OnePlus 6 debuts with a notch display, glass back, and Snapdragon 845

Photos: OnePlus

After several weeks of leaks and renders, the successor to last year's OnePlus 5 and 5T -- the OnePlus 6 has been officially launched.

The OnePlus 6 follows in the footprint of the OnePlus 5 and 5T, offering the industries flagship specs at a low price tag; a discussion we'll get to in a bit but for now, let's run through what makes up this flagship device.

If you've followed OnePlus's smartphone trend in the past, the first thing you will notice is the obvious physical changes made on the OnePlus 6. The company has ditched the unibody aluminum build and now introduced a glass back and metal frame, while the display now features the infamous notch. The introduction of the notch gave more room for OnePlus to pack in a huge 6.3 AMOLED display (1080 by 2280 pixels, 19:9 aspect ratio) into the OnePlus 6. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and you get an option to add a black bar beside the notch to make it disappear.. if maybe you find it ugly.

OnePlus 6 comes with dual cameras at the back just above the dual-LED flash and fingerprint scanner. A  16-megapixels main camera with an f1.7 aperture, (and a new image sensor with bigger, 1.22-micron pixels) and a 20-megapixels f1.7 secondary shooter; both of which feature optical image stabilization to assist with shaky hands. At the front is a a single 16-megapixels selfie shooter that can now record videos up to 1080p resolution.

Oneplus offers three different configurations when it comes to the OnePlus 6 internals but with no compromise on speed. The device will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and paired with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. The base storage for the OnePlus 6 starts at 64GB, while there is a 128GB and 256GB model. The phone boots on OxygenOS on top of Android 8.1 Oreo with Android P Beta update already available. The new OS, which is bloatware free, has an option for on-screen gestures if you don't fancy the softkeys, while you also get an extra Face Unlock feature for more security.

All of this power will depend on the 3,300 mAh battery for juice, and while there is no wireless charging implemented on the OnePlus 6 (which is a bit unfortunate considering the newly introduced glass back that allows for WC support), you get the super-fast OnePlus Dash charge tech that allows for rapid charge even while being operated. The device comes with Bluetooth 5 and supports two nano-SIMs, among other basic connectivity options.

Ok,.. this is where OnePlus 6 makes a difference compared to other flagships in the market. Prices for the device start at $529 for the 6GB+64GB memory configuration. The 8GB+128GB and the 8GB+256GB options will be priced at $579 and $629 respectively. The limited edition Silk White model will come in a 8GB+128GB configuration only. The OnePlus 6 is offered in Midnight Black, Mirror Black and Silk White and will hit stores in the US and Europe as early as May 22nd.

What are your thoughts about the OnePlus 6? Let's know in the comments.