What would you say if I told you can get a smartphone with 128 GB of storage, 8 GB of ram, with a 3700 MAH battery, a snapdragon 845 processor, a 6.4 inch Amoled display and it's running on basically stock Android for $579 in 2018? You may ask about how well it actually works? or if the build quality is any good? Maybe even if they cut a ton of other things out? Or did Google re-launch the Nexus line of phones?
Here with BAD Tech & Gaming I am Brandon and plan on answering those questions with my initial review of the One Plus 6T.
Starting with the first of 4 categories the Greats
so let's get the things you already know about this phone out of the way oh and buckle up for this review its going to take a minute.
CARRIER PCIKUP
With this phone now being sold through T-Mobile it really makes it easier. To get one for those of us in the United States who are tied into an agreement ( like me ). Even Verizon will support this phone.
SPECS
Processor, RAM, Display, Battery are all more than the average flagship smartphone
I have listed the specs for you here as some of you may have already seen them but just in case mostly from Tmobile.com.
Battery: 3700 mAh
Display: 6.41" AMOLED
Resolution: 2340 x 1080 Pixels
Weight: 6.52 Ounces
Cameras: Rear 20 Megapixel Dual, 16 Megapixel Front Facing
Processor: QUALCOMM Snapdragon 845
Ram: 8GBStorage: 128GB
Bluetooth: 5.0Android Version: 9.0
The specs of this phone are amazing where it matters, and relaxed where they think they can compromise.
PRICE TO SPEC RATIO
This phone may be the best phone to price ratio of the year meaning what you get for the price is truly impressive and will really be a deciding factor for a lot of people. Especially those who love the Nexus device.
FINGERPRINT SCANNER IN SCREEN
This makes it into the Great category because it works it works well its innovation. It does work but sometimes I think it unlocks via facial recognition while I am touching the finger print scanner because the facial recognition identifies faster. Clever One plus I see what you did.
FACIAL RECOGNITION
Speaking of facial recognition holy cow is this fast!!!! It is so fast that when I show it to a friend or well anyone and they automatically say that is so much nicer than the iPhone!! Well I have to real it back in and say well sometimes I just want to look at my notifications and Bam I am in the phone. I am finding myself getting into the habit of pointing the phone away from my face to see what the buzzing notification was for but that can make it hard to see.
BUILD QUALITY
This phone is solid one plus has nailed the build quality
CUSTOMIZEABLITIY (stock is better than most)
While this phone doesn't have the themes of Samsung out of the box it has more customizable options for the phone. This enhances the Usability features and not necessarily the looks. You can change pretty much every way you interact with this phone by default. Like navigation drawing gestures, how the alert slider will mute or not mute different things what long pressing pretty much any buttons does.
This is great for techies, old Nexus fans, and people who love the ability to completely customize their devices. There is an entire group of people who would rather just pick up their phone when they buy it and just have it one way not wanting to find options in settings. I know this phone was made for the techies but one plus now you are in the American carriers you may want to have a better walk through of what, why and how these feature work as you start to reach the average American consumer. Why do you think the iPhone crushes it with the masses and Android has (in the last few years) really put an emphasis on simplicity streamlining its user interface.
IN THE BOX
the fact that you get the case in the box and the screen protector pre-installed immediately makes me want to say Apple, Google, Samsung and LG come on guys. This Is literally a slap in the face of the big guys that charge near or over $1,000 for their phones.
ONTO the 2nd Category the GOODS
NOTCH
Yeah its got one, its smaller soooo that is better I suppose. It is at least taking up the least space as possible. Thanks Oppo.
CAMERA
this camera is better tan most people give it credit for these photos are all taken by the 6t of course. one of the best things that i have noticed about this camera is its ability to zoom in much farther than most smartphones and still be very clear. This is actually very useful, also sight sight is awesomei have really been impressed with the photos that i have been able to get out of this camera. Some of these photos rivaled my S9 I will let you be the judge of that.
OxygenOS
(Usability normally with Android phones there is something on the phone that is a bit laggy even out of the box, Moto was there motion activation controlls like the chop to turn on the flashlight, or Samsung the slight lag at any given time sometimes, the pixel it was some 3rd part apps. This phone almost feels like a new gaming laptop, sure you are doing normal operation but that level of fluidity never slows almost like if you put Linux Ubunto or month onto a I7 Quad core with 12 GB of RAM and a solid Nvidia Graphics processor this phone is much more capable than one would expect.)
earpiece speaker.
DESIGN
It is a great simplistic design with minimal bezels and feels solid overall, considering it has a switch on the side for mute, ring and vibrate (not in that order) I would say yes this phone is very well thought out button placement is great. But it does look similar to the iphone and doesn’t really do much out of what is considered normal in 2018.
RED CABLES
As One Plus likes to stand out a bit the Red Charging cables are immediately recognizeable and look just fantastic. Plus they go with my BAD Tech & Gaming Colors sooo that’s a win for me. also a quick mention for the usb C headphone dongle.
GESTURE INTERFACE
By now you know about the android 9.0 one button Nav. so I won't go on about that or the buttons we all have used for years. However the added gesture interface is awesome and really feels just like the apple iphone when navigating. This is so close to great it hurts, they just need to add one thing to make it great. Swipe left or right at the bottom of the screen to switch between apps, if you are going to copy apple at least use their best features lol.
NOTIFICATION SLIDER ( vibrate, silent, ring )
As I mentioned it already I won't rehash it other than to say, I love it. I use this way more than I ever thought!!
3rd CATEGORY THE BADS
These are things that either don’t make sense or I just don’t like
SPEAKERS
The one bottom firing speaker that sounds decent but is easy to block. This is just not flagship material. It is loud enough to get the job done but then again so was the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6. Also why have two speaker grills but only one speaker? They most likely did it for symmetry but the looks are not enough to make up for the lie.
VIBRATION MOTOR
It works, but feels a like old tech. honestly it feels mushy as odd as that sounds to say. It is like a cd drive, your phone/computer tells the spinning to stop but it just takes a second. On the IPhone and the Samsung it is instant and feels 100 times more responsive. I did get over this quickly but I sometimes wish it was better. I guess they have to cut corners somewhere.
COLOR
I wish there was a color choice (not a complaint) that is all just a wish ,its Shiny glass back seems redundant.
Last but not least the HORRIBLE CATEGORY
NOT WATER PROOF? ( or is it )
As I am sure you have seen this phone does not have an IP rating of any kind. Instead saying it is basically splash proof. However (link to reviewer) has actually showed us that in an accident this phone should in fact withstand a drop in water for a minute or two this I thought to be interesting. I suppose they just didn't want to pay to get it officially approved for water resistant.
NO WIRELESS CHARGING
One of the reasons I have a hard time calling this phone a flagship phone is that it does not have any sort of wireless charging which would be very, very nice. This is just horrible in this day and age.
IN CONCLUSION
I love this phone personally but I suppose when they say flagship killer they mean it in a different way than we think. Here is an example of what I am talking about.
"Want flagship specs on nearly a flagship phone for half the price?..... Yes, but you would have to be okay living without the following aspects
Wireless Charging, Official Water Resistance, A Headphone Jack, A Nice Crisp Vibration Motor, Lastly a heavily customized skin that slows your phone down
Joking aside I think most of us can live without these things because for everything this phone lacks it has something else that goes above and beyond to make up for it.
Example:
We have no headphone jack but here is a nicely working in screen fingerprint scanner
No wireless charging no problem here is a super charging cable and a few extra GIGS of ram.
No water resistance that's ok it is splash proof and a 16 megapixel front facing camera
No super customized Skin over Android that slows your phone down, well let's get you some sweet features you guys tell me you want that are easy to program and nearly stock Android so you can show you Samsung friends how much faster this phone is.
To be honest this phone does require some compromise but when they take something or don't deliver on something they show they care by doing 1 or two other things to make up for it. So let me ask you a question. They do love their community? Yes. What are all great relationships built off of? Compromise and improving. As long as they keep improving most of us will live with the compromise in the right areas and take the great price to purchase this phone and be a part of their community.
I recommend this phone to anyone who doesn’t need the things I mentioned earlier.
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You guys have a wonderful day be safe...it is time to end