Don’t underestimate the OnePlus. The transformation from being a mini device growing from the underground to a mainstream device that competes right after other big names is nothing but innovation and hardwork.  While OnePlus One back in 2014 wasn’t very famous, four years gone and now we’ve got something way good to pronounce even right outside the geek circle.

A good name built via a great device all makes good sense as far as OnePlus is concerned. But enough of the hype, I’m just super-fascinated (at least i am) about how nice the OnePlus 6 has come to stay for real.  Being able to go right up against the so-called big players like the Apple  iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S9 means a lot. But what is OnePlus 6 anyway?

It’s the best competitor right next to those big devices I’ve named right above. While it’s pricing starts at £500, it’s premium specifications such as designs, features, performances etc makes it makes it a device you should consider buying if you overthinking LG G7 ThinQ or others.

Beautiful infact with the colors especially with the red which stands right out of the other glossy black color making them two colors. The white is great too thanks to a more matte back and contrasting rose-gold sides.

ONEPLUS 6 DESIGN

Another top-notched device…well this one might be more impressing than the others. While the mobile world had joined the bandwagon of top-notched display, the OnePlus 6 is still unique in it’s sense and beautiful enough to carch your attention when next you’re out to shop for devices randomly at the large city mall.

With a nice glass-backed rear cover, you know you’re getting nearly a finish as those on the Samsung Galaxy S9.  It’s available in three different finishes, including a reflective Mirror Black, matte midnight black and a limited-edition Silk White finish.

Although the Midnight Black design is good especially if you’re not going to case the device because it won’t pick up fingerprints so soon unlike the Polished Mirror Black version.

With that, you should know the Silk White version is far more appealing than any other white smartphone I’ve seen so far this year, and that is due to the layer of crushed pearls used in its construction, giving the design a soft, creamy look….OH WOW!

The new OnePlus 6’s dimension seems a bit like that of the previous OnePlus 5T. Although the new device feels sort of larger and that makes for bold handling and nicer display as far as my point is concerned.

Now aside feeling or looking somewhat like the olden device, there is are couple of very noticeable redesigns to the device’s layout.

For example, the Alert Slider which is used to switch the ringer and vibrate settings on and off has been moved to the right hand side and the camera has been moved from the corner back to the center middle back also is the fingerprint scanner.

Much of what makes the OnePlus 6 feel extra special is the completely new build and design. It’s now made almost completely of glass, which curves around the rear and feels fantastic. There’s a rim of metal sandwiched between the glass to add some rigidity.

Overall, it’s a device you can be very proud to hold and show off because it’s a great work of art here and OnePlus excelled in this one.

Do I have to admit my fondness for the edge to edge 6.3 inch screen of the display which looks like an iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S9 in a combo. That’s what you get when you use Android. You get design specs as you want it.
The notched area houses the front-facing camera, speaker and ambient sensor or other sensors. You can as well turn off the Notch to bring down the notification area and turn the notched area black just as seen in the LG G7 ThinQ.

I think this feature is now common in most Android devices. Also, the same customization and flexibility Android has to offer.

Concerning the notch, the turn-on/off feature was added just a few weeks before launch, as OnePlus explained, that their community overwhelmingly hated the notch. Well, that might be true.

This might be the point at which Samsung sticks to being faithful to their fans by never switching to the Notch bandwagon or even emulating their arch-rival, Apple, Inc. in the first place.

Aside the notched display, the screen features a powerful 2280 x 1080p AMOLED display which is bright and clear with vivid, vibrant color. You can easily operate the device right in the sunlight without having to look about for shades.

As for the coloring, it excelled above the LG G7 ThinQ in that it’s color vividness is very vibrant unlike the G7 which excelled more in white color background.

So watching HD movies or taking pictures brings out the exact color as you’d expect it to be. All these resulted during the hour long rapport i had with the device.

Also note that there are a number of different display modes available right in the device. For example, the sRGB, DCI-P3 and Adaptive as well as the default setting.

The sRGB for example has nearly-perfect coverage of the sRGB color space, and ditto for the DCI-P3 profile. The Default and Adaptive settings both scored well for coverage too, and colour accuracy was good across the board.

All these makes brightness to be superb. But a mini issue you might not like is when you adjust the brightness slider all the way up, you might be disappointed by the somewhat subpar 415cd/m2 maximum that the screen puts out, but don’t be fooled.

But then if you toggle the automatic brightness on, the screen’s top brightness shoots up to a blistering 581cd/m2 – more than enough for clear visibility on even the sunniest of days.

ONEPLUS HARDWARE SPECS

Powered by the Snapdragon 845 which is the same processor that powers the US variant of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and also the Asus Zenfone 5Z and the Son Xperia XZ2.

The OnePlus 6 is also powered by an 8GB RAM although there is a cheaper 6GB RAM version which has only has a Mirror Black finish.

Well those specifications meant a lot of speed if you care about speed. And so I wasn’t surprised how cool the device handles whatever I throw at it. Multitasking is very easy and rapidly switching between applications isn’t a joke at all.

So let’s say you try out the Samsung Galaxy S9 and then the OnePlus 6, you will most likely get nearly the same result because of the hardware specs they both come bundled with.

And that is a big achievement for the company as this will increase their market visibility and reach and even being cheaper than Samsung’s flagship means alot.

Storage allocations vary depending on what finish you go for – the Mirror Black model starts at 64GB and goes up to 128GB, while Midnight Black starts at 128GB and goes up to 256GB. Silk White, meanwhile, is only available with 128GB of storage.

ONEPLUS 6 BATTERY CAPABILITIES

It’s okay. What would you expect from a 3300mAh battery capacity. Well, a bit disappointing which is why I wouldn’t know why these companies won’t just make their device to be complete. They always miss out something somewhere intentionally or not, that’s not for me to decide.

But the new OnePlus 6 comes with the same batter as seen in the older OnePlus 5T. While being a heavy tester and taking the device through some rigorous time to see how far the battery would go in reality aside the office’s lab test it would usually go through, It still lasted for a maximum 14 hours but I had to plug it right back in when it was very late in the night at about 11:24PM.

While LG G7 ThinQ lasted way longer than that, I wouldn’t doubt the fact that some components of the device’s battery had been reduced or removed (just saying).For example, the Huawei P20 Pro brags a “Very Loooog” battery life and that is true. OnePlus could have done a bit better than this.

While that might not be a bad move for those working 9 – 5, you won’t at least have so much time focusing on your phone unlike a traveler or a camper who wants to use the device as a companion. You’d definitely need a powerbank along with you.

Another thing is that the device supports the OnePlus’s proprietary Dash Charge fast-charging technology which provides a substantial boost from a relatively short charge time. Dash Charge has always been highly effective, and it’s no less so in this case.

Also, don’t expect wireless charging because of the glass-back of the device. While that is a big win win for Samsung and the new iPhone Xs, XR and X Max, this might be a bit disappointing because we’d expected more.

ONEPLUS 6 CAMERA

Okay back to the bright side, the camera is excellent. And it handles photo captures very excellently. It uses a dual-camera which are a 16MP and a 20MP sensor and an f/1.7 aperture for low-light photography. It’s also sporting a larger sensor, which also helps in situations with poor lighting.

While the OnePlus 6 performance under low light photography is cool. I personally enjoyed this while I was indoor of restaurants. Also, the re-introduction of optical image stabilization which had been detached since OnePlus 3T means that low-light images comes looking better, sharp and crisp with details and brightened edges. It’s worlds ahead of the OnePlus 5T, and in fact, it’s up there with the Pixel 2 and Galaxy S9 in terms of quality.

When you take pictures in the daylight, the resolution is very detailing and the HDR capacity is very impressive. I even looked better in the couple of shots i took during my outing with the device and it was a very great experience altogether.

Bokeh-style portrait mode is offered too. It’s not quite as good as we’ve seen from some rivals – the edges between the subject in the foreground and the blurred background aren’t as sharply-defined as the Pixel 2, for example, but this is easily fixed with a software update.

One other thing I loved about the OnePlus 6 camera capability is the Slow-Motion video capacity which includes it’s ability to shoot 480fps footage at 720p and 240fps footage at 1080p YIKE!

Although it lags a bit when compared to the 960fps mode offered by Samsung Galaxy S9 but the advantage you have is been able to shoot a full minute slow-motion footage and thus picking parts which you’d like to get all in the slow-mo which makes videoing easy and improved altogether.

And, it’s set to improve; Since we reviewed the camera, OnePlus have promised an update that will enhance the device’s camera and improve picture quality in a number of ways.

The Oxygen OS 5.1.9 update, available now, claims to improve clarity, dynamic range, focus speed and accuracy as well as adding a portrait mode to the front camera. The standard portrait mode should also benefit from better focusing and bolder images, OnePlus says, though we’re yet to put this to the test (we’ll update this review when we do).

Google Lens is also available on the OnePlus 6 making the Augmented Reality the software offers easy to access. The camera app uses image recognition tools for users to easily find out information about books, buildings and all other objects they can point the camera towards.

The feature can provide relevant website links, translate foreign words, scan QR codes and even identify animals.

Google Lens is already available as a separate download, but rolling it into an update is clever and convenient from OnePlus, which is said to also be pushing the Oxygen OS 5.1.9 update to OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T as well.

The OnePlus 6 device though didn’t have some extremely huge names or long list of features, the basics are very useful and great for an Android lover.

Like the dual-SIM support, as well as support for CAT16 Gigabit LTE networking. It supports a huge range of different region bands, and it’s carrier unlocked by default.

And as far as security is concerned, the device uses both facial and fingerprint recognition to enhance security while still making the usage as easy as possible just as seen in the previous OnePlus 5T.

Sadly, the OnePlus 6 is not fully waterproofed. Although the company says it’s improved the water resistance, thanks to foam and silicon around the main ingress points, it does not have a proper IP67 or IP68 rating to guarantee it against submersion. According to the company, it should withstand being caught in the rain, and will probably survive a dunk in the toilet (assuming you get it out and leave it to dry immediately), but there are no promises so try not to let that happen.

As for software, OnePlus once again opts for its proprietary OxygenOS, a customised version of Android that’s proved incredibly popular with its fans. While it looks just like a stock version of Android, it’s highly customisable, letting users change what buttons do depending on how you press them, the look of the status bar, and offering a range of colour choices – although there’s an excellent dark theme available. It’s an incredibly slick take on the operating system that runs like a dream on the OnePlus 6, thanks in no small part to the beefy internal hardware.

The haphazard nature of Android updates can be a headache at times, and your experience will vary massively depending on the companies you’ve used. OnePlus has historically been pretty good at releasing them at a regular pace, and it has recently gone one step further by committing to a Google Pixel style release schedule.

Given how good OnePlus has been with its updates, this is only going to serve as a nice little bonus to OnePlus fans already sold on the smartphone. Yet for some customers, particularly businesses looking to roll out the smartphone to employees, it may prove to be that last added incentive they needed to make the switch.

SHOULD YOU BUY THE ONEPLUS 6?

YEAH! But if you’re a die-hard fan of OnePlus. Also, considering the list of features which comes shipped with the device, you might be tempted to give it a try and at least, still being behind Samsung Galaxy S9 in the terms of pricing and all that noise.

Also, the OnePlus 6 excelled in it’s own states. for example, you might want to use it as a business phone. Receiving emails and sending messages with contacts is just as easy as possible.

Since the camera is now upgraded and well improved, be ready for the next generation shots anywhere whdther low-light or not. The camera works fine in every of those conditions making it easy for you to record and snap every moment that matters most to you.

But as for the battery, I said earlier on that the device might not be excellent for those that are always outdoor doing something or the other. For example, if your job doesn’t require you stay near power supply all the time, you  might have issues with the device because you’d always have to plugin in especially if you’re depending on the device for almost everything.

So I’d recommend it for people who are usually beside power supply or say you’re not that a heavy user, then the OnePlus 6 is a go ahead and you’d never need to plug and unplug…I’m just saying.

The OnePlus 6 is a very fantastic smartphone and it’s worth the price and the feature it comes packed with are all amazing making it a real premium flagship you can believe to never fail anytime you want it to perform it’s best. Just trust it.