OnePlus 6 128GB

The OnePlus 6 ships with a dual-camera setup at the back comprising a pair of 16MP and 20MP sensors. On the front, the handset gets a 16MP selfie shooter. Now, going by the specs alone, you'd be right to think that the company is using the same camera setup as the OnePlus 5T on its latest flagship. That's partly true since the 20MP assisting shooter at the back and the 16MP selfie shooter on the OnePlus 6 make use of identical sensors as the ones found on its predecessor.However, the brand is using a newer Sony IMX 519 sensor to power the primary 16MP camera this time around. Moreover, the shooter now also comes with support for both OIS as well as EIS, which was previously lacking on the OnePlus 5T. On the software side of things, the cameras on the OnePlus 6 can now record 4K videos at 60fps and slow-mo videos at 480fps. Unfortunately, the latter is capped at 720p resolution so you might feel that the footage is a bit grainy at times. Other than that, the company is now utilising Advanced HDR which as per OnePlus ‘brings out shadows and enhances lighting in your photo'. Lastly, the brand has promised that a software-based bokeh mode for the front-facing camera will be available for the OnePlus 6 shortly after its launch. However, as it stands, my review unit is yet to receive the update.So, is the improved sensor on the OnePlus 6 any good? I do feel that the smartphone is a bit aggressive when it comes to HDR sampling. To understand what I mean by that, let me give you a quick crash course on how HDR works. In layman terms, a picture clicked in HDR mode will have improved contrast levels. Now, contrast is defined as the separation between the darkest and brightest areas. Therefore, the camera on the OnePlus 6 is increasing the shadows and brightening the highlights to make the image pop.However, at times, the shadows become a bit too overpowering in the image and therefore, you'll lose out on details in certain situations. I noticed a similar trend while clicking selfies too and as you can see from the sample images I've posted, the shrubs in the background look unnaturally green and the shadows aren't how they should be either. With that said, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better camera phone for the price of the OnePlus 6. While the images are inferior to what you might get with say a Samsung Galaxy S9+, bear in mind that you're paying substantially less for the OnePlus 6 too.Moreover, other than the camera's inability to properly utilise the HDR mode, the OnePlus 6 is a solid shooter and captures some really good-looking images. The selfie-camera on the smartphone, though unchanged, clicks awesome selfies and it'll only get better with the upcoming software update. Lowlight performance is a bit of a hit and a miss and depending on how much light is available to you, you'll end up with a serviceable picture at best.

OnePlus offers a near-stock version of Android with its smartphones, which is free from clutter and bloat. The software has a few nifty tweaks of its own too, but they don't take up a huge chunk of the device's resources or impede with its performance. OnePlus calls its platform Oxygen OS and the company's latest flagship runs Oxygen OS v5.3 on top of Android Oreo. In terms of features, there aren't many to go around since Oxygen OS is more utilitarian than decorative. That said, you do get the option to theme your OnePlus 6 slightly, along with features like a reading mode and the ability to navigate the UI by means of gestures. The gestures work in a similar fashion to the ones found on Apple's iPhone X – a short swipe up from the left takes you back, a long swipe up from the middle acts as the home button and swiping up and holding for a second brings up the multitasking tray. The learning curve isn't that steep and you can easily memorise and get comfortable with the gestures after using the smartphone for a day. Other features we've seen previously on OxygenOS are there too - including Reading mode, three-finger screenshot, App Locker, screen-off gestures and expanded screenshot.

As I mentioned previously, the OnePlus 6 is the first smartphone in the country to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. My review unit shipped with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but you can get the device in a 6GB/64GB option too. The company has also unveiled a special Marvel Avengers edition of the smartphone, which features 8GB of RAM and a whopping 256GB of storage. Since the handset doesn't let users expand the storage, I'd recommend you give some thought to which model you want to buy as you'll be stuck with what you get out-of-the-box.As far as the performance is concerned, the OnePlus 6 is blazingly fast. If smartphones were superheroes, then the OnePlus 6 would undoubtedly be the Flash from Justice League (get it?). As I mentioned previously, I've been using the OnePlus 5T as my daily driver for the past six months and to date, the handset hasn't let me down. I was unsure if the OnePlus 6 would offer any perceivable difference in performance as compared to its predecessor, but it manages to outpace the 5T. Apps opened in the blink of an eye, multitasking was more fluid and the smartphone just felt a tad bit more responsive. I've always been a fan of OnePlus for offering blazingly fast performance but I feel that the company has outdone itself with the OnePlus 6.Now, I know what you must be wondering – any smartphone with a Snapdragon 845 or equivalent chip will perform the same. Well, having used the Samsung Galaxy S9+ for over a week, I can confirm that that's not the case since powerful hardware is just one part of the equation. You'll also need optimised software which doesn't eat up a smartphone's resources - and OnePlus's Oxygen OS is just that.