The next OnePlus is here, and it’s more of a flagship killer than ever. The few things separating it from the twice-as-expensive, top-of-the-line smartphones are becoming fewer with each generation. And remarkably, the price is around the same as it was, making it a one-of-a-kind value proposition.

This time, the OnePlus, in version 6, is all glass. While this may alarm users who were perfectly happy with the metal back, glass is supposed to be a better conductor of connectivity and is more flexible for designers to work with. On this time’s flagship, it’s curved and premium looking, closing the gap further between the upstarts and the established players.

Bring glass to the back

The three variants of the OnePlus 6 all have glass backs even when they don’t look it at all. The Mirror Black version is, as the name suggests, glossy and reflective. The Midnight Black is more reminiscent of the design we’ve known and looks metallic. And the limited edition Silk White has several layers under its glass back, one of which is made of actual crushed pearls. Very pretty, though I feel a bit sad for the pearls. With this variant, the accents are in a coppery gold. From what I saw, people seeing it immediately loved the look.

OnePlus is using Gorilla Glass 5 and says the glass is nowhere near as vulnerable as you might imagine. But glass is glass and you should be a little worried about the slipperiness — and of course, it’s there — you could opt for some of the very interesting cases OnePlus has. I’m using a textured hard nylon one that makes the phone feel quite secure, looks cool, and stays very clean.

There are a few other differences in design, other than going all glass. The fingerprint sensor is on the back, under the also-different camera assembly, which is elongated and vertical down the middle. The famous Alert Slider that lets you quickly silence the device has moved from the left to the right — that will take a while getting used to because it’s where you expect the power button to be, but it’s recessed and has a different feel, so it should become familiar soon enough.

The OnePlus 6 is now also water or at least splash resistant. OnePlus doesn’t say what rating it has but you can apparently forget about being alarmed over the odd splash or raindrops. Don’t take it for a swim, however.

The other big design change this time is the iPhone-inspired notch in the middle of the top of the screen which, because of it, has slim bezels. There’s a little lack of symmetry with the lower bezel being a bit thicker than the one on top, but it’s something you don’t notice after a while. The notch itself is unlikely to irritate anyone too much as it isn’t that large, but if it does, you can opt to remove it by adding a black bar from digging into display settings.

Speed demon

On the inside, the OnePlus has been about the fastest Android phone you can get for a long while now. With 6 GB to 8 GB of RAM, there’s a point beyond which you won’t be able to notice the difference in speed without resorting to tests. And that’s how it is with the speedier OnePlus 6, which has top-of-the-line specs, now that it comes with the Snapdragon 845. Putting the older 5T alongside the OnePlus 6 will show which is faster as will benchmarking applications, but even otherwise, the OnePlus 6 is an undisputed speed monster. Already fast enough for all everyday tasks, it’s also able to handle gaming and video shooting without heating up. OnePlus’ Oxygen OS works with Android 8.1 and for those who are curious to explore the next version, Android P, the OnePlus 6 is one of the handful of devices that will accept the beta version.

Capable camera

The camera is one area that makes the new OnePlus different from the already super-fast OnePlus 5T. The camera is not on par with the top camera champs — the Pixel 2, iPhone, Samsung’s S9+ or Huawei’s P20 Pro and should not be the reason you buy this phone. But if you do, you’ll find the camera much improved. Photos taken indoors in low light look much better and have much less noise. Outdoors and in the wild, the OnePlus 6’s primary 16 MP plus 20 MP dual camera with its f/1.7 aperture and a bigger Sony sensor than before takes nice bright shots, sometimes making skies bluer and grass and trees greener but generally looking good. The camera now has electronic and optical image stabilisation making for better shots and video. The much-hyped portrait mode with a depth effect is present, as it was already, and is about as good as on other top-end phones. The portrait mode is supposed to make its way to the front camera soon with an update. Slow motion video has made its way to the device with an update as well. The camera still needs more detail and better dynamic range but is nevertheless evolving.

The OnePlus 6 is difficult not to recommend for anyone who wants a powerful, balanced phone that is also future-proof and has absolutely top-notch specifications. Its ‘Dash’ charging still makes for a compelling reason to buy, even if wireless charging hasn’t been included. Like its predecessors, it’s a phone that won’t slow down in a hurry.

We look at software in an upcoming sequel to this review.

Price: ₹33,999 onwards

Pros: Faster than ever, breaks the old design patterns, much improved camera with OIS, includes splash resistance, more screen space, still at a great price

Cons: Some will miss the sturdy metal build, no wireless charging

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