OnePlus 6 to launch today But should you wait for the OnePlus 6T instead?
It’s been several months after the first leaks of the OnePlus 6 began to appear and today, after all the hype and marketing (that the company is known for) OnePlus will finally unveil its first flagship of 2018.
I say first, because it clearly won’t be the only one. Being a reviewer it’s easy to say that OnePlus will launch a 6T model in a few months from now just like it did last year (OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T) and the year before that (OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T). But before we dissect the 6T lets have a look at what we can expect from OnePlus’s first flagship of 2018, set to launch globally today, at an event held in London.
The OnePlus 6
Design
From what we know through a recent product listing on Amazon.de spotted by WinFuture the OnePlus 6 will feature a glass a metal construction. There will be a 2.5 D curved edge Gorilla Glass screen on the front and a more rounded and curved screen on the back with a metal frame sandwiched in between.
The smartphone is said to be available in two finishes, one a Mirror Black and the second a Matte Black. As the name and previously leaked images suggest, the Matte Black version will come with a grippy flat finish as opposed to the chrome and mirror like finish with the Mirror Black model, which according to me takes plenty of inspiration from the Apple iPhone X. This is keeping in mind the notch, the rounded black bezel around the display and the stainless steel-like finish of the chassis around the sides.
Specifications
Moving to the internal specifications, OnePlus has advertised on Amazon.in that its new flagship will arrive with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. Last week, we saw a TENAA listing of a OnePlus smartphone revealing the existence of a 6 GB RAM variant with 64 GB of internal storage.
The display will feature a notch as confirmed by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei (who later took down his tweet) and previous leaks along with the recent one from TENAA also seem to lock on 6.28-inch display sporting an FHD+ resolution.
As for the cameras, previous leaks hint at the presence of dual camera setup with a 20 MP + 16 MP camera setup on the rear, and a single 16 MP camera on the front for selfies.
As for the battery, we can expect no upgrades here with a 3,300 mAh unit which is the same as the one found in the OnePlus 5 and the OnePlus 5T.
Apart from this, the leaked images from Amazon also showcase the presence of a single speaker at the bottom, a USB Type C port and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
What we also know about the OnePlus 6 is that it will be the first smartphone from the Chinese smartphone maker to feature an IP rating which means it will be dust and water resistant.
And that brings us to the OnePlus 6T, which is the smartphone OnePlus is expected to launch (as per tradition) about four months later.
The OnePlus 6T
If you open Twitter and type in the hashtag #OnePlus6 you will also find another suggestion called the #OnePlus6T. So it’s clear that users on Twitter want to know (as much as they can) about the OnePlus 6T before taking the leap and “settling” for a OnePlus 6.
In short, after some beta testing (OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 5) in the past two years, OnePlus did launch the OnePlus 3T with an improved chipset, a larger battery and a bumped up selfie camera and a OnePlus 5T with a drastically improved display and slightly better camera. And that’s a lesson learnt for some unfortunate buyers who stood in a queue to purchase the 3 and the 5 when it was launched because both the 3T and the 5T were much better (and polished) products.
With that said, this year’s OnePlus 6 seems to pack it all.
There a display with a notch (for those of you who are into that or think it’s a style statement), a brand-new design with a body made of premium-looking glass, an IP rating, and a 256 GB internal storage option.
But it’s 2018, so here are couple of things I believe OnePlus can still add, wireless charging (we’re expecting it on the 6 because there’s a glass body), possibly a bigger camera for selfies, more RAM (12 GB???) and possibly even an under-display fingerprint reader (borrowed from its sibling Vivo). Still then, this year’s OnePlus 6 going by the rumours and leaks seems to be quite prepared even if the above mentioned features are missing. But let’s wait for the launch to happen, which is set for a few hours from now.
Tech2 will be running a live blog, with Assistant Editor Nimish Sawant reporting live from the global launch event at London, so keep us pinned to your tab for fastest updates and commentary on the OnePlus 6 launch event that starts at 9:30 PM IST.