OnePlus 6: Everything we know so far
UPDATED: Full renders and pricing info emerge before the official launch
OnePlus is the reigning king in the budget flagship space, but the competition is only getting stronger.
The Honor 9 put up a fierce fight at a lower price point, while the upcoming Nokia 7 Plus is a more recent threat – but the OnePlus 5T (shown) remains our favourite phone at this price level. And it won’t be long before the OnePlus 6 is teed up to try and maintain the sub-£500 throne.
What we’ve heard so far suggests that the OnePlus 6 will continue to do what the company does best: take the best elements from the full-blooded flagship competition and somehow find a way to make it much cheaper. Oh, and it will definitely, officially have a screen notch. Here’s what we know so far.
When will the OnePlus 6 be out?
As expected, OnePlus has gone for the traditional early summer announcement for the OnePlus 6 – it’ll be shown off on May 16 at 5pm (BST).
Dubbed ‘Discover your speed’, the teaser doesn’t give much away, other than the promise of swifter performance.
There’s also no sign yet of a release date, but based on previous launches we think it’ll be available in either June or July 2018 at the latest.
Fact or fiction?
The announcement date is cast iron fact – official invites have gone out and we’ll be introduced to the OnePlus 6 on May 16 2018 at 5pm (BST).
Less certain is that release date. We haven’t heard anything concrete yet, but a June launch and July release sound spot-on, unless OnePlus wants to inch up a little earlier this time around. Given all the official details releasing of late, we wouldn’t be surprised to see something a bit sooner.
How much will the OnePlus 6 cost?
OnePlus still offers comparatively cheap flagship phones, but top-end devices have only reached higher and higher price points of late and OnePlus has followed suit.
Amazon Germany accidentally posted its OnePlus 6 listings a bit early this week (via WinFuture), and it suggests European pricing of €519 and €569 for 64GB and 128GB models of the handset. Compare that to €499 and €559 prices for the OnePlus 5T.
We don’t have UK pricing just yet, but those very small Euro increases suggest a slight rise on the UK side as well. The OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T both debuted at £449, a steep increase from the initial £309 price point of the OnePlus 3 back in 2016.
Fact or fiction?
Given the European pricing bump, we expect to see the OnePlus 6 starting around £469 or £479 in the UK – a slight increase over the 5T for what seems like a very well-equipped handset.
Also Read › The most anticipated smartphones of 2018
What will the OnePlus 6 look like?
Love it or hate it, the Apple iPhone X‘s notch is sweeping through the smartphone world as a model for a full-face, bezel-lite smartphone. And the OnePlus 6 is embracing that approach.
We’ve seen various leaks and rumours of late, but now it’s fully official: OnePlus 6 revealed a partial image of its new handset to The Verge, clearly showing the notch. It’s smaller than the iPhone X’s notch, certainly, and looks pretty close to the Huawei P20‘s – the OnePlus notch might be a smidge wider there.
Look up top and below and you’ll see the leaked renders found on Amazon Germany’s listings. Barring some bizarre fluke, this is what the OnePlus 6 looks like. It’s glass on the back this time, with a dual-camera setup and the fingerprint sensor beneath.
Fact or fiction?
As Carl Pei said, "Learn to love to notch." It’s happening, and if you adore OnePlus handsets, you’ll be staring at a notch if you upgrade to the OnePlus 6.
What about the OnePlus 6’s screen?
The OnePlus 5T embraced the trend of extra-tall displays, packing in a 6in 18:9 AMOLED display that found a nice middle ground between the colour and contrast of the Galaxy S8 and Pixel 2 XL.
The OnePlus 6 will stick with the taller approach, albeit with about a 19:9 aspect ratio to accommodate the aforementioned notch. And WinFuture reports that the screen will come in at 6.28in this time around, sticking with 1080p resolution (2280×1080). That’s exactly the same as the Oppo R15, which was rumoured to provide the template for the OnePlus 6.
The iPhone X’s notch was pegged by many early on as a possible distraction, but in use, it really just disappears and the immersiveness of a full-face screen shines through. We’ll see if that really happens here, as well.
Fact or fiction?
Beyond the notch, we can expect another 1080p panel from OnePlus. Skipping out on Quad HD resolution keeps the price down, even if the OnePlus 6 looks to be a smidge more expensive than its predecessor.
How much power will the OnePlus 6 pack?
The Snapdragon 845 will power most of the major flagship Android phones in 2018, from the Sony Xperia XZ2 to some versions of the Samsung Galaxy S9. And it’ll power the OnePlus 6, too.
Leaks and rumours suggested that OnePlus would follow its lifelong trend of using Snapdragons, and now the company has confirmed it: the OnePlus 6 will use the Snapdragon 845, and models will feature up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Given that, the base model will probably have 6GB RAM and less internal storage – seemingly the 64GB seen in the base OnePlus 5T, according to the Amazon Germany listing.
Fact or fiction?
It’s confirmed: the Snapdragon 845 will be in the OnePlus 6, and it’s faster and more efficient than last year’s model. That’s good news.
Also Read › Huawei P20 Pro hands-on review
What kind of cameras will the OnePlus 6 have?
The OnePlus 5T doubled up on back cameras, following the trend from many other handsets, and thankfully improved on low-light performance at the same time. The OnePlus 6 will stick with the same kind of approach.
According to the leaked Amazon Germany listing, the phone has a 16-megapixel and 12-megapixel camera on the back, offering optical image stabilisation, portrait effects, and slow-motion video recording.
We’re not sure what’s up front yet. OnePlus head Carl Pei said the phone won’t have a "structured light" approach like the iPhone X’s TrueDepth system. So while we could still see animated emoji and face-based security, as on the Samsung Galaxy S9, it probably won’t hit quite the same level of quality.
Fact or fiction?
Sounds right to us – there’s no Huawei P20 Pro-like triple-camera setup for the OnePlus 6, but hopefully it improves upon the very good OnePlus 5T camera system.
Is there anything else I should know about the OnePlus 6?
Yeah, here’s one great tidbit: unlike the iPhone X, the OnePlus 6 will keep the headphone port. That’s official from the company.
Officially, the OnePlus 6 will also implement the iPhone X-like gesture controls seen in beta on other OnePlus devices, making it easier to move around the interface and between apps without needing the Android software keys.
Leaks suggest that the OnePlus 6 will run Android 8.1 Oreo with the OxygenOS skin atop, and the phone is likely to beat Android 9.0 P‘s full version to market. But we would certainly expect Android 9 to come to the OnePlus 6 in time.
Interestingly, there will be a special Avengers: Infinity War edition of the phone in at least the UK. This edition will probably have special markings, and Deadline says it’ll have the 8GB RAM/256GB storage configuration that we assume the higher-end OnePlus 6 model will pack.
Meanwhile, the Amazon Germany listing suggests a 3,300mAh battery pack within – the same size as the OnePlus 5T.
Fact or fiction?
It’s nearly here! We’ll get full details this Wednesday, 16 May, and expect to bring you hands-on impressions soon after. Stay tuned.
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
