The OnePlus 6’s new camera is a step forward in several ways, but not necessarily to the degree we would have hoped for. Phones like the Huawei P20 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S9 do a lot more to improve their offerings.
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The OnePlus 6’s photos look much sharper in low-light that the 5T, though there’s some oversharpening around the edges. Colors are more natural, and you can discern more details. The difference is particularly visible at full-size crop, where pictures are less smudgy. As you’d expect in low light, some details are still lost.
In better lighting there is still improvement, but the differences between the OnePlus 6 and 5T cameras are much less noticeable. The sharpness and details in photos from the main camera are very good, with accurate colors that aren’t oversaturated. Dynamic range is also very good here, delivering a great amount of detail without overdoing the contrast. Image quality tends to fall apart when using 2X zoom, so you are likely better off without it.
In better lighting there is still improvement, but the differences between the OnePlus 6 and 5T cameras are much less noticeable. The sharpness and details in photos from the main camera are very good, with accurate colors that aren’t oversaturated. Dynamic range is also very good here, delivering a great amount of detail without overdoing the contrast. Image quality tends to fall apart when using 2X zoom, so you are likely better off without it.
So, the secondary camera is a wash, but how about that main sensor? The OnePlus 6 takes the best photos of any OnePlus phone yet, but it's still lacking compared to more expensive phones like the Pixel, Galaxy S9, and P20 Pro.
Some of the outdoor shots I've gotten with the OnePlus 6 are genuinely lovely and on par with photos from those more expensive phones. The phone pulls in a lot of detail, and overall scene exposure and colors seem accurate. The camera does still over-sharpen edges, and there's a "painted" effect if you look closely in busy areas. Check out the grass and tree bark in the sample photos for an example.
What impressed me the most here was the vast improvement in low-light performance on the 6. When in darker conditions, the 5T switches to the secondary camera and combines pixels to boost sensitivity, but it loses a great deal of detail in the process. That's not the case with the 6: As I compared my nighttime shots side by side, I noticed that the newer model sticks to its much improved main camera, which is able to produce sharp and accurate low-light shots on its own. I even tried long exposure on the streets, and to my surprise, I was able to get many steady and stunning handheld shots. Don't get me wrong, though: I can still see some noise in certain parts of the photos, but at least they are well contained and tend not to be that obvious.
Rest assured, daytime shots taken with the OnePlus 6 are also impressive. The colors pop out accurately, especially in my landscape and foliage shots. I'm further impressed by how I can see individual strands of hair in my dog's quick portrait shot. Similarly, the electronic image stabilization worked well in many of my video clips -- it's almost as if I had my phone on a gimbal, so long as I didn't move the phone around too quickly. The 5T achieves similar stabilization results, but, in both videos and photos, it misses out on some color and warmth, as well as detail in the dark areas.
Many thanks mateDone.
Just got to the pop up, already around 50 people in the queue I think.
For the first time, I'll be getting a OnePlus.
Can't warrant spending any more on a Samsung S9+ when this competes directly with it and beats it in some areas (I don't take photos so don't care about picture quality)
Fingers crossed I can get one tomorrow.
I wouldn't say they were competing, the Galaxy S9+ is superior where it matters and price reflects that. OnePlus 6 is cheaper but I'm not sure I would say it was better value.
Increased memory beyond 6GB is just marketing for a phone and storage depends on the user, Galaxy S9+ also has the sdcard slot.
There’s basically no queue at the London pop up. About 30 people
Got a bag with my purchase that had a hat, laptop sleeve, a t shirt and a case (got the wood case, the only one I do not like ).