OnePlus 6T: successful return for the Chinese manufacturer

Presentation

As usual, OnePlus was quick to renew its high-end phone, about 6 months after formalizing the previous one. The much awaited OnePlus 6T thus comes to replace the young 6 by correcting its small defects of youth and has for delicate mission to compete with Galaxy S9, Note 9, Huawei Mate 20 Pro and other iPhone Xs of this world. All of course for a price defying any competition, not to betray the philosophy of OnePlus.

Sold from € 559, the 6T is a little more expensive than its predecessor, which has been observed for a few generations already. But at the time when ultra high-end phones no longer hesitate to exceed the 1,000 € mark, the price of 6T remains extraordinarily low given its technical data sheet. The smartphone indeed integrates a Snapdragon 845 chip, a 6.4-inch Oled screen and 6 GB of RAM. On paper, this new "flagship killer" therefore has everything it takes to upset the competition.

But beyond the raw characteristics, has OnePlus found the recipe for establishing itself in a crowded market? This is what we will see.

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Ergonomics and design

OnePlus generation "T" smartphones, like the "S" at Apple, are not really the occasion for aesthetic and ergonomic changes. The 6T looks almost like two drops of water to its predecessor, which is not necessarily a bad thing as we were already highlighting the success that the OnePlus 6 was 6 months ago. The design is simple, but effective, and the finishes always impeccable.

The manufacturer markets two versions of its 6T, one with a shiny glass back (similar to that of the OnePlus 6 that we tested), the other with a matte finish in smoked glass. Our preference goes to the latter as much from the aesthetic point of view (it takes less fingerprints) than ergonomic (the smoked glass has a very pleasant "rubber" appearance under the fingers). But whatever the finish and although imposing - forget the use with one hand -, the device is rather successful.

The minimum notch drop allows the screen to occupy 86% of the front of the device. The optimization work done by OnePlus is quite impressive and it's a pleasure to essentially have only one screen in your hands.

It is also impossible to talk about the screen without immediately talking about what is behind it, namely the fingerprint reader. OnePlus has been dubbed by Huawei on the first of this technology, but the "wow" effect is still there ... when the recognition works well. Indeed, the fingerprint reader is a little more finicky on the OnePlus than on the Mate 20 Pro, sometimes failing to recognize a registered finger or taking a big second to unlock the phone. We advise to couple this security method with facial recognition - very fast, for its part - for an optimal experience.

The only point preventing the mobile from earning a fifth star is the lack of any waterproofing certification. Certainly, OnePlus promises us that its mobile is just as waterproof as the other high-end, but without certification, we prefer to remain cautious. Technical question, apart from the uncertainty about its real waterproofness, the 6T has almost nothing to blame: USB-C port, NFC chip, dual SIM ... We still regret the absence of wireless charging and mini-jack port (we will come back to this controversial point in the audio section).

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Screen

It has been some time since OnePlus has proven that it masters Oled, and the 6T is still a fine example of this know-how. The slab of the mobile, in addition to being impressive by its size, allows you to enjoy a satisfactory experience.

Fans of vibrant colors can opt for “default” screen calibration, while those who prefer more natural tones can take advantage of the sRGB mode. The latter offers an impeccable colorimetry since there is a delta E at 2.6 - below the bar of 3, the eye no longer distinguishes any possible color drifts -, while the color temperature peaks at 6 873 Kelvin - close of the expected 6,500 K.

Question readability, no worries to be done either. With a maximum brightness of 510 cd / m², the 6T knows how to remain readable even when the sun is beating down on its screen. The minimum reflectance of the slab also allows you to enjoy the mobile in all circumstances. Finally, with 1.8 cd / m² of minimum brightness, the phone will not blind nocturnal mobile users.

In use, the 400 pixels per inch allow very comfortable navigation with clean images and chiseled characters. Who Said Cell Phones Need 4K Displays? The remanence, meanwhile, is zero - thank you Oled technology. The tactile delay, on the other hand, is a little too high for a high-end mobile (101 ms), but does not disturb daily use too much.

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Performances

Historical brand of technophiles, OnePlus knows that its audience is intractable in terms of performance and therefore put the odds on its side with a Snapdragon 845 chip associated with 6 or 8 GB of RAM, as well as an Adreno 630 GPU. All the ingredients are there to ensure the perfect experience, and it works. The 6T never hesitates before launching an application, never slows down when you use it, you go from one app to another in the blink of an eye. A real pleasure.

In order not to spoil anything, even with all this firepower, the 6T never heats excessively. You never notice more than 34 ° C on the surface. Nothing to burn your fingers when playing or machine-gunning with the camera.

Finally, not surprisingly, the device is a real game animal to run all the titles of the Play Store with flawless fluidity and impeccable graphics.

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Audio

For the first time in its history, OnePlus is releasing a mobile without a mini-jack socket. A controversial decision that the company justifies by explaining that with the fingerprint sensor under the screen and the sum of on-board technologies, space was running out. Anyway, unlike Apple, OnePlus has the good taste to provide a USB-C to mini-jack adapter to pass the pill. And the latter turns out to be quite good. The signal is strong and almost undistorted. Unfortunately, if the dynamics are correct, the separation of the channels is slightly too muddled.

As for the speaker - in the singular, yes, since the one present above the camera only activates strangely for calls - it delivers a powerful sound and completely restores the sound spectrum, but there is a spike distortion at full volume.

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Photo

On the photo side, OnePlus has kept the same configuration on the 6T as on the 6. So we find on the back a main module with optical stabilization. It consists of a 16 Mpx sensor associated with a lens opening at f / 1.7 and a second 20 Mpx only dedicated to "portrait mode". But if the hardware has not changed, the software recipe has been improved. And it shows.

In broad daylight, the 6T is capable of capturing contrasting shots, rich in detail and in sharpness. The mobile does not have much to blame on this side, just like its predecessor to tell the truth. The color reproduction is faithful, and apart from a slight loss of detail at the edges of the stage, nothing really annoying is noticed. Even the densest areas are full of details (thanks to the 16 million pixels). Faced with the Pixel 3 XL, the 6T smooths out its shots a little more, but nothing too bad.

Freshly announced, the OnePlus 6T is already in our labs. The opportunity for us to take stock of his photo capabilities the night before ...

Where the change in treatment is most impressive is in the night photos. We have already returned at length on the prowess of the device in a dedicated article (link above), but to summarize, the 6T has made great progress compared to its predecessor, and that's good because the photo of night was precisely the Achilles heel of the OnePlus 6. When the light is lacking, the phone has a little heavier hand on the smoothing, but this is done without detracting too much from the details that remain. We lose sharpness and contrast, but the scene remains clean and generally readable. Faced with the Pixel 3 under the same conditions, the 6T manages the white balance and color reproduction less well.

The front photo module, for its part, often has trouble getting enough light in and therefore pushes up the ISO to compensate. Logical result, we notice a small dose of grain on photos that are otherwise quite successful. The portrait mode, for its part, produces very successful results with a quality bokeh and a clean clipping which highlights the subject well.

Finally, video capture, whether in Full HD or 4K Ultra HD, is done smoothly and there is nothing wrong with the image quality.

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Autonomy

True strength of the 5T, but less of the 6, autonomy has been the object of special care. Despite a relatively slim body, the device incorporates a 3,700 mAh battery which allows OnePlus to announce "two days of autonomy". And the company does not lie. In our Smartviser home autonomy test, the phone lasted 16 hours and 20 minutes. A very honorable score, just behind the Note 9 and at the level of the Mate 20 Pro. In practice, this translates into two days of endurance in heavy use. No need to worry so if you forget to charge the mobile one evening, it won't snap your fingers the next day.

In addition, the “Dash Charge” (manufacturer's fast house charging protocol) allows you to regain more than 50% of the battery in just half an hour, while a full charge will require just 1 hour. Impeccable to regain a few precious hours of battery speed. Only problem, it is imperative to use the brick and the charging cable supplied with the device to take advantage of it.

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Conclusion

After a OnePlus 6 less convincing than these predecessors, the Chinese manufacturer returns to the attack with an impressive 6T. If the envelope has not changed radically, everything has been improved inside this 6T. The photo quality is again at the level of the competition, the autonomy does not disappoint and the raw performances are always there. As often, OnePlus holds with its T series a more mature and more balanced phone than its predecessor. A phone that has everything to shake up the big names that are the Galaxy Note 9, Mate 20 Pro or iPhone XS ... for half the price. Successful bet for OnePlus.

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