OnePlus 6 Unboxing & Review Quickie!

This is unboxing of the all-new OnePlus 6 smartphone & review quickie after using it for about 24-hours.  The OnePlus 6 comes with latest Snapdragon 845 processor, 6 or 8GB of RAM, 64 to 256GB of storage, 6.28-inch AMOLED screen w/ 19:9 ratio, and dual SIM sluts.  After fondling with the new OnePlus 6 for about a day, I think I may have found a great smartphone I can recommend for under $600 that is not a Samsung or LG.

First, OnePlus 6 is the first OnePlus smartphone to ship with a glass back.  While I dig its metal design from its predecessors, glass back might be a good change for the future so it can support wireless charging.  Although this year’s OnePlus 6 does not support wireless charging, it is supposedly water-resistant without an IP67 or IP68 rating.    But what’s great about this phone?

Yes, the whopping 8 gigs of RAM is simply beastly amount of random access memory that is going to super-charge your games and allow you to multi-task much faster than any other Android smartphone on the market.  While 8 gigs of RAM is overkill for normal people, gamers and true multi-taskers will appreciate the extra RAM.   In my short 24-hour period, I was rather surprised how fast my apps ran in comparison to my Galaxy S9, the performance difference is definitely noticeable and if you wanted the fastest smartphone out today, OnePlus 6 is probably it.  Antutu benchmarking scores came out at 259,721(vs Galaxy S9 247,216), which is probably the highest out.

Of course, OnePlus also ships with OxygenOS ROM based on latest Android 8.1 Oreo, built upon pure Android rather than heavily modified versions that Samsung and LG use.   In that regards, users will experience much more true Android with maximum speed and no lag.  And yes, OnePlus is one of the few companies that offer root without voiding warranty.  This is the ultimate rooter’s phone, call it the Roto Rooter of Android smartphones.

While the 6.28-inch AMOLED screen is bright with great viewing angles, again OnePlus gives you a 1080P screen with resolution of 2280×1080 pixels.  Not to worry though, if you don’t watch high-resolution content above 1080P, you may be better off as battery life is excellent on the OnePlus 6 with a 3,300mAh battery.  Although I will do a detailed SOT test soon, the battery should be one of the longest on the market without a doubt.

As for design & feel, OnePlus 6 is one of the thinnest smartphones you can buy this year with the largest screen!  At just 7.8mm thick, it feel much thinner than my Galaxy S9 Plus which is 8.5mm thick.  Of course, the notch isn’t pretty but you can turn it off easily.  The notch does sorta fake the screen real estate as I don’t think it is full 6.28-inches when counting the notch space that cannot be used as display space.  In that regards, the actual display area is slightly smaller than the S9 Plus, slightly bigger than the Galaxy S9.

The OnePlus 6 now also has slightly bigger sensor for its main 16MP rear camera along with the second 20MP camera for portrait mode and zoom, not too far different as far as its camera hardware goes(still F1.7) but it is now fully-capable of 4K 60fps and 480fps slow motion at 720P or 240fps at 1080P.  4K 60fps works great with electronic image stabilization and the 240fps slow motion at 1080P is probably one of the best slow motion on a smartphone I have seen so far in terms of quality.  While Galaxy S9 already has 960fps, the quality of it is not very good and I personally prefer slower 240fps at much-higher quality.  Of course, during unboxing I did also find out the S9 is also capable of 240fps by activating in its hidden menus, which I should have an update on also.

Speakers are very loud for a mono speaker and you can feel a bit of bass.  And yes, for headphone lovers the 3.5mm headphone jack is a big relief.  The USB Type C port supports DASH charge, which is a tad faster than Quick Charge 3.0 but it is not compatible with Quick Charge 3.0 or 2.0, meaning you will have to pick up extra DASH chargers for your home and office if needed.

For security, OnePlus 6 offers Face Unlock and fingerprint, both which are instant.  Now, the Face Unlock feature is not that secure as you can print out a photo of yourself and unlock the phone but it is offered as a convenience.  If you need absolute security, you can simply stick with just the fingerprint sensor.

Overall, in my 24-hour experience with it, I think OnePlus has done a terrific job of putting out a flagship rival.  While it is not perfect OnePlus 6 offers much versatility to the user, especially that you can root it without voiding warranty to add your own custom features.  I should have an updated root tutorial along with stereo sound mod soon.  Now, I still prefer my Galaxy S9 due to features like better screen capture that allows me to write and crop my captures along with official IP68 rating, wireless charging, stereo speakers, and a few more.  BUT, I am definitely IMPRESSED as OnePlus does a lot of things right for about $130 less. (Galaxy S9 Plus retails currently for $699 on eBay vs. the $579 128GB OnePlus 6 model I tested here.)   If you have a need for speed above all else, OnePlus could be the better choice.   I will have a full review after few weeks of daily driving but if you aren’t sure, I hope this review quickie helped!

Here’s some original photos taken with the OnePlus 6 portrait mode in bright daylight:  (Click on photo to see original photo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Max Lee

Max Lee is the founder of HighOnAndroid.com. Max makes Android tutorials and review videos for people who want to get high on Android over at his YouTube channel and Korean YouTube channel.