So, finally the most anticipated phone of 2018, arrived last week with a big cheers from the tech enthusiasts. But the big question still remains: Did it really live up to the hype? Does it deliver on its expectations? In what ways is it different from its predecessors, the OnePlus 5 and 5T? It has to be seen, whether it’s the one for you or not.
Because there are the other mighty flagships too out there, like, the Samsung Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 8, Google Pixel 2 XL, Nokia 8 Sirocco-the top of the line beasts.
So, what does the OnePlus offers you that can be distinguished from its predecessors and the rest of the competition?
Well, it does comes up with the latest beast of Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 845 SoC-and it’s the only phone in practical to do so, thus far. Along with that, it’s got a mighty force of 6GB/8GB RAM (depending on the variant) and internal storage options of 64GB, 128GB-there’s a special edition OnePlus 6 too, called the Avengers: Infinity War edition, having the internal capacity of 256GB, but that variant is limited.
The unique thing about the new model is its design and the company has finally tested something different-the glass design! Both the front and back sides are also protected by the strong Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The phone surely feels like something special in the hands, offering three variants to you, the Midnight Black, the Silk White and the one which will be the most common-the Mirror Black version. The astonishing feature of the midnight black and the silk white model is that they don’t even look like if they’re made of glass! All the three colour variants are spectacular.
So, this was regarding the design, which also feels a bit superior to the big flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Google Pixel 2 XL-also the Nokia 8 Sirocco.
But the real test of the specs and performance in real time is yet to be seen. So, it’s interesting to see how much the OnePlus 6 succeeds in standing on its own in front of the rival super phones, the S9, Nokia 8 Sirocco, Note 8 and a few others.
But during the recent tests and comparisons, it was found out that the OnePlus 6 emerged as the best on the Geekbench score and AnTuTu benchmarks also, with a record setting score-both for the single core and multicore performance.
Talking straightly about the individual comparison now, then the scenario becomes a bit more interesting.
On the hardware front, OnePlus 6 delivers the staggering smoothness, thanks to the latest Snapdragon 845 SoC, while the Nokia 8 Sirocco, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 give you the advantages of Snapdragon 835 SoC. It doesn’t mean that the 835 chipset on the rival phones is not up to the mark in any case-in fact they both are brilliantly fast.
The Galaxy S9 also comes up with Snapdragon 845, but the near-stock-android experience on OnePlus 6 has an advantage here. So, the OnePlus 6 wins here, easily.
And taking about the storage, then the Nokia 8 Sirocco offers an internal capacity of a huge 128GB (no choice for expansion of storage), while the Note 8 comes up with 64GB (but it offers the option for MicroSD card, for extending the capacity).
On the other hand, the OnePlus 6 comes in two variants (since the Avengers edition with 256GB option is just a limited-stock model), with 64GB, 128 GB. But it has no option for expansion of storage. So, in this department, the two phones, Nokia 8 and OnePlus 6 are at par with each other.
But, there’s one more department where the OnePlus 6 must win-the camera.
This might be just slightly disappointing for some, but the reality must be accepted. The Nokia 8 Sirocco has a dual rear camera setup of 12MP each, with Zeiss Optics and dual-tone flash. The Galaxy Note 8 also has a dual rear camera with 12MP each (one is primary shooter and the other is a telephoto snapper).
And the Galaxy S9 also comes with its superior, Super Dual Pixel camera. And its low-light pictures are astoundingly amazing while the normal photos too, are exceptional.
The above mentioned three phones do an impressive job in giving you the perfect images.
It doesn’t mean that OnePlus 6 is not good on camera, as it has improved on its rear dual cameras from last year’s OnePlus 5 and 5T. But that’s where the difference comes in, actually. Since it’s a flagship killer (due to low price), its not the actual flagship and so the images, though being impressive and great, are not that much comparable to the Nokia 8 Sirocco, the Note 8 (amazing photos with details) and undoubtedly the Galaxy S9 or S9 Plus (best in the section).
But on the part of battery performance, the OnePlus 6, with its stock android smartness and 3300mAh battery, wins here-although Nokia 8 Sirocco also is similar here with its durability throughout the day. Both phones can give you the satisfaction of extended gaming, calling, videos, music, and other stuff that you do.
But eventually, after all these things, the OnePlus 6 wins. But how?
With its aggressive pricing, surely no other flagship can come close to its vastness of features with affordability.
Where the Galaxy S9 (even after price drop) is still at $720 for 4GB/64GB model, $840 for the 256GB variant, the Galaxy S9 Plus at $840 for 64GB and $960 for the 256GB model, the OnePlus 6 is very much reduced to just $529 for 6GB RAM and 64GB storage and only $579 for the 8GB RAM and 128GB variant.
Now, these are absolutely fantastic figures of pricing since the OnePlus 6, both with 6GB and 8GB RAM, has the same display size as of the Galaxy S9 Plus (6.28inch)!
Talking about the other rivals then also, OnePlus 6 beats them all-singlehandedly. In Indian markets, the Nokia 8 Sirocco is available for about, a huge, Rs.49,990, via Amazon.in, while the OnePlus 6 with even its higher end version of 8GB/128GB, is sold, via Amazon.in only at just Rs.39,578. While the 6GB/64GB variant is priced at Rs.34,999 only.
And the Galaxy Note 8 doesn’t even come in the range of an ordinary consumer, being priced at Rs.58,990 (on Amazon) and there’s also a higher-end version, with a value of Rs.67,990!
Now, you can clearly decide which phone do you have to choose and why. After the clear analysis, it can be said, well, that OnePlus 6 gives you everything that the ‘ultra-flagships’ offer, and even more than that, at certain points, like an enhanced, superfast performance for a full day, gaming and all the activities, with a stock android experience, which is rare these days.
But it doesn’t mean that those of you having the older OnePlus models like the 5 and 5T, must upgrade to the 6, as there’s no extraordinary distinction between the three, because they are great too. For the existing users of OnePlus 5 and 5T, there’s no big need to have the OnePlus 6.
But if you are a flagship lover and are looking for a new phone, for the first time, then, this beast is for you. Its a hell of a ‘super phone’, still.
