2018 has been a great year for smartphones. We’ve seen a lot of new innovations and improvements from 2017 and it makes 2019 something to look forward to. The OnePlus 6T is one of those great smartphones that came in late 2018. The phone is breaking records in the market right now, and it has won the smartphone of the year award by none other than Marques Brownlee (MKBHD).
Although you may shrug your shoulders when you hear that the phone won an award from a Youtuber, he’s one of the most credible tech YouTubers out there. Having over 7.5 million subscribers, MKBHD is one of the most popular YouTubers when it comes to tech- especially smartphones. His reviews are always in-depth, unbiased, and informative.
It’s official! The #OnePlus6T is @MKBHD‘s 2018 Smartphone of the Year! https://t.co/uURcFA23EJ pic.twitter.com/UYWgDdu2EO
— OnePlus (@oneplus) December 20, 2018
Phone companies also hold MKBHD in high regard as he’s sent the latest phone by any company for review. Some of the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world also invite him to their big conferences where they reveal their new products. Therefore, it’s safe to say that his opinions shouldn’t be taken for granted. The smartphone awards video posted on his channel went through a lot of phones, all of whom are great in their own right. However, the OnePlus 6T stands on top, here’s why:
A Flagship device- In a Non-Flagship Price
Although we’ve seen some amazing smartphones this year, they haven’t necessarily been cheap. The smartphone market is a different beast than it once was a few years ago. Phones now are costing almost the same as decent laptops, over the $1000 mark which is an insane price for just a phone.
However, there is also the argument that these phones can more or less do everything your laptop can do, but we won’t get into that. The main thing to take away from all of this is that despite phones now costing a lot more, the OnePlus 6T is able to do it at half the price.
Top premium phones like the iPhone XS and the Galaxy Note 9 both cost a $1000 each. They’re both great phones, and by no means are their prices unjustified.
However, when looking from a consumer point of view, the lower price tag of $549 is much more appealing to the wider market. The OnePlus 6T is also by no means a market leader when it comes to many things such as the camera. But still, that’s the thing, it doesn’t try to be the best, it tries to be close to the best to the point you can’t tell much of a difference.
One of the fastest phones out there
OnePlus has never been the one to compromise on speed. In fact, speed has been their main focus this year as it was the case with the OnePlus 6, and now the 6T. The entire marketing this year has been around the two phrases “The speed you need” and “Unlock the speed”.
OnePlus can talk the talk, but they can also walk the walk. The 6T is a lightning fast phone, doesn’t seem to lag one bit. The 6GB RAM and the powerful Snapdragon 845 processor work well in making the phone highly responsive and quick.
You can take this a step further and even get the 8GB RAM phone which is more future proof than the 6 GB one. The best part? You can pick up the 8 GB version for just $580, half the price of regular flagships these days. The phone’s speed is not just due to impressive hardware. Oxygen OS on the OnePlus 6T, which is the Android skin OnePlus have put on their phone is one of the most optimized and best-operating systems in the market.
Oxygen OS is the closest experience you’ll get to stock android, but with a few tweaks here and there to improve the user experience. The OS brings a lot to the table and one of the best things about it is its optimization. You won’t find slow OnePlus devices, even old ones. Therefore, it’s no surprise to see the OnePlus 6T lead in the speed department.
Great design and new additions
A lot of people believe that the OnePlus 6T is more or less the OnePlus 6. To an extent, that’s true as the phone has the same hardware specs, but that’s far from the full story. The 6T comes with an improved design that gets rid of the notch that was seen on the OnePlus 6. Although a lot of smartphone companies have adopted the notch, a lot of people don’t like it.
OnePlus has always been the type of company that listens to its fans. They took the criticisms about the notch and tried to improve on it. The result? The new OnePlus 6T has a minimalistic, tear-drop notch which by far is the best implementation of the notch so far. It helps improve the screen-to-body ratio which means you get more screen real estate on your device.
There have been other great improvements made on the 6T that make it really good. OnePlus is one of the first companies to implement an in-display fingerprint scanner on their device. One of the main issues with the in-display fingerprint scanners of previous devices was that they weren’t as accurate, nor were they fast.
However, it seems OnePlus has gotten the formula down to a science as their scanner is not only accurate but extremely fast. Granted it’s not as fast as a physical scanner, it’s still good enough that you don’t feel much of a difference.
There have been great additions to software as well. The new gestures on the latest version of Oxygen OS help you navigate your device without the help of any on-screen buttons. The new gestures are fast, fluid, and responsive. Moreover, the studio lighting and new nightscape features in the camera are many welcome additions.
The battery
OnePlus phones have always had great battery life. The 6T continues to raise the standards even higher as it rocks a much bigger battery than its predecessor. Housing a 3700 mAh battery, the OnePlus 6T can give impressive battery times with on-screen estimates lasting from 6 to 7 hours, which is quite a feat for a phone in the mid 500’s range.
Not only does the phone have a great battery, but again, there’s also Dash Charge. OnePlus’ way of combining hardware and magic, dash charging still remains one of the quickest charging options in the world. Your phone’s battery lasts a full day, and you can top it all back up in just an hour.
Conclusion
It’s not a fluke that MKBHD has given the OnePlus 6T the smartphone of the year award. The Note 9 was a close runner-up. Many great phones have come out this year. The 6T, by no means, is better than all of them in every aspect. For example, if we judge solely based on the camera, then one would prefer an iPhone or a Google Pixel.
However, the 6T provides almost the same experience as all the other great flagships and more, at a lower price. The phone has a flagship swagger to it without a flagship price. If you don’t have a thousand dollars to splash on a new phone, then the OnePlus 6T is the best option you can buy right now. For 128 GB Storage, the phone price is currently $708, while the OnePlus 6T costs $763 at Amazon.