THE ONEPLUS 6T is shaping up to be the Chinese phone maker’s most interesting smartphone yet. Thanks to loose-lipped OnePlus staffers, we already…
THE ONEPLUS 6T is shaping up to be the Chinese phone maker’s most interesting smartphone yet.
Thanks to loose-lipped OnePlus staffers, we already know that the incoming flagship will be the company’s first to feature an in-display fingerprint scanner. Much to the dismay of many, we also know that the 6T will be the first OnePlus handset to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack in favour of audio over USB-C.
We’ve rounded up everything we know about the OnePlus 6T below and will update this article as we hear more.
Release date The OnePlus 6T was originally scheduled to launch on 30 October, but the launch has since been shifted to 29 October to avoid a clash with Apple’s iPad and MacBook event.
OnePlus says those who attend the ticketed event will „be the first in the world to experience the speed of the OnePlus 6T, and participate in a range of interactive experiences and exclusive demos showcasing the superior craftsmanship and design combined with powerful, cutting-edge technology.“
OnePlus has also confirmed that, following its 30 October debut, the 6T will go on sale on 6 November.
Price OnePlus has yet to confirm how much the 6T will cost. However, Chinese e-commerce site GizTop is listing the next-gen OnePlus flagship with a $569 (around £440) price-tag.
Here in the UK, the OnePlus 6T will be available to pick up via O2, EE, Vodafone, John Lewis and Carphone Warehouse.
Latest news 22/10/18: OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has shared the first official OnePlus 6T camera sample (below).
Just days after announcing the handset’s rescheduled launch, Lau shared a night shot of downtown Shenzhen saying what roughly translates to „bring your own filter“. The 13MP image doesn’t reveal much about the 6T’s camera in terms of specs, but does suggest the handset will feature a dedicated night shooting model, similar to that found on the Pixel 3 XL.
20/10/18: The OnePlus 6T will now launch on 29 October, the firm has announced, to avoid clashing with Apple’s 30 October iPad and MacBook event. In a surprisingly-honest post on the company forum, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau explains that if the firm stuck to its original plans, and launched the OnePlus 6T on 30 October, „we would be overshadowed by Apple.“
While this is good news for us tech journalists, it hasn’t gone down well with OnePlus fans who had bought tickets to the New York launch event and, in some cases, flights and hotels. However, the firm has pledged to cover all costs.
„We will cover any costs you might incur to change your plans. If you need to pay to move your flight, we’ve got your back. Same goes for those of you who booked a hotel or made other arrangements. Our team will be getting in touch with all ticket owners individually to help you out.“
18/10/18: Thanks to MySmartPrice, there’s now not much that we don’t know about the OnePlus 6T, thanks to its new report that sheds light on the handset’s pricing and storage configurations.
According to the leak, the OnePlus 6T will be available in three versions: 6GB + 128GB, 8GB + 128GB and 8GB and 256GB. The base model will fetch ₹37,999 (around £395), MySmartPrice claims, although earlier rumours had suggested the flagship will be more expensive than its OnePlus 6 predecessor thanks to its in-display fingerprint sensor.
While the handset is expected to be more expensive, its bundled USB Type-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter will cost €8.95, making it one of the cheapest first-party headphone adapters in the market.
16/10/18: OnePlus, in a bid to continue building hype ahead of the official launch of the OnePlus 6T, has teased a new user interface for its incoming flagship.
In a post on the OnePlus forum, the company teases some interesting new stuff on the software front, including a „whole new UI that you will have to experience for yourself to really understand.“
While the OnePlus 6 will continue to run the firm’s custom OxygenOS, the firm – without revealing specifics – confirms that its updated skin will provide „a fast, smooth & burden-less experience with no gimmicks.“ It notes that there will be faster Navigation Gestures, according to the post, and some tweaks to the camera UI.
„We’ve put a lot of work into improving the camera behind the scenes, so you can expect to take even better pictures,“ OnePlus teases.
15/10/18: The OnePlus 6T has cropped up on Geekbench just weeks ahead of its official debut. The listing, spotted by WinFuture by WinFuture, confirms – albeit unsurprisingly – that the flagship will pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip with a max clockspeed of 2.2GHz, 8GB RAM and Google’s Android 9.0 Pie operating system.
11/10/18: OnePlus has shared some more details about the in-display fingerprint sensor set to debut on the OnePlus 6T, confirming it’ll be optical rather than ultrasonic. The company confirmed the detail in a post on Weibo, spotted by GSMArena, which notes that the decision might not be a good one for consumers. The website, which has used optical sensors on the likes of the Vivo Nex S, notes that the scanners can often be slow and unreliable, whereas ultrasonic sensors are both speedier and more accurate.
4/10/18: Tickets have gone on sale for the launch of the OnePlus 6T at Pier 36 in New York City. A secondary event will be happening in India. OnePlus has confirmed that the device won’t be on sale at the event, but we would get to see and play with it, plus get a release date and price.
3/10/18: OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed that the OnePlus 6T will be more expensive than its predecessor, and the handsets‘ in-display fingerprint scanner is to blame. Speaking to CNET, Lau revealed that the tech, known officially as Screen Unlock, will bump up the overall cost of the phone. He didn’t reveal the exact price of the OnePlus 6T, but rumours claim it’ll be around £20 more expensive than the OnePlus 6.
Lau also had some more bad news, confirming that the 6T won’t feature wireless charging. He said: „When we get to the day that the wireless charging can get up to speed without the implication of heat that we expect, then I believe we can integrate the technology.“
2/10/18: Official images ( below) of the OnePlus 6T have surfaced online, confirming the smartphone’s teeny-tiny teardrop notch and its glossy and matte black colour options. Published by WinFuture, the high-res images also give us a good look at the 6T’s dual-camera sensor, debunking early speculation that it’ll pack a P20 Pro-rivaling triple-camera set-up.
1/10/18: OnePlus has pushed out yet another official teaser ( below) for its incoming OnePlus 6T, confirming the handset’s much-hyped in-display fingerprint scanner and its edge-to-edge display. The short video doesn’t give much else away, but earlier rumours point to a 6.4in AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 845 internals and a vertically-mounted dual camera setup.
27/9/18: A new OnePlus 6T mega-leak, courtesy of @OnLeaks, shows off the incoming handset from all angles.
Images ( above) and a 360-degree video ( below) shared with MySmartPrice confirm the OnePlus 6T’s Oppo-esque water drop notch, which sits atop its 6.4in Optic AMOLED display which boasts a 1080×2340 resolution and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Also confirmed is the smartphone’s vertically-stacked 16MP + 20MP dual camera setup, its lack of 3.5mm headphone jack and, given its lack of physical sensor, its screen-embedded fingerprint scanner.
The leak, which is the most significant we’ve seen yet, also claims that the handset will measure in at 8.2mm thick (slightly thicker than the OnePlus 6) and pack a 2.8GHz Snapdragon 845 CPU, Adreno 630 GPU and either 6GB or 8GB RAM paired with 64GB and 128GB storage, respectively.
25/9/18: There’s not much we don’t already know about the OnePlus 6T thanks to the Chinese phone maker’s not-so-subtle hints. However, thanks to a new leak on Weibo, we can finally see what the handset looks like.
Images posted on the Chinese social network ( below) claim to show off the OnePlus 6T in all its glory, complete with a teardrop notch similar to the Oppo R17 and an in-display fingerprint sensor.
However, before you go getting too excited, there’s no snaps of the rear of the smartphone, nor any sign of any OnePlus branding beyond its ‚Never Settle‘ wallpaper. And as spotted by Gizmodo, there’s a hole for what seems to be a headphone jack on the bottom right-hand side – despite OnePlus‘ confirmation that the device would be its first to ditch the 3.5mm port.
20/9/18: An official teaser video for the OnePlus 6T has hyped the incoming flagship’s in-display fingerprint scanner.
The video ( below), which stars actor Amitabh Bachchan who is the company’s brand ambassador in India, references the handset’s in-screen sensor, which OnePlus confirmed would be coming to the 6T earlier this month.
„We unlock our phones multiple times a day, and Screen Unlock reduces the number of steps to complete the action,“ a loose-lipped OnePlus staffer said.
„By adding this feature as an addition to other display unlocking options such as Face Unlock, users will have options to unlock the display in a way that is most efficient for them.“
The clip also debunks speculation that the OnePlus 6T will follow in the footsteps of Samsung’s newly-announced Galaxy A7 with a triple-lens rear camera setup, instead showing off the handset’s dual rear cameras.
