OnePlus 6 to come with notch, 3.5mm jack: Launch, expected price, everything else we know about next flagship killer

OnePlus 6 will launch very soon, most likely in the next several weeks or so. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei on Wednesday confirmed that the new OnePlus phone is coming and with a notch similar to that of the iPhone X because that is the latest trend that most smartphone makers are adapting for their high-end phones.

Pei also confirmed to the Verge that the upcoming OnePlus 6 will have the biggest display compared to all OnePlus phones.

Most Android phone makers are adapting the iPhone X notch. The newly launched flagship device by Huawei - P20 Pro and also the P20 comes with iPhone X-like notch. Meanwhile, Vivo's latest phones - that is the Vivo V9 has a notch on its display. OnePlus has always been keen towards adapting the ongoing trend. And the company will be following the same for the OnePlus 6 as well. But, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei said that the notch on the OnePlus 6 will be much better than that of the Android phones from other companies. The OnePlus co-founder didn't confirm any further details about the OnePlus 6.

The first image of the OnePlus 6 was leaked on Wednesday by Evan Blass, a popular tipster who's often accurate with his predictions. The image shows the OnePlus 6 with a wooden textured back cover, centrally-placed rear cameras, with a fingerprint sensor below the lens. OnePlus will retain the 3.5mm headphone for the device. OnePlus 6 has been subjected to several leaks and rumours so far, let's take a quick look at what we know about the device so far.

OnePlus 6 India launch and expected price

OnePlus CEO and co-founder Pete Lau earlier confirmed the next OnePlus flagship will launch in Q2 2018. We can most likely expect the OnePlus 6 to launch in May or early June in India, with May looking like a bigger possibility.

As for the pricing, OnePlus 6 could be expensive, a bit more expensive than the OnePlus 5T. We say this on the basis OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau's tweet back late last year. Lau had posted, "Cost of smartphone components is rising, but phones are also getting better. OnePlus users will appreciate what's coming."

This indicates that the OnePlus 6 could be the most expensive device by the company and cost more than the OnePlus 5T considering the company is planning to bring a tweaked design, latest hardware and software setup and better cameras. OnePlus 5T was launched at a starting price of Rs 32,999 for the 6GB model. The 8GB RAM with 128GB storage pitches at Rs 37,999.

But at the same time, the OnePlus 6 will be definitely cheaper than almost all other flagship phones. It will be cheaper than the Galaxy S9, or the likes of the iPhone 9 and the Pixel 3 that may come to India in the next several months. If you ask us, even if the OnePlus 6 costs slightly more than the OnePlus 5T, the starting price of the OnePlus 6 will be definitely under Rs 40,000.

OnePlus 6 specs and features

-- Carl Pei confirmed to the Verge that OnePlus 6 will come with the biggest display in a phone by the company so far. Bigger than even the OnePlus 5T. The OnePlus 5T sports an 18:9 display. OnePlus 6 is expected to sport a display with 18:9 aspect ratio and that too with an iPhone X-like notch on top of the screen.

-- The first leaked image of the OnePlus 6 reveals that the device will have the 3.5-mm port intact. Carl Pei and OnePlus were seen conducting polls on Twitter, taking feedback from the consumers whether they like the 3.5mm headphone jack or not. Carl had also posted a tweet that revealed that people want the 3.5mm headphone jack. That's probably the reason why OnePlus is not planning to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack for the OnePlus 6.

-- The leaked image also confirmed the rear panel placement of fingerprint sensor for the OnePlus 6. The fingerprint sensor will have the same placement as the OnePlus 5T, almost. But, as seen on the OnePlus 5T, the fingerprint sensor on the OnePlus 6 could be rectangular shaped, similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy S9. The OnePlus 5T has a circular shaped fingerprint sensor.

-- OnePlus 6 will definitely come with a dual camera set up on the rear. As of now, we don't know a lot about the OnePlus 6 camera. But, what we do know is its placement. As earlier rumoured and also confirmed by the first image of the OnePlus 6, the two rear cameras will be placed in the vertical orientation, unlike that of the OnePlus 5T. On the OnePlus 5T, the dual cameras are placed on the top left corner. There is no word about the front camera set up of the OnePlus 6, but it could be improved compared to the one in OnePlus 5T.

-- Snapdragon 845 is also confirmed for the OnePlus 6. Considering most of the latest flagship phones come with Snapdragon 845, OnePlus will definitely include the same on the OnePlus 6.

-- We can expect the OnePlus 6 to come with two variants - one with 6GB RAM and 8GB RAM coupled with 64GB and 128GB of internal storage, respectively. We can expect both the models of the OnePlus 6 to come to India soon after the global launch.

-- OnePlus 6 is expected to run close to stock Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box. We also expect the device to come with Dash Charge and dual-SIM support.

-- Folks at XDA-Developers had earlier reported that the OnePlus 6 will be the first smartphone by the company to offer Cat.16 Gigabit LTE connectivity, which means it will be the fastest OnePlus device in terms of data throughput.

Notch will be the highlight of OnePlus 6

OnePlus is putting the notch on the OnePlus 6 because that's the trend, and OnePlus is just following it, but in a better way, said Carl Pei. After confirming the iPhone X-like notch for the OnePlus, Pei also explained by the company will include it and who they are planning to do it. Pei said that the notch on the OnePlus 6 will be much better than how it has implemented in other Android phones. Explaining the reason why the notch on the OnePlus 6 could be better than the rest, Pei says that engineers and product experts at OnePlus have tested the OnePlus 6 notch with over 1000 popular apps and have customised the experience so that consumers are not distracted by the notch.

He also goes on to say that the notch in the OnePlus 6 will be smaller than that of the iPhone X, but will be bigger in size than that of the Essential phone. The OnePlus 6 is also expected to come with a thinner chin, unlike the iPhone X, because Pei believes that there is no way for Android phone makers to do away with the chin.