows.
In fact, the company specially treated each glass on each colorway independently, to emulate different materials. For example, our Mirror Black model evokes the depth and reflectivity of polished ceramic, while the Midnight Black version approaches the matte sheen of the OnePlus 5 or 5T. OnePlus' designers actually perforated the surface of the glass on the latter model with imperceptible holes to reveal the layer of film beneath.
The attention to detail is definitely appreciated, especially for such a relatively inexpensive handset. And because this is a OnePlus device, the thoughtful touches don't stop there. The company's handy Alert Slider returns on the OnePlus 6, though it's migrated from the left to the right edge since we last saw it. Better yet, users clutching onto their trusty wired headphones can breathe a sigh of relief, as the headphone jack has been miraculously spared.
However, OnePlus could go only so far working with glass. The OnePlus 6 lacks the heft or density of metal, nor does it feel quite as solid as the 5T. And despite no longer employing metal, OnePlus hasn't used that opportunity to enable wireless charging, a feature that has cropped up on a growing number of flagship phones over the past year. True water resistance also remains absent from OnePlus' devices.
The other major design change pertains to the OnePlus 6's notch, an element OnePlus publicized itself when it confirmed the notch's existence back in March. While I'm personally indifferent to this year's defining phone trend, I like that OnePlus owned up to it instead of playing it down. And truthfully, I didn't find it terribly obtrusive after spending a week with the phone. But if you remain vehemently opposed to a feature that is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid, there's a setting that hides the notch by painting the status bar black.
Those drawn to the OnePlus 6 for its no-compromise approach to features may find themselves compromising quite a bit when it comes to ergonomics.
My biggest gripe about the OnePlus 6's design actually does pertain to the notch, but only tangentially. Many phone makers have defended the notch because it increases usable screen space. In theory, this should allow for smaller devices with larger displays, much like the shift to 18:9 displays did. The LG G7 ThinQ, for example, shoehorns a massive 6.1-inch panel within a relatively compact footprint because it combines a notch with minimal bezels. This gives the user a ton of room to work with, while simultaneously making the whole thing easier to hold.
The 6.28-inch OnePlus 6, on the other hand, sports almost exactly the same dimensions as the notch-less 5T. The result is a handset with a screen that is much larger than it needs to be, and a device that I reckon many users will find clumsy, if not impossible, to cradle one-handed. Slap one of OnePlus' fine cases on the OnePlus 6, and it becomes just as tall and a bit wider than Samsung's 6.3-inch Galaxy Note 8. Those drawn to the OnePlus 6 for its no-compromise approach to features may find themselves compromising quite a bit when it comes to ergonomics.Display: Stunning at any price
Of all the qualities that makes the OnePlus 6 remarkable for its price, its 6.28-inch AMOLED display might be the most compelling. This is a gorgeous panel eclipsed only by those in Samsung's latest flagships, which offer better brightness and pixel density. But the gap isn't as wide as you might assume.
To put what OnePlus has achieved into perspective, most phones at the $500 level, like the Honor View 10, the Essential Phoneand the upcoming Asus ZenFone 5Z, come equipped with LCD screens. They tend to get the job done, but they're never anything special. The same can be said for even pricier devices like the LG G7 ThinQ and Sony Xperia XZ2, which are on the bleeding edge of LCD technology with HDR support and even more radiant backlighting.
Sat next to the OnePlus 6, any of those LCD handsets appear a generation behind. Darker scenes approximate a pastiche of grays on these phones, when they should be black. Hues that should look juicy and saturated are hazy and washed out. And if you think the OnePlus 6's representation of your favorite movie plays up the color a little too strongly, you can change the display profile to a more realistic sRGB or DCI-P3 palette.
The OnePlus 6 delivered a peak full-screen brightness of 574 nits when measured with our light meter, which is dead even with the iPhone X and not far off the Galaxy S9's 603 nits. It's also a vast improvement over the 394 nits we measured last year on the OnePlus 5T.
Regarding color reproduction, the OnePlus 6 registered a 240.3 color gamut within the sRGB spectrum, which is actually more than the Galaxy S9 at 220 percent — though those results will differ significantly if you opt for one of the alternate color profiles.
The OnePlus 6's display proved to be not only vivid but properly calibrated, with a Delta-E accuracy score of 0.39 (numbers closer to zero are better). Again, this was identical to the Galaxy S9, which notched a 0.40 result.
Camera: Good, but not great
Like OnePlus' previous phone, the OnePlus 6 relies on a pairing of 16- and 20-megapixel lenses at the back to handle photos. Both cameras have a wide f/1.7 aperture, and employ the same wide-view angle. That means you don't get the benefit of a telephoto perspective or optical zoom on that secondary lens like you do on either the iPhone X or the Galaxy S9+. But on the plus side, low-light performance should be better than it was on previous OnePlus phones, thanks to that larger aperture.
In fact, the two major improvements OnePlus made to its camera system were specifically designed to capture better shots in dim scenarios. The main 16-MP shooter is now equipped with optical-image stabilization, which will help mitigate blur when the camera needs to slow down the shutter speed to let more light in. The new primary image sensor is also 19 percent larger than that of the OnePlus 5T.
Additionally, OnePlus has leveraged the power of Qualcomm's Spectra 280 image signal processor to enable super slow-motion video at 480 frames per second (fps) and 720p resolution. While that's half as slow as the Galaxy S9's 960 fps mode, on the OnePlus 6 you can record for up to a minute. The Galaxy S9 can capture only 960 fps in very short bursts, like 1.2 seconds, played back in real time over a 6-second clip.
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