OnePlus announced the OnePlus 6T in October, following on from the OnePlus 6 that launched in May and succeeding the OnePlus 5T that arrived in October 2017.

How does the OnePlus 6T compare to its predecessors and should you upgrade if you have the 6 or the 5T? We have put the new device up against the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T to see what differences and improvements you can expect.

Design and dimensions

  • OnePlus 5T: 156.1 x 75 x 7.3mm, 162g
  • OnePlus 6: 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.75mm, 177g
  • OnePlus 6T: 157.5 x 74.8 x 8.2mm, 185g

The OnePlus 5T has an aluminium build and it was the first OnePlus device to introduce an 18:9 aspect ratio display, resulting in the fingerprint sensor moving from the front of the device - as it was on the 5 - to the rear. The rest of the design remains largely the same as the OnePlus 5, with a 3.5mm headphone jack, vertical dual-rear camera in the top left corner and a OnePlus logo in the centre. 

The OnePlus 6 shook things up in the design department. Like the OnePlus 5T, the front is mainly display, more so in the case of the 6 however, which has a notch at the top and therefore slimmer bezels at the top and bottom of the display compared to the OnePlus 5T. 

The dual-rear camera repositioned to the centre of the rear and away from the left corner, while the fingerprint sensor is more oval in shape and positioned between the camera setup and the OnePlus logo. The 6 also opts for an all-glass body with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back, and it features everyday water resistance. 

The OnePlus 6T retains the glass body of the OnePlus 6, but it ditches the 3.5mm headphone jack and offers an embedded fingerprint sensor under the display, which it calls Screen Unlock. For those wondering if it is any good - it's as reliable as physical sensors have been in the past though not as fast. The display sees a water drop notch take the place of the larger notch found on the 6 and the ear piece move higher up. Like the OnePlus 6, the 6T has no official IP water and dust resistance rating.

Aside from the display, lack of headphone jack and no rear fingerprint sensor, the 6T is looks largely like the 6, with an alert slider, centrally-positioned dual rear camera and a OnePlus logo in the middle of the rear.

Display size and resolution 

  • OnePlus 5T: 6.01-inch, AMOLED, 18:9, 2160 x 1080, 401ppi
  • OnePlus 6: 6.28-inch, AMOLED, 19:9, 2280 x 1080, 401ppi
  • OnePlus 6T: 6.41-inch, AMOLED, 19.5:9, 2340 x 1080, 401ppi

The OnePlus 5T features a 6.01-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, which was a big difference to the OnePlus 5 and its 5.5-inch 16:9 display. It's an AMOLED screen for inky blacks and vibrant, punchy colours and it delivers a pixel density of 401ppi with the 5T offering a 2160 x 1080 resolution. There's Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection with 2.5D glass for a more seamless transition between the display and the edge of the device.

The OnePlus 6 has a slightly larger 6.28-inch screen featuring a small notch, which means the status bar is pushed out of the main display area, resulting in an increase in ratio to 19:9. It too is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the resolution remains at Full HD+, resulting in the same pixel density as the 5T at 401ppi.

The OnePlus 6T again ups the screen size, this time to 6.41-inches, though it sticks with an AMOLED panel for vibrant colours, deep blacks and bright whites. The resolution is 2340 x 1080, which puts its pixel density at 401ppi, meaning the same as its predecessors. It's not the sharpest around but it is still very impressive to look at. The move to a water drop notch sees the aspect ratio increase to 19.5:9, and it results in an even more immersive visual experience compared to the OnePlus 6.

There is still no mention of mobile HDR support on the new device though, a feature that hasn't been present on any OnePlus device as yet.

Hardware

  • OnePlus 5T: SD835, 6/8GB RAM, 64/128GB storage, 3300mAh
  • OnePlus 6: SD845, 6/8GB RAM, 64/128/256GB storage, 3300mAh
  • OnePlus 6T: SD845, 6/8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB storage, 3700mAh battery

The OnePlus 5T run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform, coupled with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, which is the same as the OnePlus 5 it succeeded. Like the OnePlus 5, the 5T doesn't offer microSD support and comes with a 3300mAh battery capacity that supports Dash Charge.

The OnePlus 6 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 platform with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of storage. As with other OnePlus devices, microSD support is unavailable, but like the OnePlus 5T, there is a 3300mAh battery that supports Dash Charge.

The OnePlus 6T runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor too, like the OnePlus 6 and it delivers a quick and effortless experience. The company has dropped the 64GB storage option, leaving a 128GB model with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and a 256GB with 8GB of RAM, none of which have microSD support. 

The new device has space for features like a larger battery capacity thanks to the removal of the headphone jack, with the OnePlus 6T offering a 3700mAh capacity and Dash Charging but not wireless charging. In our testing, it wasn't strides better than the OnePlus 6 but there was still an improvement in the battery life. On moderate days, we would finish on 50 per cent rather than 40 per cent like the OnePlus 6, while busier days were still above 30 per cent.

Camera specifications

  • OnePlus 5T: 16MP/20MP rear, 16MP front
  • OnePlus 6: 16MP/20MP rear, 16MP front
  • OnePlus 6T: 16MP/20MP rear, 16MP front

The OnePlus 5T has a dual rear camera system like the 5, though its setup is slightly different from the 5 in that it ditches the telephoto lens. The 5T has a 16-megapixel f/1.7 sensor coupled with a 20-megapixel f/1.7 sensor. On the front, there is a 16-megapixel f/2.0 sensor and it offers a feature called Face Unlock.

The OnePlus 6 follows in the path of the OnePlus 5T, offering a 16-megapixel rear camera with f/1.7 aperture, combined with a secondary 20-megapixel f/1.7 sensor. The main sensor sees a 19 per cent larger sensor however and optical image stabilisation has been introduced for better performance in various conditions.

Like the OnePlus 5T, the OnePlus 6 has a 16-megapixel f/2.0 front sensor and the Face Unlock feature. Portrait Mode is available on the front of the 6 as well as the rear camera though, allowing users to apply a depth of field effect to selfies.

In terms of video, the OnePlus 6 offers 4K video capture in up to 60fps like the OnePlus 5T, but it also sees super slow motion mode introduced, allowing for the capture of HD video at 480fps. There is also and in-device video editor on board.

The OnePlus 6T meanwhile, offers the same hardware as the OnePlus 6, though offers improved algorithms for portrait and night shots. OnePlus claims its new feature, Night Scape, offers better definition, colour and less noise on the new device and that's true based on our experience. OnePlus also introduced another new camera feature called Studio Lighting.

The camera experience isn't perfect on the OnePlus 6T but it isn't too far away from the likes of the Apple iPhone XS and Google Pixel 3 and it does improve on the OnePlus 6. For the regular smartphone user, the camera is more than good enough.

Software

  • OxygenOS  

The OnePlus 5T runs on the company's OxygenOS system based on Android 8.1 Oreo and it has OnePlus features, such as Shelf, along with the customisation options found on the OxygenOS software. It will eventually see an update to Android Pie, though a rollout date is not yet known.

The OnePlus 6 launched on OxygenOS, again built on top of Android Oreo, and it came with a few updated features on top of the 5T including Gaming Mode, previously known as Gaming DND mode, and the option to replace the navigation bar with gestures. 

These gestures include swiping up from the bottom centre of the display to go home, swiping up from the left or right of the bottom of the display to go back and swiping up from the bottom of the display and pausing to see recents. Android Pie has started rolling out to OnePlus 6 devices as of 16 October.

The OnePlus 6T launches on OxygenOS based on Android Pie so it offers a similar experience to the 6 with a few extras. 

Price and conclusion

 

The OnePlus 6 starts at £469 or $529. The OnePlus 5T started at £449 so there was a slight increase in price for the 6, and the same applies to the OnePlus 6T, which starts at $549 in the US and £499 in the UK. The OnePlus 6T is more widely available than the 6 though, moving from an O2 exclusive to being offered by EE and Vodafone too, as well as stocked at more retailers like John Lewis and Carphone Warehouse.

The OnePlus 6 offers improvements on its predecessor and the 6T does the same. Choose the 6 over the 5T and you get an all-glass body for that extra money, along with water resistance, an improved camera, larger display and a more advanced processor.

Choose the 6T over the 6 and you'll get an under-display fingerprint sensor as well as a bigger display, a larger battery capacity and some camera improvements. You will lose the 3.5mm headphone jack though. Overall, if you have a OnePlus 6 there isn't a huge change, but from every other previous OnePlus model, the 6T is going to feel like a massive leap forward.