OnePlus 6T Vs OnePlus 6 - What's New?

When we put the OnePlus 6 to the test, it was almost perfect, scoring 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 and almost 6-months down the road, one of the ePHOTOzine team members is still using it as their day-to-day device. 

Now, with the popularity of the OnePlus 6, and with how smartphone releases usually fall, you might have been surprised to see that just a few months on from the release of the OnePlus 6, OnePlus announced the OnePlus 6T was joining the line-up. 

Some might be tempted to upgrade but with such a small window between the last release, are the specs and improved features worth the switch? We will, of course, be able to give you a more comprehensive answer when we get a OnePlus 6T in for testing but for now, let's have a look at how the specs line up side-by-side so we can start answering the question. 

Cameras

The actual megapixels and apertures are exactly the same on both smartphones - 16MP f/1.7+20MP f/1.7 dual-lens rear camera and 16MP f/2.0 front camera. Both also have OIS as well as a Pro mode and Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) but, Nightscape mode and Studio Lighting Mode are new to the OnePlus 6T.

Nightscape mode improves low light performance, with users able to capture low light images in 2-seconds, reducing the chances of shake spoiling your shots. OnePlus has done this by introducing an HDR algorithm. 

The other new mode is Studio Lighting Mode which when the smartphone detects a face on-camera, it will tweak the lighting to improve the portraits.

Both features sound interesting and we're looking forward to seeing how well they perform. In fact, it shouldn't be too long until we can test the Nightscape mode as it will soon be available for the OnePlus 6 as an update. 

Screen

The screen on the OnePlus 6T measures 6.41-inch, slightly bigger than the original OnePlus 6, and the resolution is slightly higher too (1080x2340 vs 1080x2280). Although, they both feature 402 pixels per inch (pixel density) and the display on the OnePlus 6 is far from terrible. In fact, we called it ' impressively bright, with very good viewing angles, which we thought was slightly better than the S9 Plus, when viewed side-by-side.'

If you sit both phones side-by-side, the OnePlus 6T's screen does look slightly bigger and that's down to the tiny notch it has in comparison to the OnePlus 6's longer, rectangle shape. By making the top-notch smaller, the overall screen-to-body ratio of the OnePlus 6T is over 86% which is around 3% more than the OnePlus 6 (over 83%). The chin has also been reduced on the OnePlus 6T but the bezels on both smartphones are rather thin. 

Gorilla Glass 6 can be found built into the OnePlus 6T, it was Gorilla Glass 5 built into the OnePlus 6, which should offer reassurance in terms of toughness. 

One standout feature of the new OnePlus 6T is the in-screen fingerprint scanner which is pretty cool and following in the footsteps of the Huawei Mate20 Pro. This removes the need for a home button and a fingerprint sensor on the back, resulting in a cleaner design. 

Design

Both the OnePlus 6T and OnePlus 6 have rounded corners, a slight curve to the glass back and metal frames. You could say the overall design of the OnePlus 6T is much slicker thanks to the smaller top notch and removal of the fingerprint sensor on the back but really, the design changes are subtle. 

There's not much separating them in size, either, with the OnePlus 6T having slightly wider, taller and heavier stats. 

Midnight Black and Mirror Black are the colour options for the OnePlus 6T, the same as the OnePlus 6, but limited edition colours were introduced for the OnePlus 6 which includes the lovely red option we had on test. 

Battery

The battery found in the OnePlus 6 is a 3300mAh and this has been extended to 3700mAh in the OnePlus 6T. Even with the added mAh, there are smartphones out there with 4000mAh batteries built-in so there's still room for improvement. However, both smartphones do support fast charging and the OnePlus 6 we had in for review went from completely dead to 60% in around 30 minutes which is ace. We will, of course, be able to comment on the battery in the OnePlus 6T when we get a unit in for review. 

Chipset/Storage

No changes here as both smartphones use the Snapdragon 845 chipset and either 6GB or 8GB or RAM. Storage is pretty similar, too, with 128GB or 256GB options but the OnePlus 6 does offer a 64GB version as well. 

Price 

On the OnePlus website, prices are listed as 'from £499' for the OnePlus 6T and 'from £469' for the OnePlus 6. Of course, with the introduction of the OnePlus 6T we could see the price of the OnePlus 6 drop even further which will make it a bargain for what's on offer in terms of camera, build quality and storage. 

Final Thoughts

If you bought the OnePlus 6 not so long ago, you will probably want to stick with it. After all, it's not that much of a significant upgrade and you'll be able to access the Nightscape mode (the main thing that grabbed our interest) anyway. Yes, there have been some cool updates - new camera modes, in-screen fingerprint sensor, smaller top notch, slightly bigger battery and a slightly better screen but, they probably don't warrant an upgrade after 6 months! 

However, if you're an Android user who owns a smartphone that's older and you are looking for a reasonably priced upgrade, the OnePlus 6T is lining up to be a good option. 

We'll give you our final verdict as soon as our full review of the OnePlus 6T is completed - keep checking reviews to find out when this will be. 

More OnePlus Comparisons

Until we can give you our full verdict on the OnePlus 6T smartphone, have a look at our OnePlus 6 battles where it's taken on the Google Pixel 2XL, Apple iPhone 8 Plus and the Honor 10 smartphone. We'll let you in on a secret - it does rather well! 

If you're looking at the 6T and thinking it's nice but a bit expensive, a smartphone under £300 might be more up your street.