Hands-On

OnePlus 6T hands-on: Refinements all around

Faster and better

Published

October 30, 2018

Michael Josh Villanueva

The self-proclaimed flagship killer is back — faster and better than ever, with fancy new tech and a reimagined notch.

TechTober is almost over and we have one more phone to tell you about: the OnePlus 6T.

It comes just five months after the launch of the OnePlus 6, so it’s no surprise that this is just an incremental update — a refinement to an already-impressive smartphone.

Side-by-side, you’ll find both phones look very similar. The frame and form factor are almost the same, albeit a bit thicker. It has the same curved back and all-glass finish.

Oh, and at least for now, the phone will only be available in black, either matte or glossy.

If you look closely you’ll find its backside fingerprint sensor is missing; that’s been replaced with an under-display fingerprint scanner, which is one of the biggest cosmetic differences on this phone.

OnePlus is calling it Screen Unlock and promises unlock speeds of 0.34 seconds. In our limited time with the device, Screen Unlock worked consistently. It felt quick and snappy.

Scroll up to the upper half of the screen, and you’ll find the other noticeable upgrade. Gone is the tub-shaped notch in favor of a much smaller one that curves around the selfie camera.

With the cutout reduced, you get even more screen space — an 86 percent screen-to-body ratio to be exact. And if the notch isn’t your thing, you also have the option to turn it off.

The rest of the improvements to the OnePlus 6T have more to do with hardware and software, like how its 6.41-inch AMOLED 1080p display is brighter and more color accurate.

You also get a nifty feature called reading mode which turns the display to black and white like you were reading off an e-reader but in high-res.

The camera of course has been improved, too. While hardware remains the same — a 16-megapixel rear camera with an f/1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization, 20-megapixel secondary camera for more accurate portrait blur, and 16-megapixel front camera — software algorithms have been tweaked to improve photo quality and performance.

Improvements have specifically been made in the area of night shots, portraits, and selfies. A new feature called Nightscape promises better low-light photos with less noise, while Studio Lighting gives your selfies a touch of professional lighting.

Take a look at some photos we took around New York:

Since its inception, OnePlus has always been known for offering flagship specs at a more affordable price point, and a close-to-pure Android experience that’s fast and snappy. The same holds true with the OnePlus 6T.

This time around, they sought to improve that experience further. The phone still runs on Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 processor with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM.

In addition, it now has double the amount of storage as the standard configuration at 128GB and a bigger 3700mAh battery that you can top up quickly with its bundled Fast Charger. Notice it’s no longer called Dash Charging, but it’s the same tech.

In our initial tests, we were getting seven to eight hours of screen-on time and were quite impressed. But that’s just on the hardware front.

A software improvement called Smart Boost supposedly knows which apps you use the most and stores that app’s data on the phone’s RAM so these apps load faster. Currently, the technology works with games, but support for more apps is coming in future updates.

The OnePlus 6T runs on the latest version of Android, 9.0 Pie with the newest OxygenOS skin on top. For more screen real estate, you can turn off the on-screen buttons and use gestures to navigate around the phone.

Swipe up to go home, swipe up and hold for multitasking, and swipe down for the quick settings panel. You can also use three fingers to swipe down to take a screenshot. And when the display is on, you can double-tap to lock the phone.

OnePlus is promising additional features soon, like activating Google Assistant with a long press of the power button, which I think is a novel way to give users that feature without having to build in a dedicated hardware button. Speaking of extra buttons and such, the phone still has our favorite alert slider which lets you mute the phone with a quick tug.

So, is the OnePlus 6T your GadgetMatch?

You’ll find out real soon. We’re working on both our unboxing and review videos, which will be coming your way real soon.

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

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But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

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The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.