It’s pretty well known that the flagship OnePlus devices tend to borrow design elements from Oppo and Vivo smartphones. All the three brands are part of China’s BBK Electronics. Last year’s OnePlus 5 had a strong resemblance to the Oppo R11 and OnePlus 5T resembled the Oppo R11S. The rumor mill is certain that the upcoming OnePlus 6 would share its design with the newly launched Oppo R15. Of course, there will be a few internal as well as external differences between the two, but the basic design is expected to be the same.
The R15 is an iPhone X clone with a top notch that accommodates the front camera, ear speaker, and other sensors. This isn’t a huge surprise considering dozens of Android vendors are in the race to mimic the iPhone X’s bezel-less design and the notch. Leaked images have indicated that OnePlus 6 would also have a notch. References to the notch were recently found in the OxygenOS beta 4 update for the OnePlus 5T. The software also revealed that OnePlus 6 is currently being developed under the code-name “Enchilada.”
The Oppo R15 was officially launched in China on Monday, giving us a good idea of what the OnePlus 6 would look like. The R15 sports a 6.28-inch OLED display with slim bezels and Full HD resolution of 1080 x 2280p. Though it has a notch at the top, it is not completely bezel-less like iPhone X. It has an aspect ratio of 19:9, taller than OnePlus 5T’s 18:9. Recently, Android Central reported that OnePlus 6 would also boast of a 19:9 aspect ratio. The R15 packs a 3450mAh battery, a MediaTek Helio P60 processor, an ARM Mali-G72 GPU, 128GB storage and 6GB RAM.
The Oppo R15 will sell for approximately $475 in China. The company has also launched a premium R15 “Dream Mirror Edition” that costs roughly $520. It is powered by the Snapdragon 660 chipset and has a ceramic body. Both the variants run Android 8.1 Oreo-based ColorOS 5.0 out of the box. The Oppo R15 has two horizontally arranged 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors on the back. There is a 20MP camera on the front for selfies. The Dream Mirror Edition has the same 20MP selfie camera, but gets a combination of 16MP and 20MP lenses on the back.
The Oppo R15 has laid the groundwork for OnePlus 6, but the upcoming flagship will be slightly different. For instance, leaked images indicate that it would have a vertically-aligned dual camera system on the back, unlike R15’s horizontal dual camera orientation. The fingerprint scanner is said to be placed right below the camera module. Also, the OnePlus 6 would be powered by Qualcomm’s most powerful Snapdragon 845 chipset and 6GB or 8GB of RAM.
The launch of Vivo X21 UD with an in-display fingerprint reader has sparked speculations that OnePlus 6 could also feature an optical fingerprint sensor from Synaptics. If it happens, it will allow you to unlock the device by placing your finger on the screen. However, the under-display fingerprint sensor would make the phone more expensive. So, it’s difficult to say at this point whether OnePlus 6 would get the technology.
According to the rumor mill, OnePlus 6 would feature an advanced Face Unlock to take on Samsung’s Intelligent Scan and Apple’s Face ID. The Face Unlock on the OnePlus 5 and 5T isn’t secure enough because it relies on the camera and software rather than depth mapping. The next-gen Face Unlock would use 3D infrared modules to enhance security. The OnePlus 6 is expected to run Android Oreo-based OxygenOS.
Sources recently told XDA Developers that OnePlus 6 would support Cat.16 Gigabit LTE connectivity. It will run Qualcomm’s X20 LTE modem that facilitates downlink speeds of up to 1.2Gbps and upload speed of up to 150Gbps. If it turns out to be true, OnePlus 6 would be one of the fastest smartphones in terms of data throughput. However, whether you’ll be able to take advantage of the insanely fast speed would depend on your wireless carrier.
The current OnePlus 5T offers Cat.12 LTE connectivity with the maximum download speed of 600Mbps. The older OnePlus 3 and 3T have a top downlink speed of 300Mbps. The OnePlus 6 wouldn’t offer 5G support, but the Chinese company is working with Qualcomm to bring 5G connectivity to its 2019 flagship, which will likely be powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset and X50 modem.
The OnePlus 6 is expected to launch in June. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau recently told media that the next-gen flagship would debut towards the end of the second quarter. It will compete directly against Apple’s iPhone X and Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. Interestingly, Samsung has resisted the idea of adding the notch to its new flagship, even though almost every other Android vendor wants to mimic the iPhone X’s cutout.
