OnePlus 6T First Impressions – A Feature Packed Beast

The flagship killer OnePlus 6T is finally launched in an event in New York, nearly six months after the OnePlus 6 was announced and the company will stop selling the most successful OnePlus 6 after launching the 6T. This time around OnePlus hasn’t changed the specifications much instead focused on improving the design and adding new features. The base variant of OnePlus 6T with 6GB/128GB is priced at $549 in the US. While the 8GB/128GB variant is priced at $599. Whereas the top-end 8GB/256GB variant will be available at $629.

Here are our first impressions of the company’s flagship device, the OnePlus 6T.

OnePlus 6T First Impressions – A Feature Packed Beast

Design

At first look, OnePlus 6T seems to be indistinguishable to the predecessor OnePlus 6. The OnePlus 6T retains the same design that we’ve seen on the OnePlus 6 which again wasn’t all that different from the previous gen models. OnePlus started the notch journey with its predecessor, OnePlus 6 and now the OnePlus 6T endeavors to make it even smaller. The earpiece has been shifted up into the frame of the device in the form of a thin slit. The OnePlus 6T much larger than the OnePlus 6 with the 6.41-inch AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 19.5.9 and a resolution of 2340 x 1080.

The major change in this display is the new in-screen fingerprint reader. OnePlus claims that it is the fastest-performing implementation of in-display fingerprint authentication yet. The in-display fingerprint scanner unlocks the phone in just 0.34 seconds.

The new OnePlus 6T measures in at 157.5×74.8×8.2mm, weighs 185 grams. The smartphone takes up 86 percent of the front surface and is covered in the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 6 for the best durability.

Performance

Speed has never been a problem for OnePlus flagships. The new OnePlus 6T is equipped with the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 platform. Combined with the 6GB or 8GB RAM (depending on which model you select), it’s one of the fastest, most powerful phones on the market right now. OnePlus 6T comes running Android 9.0 Pie out of the box with OnePlus’ own OxygenOS on top. OxygenOS is more fluid with smoother animations, coupled with useful features and some customizable options without any bloatware. The OnePlus 6T comes with a new feature called Smart Boost that stores app data in memory to improve cold boot times. The company says this should increase app launch times by 5 to 20 percent, playing into the “Fast and Smooth” initiative OnePlus tries to implement into their devices and yes, this feature loads significant parts of gaming apps into the RAM itself to improve performance.

Camera

In the camera department, the OnePlus 6T is nearly the same as the predecessor OnePlus 6. This phone also includes the 16MP/f1.7 primary camera and 20MP depth sensing module. Both are f/1.7, and the main camera also includes both OIS (optical image stabilization) and EIS (electronic image stabilization). A front camera is a 16MP unit with a f/2.0 lens.  OnePlus 6T comes with a new Nightscape scene that optimizes the photos taken during the night. OnePlus CEO said the smartphone takes about 2 seconds to capture and process the images in the nightscape. The Nightscape feature is also coming to the predecessor OnePlus 6. The portrait mode is the main thing that the company has worked on to improve the overall camera experience. The Portrait Mode now comes with Studio Lighting that essentially shifts the focus on the subject as it becomes more engaging in the frame in comparison to the other elements.

Battery

The OnePlus 6T offers a bigger battery than its predecessor. While the OnePlus 6 is backed by a smaller 3300mAh battery, the OnePlus 6T now ships with a 3700mAh. That’s a 12% increase in capacity, and OnePlus claims it results in a 22% battery life increase. Although the smartphone doesn’t support wireless charging technology, it does comes with the company’s proprietary Fast Charge (20W fast-charging) technology.

Verdict

The OnePlus 6T is an evolution of the previous model OnePlus 6 on paper, considering the bigger battery, a new display, revamped cameras, and the new in-display fingerprint unlocking system. We wish the headphone jack had stayed, but that’s really the only major hardware strike against the smartphone.

Video Source: CNET