Ever since I started using mobile phones and ventured into smart phone usage, I relied almost entirely on well known and well established brands. The only exception to this was the Xiaomi Mi3, which worked well but had really brittle display. Every time I think of buying a new phone, I go to the big ones. This time, I had a chance to use the OnePlus 6 as a daily driver and in this post, I explain how it is for a Galaxy user and ex-iPhone user to try out a OnePlus phone.
Design
The only large form factor smart phone that I ever used was the Mi3. This phone had a 5″ display but was as big as a 5.5″ phone (in those days) due to really fat bezels. After Mi3, I used iPhone 6, Galaxy S7. When compared to these phones, the OnePlus 6 feels huge. Yes, it does come with a 6.3″ display and I will discuss display related feedback later in this article. The problem with this form factor is that I sometimes struggle to hold the phone. Using the phone with one hand, most of the time, is not possible. The super slippery nature of this generation phones (glass back and shiny metal frame) does not help either. I like using a phone without a back case and with OP6, a back case is a must.
Another problem that I face with the size is when I am riding my bike. If I use jeans, the phone creates some discomfort and when I use formals, the phone hangs out giving me scares. There were times when I had to keep the phone in my backpack. Lack of IP68 water resistance meant that I had to stop the bike and put the phone in backpack whenever it started drizzling, something that I do not have to do with my Galaxy S7 phone.
Display
There is no denying that consuming content on a 6.23″ display will be amazing. It certainly is amazing. The display looks really good, but not as good as that on iPhones and Galaxy S series phones. When compared to phones like S7/S8/S9 or iPhone 7/8, the OnePlus 6 display scored due to the size of the display. But when compared with phones like S8 plus or S9 plus or iPhone X, the OP6 display feels inferior.
Coming to my personal preference, I need a display that is bigger than the one on my S7, without a change in phone’s size. For this reason, I would go with a phone like S9 or iPhone X. To be frank, I need a phone that is like the iPhone X. This one has a 5.8″ display (0.6″ bigger than that on S7) and it is smaller than the S7. I wish more phones come with this kind of form factor instead of putting on 6″+ displays just to show that they have big displays.
Reading
This is where the OP6 truly shines. I loved reading books and web articles on this phone. The large 18:9 aspect ratio display displayed more content when compared to phones like S9/S7/X etc. Reading mode too helps in making reading less stressful on a phone. In short, when you set an application for reading mode, phone reduces blue light makes the display look a little bit like paper when the application is open.
Another example is F1 application. My current phone with 5.2″ display can only display 15 racers in live timing. OP6 showed all 20 and still had space to show few more. That helps a lot when following all 20 race drivers on raceday.
Gaming
Insanely fast. That SD845 and 8GB of RAM makes games load insanely fast and are quick. The bigger display also helps a lot as there is more content on screen. You should try racing and FPS games on this phone to know what am saying.
Social networks
Twitter application looks pretty good on this phone. 6.23″ display lists more tweets and this helps a lot. If you are addicted to twitter and spend your day going through twitter feed, this phone helps a lot. Facebook too looked very good. The 18:9 aspect ratio and 6.23″ size also meant that when keyboard is popped up, you still have a good amount of display area that shows post/editor.
Watching videos on YouTube was a pleasure. The aspect ratio and display size again came into play here. Watch a video on this phone at night with lights out and you will know what I am refering to.
Camera
Had mixed feelings with the camera. While portrait mode photos look really good, thanks to bokeh effect, normal full view photo quality was okayish. There were instances where I felt like my S7 took better photos than that OP6 rear camera. Also, in portrait mode, OP6 camera tends to soften the skin tone and gives the subject an un-natural look.
Battery
I used to charge my iPhone 6 once early morning and once at end of the day. My S7 runs out of juice by evening. OP6, on the other hand, stayed on for atleast a full day. It is good to see that a phone with 6.23″ display and a screaming fast processor can easily last a full day. I used to check battery life on my i6 and S7 multiple times a day. I stopped doing that with OP6. This, in my opinion, is one of the biggest advantages with OP6 phone.
User Interface
Any give day, I prefer having a stock Android experience over bloated stuff. While OP6 UI is not a match to iOS when it comes to speed, OP6 offers more function when compared to iOS. And there is absolutely no comparison between OP6’s OS and Samsung Experience UI. OP6 is much faster than S7 or S8 or S9. Also, the lightweight UI not only helps with speed, it also helps save battery life. OnePlus has added some really nice and much needed funtionality to Android. Also the iPhonesque ‘alert slider’ is helpful in quickly switching between ring and silent modes. Though it is not as easy as the one on iPhone to toggle between modes and the switch is a bit hard (probably to stop accidental sliding).
After sales support
I had amazing after sales support experience with Samsung smartphone. My phone display shattered once and they replaced the display and back panel (shattered earlier) within 24 hours. They would’ve handed over the phone on same day but they were not able to reach me on phone. One big advantage with Samsung service is their massive service network. There were 4 service centres within 5kms radius (from my house) and I picked the one that had stock.
Coming to OnePlus after sales support, they cannot match the network size of Samsung’s. With the difference in sales and models, we cannot expect them to. I have heard good things and bad things about their service and I am yet to experience their after sales service. If you have positive or negative experience, do let me know in the comments.
Conclusion
I did like the experience that I had with OnePlus 6. To me, the phone is amazing but the size of the display is something that I cannot use. I prefer to own a phone that is not bigger than the Galaxy S8 or S9. I can live without OS updates these days and I would pick a phone that produces more natural looking photos, gives peace of mind through their service network and the flagship tag stays for nearly a year. But there is one thing that really bugs me. Lag that comes in on these heavily skinned phones, resulting in very poor battery life. With iPhone 6, the battery life was average at best due to the small 1850mAh battery (after few months of usage).
When will I buy the OnePlus 6? Never, it is too big for me. Will I buy a phone that is similar to OnePlus 6 in terms of software, battery life and reliability but with smaller display? Absolutely, if the brand provides service quality that matches that of big players in the industry. Until then, I am going to stick to my Galaxy S7 that fits snugly in my palm or continue with Galaxy phones or go for iPhone X successor.
One More Thing….
Answer to the question “Is it a flagship killer?” is : No, the OnePlus 6 has joined the league of flagships.
