From Star Wars to Avengers, OnePlus has leveraged the Limited Edition to sustain the buzz. As the brand celebrated its fifth anniversary, it announced a new strategic partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the Racing space – McLaren. Speed is clearly the common thread that links both these brands. While McLaren’s tryst with speed began over five decades ago, OnePlus has relentlessly pursued speed in a bid to make its devices zippier than the competition. It’s one reason why the brand’s cult following will be excited about this new special edition device. And then there’s another first this device can stake claim to – the first ever smartphone in India with 10GB of RAM.
OnePlus has seriously upped its design game over the last couple of years. The 6 and the 6T saw the brand embrace glass and sport a refined, premium design language. The McLaren edition more than keeps up. Years ago McLaren came to be associated with its papaya orange supercar. Of course, most spectators probably saw an orange blur zip past them. It’s why the most distinctive design element is a U-shaped papaya orange ring that encircles the rear of the device. OnePlus sought inspiration from the speed of light for this cool design touch.
The display specs don’t deviate from the first OnePlus 6T version. We like the teardrop notch that maximises screen real estate; this notch is easier to ignore. We do hope that the days of the wide notch are behind us. The device boasts of an 85.6% screen: body ratio with its 6.41-inch display (1080 x 2340 pixels / 19.5:9 aspect ratio). We’ll say this – the 6T is easy to grip despite its large display.
Speed – this has been OnePlus’ defining feature. The McLaren edition certainly reestablishes OnePlus’ lead in this department. It’s the same best of breed Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Processor. In fact, OnePlus has already announced that its 2019 flagship will feature Qualcomm’s upcoming, 5G-ready Snapdragon 855 Processor. The McLaren edition also becomes the first smartphone ever in India with 10GB of RAM under the hood. Your laptop has a right to suffer from an inferiority complex. After our initial trials, we can vouch that this device is seriously fast. But that’s what we said about the 8GB version of the 6T too. Whether you’re an intensive gamer or do the occasional bit of photo editing on your smartphone, this device is certainly up to the task.
Aside from design embellishments and 10GB of RAM, the other big update with the McLaren edition is Warp charging. Just last week OPPO unveiled the R17 Pro, positioned as the world’s fastest charging phone. OnePlus maintains that Warp Charge 30 is different from OPPO’s SuperVOOC charging solution. It promises one day of usage with a 20-minute charge. That’s assuming a 50% battery level is good enough for a day. 50% in 20 minutes is certainly a big deal, especially for a phone with a 3700 mAh battery that will last a day and a half for the average user. Warp Charge 30 also ensures that the charging does not slow down even if the device is being used simultaneously. The papaya orange charging cable (instead of the standard OnePlus red) is a cool touch. We would have like to see wireless charging though.
The OnePlus 6T McLaren edition comes with all the key innovations we’ve seen on the first 6T. The ‘in-display’ fingerprint sensor and the Nightscape mode that impacts lowlight photography (the device is knitted with a dual rear cam – 16MP + 20MP) are among our favourites. And then there’s 256GB of internal storage a standard for the McLaren edition, that should cover all the images you snap and multi-media content. One more reason to consider this heavy duty smartphone that also becomes the first OnePlus device to bridge the Rs 50,000 threshold; a clear indication that OnePlus is ready to take on pricey flagships on their turf.
The OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition costs: Rs 50,999 (10GB/256GB). There’s a cashback of up to Rs 2,000 on all purchases made with Axis Bank Debit and Credit Cards.
