OnePlus 6 Review — A Phone That Satisfies (almost) All
Long story short: If I were looking to change my phone, this would be it.
The Good
Smooth Operator
OnePlus 6 packs the powerful Snapdragon 845 (same as Samsung Galaxy Note 9) which makes everything oh-so smooth. Graphic intensive games did not pose any problems to the phone at all. For the gamers out there, you may be pleased to know that the phone has a gaming mode which gives you the option to block incoming notifications and to lock the screen brightness.
Not Huawei P20 Pro, but no complaints
Since everyone is focusing on cameras these days, let’s talk about cameras. OnePlus 6 sports a dual rear camera system. The main rear camera is 16 MP with Sony IMX 519 sensor. The secondary rear camera is 20 MP with Sony IMX 376K sensor. Both cameras have an aperture of f/1.7. The main camera has OIS and EIS.
Overall OnePlus 6 produces photos that are pleasing, if not exceptional. Night shots are decent but can be a bit grainy. Don’t bother with the digital zoom though.
No more eye strain
OnePlus 6 features a beautiful 6.28-inch AMOLED display which offers rich colours and a great contrast. If you prefer a more realistic colour representation, OnePlus 6 offers the possibility to change the display profile to sRGB or DCI-P3 palette. A new feature on the OnePlus 6 is the Reading Mode, which turns the display into a monochromatic one (so that it looks somewhat like a Kindle display) so that prolonged reading is easy on the eyes. I find myself loving this feature so much that I read tons of Wikipedia articles in the Reading Mode. I totally dig using Kindle’s Android app in the Reading Mode. I am now quite convinced that me that I can keep my actual Kindle in my drawer. Heck, I even switched to Reading Mode while watching some movies on the phone just for the fun of it. That said, if you launch the camera app or photo gallery, the software is smart enough to know that Reading Mode isn’t useful, and colour will fill the display. After you hit the home button or switch to another app, the screen will turn back to greyscale.
Headphone jack
Since my favourite Sennheiser headphones are not wireless, I need the headphone jack. So yay!
Usable right out of the box
You know how you cannot really use the phone properly during the first few days because you leave the plastic protector on the phone in case it gets scratched. The problem is only resolved when you finally get your screen protector and case to protect your purchase right? With the OnePlus 6, the screen protector is adhered already at the factory (flawless dust-free application) and a nice case comes in the box, so you can use your phone straightaway without fear.
The Not-so-good
Not enough juice for some
The OnePlus 6 comes with a 3,300 mAh battery which in my humble opinion, is not quite enough. For general use, it will easily last a day, but when I play Pokemon Go I find that I cannot play to my heart’s content. The phone does charge very quickly with OnePlus’s Dash Charge (around 60% in 30 mins) though so there’s an upside.
Not waterproof (at least officially)
It is noteworthy that OnePlus 6 does not have any IP rating for waterproof resistance. I conducted some informal and unscientific tests on my own and can confirm that OnePlus 6 will remain safe in the rain or by the swimming pool (BY, not IN). Some people have conducted more professional investigations (read: tear-down) and concluded that the OnePlus 6 has at least enough protection to give the device an IP67 rating. However, if you are tempted to submerge your phone in the water, keep in mind you are doing so at your own risk.
No room for expansion
OnePlus 6 does not have SD card support so you are restricted to the 64 GB or 128 GB that you buy. My concern isn’t about whether there is enough storage or not. I like to have everything on my SD card so that when I change phones I can transfer all my stuff via SD card quickly.
And no, I don’t want to backup my stuff to Google. They already know more about me than they need to.
Sometimes, I don’t know where I am
I find that the GPS signal is weaker on the OnePlus 6 than on my old OnePlus 3T. When playing Pokemon Go indoors, I find that the GPS signal is lost very often. That said, when outdoors without obstruction, the GPS gets a lock on the location very quickly and is accurate.
The “I can’t be bothered”
Notch
There is a notch on the OnePlus 6. It is possible to change the display such that you don’t see the notch. Some people love the notch, some people hate it. I don’t really care about it or care for it. I don’t find it distracting, yet I don’t find much benefit for it either.
Wireless charging
Personally, I don’t understand why people complain about the lack of wireless charging. I can use the phone while it’s charging with the USB cable, but I cannot use the phone when it is placed on the wireless charging pad. Wireless charging is slower anyway.
Until all my furniture have wireless charging pads built into them, I simply couldn’t care less. I rather have a lower price on the phone.
Speaker
As mentioned earlier, I use my headphones so I hardly find myself using the loud speaker on the OnePlus 6. But this point is probably worth a mention anyway. OnePlus 6 has a single, down-firing loudspeaker. The sound quality isn’t very impressive. Maybe it has got something to do with the case, but there’s some sort of a buzzing sound like something is shaking. I will happily stick to my headphones.
In conclusion, OnePlus 6 is a good phone that generally can satisfy most users. It is not the cheapest phone out there, but compared to other phones offering similar specs, you will be hard pressed to find another phone that offers better value than the OnePlus 6.
Article Contributed by Poisonvine.com
Originally published at The Neo Dimension.