Putting all rumours to bed, OnePlus this week announced that OnePlus 6 (yes, that’s the name) will be launching in India on 17 May. The phone, their fifth flagship in the country, has been mooted for various reasons, including the iPhone X-like notch it’s going to sport.
Besides that comparison, there’s a lot to look forward to with the OnePlus 6, which could be pricier than its current bracket of 38K. What else do we know about the upcoming phone? Read below to find out if this is the phone for you.
Where to Watch the Live Stream
OnePlus has been building up the hype for the launch of OnePlus 6 and on Wednesday at 9:30PM (IST) we’ll finally get to see it. The brand is holding a press event in London which will be livestreamed for people across the globe. Here’s where you can watch the live stream of the launch event for OnePlus 6.
OnePlus 6 Leaked
Global retailers on Monday have leaked the full and final design of the OnePlus 6 which launches officially on 16 May. The visuals of the OnePlus 6 are widely available on the web, which looks close to the final product, to be unveiled this week.
The phone is likely to come with Snapdragon 845 processor with 6 or 8GB RAM and offering up to 256GB storage.
OnePlus 6 With Notch
Carl Pei, co-founder, OnePlus has spoken about in a recent interview, confirming the iPhone X design imprint is spreading to other brands pretty swiftly.
Defending the use of notch, Carl says the decision is all about offering more screen real estate to users. The use of notch has been a hot topic recently, but most tech enthusiasts are not sure of its relevance. However, Carl seems to agree with the direction taken by Apple, hence, the next OnePlus is guaranteed to have the notch on the front.
Having said that, Carl believes that notch will never offer its value in terms of design aesthetics. So, clearly, OnePlus and others have resorted to the use of notch to increase the screen space.
The tall screen size, at around 6.2-inch (going by the tend), is likely to sport a 2160x1080 pixels resolution, unless OnePlus decides to up the display ante in 2018.
Glass-Laden Body Incoming
Unlike most phone brands, OnePlus has been consistent in revealing the features of its product, one step at a time. After talking about the use of notch in detail, the company shed some light on the design part of the OnePlus 6. Pete Lau, CEO, OnePlus confirmed that their next OnePlus phone will be their first to get a glass body design.
We have tried incorporating glass materials on OnePlus 6. Although, OnePlus is not the first manufacturer to use glass, we are confident that we are providing users with our interpretation of a familiar material. The OnePlus 6’s glass back contains five printed layers of Nanotech Coating, a first in the smartphone industry. We applied five layers of Nanotech Coating instead of three.Pete Lau, CEO, OnePlus
Flagship Hardware
The rest will work its way out as usual. Snapdragon 845 with 6GB and 8GB RAM is more likely to be the variants offered. There will be Dual-SIM support, as well as 4G VoLTE connectivity, along with the highest standard of gigabit internet speeds. Storage options could be 64GB, 128GB and even 256GB, all of them non-expandable as usual.
This will be the first OnePlus phone to offer water resistance.
I’m still not sure if OnePlus is looking at bumping up the battery size for this one. Mostly because their Dash Charging doesn’t let you feel wanting for more back up.
Interestingly, the glass body design has opened up the possibility of OnePlus 6 supporting wireless charging. Now, wouldn’t that be cool.
Phone for Fitness Needs
Fast processor, dual-rear cameras are widely expected on the OnePlus 6. This week they have shared another teaser which talks about the fitness side of features that one can expect from the upcoming OnePlus flagship phone.
As you can see over here, 6 is written (for OnePlus 6) over the heart-rate reading, which suggests that the latest OnePlus phone could come with a heart-rate monitor as well.
Cameras do the Talking
AI-enabled cameras have become the flagship trend, and OnePlus 6 could become part of the clan. After ditching the telephoto lens in favour of a lower aperture lens on the 5T, the OnePlus 6 could change the camera dynamics further.
While we aren’t sure of the megapixel count will see a bump, OnePlus 6 could get a camera that probably could do more than click high-quality images and bokehs. But what we do know is that the camera on the OnePlus 6 could support slow-motion video recording. The company had tweeted this teaser out which says ‘Let’s slow down time’, making it obvious what the OnePlus 6 camera will be able to do.
For now, this feature has only been seen with phones like the Sony Xperia XZ Premium and the Samsung Galaxy S9 series among others.
Augmented Reality (AR) has been making the rounds on high-end phones lately, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see OnePlus 6 follow this path.
Android P Beta On the Way
As we heard at the Google I/O 2018 keynote on Tuesday, OnePlus 6 is one of the few non-Pixel devices that gets access to Android P beta version already. The phone hasn’t even launched yet, and the support has already been offered by Google.
This ensures that the software team at OnePlus could start working on its version of Android for the OnePlus 6 and offer them Android P update earlier than most flagship brands in the market.
OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity Edition
With the OnePlus 5T, it was the Star Wars edition. This time, they’re bringing the Avengers Infinity version, right on cue with the release of the latest Marvel movie franchise.
They’re even offering special movie tickets to around 6,000 OnePlus users in the country, and for someone looking for more, they can add the OnePlus special edition to their collection. This variant of the OnePlus 6 is most likely to borrow some design elements from the movie, wallpaper of the movie, and probably a special design finish for this one.
OnePlus 6 is likely to priced higher than Rs 37,000, but we’re hopeful that it won’t cross the 40K mark.
So, there you have it. OnePlus 6 will finally make its global debut on 16 May in London, and the India launch is slated for 17 May. We’ll be reporting live from the event with more details. Stay tuned to The Quint
(The Quint is now on WhatsApp. To receive handpicked stories on topics you care about, subscribe to our WhatsApp services. Just go toTheQuint.com/WhatsApp and hit send)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)