OnePlus 6: not a battery miracle, but lightning-fast charging
It has a larger display, more powerful hardware in a completely redesigned body, but the battery capacity of the OnePlus 6 hasn’t changed compared to its predecessor. Is that a disadvantage? Our battery test shows the strengths and weaknesses of the OnePlus 6 battery.
In the past, OnePlus has always offered battery capacities in its smartphones that were above average. Ever since the OnePlus 5, the manufacturer has installed fixed and rechargeable energy cells with a capacity of 3,300 mAh in its smartphones.
Battery capacities of OnePlus smartphones
| Battery capacity | |
|---|---|
| OnePlus One (Test) | 3,100 mAh |
| OnePlus 2 (Test) | 3,300 mAh |
| OnePlus 3 (Test) | 3,000 mAh |
| OnePlus 3T (Test) | 3,400 mAh |
| OnePlus 5 (Test) | 3,300 mAh |
| OnePlus 5T (Test) | 3,300 mAh |
| OnePlus 6 (Test) | 3,300 mAh |
In this respect, there are no changes in the new OnePlus 6. To estimate how the OnePlus 6 fares against competitors like the Huawei P20 Pro, Xperia XZ2 and Galaxy S9, we put the newcomer under the same conditions and settings, with 50% display brightness and the same SIM card from PCMark’s battery benchmark.
OnePlus 6 battery benchmarks in comparison
| Runtime | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|
| Razer Phone | 10 hours 43 minutes | 4,000 mAh |
| Huawei P20 Pro | 9 hours minutes | 4,000 mAh |
| Sony Xperia XZ2 | 9 hours 15 minutes | 3,180 mAh |
| Huawei P20 | 9 hours 6 minutes | 3,400 mAh |
| OnePlus 6 | 7 hours 34 minutes | 3,300 mAh |
| Samsung Galaxy S9 | 7 hours 15 minutes | 3,000 mAh |
It is easy to see that the OnePlus 6 with OxygenOS 5.1.5 cannot keep up with the competition in PCMark's battery benchmark.
Still good for more than a day
In everyday life, we see a different picture. During the test period, the OnePlus 6 lasted over 17 hours despite intensive use. The display was active for 5 hours and 34 minutes. The Sony Xperia XZ2 has a battery life of over 7 hours on the same hardware platform, but the display has a lower resolution and is over half an inch smaller. Compared to a Huawei P20, however, the OnePlus 6 lasts an hour longer.
If you handle the OnePlus 6 a little more gently, it is quite possible to tickle out a day and a half running time. However, this rule can also be applied to the competition in order to extend the runtime.
Really fast quick-charging technology
Until recently, the OnePlus quick-charging technology was called “Dash Charge”, but it flew off the product pages shortly after the new OnePlus 6 was introduced. Now OnePlus is only talking about Fast Charge. No matter what it’s called, either Fast Charge or Dash Charge, it is currently the fastest charging technology smartphones available.
The OnePlus 6 battery was charged from 0 to 100 percent within 85 minutes. The first 50 percent of the battery is charged within the first 30 minutes, but only if you use the Fast Charger from OnePlus or an Oppo VOOC power supply. At such a rapid charging speed, wireless charging is definitely not missing.
Conclusion
When it comes to battery life, the OnePlus 6 can’t offer any crazy number. Overall it’s at the same level as its predecessors, the OnePlus 5 and 5T. So if you still own a OnePlus from 2017, it’s not worth upgrading to the OnePlus 6. The internal hardware may have become more energy efficient thank to Qualcomm 845, but its power-saving potential is consumed by the larger display. We still have to consider the upcoming software update, because as is usually the case with modern smartphones, manufacturers can still optimize one or the other.
Do you own a OnePlus 6? What do you think about its battery life?
Coworker got one this past week. He said even after playing around with it all weekend, setting it up and what not, end of the day it still had around 50% battery left. I guess if you use a dark theme, it uses less display "juice" since it is OLED. With apps, themes and what not switching to more of a dark theme, to improve battery life on OLED's, that would make sense.
tell him/her to use Dual Sim+active, install > 80 user apps out of which > 7 apps always running in background (mainly social apps like insta, twitter, whatsapp and FB), play games like Alto's adventure or asphalt 8 for around total 2.5 hours intermittently during the day, and use the phone while travelling (mainly on cellular calls) AND THEN see how much juice it's left with after even 12 hrs!! You'll be amazed it's not even 15% after 12 hrs.
@Mark Then u need additional hardware to charge the second battery. U also need to find a genuine battery which is quite difficult. Changing the battery means switching off the phone. I never used a second battery in my phones. Only replaced it when it was too old which was after 2+ years.
I don't miss removable battery tbh
External chargers an extra batteries are quite easy to come by. I got an external charger and 2 original batteries for my LG V20 for $35 on Amazon. 1in the phone 1 or 2 standing by if all are charged or I will have the other charging. I always leave the house with a fully charged spare never have to worry with a charger, or battery bank and cable.
Nothing charges faster than being able to swap the battery. 0 to 100% in a minute, no fast charger can do that. fast charging battery life where never talked about before the sealed battery came along.
It would be nice if they used an open or commonly available charging standard. Quick Charge or Power Delivery are much easier for finding compatible alternatives and just as good.