Smartphone Spotlight: OnePlus 6

OnePlus’s deal has always been offering flagship-level internals coupled with minimalist software, all for significantly less than similarly-specked devices. The  6 has all the right stuff you’d expect Is the the 6 the smartphone you deserve?

The Great

• Beautiful Screen
• Blistering performance
• Great battery life
• Flagship-caliber cameras
• Very fast charging:
• Amazing value
• Beautiful all glass design

The Not

• No wireless charging or microSD slot
• Lacks optical zoom
• No IP-rated water resistance

The Conclusion

If you’re willing to put up with a few small compromises then you could argue the OnePlus 6 could be even further up this list. One thing is for sure though: in terms of value for money it won’t disappoint.

It seems every six months or so OnePlus treats us to a new flagship level phone at a completely reasonable price. Most companies are struggling to put out something different enough every year. All that and all, lets get to this latest installment of OnePlus, the 6.

The OnePlus Design

OnePlus has really showed up with the all-glass body  on the OnePlus 6. It looks and feels oh so nice: It’s soft and smooth, with a cool touch. It’s very reflective too, mostly on the mirror black model. I just like pressing it to my face. While I  don’t feel like the glass body made the phone overly slippery, and it’s easy to hold with one hand. Using it is a harder task due to the size of the screen. It’s a little harder to get to the opposite corner with your thumb.

Three Colors

Mirror Black is one of three versions for the OnePlus 6. The glass is super-shiny and though it certainly does attract fingerprints, it’s not the smudge magnet you might have imagined. Midnight Black is color two: a matte finish  This is a more conventional-looking finish that will be especially familiar to owners of earlier OnePlus phones. Last is the Silk White: a classy option, for your tuxedo nights on the town look. It has a sprinkling of pearl powder as part of the six layers and emphasized by the rose gold edge, camera relief and OnePlus logo

The Performance

The  6 is powered by the Snapdragon 845 processor with a whopping 8GB of RAM. The phone has been lightning fast in our brief time using it. It all feels very refined. OnePlus uses the tagline, “The speed you need,” for the 6, It seems cheese and completely unsustainable for an android base phone, but here we are. The power is good, lets just not get cocky.

For the Camera OnePlus has gone a more regular route, perhaps, by using two rear cameras, both color RGB sensors. One is a 16MP sensor with an f/1.7 aperture and big pixels 1.22 microns). It has optical image stabilization, something OnePlus fans had requested.

Quick Spec Look

• OS Android  8.1 Oreo with OxygenOS
• Screen Size (Resolution) 6.28-inch AMOLED (2280 x 1080)
• CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
• RAM 6GB/8GB
• Storage 64GB/128GB/256GB
• microSD Slot No
• Rear Camera Dual: 16 MP (f/1.7) with OIS; 20 MP (f/1.7)
• Front Camera 16 MP (f/2.0)
• Battery Size 3,300 mAh
• Water Resistance None
• Size 6.13 x 2.97 x 0.30 inches

The Final Thought

The 6 has all the Power, Size and Looks available to make a splash and a price point to be desired. There is nothing here truly lacking out side of the water resistance and the wireless charging, only thing I could do with out is the boasting.