OnePlus is a company that's been around for five years now (!), and in that time it has made strides in the mobile industry, that's risen more than just a few eyebrows. Rocking into the scene in 2013 with the oddly-named OnePlus One, it shook the competition with its top notch specs, and a mindblowing price of just £229. Today, though, things are a little different.


Fast-forward to 2018, and OnePlus remains a powerful and competitive player in the mobile market. In fact, the current OnePlus 6 is the fastest selling phone from the Chinese company to date, so unlike many startup tech companies, OnePlus is showing no signs of slowing just yet.

With that being said, I don't think OnePlus can quite get away with the mistakes it made five years ago. Back in those days, the company fell victim to all kinds of trouble, from missing essential features on their flagship phones, to dodgy marketing campaigns. Now though, the company is arguably mature and experienced, and is therefore subject to much more scruterneering than usual with the products they release. No longer are the tech journos brushing aside shortcomings because OnePlus is 'new'.

The one that started it all

Not helping this case is the fact that OnePlus phones aren't quite the bargain they used to be. At £469, the OnePlus 6 still undercuts rivals from Samsung and Apple by quite a considerable margin, but that price doesn't quite have the discount wow-factor anymore. To remain an absolute bargain, the OnePlus 6 needs to be almost-perfect, or cut its price by £50 or so. Seeing as the price cut option is unlikely to ever happen, here are a few things I want to see improved to make the upcoming OnePlus 6T a 'flagship killer', once again:

 An Improved Camera

Reviewers who have gotten their grubby mitts on the OnePlus 6 have all more or less said the same thing: the camera is decent but it's not quite up there with the likes of Samsung and Apple. That might not come as a surprise, but these days as more and more people are relying on just their phones for their memory capturing, a solid camera becomes more and more of a necessity.

The OnePlus 6 just cannot quite compete in terms of contrast, saturation and dynamic range with the best. Additionally, the stabilisation isn't exactly the most sophisticated seen on a smartphone to date. Obviously you can cut some slack for the lower price point of the OnePlus, but 'flagship killer' it is not.

Wireless Charging OR Return to Metal

Unlike all the phones before hand in the OnePlus family (besides the budget X), the 6 made a change in design approach by adopting a glass back. For me personally glass isn't my preference, but I understand how it's a necessity if you want to enable wireless charging.

However, the OnePlus 6 does not have wireless charging. Whaaaa-?

For me, to go from brushed metal to glass on the back is a downgrade. Glass smudges easily, scratches easily and shatters easily. Metal can still scratch, but in most cases, it looks damn better. OnePlus has given us the worst of both worlds here with an inferior material and no wireless charging to back it up.

For me, I don't really care too much about wireless charging (especially with a system as good as Dash Charge), so I'd like to see a return to metal on the 6T.


Update Policy

For a phone with more or less stock Android (bar a few tweaks for ease of use), you'd think OnePlus would be one of the better companies out there when it comes to updating their phones. And while indeed they are not the worst offenders out there - I maintain my death stare at Samsung for that one - they really deserve no better than a D- grade: could try a lot harder.

Arguably what's worse though is that OnePlus is one of the most downright flakiest companies out there when it comes to security updates - those monthly updates that patch your Android up from hacks and viruses. Users have reported their phones being wildly inconsistent with security patches, which is unacceptable on a flasgship phone, even if it does undercut in price. OnePlus hardly have a massive portfolio of phones, so there really should be no excuse to release timely updates.

Those are my main three gripes. It may be tempting to complain about the notch, or the fact that the screen is a 1080p resolution only, but I'm fine with notches provided they are executed correctly, and 1080p is perfectly adequate if you don't pixel peep. Saves battery, too.

For me, the OnePlus 6 is a great phone, but it makes one compromise too many for it to truly be a step up from my current flagship phone from 2016. Sure, it would be miles quicker and have more storage, but that's about it.

OnePlus' original philosophy was about accepting no corner-cutting, and proving you can offer the same or better than the mainstream rivals for half the cost. The thing is, the OnePlus is a little bit worse now than mainstream rivals, and it's only a little bit less expensive. That makes it far less stand-out for me, and I hope the wow-factor can return with the 6T later this year.