The latest OnePlus smartphone was recently released this month. Since the OnePlus 6 features some of the highest specs today like the Snapdragon 845, it became one of the most anticipated devices this 2018. Numerous rumors and speculations were also reported regarding the OnePlus 6 prior to its launch.
Fortunately, the OnePlus smartphone has successfully arrived here in the Philippines and our team was given the opportunity to review this unit. With a price tag of almost PHP 31,000, is this device worth it? We’ll find out here.
| SPECS | OnePlus 6 |
| Display | 6.28″ Full Optic Full HD+ display, 2180 x 1080p resolution, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 |
| GPU | Adreno 630 |
| Memory | 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM, 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM, 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM |
| Rear Camera | Dual: 20 MP (f/1.7 Sony IMX519 zoom) + 16 MP (f/1.7 Sony IMX 376K with 1.22µm, 1µm pixels (zoom) PDAF, OIS, EIS, 2X optical zoom, LED flash, 4K recording, 480FPS slo-mo |
| Front Camera | 16MP with Artificial Intelligence |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, DLNA, hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 3300 mAh battery |
| OS | Android 8.1 (Oreo) |
| Price |
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Table of Contents
Design
The OnePlus 6 sports a glass front and back along with a metal frame. It measures 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.8 mm and weighs 177g. The device can easily be gripped and isn’t slippery at all. Similar to other recently released flagships, the smartphone has thin bezels as well as the infamous notch. The notch houses the front camera, LED notification light, earpiece/speaker, and some sensors. No physical or capacitive buttons can be seen at the front since OnePlus made use of on-screen buttons.
Moving on to the rear part of the device, the dual rear cameras are positioned at the center with its dual LED flash at the bottom. Underneath this, the oblong-shaped fingerprint sensor can be found along with the OnePlus logo. The words “Designed by OnePlus” are also stated at the bottom.
The usual power button can be found on the right side of the smartphone along with a toggle button that serves as the silent button. The volume rockers, as well as the SIM tray, are at the left side of the phone. The bottom houses the 3.5mm audio jack, speaker grille, USB Type-C port and a microphone whereas the top has a sensor.
Overall, the design of the OnePlus 6 looks modern, elegant and simple enough. The only downside for us was its glass rear back. Since the OnePlus 6’s back is made out of glass, it can easily be smudged with fingerprints. In order to solve this, we recommend that you use the transparent case that came along with the phone.
Display
The OnePlus 6 features a 6.28″ Full Optic Full HD+ notched display with a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9. Its screen was bright enough and it managed to produce a good color representation when we tried watching some movie trailers. The color also doesn’t change when viewed from different angles. We also tried taking some shots outside and we didn’t have any issues with looking at the screen.
The only problem we had with the display was the notch since it was a distraction while we were watching movies. Fortunately, this can easily be solved by pinching the sides and making the window smaller.
In our unboxing and first impression, we weren’t able to update the phone so the other features of the OnePlus 6 was not addressed. After the update, we found that the device now included an option to fully hide the notch. Furthermore, the user can also control which specific applications they want the notch to be in. There were also some features that was removed during the update such as the “Always-On Display” mode.
Other modes included in the Display option of the smartphone are the night mode and the reading mode. Both modes adjusts the light in order to reduce strain on the eyes and provide a better viewing experience.
Camera
The latest OnePlus smartphone features a dual 16 MP (f/1.7) + 20 MP (f/1.7) rear cameras with phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom, and dual-LED flash. It also sports a 16MP front camera that supports AI and has Auto HDR.
People have been looking forward to the OnePlus 6’s camera since it promised better performance than its predecessor. Let’s analyze the photos taken by the device.
The first sample shots are the same but one of them was taken with HDR mode. Although the HDR-infused photo looks brighter and more vibrant, it lacked in detail compared to the one taken normally. Some parts became overexposed especially the details close to the sky. The buildings at the bottom part of the photo though looked great since it still retained its details.
As for the one taken normally, the color is a bit dull making the atmosphere of the image look gloomy. Nevertheless, the details are sharp and the colors are accurate.
The HDR mode automatically turned on as I was taking this photo. Because of this, the tree looked washed out and lost most of its green color. For some reason though the rest of the image looked vibrant further emphasizing how dull the tree looked. Detail-wise, the photo did good.
These photos were taken during the afternoon. The one taken normally closely depicted the real life subject whereas the one taken with HDR mode looked like it was taken during the morning due to its brightness.
The image on the right isn’t that pleasing to the eye since the green and yellow color of the leaves clashed with each other. The mode also made the trees at the back look pale in comparison. On the other hand, the photo on the left is more pleasing to the eye and it had crisp details as well.
This photo was also taken with HDR mode. Instead of the usual green color, the leaves ended up having a brownish tone to them although in terms of details, it did good. Each of the stem is defined and the same goes with the leaves.
This shot turned out well. The details are spot on and the colors are accurate as well. The only problem with this photo is how gloomy the sky looked even though this photo was taken during the afternoon.
This image was taken indoors. The shot looks vibrant and the colors stayed close to real life. Once again, it had crisp details.
One of the features included in the OnePlus 6’s camera is the 2x optical zoom. The photo at the left was the normal view of the camera whereas the one on the right featured the 2x optical zoom. Even though the photo was zoomed in, it still retained its details and the color was accurate.
Another feature that is included in the smartphone’s camera is the Portrait mode. This mode is not that noticeable at first since the background isn’t that blurry. It produced a natural-looking photo while making sure that the focus is still on the subject. Some people might prefer a more blurry background though. Color-wise, it is accurate and the photo’s details are sharp as well.
We also tried taking photos in dim lighting. The photo looked detailed enough and no changes were made in terms of the colors. The light also didn’t look harsh or over-exposed.
We also tried taking a photo in portrait mode in this lighting. Although the picture looked a bit washed out, it still looked detailed enough. The portrait mode is also natural-looking and it managed to capture the whole subject.
Let’s move on to the selfie camera. The front camera produced good images with accurate details and colors. It also looks natural even with its beauty mode. In regards to its beauty mode, it made the subject look less tired and smoothed out her skin at the same time. However, it changed the color of the subject’s clothes and made it brighter.
Features and User Experience
The OnePlus 6 is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 along with an Adreno 630 GPU and an octa-core processor clocked up to 2.8 GHz. It comes in three storage variants – 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM, 8GB + 128GB ROM, and 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM. The smartphone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo.
In terms of features, the OnePlus 6 is packed with a lot of interesting ones although figuring out all the features and modes of this smartphone may to be difficult at first.
We’ll first talk about its ‘hide notch’ feature that was mentioned earlier. The notch has some pros and cons. Although it does provide a larger aspect ratio, the notch hinders the user from fully viewing the screen especially during movie watching and playing games. A lot of people are for it and against it so in order to cater to the latter, OnePlus has included a feature in their latest flagship that hides the notch.
In addition to this, you can still take advantage of the notch even if this feature is turned on. A setting where you can control which specific applications you want the notch to be in has been included.
Another notable feature is the Navigation gestures where the user can remove the navigation bar completely and rely on gestures to access the home screen. This feature is admittedly hard to master at first but you get used to it through time. For those people who just wants to hide the notch but doesn’t want to depend on gestures, you can do so through the ‘Hide the navigation bar’ option.
As for those who are a fan of these gestures, OnePlus has included more gestures in this latest smartphone. The user may now access more shortcuts than the previous models. This feature enables the user to do a range of things from taking a screenshot by swiping with three fingers, controlling your music even when your device’s screen is turned off, drawing specific letters to launch various applications, and many more. It was a lot of fun experimenting with this feature especially since you can completely change its settings according to your preference.
We stated that OnePlus has decided to remove the “Always-on Display” feature due to some battery concerns. In order to make up for this, the company included the Ambient display in the OnePlus 6 which enables the user to look at the time and notifications without having to unlock the device.
Like other flagship phones, OnePlus 6 also has a ‘Gaming mode’ that prevents interruptions during game play and maximizes the gaming experience. You may also choose the level of importance of the Gaming mode.
In regards of security, the smartphone sports a fingerprint scanner and a face unlock feature. Both works incredibly fast and are also easy to set-up. In addition, the face unlock feature works even if the user is wearing glasses and in dim-lighting situations. It’s also good to note that the feature doesn’t work if the user’s eyes are closed so you don’t have to worry about your phone getting unlocked when you’re asleep. If for some reason it’s too dark for the feature to recognize you, you can turn on the Face Unlock assistive lighting that lights up the screen so the phone can detect you.
Because of the Snapdragon 845, the OnePlus 6 performs smoothly and fast with no lags in between opening various applications. Opening applications is also fast compared with other phones.
We also made sure to test the phone’s gaming performance.The games we played were Asphalt 8 and Mortal Kombat. Launching the games was quick and there weren’t any problems during game play as well. No lags occurred and the graphics are really clear and detailed even in games with heavy graphics like the Mortal Kombat.
Benchmarks
We tested the OnePlus 6 using the following benchmarking tools and here are the results:
| Benchmarks | OnePlus 6 |
| Antutu | 265179 |
| Geekbench (single-core) | 2467 |
| Geekbench (multi-core) | 9053 |
| PCMark Work | 8411 |
Battery
Compared to other flagship smartphones, the OnePlus 6′ s battery isn’t that huge. The handset is fueled by a 3,300mAh battery. It’s a good thing the company decided to support it with Fast Charging (Dash Charge) which still works even in Gaming mode. Instead of the phone heating up, the charging adapter heats up instead.
The OnePlus 6 doesn’t provide the best battery but it’s decent enough that it can last up to 12 hours of light usage. The smartphone also features multiple battery saving modes.
| Battery | OnePlus 6 |
| Battery | 3300 mAh battery |
| Battery Life | 12 hours (light usage) |
| Charging Time (20-100%) | 1 hour and 10 min. (with Dash Charge) |
Audio
The device’s audio is good but could be better. Although its sound doesn’t end up getting scratchy in maximum volume, it seems to be lacking in the loudness area. It does, however, produce a clear and balanced sound which is a plus for me.
As mentioned in our unboxing of the device, the OnePlus 6 did not include earphones in the package.
Verdict
The OnePlus 6 really does abide with their tagline, “The Speed you Need”. We didn’t experience any lag while using the phone and navigating through it was smooth. In terms of display, the resolution was good and the screen was definitely large enough. We had a good time watching movies and playing games through this phone since it isn’t quick to heat up.
Another thing to note of, is this smartphone’s features. A lot of them are really useful and convenient especially its gestures. Taking a screenshot has never been easier. Although the battery was a bit small compared to other flagship phones, OnePlus 6 made up for it through its Dash Charge and battery saving features.
The device’s camera also improved and is able to take quality photos. Combined with its water-resistance, this can be a good phone for vacations.
Do you think this smartphone is worth its price tag? Let me know in the comments!
UPDATE (June 11, 2018)
The OnePlus 6 recently got an OxygenOS 5.1.6 OTA update which brought some new features to the smartphone.
The device now includes a portrait mode for its front camera. Furthermore, the user may now preview a bokeh-infused shot taken by the rear camera. Other features that came along with the update includes supported battery percentage in status bar, improved ringtone volume and sound quality, optimized call quality, and many more.
Read more about the update here.
Mga ma’am/sir saan po maisasuggest nyo na physical shop na mapagkakatiwalaang pagkuhanan ng phone na to? Meron ba dto sa pinas? Or kung sa online naman po alin dn po ang ms preffered nyo? Maraming salamat po.
Saang physical shop po maganda kumuha ng phone na to?
You can try going sa DigitalWalker. Other option is lazada and widgetcity (physical store and online).