At this price, the performance approaches that of other companies' terminals that cost more than 100,000 yen.
Last week, OnePlus announced its latest addition, the OnePlus 6. The price of $529 (about 59,000 yen) stands out these days when flagship smartphones can easily exceed 100,000 yen, but it seems that the price is not the only thing that should be evaluated. Gizmodo's Sam Rutherford reviews the OnePlus 6 after using it for a while.
The OnePlus 6 may be the most boring OnePlus ever. Oh, I don't mean that in a bad way. The OnePlus 6 may not be as exciting as its predecessors, but with $1,000 smartphones becoming the norm, the overall impact is even greater. I think. And of course the OnePlus 6 is the best smartphone OnePlus has ever made.
OnePlus 6
Price: $ 529 (about 59,000 yen)
What is this? : mid-range smartphone
Likes: High specs for the price, great battery life, nifty gesture controls
What I don't like: No wireless charging, no stereo speakers, no official waterproof rating
The OnePlus One, released in 2014, was targeted at smartphoneards who were particular about specs. They wanted a phone that was affordable, had the best components, but didn't have all the clunky features and extra apps that Samsung, LG, and HTC were throwing in at the time.
The OnePlus One was a huge success, though there were some issues, like the invitation-only purchase was confusing and the screen was yellowed. The sandstone-like design on the back is unique, and it has high-end hardware and software that can be tweaked by the user.
But as the company OnePlus has grown, so have its devices. The distinctive back is made of metal on the OnePlus 3, and then changed to glass on the OnePlus 6 like other smartphones. The OnePlus 6 also has a notch at the top of its 6.3-inch display. But now the notch isn't cutting edge anymore, it's just a way to get that extra screen real estate that everyone wants.
Not everyone is happy with these changes, especially OnePlus's most die-hard fans. But this may be something OnePlus can't help but go more mainstream. OnePlus has used supermodels to demonstrate its Dash Charge fast-charging technology, partnered with Disney and colette to launch limited-edition models, and opened pop-up stores around the world. By doing so, we are trying to get more people to buy this smartphone.
But the OnePlus 6 is so good that I don't care about that flashy move. The 2,280 x 1,080px OLED display is very vivid, with a brightness of 638 nits, which beats even the Galaxy S9+ (605 nits) and Huawei P20 Pro (525 nits). The SoC is also equipped with Qualcomm's flagship processor Snapdragon 845, with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which is on par with other flagship Android phones.
All these specs start at $529. That's $200 less than the Galaxy S9, $270 less than the Pixel 2 XL, and $420 less than the Galaxy Note 8. It's a bit more expensive than the original OnePlus One, which was $300, but it's still pretty affordable compared to other high-end phones.
Thanks to the energy-saving Snapdragon 845, the OnePlus 6 has the same battery capacity as the OnePlus 5T, but the battery life has reached 13 hours and 3 minutes. The OnePlus 5T also lasted a decent 11 hours and 22 minutes, but over 13 hours is the longest of any new smartphone this spring, or of any smartphone to date.
When it comes to software, OnePlus' own Oxygen OS is the closest thing to bare Android after Pixel and Nokia phones. The operation is fast, the switching is smooth without getting stuck, and it seems that it will be even better if it is updated to Android P. If you set it to dark mode, the background will be black making use of the organic EL display. The optional gesture operation is also very smart.
Android P's new gesture controls take up some space in the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. Swipe up from the bottom center of the screen to go to the home screen, swipe up and hold to view recent apps, and swipe up on the right or left side of the screen to go back. It's simple and elegant, and it's hard to go back to your old navigation bar after using it for a short time.
However, due to the price difference with other companies, it does not have all the functions of today. Like the OnePlus 5T, the OnePlus 6 has facial recognition, and while it's pretty fast, it's not as secure as the Galaxy S9's iris recognition or Apple's 3D facial recognition, FaceID. There's also no stereo speakers, no wireless charging, and the latter is pretty disappointing considering there's no metal to get in the way of inductive charging.
And while the OnePlus 6 claims to be "okay for a little bit of water," there's no official IP rating or other waterproof certification, so there's no guarantee it will work. OnePlus is a huge company with sales of $ 14 billion (about 1.55 trillion yen), so I think it would be nice to have a waterproof certification. Also, as is often the case with smartphones outside the United States, the lack of CDMA support means you can't use it with U.S. carriers like Verizon or Sprint.
As for the camera, the 20-megapixel second camera is now just for portrait mode bokeh effects. It's a bit disappointing that the OnePlus 5 had a second camera that allowed you to zoom, and the OnePlus 5T could use it for low-light shots.
However, the overall image quality has improved. I took a number of shots with the Galaxy S9+ in bright environments, dark environments, and portrait mode, and I was really surprised at how well it kept up. Occasionally the Galaxy S9+ was sharper or caught the light better, but the difference was usually very small.
I mean, these little differences are the reason OnePlus exists. The OnePlus 6 isn't as feature-rich as the Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy S9+, or even the LG G7, to begin with. But at $529, it's about two-thirds the price of other flagship phones, and it's more than enough. The performance, battery life, and camera are more than just good, and in the $400-$700 price range, there's no other phone I'd buy. is not. "Price range" isn't that essential, but with flagship smartphones rising in price one after another, this is exactly the price that everyone is interested in buying. The OnePlus 6 isn't OnePlus' most ambitious phone yet, but I think it strikes a nice balance of what you need in its price range.
Summary
・The OnePlus 6 is the first glass back in the OnePlus series since the OnePlus X.
・Battery life is excellent, surpassing the Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy S9+ and Huawei P20 Pro in our tests.
・The missing features are a microSD slot (although there is space for dual SIM), wireless charging, and a stereo speaker (with a mono speaker at the bottom).
・Like the OnePlus 5T, the OnePlus 6 seems to withstand a little rain and splashes, but I'm worried about the lack of official certification.
・Since it is not compatible with CDMA, it cannot be used with CDMA carriers such as Sprint and Verizon.
Specs
・OS: Android 8.1-based Oxygen OS ・Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 ・RAM: 6GB (8GB option available) ・Storage: 64GB (128/256GB option available) ・Screen: 2280 × 1080px 6.28 inch organic EL display ・Front camera: 16 million pixels ・Rear camera: 16 million pixels ・Dual camera with 20 million pixels ・Battery capacity: 3,300mAh ・Port: USB 2.0 Type-C, 3.5mm audio jack, dual nano -SIM Size: 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.75mm Weight: 177g Price: $529 (about 59,000 yen)
Image: Sam Rutherford/Gizmodo USSource: OnePlusSam Rutherford - Gizmodo US [original] (Miho Fukuda)
