The OnePlus 6T is now official and will be launched in India on Tuesday, October 30
OnePlus 6T is here. On Monday, OnePlus launched the OnePlus 6T, a phone with futuristic under-the-display fingerprint sensor, a bigger battery and a 6.4-inch screen with the waterdrop notch. In many ways the OnePlus 6T is OnePlus 6 evolved, considering that the two phones have similar design and core hardware. But there are some key areas where the OnePlus 6T differs and it may help OnePlus compete with brands like Samsung, Honor and Xiaomi Poco in a better way.
The OnePlus 6T will be formally launched in India tomorrow, that is October 30, night at 8.30pm. The phone’s India price will also be revealed at the same time in a keynote by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, who is travelling to Delhi specially for the event.
The OnePlus 6T has been launched at a starting global price of $549 but its India price is expected to be under Rs 40,000. The phone is will go on sale from November 2 in India, as well as in other markets. This time, OnePlus is not launching the 64GB variant of the phone. Instead of that, the base variant has 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The other two variants come with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage, and 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage.
At the heart of the core hardware inside the OnePlus 6T sits the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. The phone has the same dual-camera setup that we saw in the OnePlus 6. This means the primary camera uses a 16-megapixel sensor with F1.7 lens. The secondary camera too gets F1.7 lens but paired with a 20-megapixel — but physically a smaller — sensor. While the hardware is same, OnePlus says that the OnePlus 6T should click better low-light photos, better portraits and better selfies due to new image processing algorithms. On the front, there is a new 20-megapixel image sensor.
There are three key areas in which the OnePlus 6T differs significantly from the OnePlus 6: bigger battery, fingerprint sensor under the display and size of the display. The OnePlus 6T comes with a 3700 mAh battery, its OLED screen has a waterdrop notch and a size of 6.4 inches and the fingerprint sensor in the phone is embedded under the screen. The OnePlus 6T weighs 185 grams and is marginally thicker and longer than the OnePlus 6.
The OnePlus 6T also lacks 3.5mm headphone jack, making OnePlus join the ranks of Apple, Google and others that no longer include this port in their top phones. OnePlus had earlier announced the Bullets USB-C wired earphones. These earphones cost Rs 1,450 and are compatible with the company’s new flagship phone.
In India, OnePlus is the top premium phone brand for the last six months, according to market research firm Counterpoint. But in the latest quarter, its market share came down. In the Q2,2018, the company had a share of 40 per cent in the segment of market where phones cost Rs 30,000 or more. But in Q3,2018 this share is now 30 per cent, with Samsung, which is second on the list, nipping at OnePlus heels with market share of 28 per cent and Apple closing fast with share its share at 25 per cent.
It is possible that the OnePlus 6T may help OnePlus fend off the challenge in a better way, from companies like Samsung as well as from Xiaomi Poco and Huawei Honor that are putting pressuring on OnePlus from below with phones like the Poco F1.
