Murf Versus

Thoughts On My New OnePlus 6T

After much back and forth arguing with myself over whether to get a OnePlus 6T or something else, I finally gave in and purchased the phone direct from OnePlus. Twitter friend Marc asked what I thought so far:

 

After less than a week of using the the OnePlus 6T, here is a rundown of my good and bad so far.

Let’s Begin With the Bad

Fingerprint Reader

Without a doubt, my biggest issue with the OnePlus 6T is the in-screen fingerprint reader. I have tried redoing my fingerprints several times, but I cannot get it to consistently work. Compared to the Pixel XL I upgraded from and the Nexus 6P I had before that, I was happy with having a physical reader on the back of the device. Its a cool idea in theory, but the OnePlus 6T’s approach doesn’t seem ready just yet.

A worse fingerprint reader doesn’t make the device unusable, however, but it does change my workflow. Thanks to more consistent Bluetooth, Android’s Smart Unlock features works every time for me on the OnePlus 6T. I have set my fitness watch, which is always paired with my phone and always on my wrist, to unlock the phone while it is near. In other words, I never lock my phone.

For the situations where I continue to use the fingerprint reader (mostly getting into financial apps), it works well enough for me not to complain too much.

No IP Certification

Most flagship phones are IP certified for water resistance these days. The OnePlus 6T is an exception. While I have read that OnePlus made the phone water resistant, but didn’t want to pass along the increased cost of getting the certification to consumers, I cannot know that for sure and without certification, I have no guarantees. Far from being a deal breaker, I just dislike the unease.

Odd Rounding

The OnePlus 6T likes its curves. While I love the teardrop notch, the top and bottom ends of the screen taper off oddly. On some apps, the edges are cutoff from the tapering, but never to the extent that it makes anything unreadable or unusable. It is just weird and when I notice it I cannot unsee it.

The Speaker

This one is probably a bigger negative for those without dual, front-facing speakers on their current phones, but I really miss the speakers on my HTC One M8 sometimes. It’s not that I like to listen to music without headphones like an asshole or that I always use speakerphone like an asshole or even that the speakers on the OnePlus 6T are bad. I just hate paying for a new phone and getting a downgrade.

Considering I was already used to a poor quality speaker again from the more recent Pixel XL, I knew I could live with whatever OnePlus 6T had. For the record, I do think this monospeaker is genuinely better though downward facing speakers on the bottom of a phone are stupid.

Now the Good

The Screen

I was worried about having another 1080p screen, but I have no complaints. It is a beautiful panel. It is also AMOLED, which I absolutely love since I favor dark/night modes whenever possible anyway and almost always have a predominantly black wallpaper.

I would’ve liked to have gotten an upgrade here (something like the 120hz on a Razer phone or a more pixel-dense, luxurious screen like on Samsung devices). At the same time, I wasn’t unhappy with my Pixel XL’s screen and this one is better, so I can’t complain.

The Camera

I am not a photographer. Outside of pictures of my dog and cat or grabbing a photo of an item I want to sell on Craigslist, I rarely use my phone. I allowed myself to be suckered into the original Pixel for its camera and, as much as I appreciate a great camera, a good one is all I really need. Paying a premium for just the camera made no sense to me.

And the Great

Oxygen OS

The OnePlus 6T arrives with Android Pie, which I was already using it. For my last two phones, I went with as close to a stock experience as possible. I love the Android OS and I hate seeing it re-skinned or overrun with bloatware. The biggest reason I have avoided Samsung products is because of my disdain for their additions.

OxygenOS (the name for OnePlus’s version of Android Pie) is complimentary to stock Android Pie. It doesn’t lock you down to proprietary updates that rarely get updated. It also doesn’t burden your system with a ton of extra, useless features.

Even better, OxygenOS has its own approach to gesture controls which are far superior to classic Android (back, home, recent) and the controls Google is forcing with the Pixel 3. The Oxygen OS controls are closer to what you see on Apple devices, so you get to free up the real estate from where the navigation bar normally sits. Plus, if you don’t like it, you still have the two other options to switch to.

Battery Life

So far, I have been unable to get the OnePlus 6T’s battery below 30%. I am sure I could if I deliberately tried, but considering its huge capacity and the efficiency of Android Pie, I would have to go out of my way to drain this thing. Even better, the quick charge system OnePlus uses for their phones has my phone back to full or near full in twenty minutes.

The Cost & Performance

I wanted to upgrade my phone last year, but I held off for the Pixel 3. After seeing the specs for the Pixel 3 and its cost, I had serious doubts. My doubts were briefly assuaged when I first held a Pixel 3 – it felt perfect – but before I could give in, the OnePlus 6T was announced with Verizon support and I never looked back.

If the Pixel 3 and the OnePlus 6T were the same price, I would’ve purchased the Pixel 3 only because I could go touch one in a store and it was a known quantity. The OnePlus 6T was a bigger risk. Every person who has seen my phone asks me who makes it and not a single one of them has heard of OnePlus.

That said, after using a OnePlus 6T, the Pixel 3 could be a hundred dollars less and I would still go with the OnePlus over it. Spending less, I got twice the RAM (8 GB) and twice the storage (128 GB) with the same processor. For my money, I also got a bigger battery and more screen real estate.

I haven’t tested my OnePlus 6T with gaming too much yet, but I have no doubt that it will play everything I throw at it. I was surprised to learn that OxygenOS has something called Gaming mode. You can enable it on a per app basis to answer all calls on speakerphone, block notifications so your game isn’t interrupted, turn off automatic brightness so you can crank it up and kill your battery faster, or limit other apps from taking up your precious network speed if playing online. In theory, it is a great idea and if I were more serious about Android gaming, I think it would be something I would really appreciate.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. The OnePlus 6T continues the trend of being a better phone than the last one I bought. With the extra RAM and current processor, I know I can get several years out of this phone. With the price, I know I will have it paid off in the next six months. I absolutely recommend it for anyone looking to upgrade in late 2018.

Questions or comments? Let me know in the comments below!

By:

C. T. Murphy

Posted in:

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