With the 6T, OnePlus hopes to shed 'cheeky upstart' tag and launch assault on flagships "We're not the cheeky upstart anymore," OnePlus told us at previews of the 6T flagship, its seventh, launched today. After achieving notoriety through stunts and jaw-droppingly low pricing, the brand struggled to turn its value proposition into a mass-market deal. But finally, it has earned the trust of the tech channel and …
No sale. Some people like to listen to music or watch a movie and charge at the same time, especially if on a long train journey or a flight. If it had wireless charging I could sort of understand it.
Also, lack of SD is pretty dumb when they could easily use the second sim slot for those of us that don't need a dual sim handset.
Also, not a fan of the teardrop notch at all.
Please stop copying Apple. Thank you.
> Where's me 3.5 M-M stereo lead?
Best buy a job lot of a dozen off tinternet - they always get lost. I daresay some are available in hi-vis orange, which would be handy (so many cables are black, but both network cables and guitar/patch cables are usually of any one of a number of colours - for a solid usability reason)
Puddle?
I admit I managed to fall in the river the other day - not through alcoholic intake but through pure clumsiness in handling small boat - only to discover on surfacing that I had forgotten to put my phone (Sony) in my waterproof bag. I had to wash it a bit in clean water to get the dirt out of the earpiece but it has been absolutely fine since.
It may not be everybody's use case but waterproofing seems to me to be a really key feature.
Its very difficult to waterproof a phone with a headphone jack.
The OP phones have been pretty water resistant since the OP3 (which I currently own and have dropped in countless puddles with no ill effects), its just not official...presumably because official testing costs money and at the price point of an OP phone, the margins are already probably razor thin.
You can't advertise a phone as IP68 if it hasnt been officially tested and stamped.
As for the missing headphone jack, at the top end of headsets the difference between a solid bluetooth set vs cabled is virtually nothing using a phone as the audio source.
The only way to get genuinely good sound out of a phone with a cabled headset is with a portable amplifier...which is pretty niche id expect since Ive never seen anyone use one on the move.
Battery life on Bluetooth is a none issue now as well, my headphones can go a week without needing a charge...they're pretty darned good as well (Sennheisser).
Most phones don't have built in amplification for headphones so output is generally too weak to get the most out of a high quality pair of headphones.
Id imagine the people whining about the lack of a jack are in the mid-range crowd. They tend to spens about £40-£50 on a set of headphones and buy the wired version to avoid the £10-£20 bluetooth premium.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CNC6HN6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dhl2Bb73RD6G2
For a mere £6 you can charge your phone and use 3.5mm headphones.
Out of the several hundreds of pounds saved vs an iPhone or flagship Android, surely £6 isn't much to ask.
I personally hate cables when I'm on the move, I hate untangling them even more.
Plus, its pretty difficult to trip over a Bluetooth signal.
The downside of that £6 bit of tat from Amazon is that it will contain the cheapest, nastiest, noisiest DAC on the planet to hit that cost point.
I guess we've never met, as I am in the the 'niche' that uses a portable DAC / AMP (Fiio Q1 in my case), and it sounds soooooooo much better than that Amazon adaptor will.
More power to you man. Keep pouring that sweet, sweet gravy into your ears.
The none discerning gentlemen out there (the kind that only buy Pizza on a Tuesday) with wired headphones probably don't spend the money that you do. Therefore a shitty DAC won't make a difference to them.
Jesus Dad, I told you stop posting here.
USB-C ports are very durable dude and Will charging is so short range and slow. I can see why it's useful on a bedside table...but outside of that, it's a party trick.
As for headphone jacks...there's always the mid range Android phones to plug your Tesco ear buds into...they have other legacy stuff like micro usb 2.0, Android 7, 3G and 800x480 screens.
I'm one of the (majority of) people that care very little about headphone jacks.
I also don't care about parallel ports, firewire and ISA slots.
While we're at it...fucking Ethernet man...token ring didn't require any extra hardware...those bastards forcing us to buy switches and better wiring. Who do they think they are?
Tech moves on, deal with it.
If a headphone jack is a problem, keep your old phone. Nobody is forcing anyone to upgrade.
Where water resistance is concerned. They may not be officially IP rated (the admin for that is expensive), but they are water resistant.
I swam with my OP3 by mistake, forgot to take it out of my pocket at the beach. Not even a whiff of water damage after 20 minutes.
I suggest you go and have a look at some teardowns, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised to see that the effort for water resistance is there. All of the appropriate areas have sturdy seals.
The water resistance may not be official, but that doesn't have me concerned.
I have two toddlers and my living room hasn't been dry for years and my phone's get dunked regularly...my oldest thinks it's helpful to pick my phone up when it rings and then drop in the bath when I'm in there.
If you're on this board, you're probably an engineer. A proper engineer makes decisions based on his own skill and knowledge run past a reasonable chunk of research.
I have a OnePlus 5 and I have no intention of buying a newer model if they're going to cheap out by removing a headphone jack. There is zero technical reason for this - it consumes a miniscule amount of space and it costs pennies.
The only reason to remove it to cynically force people to buy bluetooth earbuds. To hell with them.
I prefer it with one hole, it's much neater and symetrrical. There's a dongle included you can mate your 3.5mm earbuds with and just carry them around like that all the time it'll work fine.
And oh wow the sigmoidal notch is so beautiful :D It curves just right and I can't wait to upgrade from my 5T. I feel bad for every other phone with a notch now that looks ugly as fuck compared to this ones beauty it's so small and perfect <3
"...it consumes a miniscule amount of space and it costs pennies..."
Many years ago in the very early 90's, one of the jobs I had was repairing Sharp electronic typewriters and word processors.
The most popular typewrite that Sharp did was also their cheapest and simplest - no memory, no bells and whistles at all - it was basically a solenoid for the hammer and a stepper motor for the daisywheel and another for the platen. You could pick them up in Boots at the time for less then 50 quid.
I went to their factory in, as I recall, Wrexham.
Speaking to one of their managers, one of our guys queried why they'd stopped putting two screws in to hold the metal frame into the case and had started to use a clip moulded into said case. They were quite brittle and if you weren't careful, it was quite easy to snap them.
The manager from Sharp said they'd done some calculations and because the process to put the components together were manual, it meant they could remove one person from that assembly line.
When scaled out, they saved 9p per screw (this included the person). They sold 100,000 units a year in the UK alone.
So those things that cost pennies start to save you a large sum of money when scaled up into the hundreds of thousands.
I'm not defending it - just giving one of the possible rationale.
Not an issue for me, I very rarely listen to music on my phone and need to charge it at the same time; in fact I can't think when I have ever needed to do that in the 3.5 years I've had my current phone. If it was something I actually needed I'd by some Bluetooth ear buds.
I am in the market for a new phone to replace my Nexus 6P and I've narrowed it down to a Pixel 3XL or Oneplus 6T; I'm leaning towards the OnePlus as a £200 saving is quite a chunk of money, but I do worry that updates, or lack thereof, could be an issue.
Quite the opposite, oneplus issue the regular updates (I'm a 5 user and my wife has a 3) and they have committed to upgrade the 3 (release June 2016) to Android Pie.
Compare that to my "new" Pixel tablet, purchased December 2017, which Google say they WILL NOT be upgrade to Pie!
I've had the Oneplus 6 for about 6 months(ish), updates have been frequent and well implemented. Including a recent one that upgraded me to Pie. Which was nice. Obviously only time will tell over the next few years but solid recommend from me (The 6 has a headphone jack too)
How about discussing the real problems.
I want high fidelity music out of the phone for long periods of time without draining the battery, having headphones die, needing a hub, or needing a Qi charging puck. It may seem like I demand a headphone jack but I'd accept a second USB-C port as well.
I could also accept tiered internal storage as a replacement for a microSD card. I use 400 GB microSD in a 64 GB phone because I don't want to pay for 512+ GB of super-fast, super-expensive onboard storage when only 30 GB of that needs speed.
I just want the usability problems solved, and yet another iPhone clone isn't it.
I'm still running my ancient Nexus 6 - close to four years old now. Stereo speakers, great QHD screen, NitrogenOS Pie, battery still lasts all day. It has a substantial head and chin, but the large 6" screen is at least a perfect rectangle.
I've asked myself many times over the past year why manufacturers make such a big deal of the front camera. I've used mine maybe half a dozen times over the past four years and I'd be very happy to buy a phone with all the 6T specs without the camera ruining the screen. I'm not so obsessed with my gob that I have to keep photographing myself all the time - that's why we have mirrors, for Pete's sake.
But crucially there are now rumours of through-display cameras, where the camera under the screen can "see" through the display. That for me is the best solution, so given that I'm fortunate in having an excellent device I'll be waiting for the Oneplus 7 or even 7T...
"I've asked myself many times over the past year why manufacturers make such a big deal of the front camera."
Because smartphones have become a commodity thing, and manufacturers are absolutely desperate to find any sort of differentiator.
That said, the front camera is useful for more than selfies -- many people use their phones for video calls.
I've asked myself many times over the past year why manufacturers make such a big deal of the front camera
It's this years go faster stripes / 3D TV. And Apple has one. For about two people in the world the idea of a minimal bezel for a device for taking selfies is impressive. That it's actually poor industrial design because it's a classic case of function following form: "if we add a notch we can reduce the bezel for a lot of the screen" doesn't register when you're looking for a new way to differentiate your expensive tat from the rest.
And people will buy them only in turn to gleefully replace them in a couple of years with screens without notches once the non-existant problems have been solved differently.
Actually it's a case of form follows function: why not use the area of the phone that is in line with the camera and ear piece to display notifications? Indeed, LG did this in 2016 by placing a small monochrome auxillary display next to the camera, thus freeing up part of the main display for other content.
Pareto analysis suggests that most of the important information is imparted by a small fraction of the available icons - eg battery, cell signal, WiFi signal, clock, missed call, SMS.
Most of the objections to the notch concept are based on an individual's sense of aesthetics - I haven't read any objective reasons for disliking the notch. [ OLED panels, even rectangular ones, are laser cut - thus adding a notch only increases the tool path a small bit and doesn't require a whole extra process which would increase cost]
"Most of the objections to the notch concept are based on an individual's sense of aesthetics" NO!
It is because, instead of increasing real estate above the screen, to notifications, and allowing full screen content below that (say video without letterboxing, but not encroching into the notch), 90% of OS/manufacturers put the video INTO the notch. So it cuts out content, and you have a hole in your film all the way through.
Nothing to do with aesthetics and all to do with implement. IIRC LG and a few do offer an option to work the phone with only notifications in the notch, or turning that part of the panel off entirely. However, this messes up the video player scaling. So just as broken.
It's not impossible to make it work properly, it's just no one is staying on a design choice/platform long enough to get past "does it boot? Then ship it!" and bugs/GUI bad decisions be damned!
> this messes up the video player scaling. So just as broken.
Scaling, cropping or black bars are inevitable on any screen, given common video content ranges from 4:3 through to wider than 16:9. A good video player will give you options*. That said, the most common TV format, 16:9, is less wide than the 2:1 phone screens notches are usually cut from, therefore the video at correct aspect ratio and and using the maximum vertical pixels won't encroach upon the notched area anyway.
It's actually good that phones are no longer a slave to the TV aspect ratio, since for many people video playback isn't the main thing they use their phone for.
* An irritating exception is BBC iPlayer - be it through desktop browser or Android app - because it assumes that you're using a 16:9 screen and one can end up with both horizontal *and* vertical black bars. That's just daft.
(My laptop is 16:10 and my phone is 2:1)
Actually it's a case of form follows function: why not use the area of the phone that is in line with the camera and ear piece to display notifications?
It isn't because it involves special-casing of content, hence the ridiculous attempt to get the notch supported in CSS. It also ignores the functional imprortance of the bezel. It might look lovely to have a single piece of glass, a sort of infinity screen but I'd rather mine had a little more protection, including from my own fingers.
I'm pretty certain that Apple will drop the notch at the first opportunity.
> It also ignores the functional imprortance of the bezel. It might look lovely to have a single piece of glass, a sort of infinity screen but I'd rather mine had a little more protection, including from my own fingers.
How strong is your grip?! :) I'd take the smaller bezelled phone and stick a case on it - bringing the total package up to the size of a phone with thicker bezels. If the case gets damaged, it's cheap and easy to swap out for a new one. Plus, the case allows me to choose a level of protection to suit me, and other customisations that could never practically be offered across a range of phones.
When you make the entire surface of the phone interactive, it means that merely picking up the phone interacts with it. I have enough trouble with unwanted interactions on a phone WITH a bezel as it is.
Sure, it looks sexy. But will you still love it when it's old and gray?
> When you make the entire surface of the phone interactive, it means that merely picking up the phone interacts with it.
You'd think so, wouldn't you? However, many phones have capacitive grip sensors in the side* and use software to distinguish unintended input. The advantage of a phone with slim bezels is that if you put it into a case (so that it becomes the same size as a phone with big bezels) you gain protection - cases can be deformed without damaging the phone.
*You can see this for yourself if you can access your phone's hardware diagnostics mode. On Samsung S8 that is accessed by entering *#0*# into the dialler.
Plus, the case allows me to choose a level of protection to suit me, and other customisations that could never practically be offered across a range of phones.
Do you, by any chance, work for the marketing department of The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation? Because it certainly sounds like it!
I don't use mine for many actual pictures, but it's really useful when working in the back of a (closed) rack, or behind other bits of kit, to be able to prop the phone on something and see what it's going on...
A high tech mirror, with built in lighting, if you like...
30% of the market takes selfies and posts them on social medial, 60% of the market wants to emulate that 30% so need a phone that is good for selfies. The remaining 10% is an interesting group for various reasons. Most Register readers are in that odd 10%
Most people I know use bluetooth headsets (and yes, you can use them on aeroplanes). Having leads dangling around is so 1980's :)
As to the notch, does it really matter?
For the price, it's a cracking phone.
Alan
PS - I have the OP5 but I doubt I'll upgrade - that does everything I want.
>Most people I know use bluetooth headsets
Most people I know, don't.
So much for small sample data eh?
I think it's a bold move for a disruptive company to make. They could've kept it and gone conservative. And since they haven't bothered to go waterproof (darn, I was hoping for that) why bother removing the hole? 1+ is not really a company selling lots of peripheries so I doubt they expect to make a load of cash from wireless phones, and they include a wired USBC set in the box anyway.
Exactly I use both as well, Bluetooth in the gym, wired for Radio 4 whilst walking (I'm a Luddite for having the audacity to use broadcast FM radio rather than stream my radio between the black spots of coverage you find, well, pretty much everywhere)... enforced feature removals overtime for little more than the satisfaction of a design team, or the following of a relatively small but vocal group of self elected thought leaders is quite arrogant.
"Most people I know use bluetooth headsets"
Most people I know don't. But even if they did, that still doesn't take away from the fact that for many people's use cases, Bluetooth just doesn't cut it at all.
"As to the notch, does it really matter?"
To many people, yes.
"For the price, it's a cracking phone."
I disagree completely.
"IP67 is a necessity in the tropics."
Or carry a small plastic bag in your back pocket in the tropics, just like I do. Actually I carry two, the other one is for my wallet. Sure the notes are plastic, the coins are metal, but not all the cards I carry are plastic, some are cardboard.
Carry my phone in a plastic bag? It's just easier and safer to get a waterproof phone in the first place. Plenty of options from Samsung, Sony, Apple and others. And the plastic bag wouldn't help if the phone were dropped whilst it was actually being used or connected to wired headphones.
Waterproofing is good for anyone who goes hiking, camping, messing around in boats, lives in a potential flood zone (like Tewkesbury, NYC, Miami, Hiroshima..), lives in the tropics, has small children, uses their phone in the kitchen to view or time recipes, likes listening to podcasts in the bath, or is just occasionally butter-fingered. There's a lot of people who fall into at least one of those categories.
Making products durable reduces waste.
> Not replacing a working phone every year or two also reduces waste...
Indeed. So buy a waterproof phone with specs good enough to see you through the next few years, stick it in a good case and put a tempered glass screen protector on it. Qi charging will also save your phone from landfill should your USB C port become damaged. I know USB C ports are said to be mechanically durable, but I know one bloke who got paint into it. I've also heard of a USB port being damaged due to a bit of fluff and a 9v fast charger.
"IP67 is a necessity in the tropics."
Wow, there were no mobile phones in the tropics until, what, 2010?
Less snarkily, I had non-waterproof phones for 18 years (in the UK) and managed not to kill them with water. I've had a waterproof phone for four years and have still managed not to get it wet, although I have been less precious about using it in the rain. For me waterproofing is a nice-to-have, not a deal-breaker.
See title.
There's plenty of design options to still have a front facing camera that don't require screwing over the screen layout. I barely have enough room on the notifications bar as it is sometimes.
I'll just stick to a cheap made in the PRC phone for 1/3rd the price and good enough specs.
A couple years ago I really thought the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 - the no bezel, no notch phone - was the future in terms of screen design, and everyone would be copying it.
At this point it still looks futuristic. The notch looks like a horrible compromise.
Indeed, as you say, "plenty of design options that don't involve screwing over the screen layout" is a problem I thought solved, and I cynically expect in a few years Apple will do "notchless" and say it's a world's first.
Loaday crap, the lack of innovation...
Am I the only person on the planet not obsessed with bezels? For me the perfect phone would be an Android in the style of the iPhone 8 Plus, 1080p screen and a couple of millimetres thicker than the 8 Plus to allow for a dirty great battery that would see me comfortably through a weekend. All these manufacturers are becoming like sheep, egged on by Youtube kiddies who think having to press a button to unlock your phone is too much like hard work.
Having dropped 2 phones in the bath, I can say that it is necessary. I also had one phone go completely flaky in a bad rain storm, whilst I was frantically trying to find directions to a meeting.
My current phone is waterproof for those reasons.
It's not even as cheap as some Samsung flagships from last year, which still beat OnePlus is most areas. SD card, waterproofing, Qi charging, better screen, better camera ARcore support. Buy the new OnePlus if you want the latest Snapdragon and more RAM than you're likely to need, and can live without a fair few features.
I'm still over the moon with my Oneplus 5, which still gives me 2 days of battery life.
I fail to see how this model, two models on in fact, is an upgrade.
Screen is bigger, but I hate notches
I'd be losing a headphone socket
What I've moaned about I simply see as the industry standard now. Like you say, last year's Samsungs have it all, and the price has come down to boot. It's really hard to see who Oneplus are targeting now.
Because if it's loyal fanboys, I got the Oneplus 1, then the 2, then the 5, and have no desire to sidegrade.
I suspect my trusty 5 will keep me happy for another year or so, but unless the Oneplus 7(!) does an about-turn I'll be voting with my wallet.
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