OnePlus 6t: Still a Flagship Killer

Following their usual trend, the OnePlus 6T has shipped just 6 months after the OnePlus 6. If this is your first time hearing of the brand (OnePlus), they are one of the few Chinese based smartphone manufacturers who have gained popularity in the US market. They became popular by selling really good phones at really low prices; about half the price of other smartphones with comparable specs. And they did this without trading off on quality as we’re used to. Earning their smartphones the name “Flagship Killers” as a result.

Their latest 6T retails for just $549 (about 200,000NGN). This is one company that has remained true to its startup initiative of “more for less” products and the OnePlus 6T doesn’t fail to deliver on that promise

PROCESSOR AND MEMORY 

On the features end, the OnePlus 6T packs 6/8gb of RAM into a 128/256gb model respectively. But there’s no SD card support here though. Fitted with an Octa-Core Snapdragon 845 CPU and an Adreno 630 GPU, the latest in both mobile processing and graphics (on the android end), it’s no wonder they boast unrivaled speed. All that Performance is powered by a (good enough) 3700mAh battery which should take you through (most of) the day

SOFTWARE 

OnePlus phones have always been blazing fast as they integrate latest hardware with very optimized software. They are always first in line for Android updates which they deliver with very little customization and pack in lots of RAM. The OnePlus 6T will ship with Android 9.0 (Pie); the latest from Google. 

CAMERA

A 20MP/16MP dual camera combo produces really respectable images and the portrait mode is not a joke like most. Though it doesn’t compare directly with the Pixels and Samsungs it actually holds up its own pretty well. The selfie cam is a 16MP shooter capable of portrait mode through software optimization. Video is also pretty neat capable of 4K recording up to 60fps and 1080p 60fps on the selfie side

.The camera hardware remains mostly the same as the OnePlus 6, little software optimization tweaking things a bit as seen in the new ‘nightscape’ mode; offering better photos in low light as the name implies

DESIGN AND AESTHETICS

The OnePlus 6T has an all metal design with glass on both sides. On the front, a massive all screen(ish) 1080p 6.4inch AMOLED display. Not as glamorous as the Quad HD on an S9 but still very eye candy-ish. Also, it shouldn’t break too easily too as OnePlus says it’s a Corning Gorilla glass 6 panel.

Meanwhile, the OnePlus 6T was able to accomplish something Samsung and Apple couldn’t seem to in their last releases with the fingerprint sensor sitting right there on the screen. This was achieved in a Technological breakthrough by Synaptics (clear ID in-display fingerprint sensors). It works by capturing an optical photograph of the fingerprint through the screen itself. Read about it here

It may come as sad news to some that OnePlus 6T ships without a headphone jack- following the wireless trend. This device should be able to survive a little splash and a spill but with no proper IP rating I wouldn’t dunk that in water just yet.

OTHER FEATURES 

Wireless charging still isn’t an option on the OnePlus 6T despite the glass back(making it just a cosmetic design change). Personally I think their Dash Charge feature makes up for this. Besides, wireless Charging is currently at the “gimmick” stage if you ask me; relying still on the inductive method (there has to be contact between the phone and charging pad). Therefore until wireless charging becomes truly wireless, I think we can forgive phones skipping on this feature.

However, you get Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C with On The Go (OTG) Technology, Near Field Communication (NFC) and good old Dash Charging (they have the fastest fast charging so far). People mostly overlook this but even a 4g enabled phone may not support specific bands your country’s network providers support. If you want a full list of bands supported and compare that against our providers, Check that in the specs for nerds section below. What you need to know however is that it supports all the Popular network bands.

The OnePlus 6T was officially announced to ship in a mirror black or midnight black.(Their fancy way of saying Glossy and Matte options) and priced at a decent $549(200,000NGN); Half the price of it’s thousand dollar counterparts

VERDICT

In my opinion, OnePlus is still the proper definition of a Flagship killer notwithstanding gaining all the fame they need to compete with the bigger boys at exorbitant pricing. It has become everything you expect from a Flagship Smartphone…and more!
The OnePlus 6T’s stunning, premium design was not smeared by a gigantic eyesore of a notch as they opted for a far more acceptable, Teardrop style notch. Coupled with an in-display fingerprint sensor; Suddenly a phone that’s meant to be just a 6-month incremental update starts to feel like a very well thought out annual release

Let me know what you think of the OnePus 6T in the comments