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Battery life
- Dash charge is constantly the fastest
- 3,700mAh battery easily lasts a day
While the OnePlus 6 had a respectable battery life, the 6T is even better. The new variant has a huge 3700mAh battery. The battery easily lasts a day after mixed usage.
We ran our standard battery test, playing a 90-minute video in full HD and at maximum brightness, and found the phone only lost 10% of its charge. The OnePlus 6 lost 15% of its battery in the same test.
Having OnePlus' fast charging tech on top of a great battery life for the users. After all, who doesn't want a battery that charges fast and lasts long? That's a great example of how the company works towards improving user experience on their devices.
While all the latest phones from Samsung, Apple and Google support wireless charging, OnePlus 6T skips the feature. The reason might be cost-cutting or maybe the company doesn't see a lot of demand for the tech right from the fans. I personally feel that it's not something most users miss on their phones right now.
The software also contributes to boosting the battery life on the OnePlus 6T. It gives you an option to track apps that are using an unusual amount of juice and also suggests actions to fix them. It has a battery saver mode as usual, and a new 'Adaptive Battery' feature that extends battery life by limiting battery for unused apps. Moreover, OnePlus says it can learn user behavior over time to filter out apps that are least used.
Camera
- Dual rear cameras: 16MP + 20MP Sony sensors
- Revamped camera app for easier one-handed use
The camera on the 6T share similar camera specifications with its predecessor, the OnePlus 6. There are some software enhancements and a new Nightscape mode in the 6T. However, OnePlus 6 users will also get to taste the new mode after installing an OTA update that is rolling out soon. The nightscape mode is preset of how we usually tune our cameras in the pro mode for low-light photography. It lowers the ISO and the shutter speed to get more light and sensor, and the AI combines multiple pictures to get a crisp low-light picture without a tripod. But as of now, we didn’t find it doing better than Pixel’s Night Sight or the Huawei P20’s long-exposure.
The camera features a wide-angle lens paired with a 16MP sensor, as well as a secondary 20MP lens and sensor combination. Both lenses feature a f/1.7 aperture. The nightscape mode has improved the low-light shots if you weren't already happy with the OnePlus 6 camera.
The shooting modes on the 6T are fairly predictable – there’s automatic, portrait, manual and panorama. When it comes to video, slow motion and timelapse modes complement a simple enough automatic mode.
Within the shooting UI, OnePlus also gives you quick access to useful tools like Google Lens, flash, self-timer and aspect ratio control, direct from your viewfinder. The best part about OnePlus’ camera app is that it’s not overloaded with gimmicks and unfurnished features like Huawei or Samsung phones. It is comprehensive and easy to operate.
For its price, the OnePlus 6T can take some outstanding pictures. At times, it goes toe to toe with phones like iPhone XR, Galaxy Note 9 and even Pixel 3. The only issue with the OnePlus 6T is visible when you zoom in to low-light scenes. When you are not using the Night mode, the main camera softens the details in pictures shot at night.
Except for this abnormality, the camera shines in everything else it does. Especially in good light, where it flexes its extra pixels to capture a staggering amount of details and reproduces excellent color and tones.
The auto HDR feature is a show stealer at times. On cloudy days, the OnePlus 6T handles skylines admirably. With close to source colors, ample details and great dynamic range, the shots look nothing less than pictures shot on more expensive competitors.
The portrait mode is also not as good as the Pixel or an iPhone XR/XS. It relies more on the software rather than a depth-sensing lens, but that’s a constant with most smartphones. It does an impressive edge detection in bokeh pictures, but the effect isn’t as natural and powerful as we expected. But again, these are the issues that OnePlus can resolve via an OTA update.
The front camera is a 16MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture. Of all the phones under Rs 40,000, the OnePlus 6T is among the best. Selfies aren’t as well detailed and natural looking as the Pixel 3, but it still gets enough details for a selfie that will make you look good.
Don’t get me wrong, its not an aggressive beautification, its a subtle retouching where it adjusts the tone, does mild retouching and minimal softening to get a more presentable selfie for social media. If I have to compare it, I would say it’s something that Apple does with selfies. You look good, not artificial.
But there's one issue with the front camera too. When you try and click a selfie against the light, it sometimes fails to adjust the exposure and loses focus. Also, there is a lot of visible noise in low-light shot unless you use the screen flash. Thankfully, OnePlus 6T has a calculative screen flash, which doesn't blow out your face to darken the background. So if you're in a club, it's a must to use the screen flash for best results.
Video stabilization is impressive, 4K samples look great and the focus is very responsive and it gets great macro details.
OnePlus 6T camera samples
