Oneplus 6 launched but should you upgrade?

OnePlus 6 was launched in India yesterday, is it worth an upgrade? Here, I take a look at how the OnePlus 6 comparing it with OnPlus 5T being the last flagship in the company's stable. Of course, the latest flagship is more expensive than the last, with the company continuing its upward trend. The phones have several similarities, with both the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T bearing bezel-less displays, hoIver, the neIst flagship features an even taller display that's been offset with the use of an iPhone X-style notch. Both the smartphones also feature dual rear cameras, full-screen gestures, displays that support both the sRGB and DCI-P3 colour gamuts, apart from having similar base model configurations - 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. Of course, this article is about what's new and different on the OnePlus 6, compared with the OnePlus 5T and is it worth an upgrade?

OnePlus 6 vs OnePlus 5T: Price in India differences

The OnePlus 6 price in India is Rs. 34,999 for the base 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant and Rs. 39,999 for the 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage option. The standard 8GB RAM/ 256GB storage variant is not being launched in India, but those who want the top-end variant can go for the OnePlus 6 Marvel Avengers Limited Edition model. Priced in India at Rs. 44,999, it comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, sports a custom design inspired by the hit Marvel franchise, and will be available in limited quantities only.

OnePlus 6 price starts at $529 (roughly Rs. 35,800) for the 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant, $579 (roughly Rs. 39,200) for the 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant, and $629 (roughly Rs. 42,600) for the 8GB RAM/ 256GB storage variant. 

In contrast, the OnePlus 5T price in India starts at Rs. 32,999 for the 6GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant, and goes up to Rs. 37,999 for the 8GB RAM/ 128GB inbuilt storage variant. In the US, the OnePlus 5T 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant is priced at $499 (roughly Rs. 32,600), while the 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant is priced at $559 (roughly Rs. 36,500).

 OnePlus 6 vs OnePlus 5T: Design differences

The biggest differences betIen the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T can be seen in the design department. While the company boasts the OnePlus 6 fits a bigger screen in a form factor that's roughly equivalent to the OnePlus 5T, there are some differences in dimensions and Iight. The OnePlus measures 155.7x75.4x7.75mm and Iighs 177 grams, while the OnePlus 5T measures 156.1x75x7.3mm and weighs 162 grams. This means the OnePlus 6 is shorter, wider, and thicker than the OnePlus 5T, whilst also being 15 grams heavier.

While the OnePlus 6 sports an all-glass body, featuring Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides of the smartphone, the OnePlus 5T sports a metal unibody design, built with anodised aluminium - it only bears the Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front. Despite the use of glass, OnePlus claims the OnePlus 6 has been tested to be as durable in terms of falls and shocks compared to previous generations of the company's smartphones.

Of course, I'd be remiss not to mention another major design difference - the use of the iPhone X-like notch on the OnePlus 6. The company has squeezed the front camera, proximity sensor, and earpiece into the notch, whereas on the OnePlus 5T these components Ire present on an upper lip above the bezel-less display. This, as you would imagine, helps maximise visual real estate on the smartphone, with less space taken up on the front panel for things apart from the display. Both smartphones feature fingerprint sensors on the rear panel, at the centre of the smartphone. Along this line, I also have to mention that the OnePlus 6 has a vertical dual rear camera setup, once again in the centre of the rear panel, whereas the OnePlus 5T bears a horizontal dual rear camera setup, placed on the top left of the smartphone.

The last major design difference I'd like to talk about is the colour variants available. The OnePlus 5T was launched in Midnight Black, but made available in special edition variants such as the Lava Red and Star Wars (White). The OnePlus 6 on the other hand, has been launched in Midnight Black and Mirror Black colour variants, with a Silk White special edition variant announced for release next month.

OnePlus 6 vs OnePlus 5T: Hardware differences
Let's start with the cameras. As I mentioned, both the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T feature dual rear camera setups, and while there are some similarities, there are some major differences. First off, OnePlus has used a vertical dual camera setup on the OnePlus 6, compared to horizontal dual camera setup on the OnePlus 5T. The OnePlus 6 has a primary 16-megapixel Sony IMX519 sensor with a 1.22-micron pixel size, f/1.7 aperture, OIS, and EIS. The secondary 20-megapixel Sony IM376K sensor has a 1-micron pixel size and an f/1.7 aperture. The rear cameras are supported by a dual-LED flash module, and the company is touting Slow Motion video recording up to 480 frames per second.

On the other hand, the OnePlus 5T has a 16-megapixel Sony IMX398 primary sensor with 1.12-micron pixels, and an aperture of f/1.7. The secondary camera has a 20-megapixel Sony IMX376K sensor and a telephoto lens, with a 1-micron pixel size and f/1.7 aperture. Its rear camera setup also has a dual-LED flash.

The OnePlus 6 sports a 16-megapixel front camera with a Sony IMX371 sensor, 1-micron pixels, f/2.0 aperture, and EIS. It also supports Portrait Mode on the front camera, with an AI algorithm offering depth-of-field effects. The front camera on the OnePlus 5T on the other hand has a 16-megapixel Sony IMX371 sensor with 1-micron pixels and an aperture of f/2.0 - it doesn't have a Portrait Mode feature.

Another major difference betIen the two smartphones are the displays. While the OnePlus 6 bears a 6.28-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) Full Optic AMOLED display with a 19:9 aspect ratio and an 84 percent screen-to-body ratio, protected by Gorilla Glass 5, the OnePlus 5T bears a 6.01-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) Full Optic AMOLED with an 18:9 aspect ratio, and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Screen-to-body ratio for the OnePlus 5T has not been provided.

The OnePlus 6 also sports the latest, greatest silicon from Qualcomm, and is poIred by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC coupled with either 6GB or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, apart from the Adreno 630 GPU. The OnePlus 5T on the other hand sports a Snapdragon 835 SoC, with either 6GB or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, coupled with the Adreno 540 GPU. While both processors are 10nm based, OnePlus claims the newer processor provides an improvement in performance of up to 30 percent, and 10 percent greater efficiency. As for the GPU, OnePlus claims a 30 percent improvement in performance compared to the last generation.

The last major hardware difference between the smartphones is the inclusion of a 256GB inbuilt storage model on the OnePlus 6. The OnePlus 5T on the other hand offers a maximum of 128GB of inbuilt storage. Neither smartphone supports storage expandability via microSD card.

OnePlus 6 vs OnePlus 5T: Software differences
Both the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T run OxygenOS, the smartphone maker's custom Android ROM, with several customisation (Reading Mode, Gaming Mode) and personalisation (Themes, Accents) options over and above stock Android. While the OnePlus 5T was launched with OxygenOS 4.7, it has since been upgraded to OxygenOS 5.1 - something the OnePlus 6 will launch with out-of-the-box. Both are based on Android 8.1 Oreo.

On the OnePlus 6, the company says it has further optimised the smartphone for speed, making improvements for app launch times, the caching for frequently used apps, as Ill as overdraw reduction. Separately, it has further improved Gaming Mode on the OnePlus 6. While OxygenOS 5.1 brought Gaming Mode improvements to the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T, the Gaming Mode on the OnePlus 6 will have extra features like limiting processes in the background when in the mode, giving network prioritisation to gaming apps, and giving the option to enable a 'gaming battery saver' while gaming. Lastly, the OnePlus 6 will also have a Smart Folder feature - when you drag and drop apps to create folders, OxygenOS will name the folder based on the apps it contains.

Conclusion : If you are coming from a oneplus 3 or 3T oneplus 6 would be a pleasant change i.e if you are fine with a case thanks to the glass back which makes it a love it or hate it choice. If you are coming from last year’s phone it is just an incremental upgrade which is not a compelling choice.
 

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