iPhone 6 vs OnePlus One – Overrated vs Underrated

With the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 finally launched a few days ago, the whole world is now looking forward to the other highly anticipated smartphone of the year, the iPhone 6. Apple is believed to launch its latest flagship in just a few days at a special event where they will also announce a few other devices. Meanwhile, there’s yet another highly sought after handset out there that doesn’t really get the recognition it deserves if you ask me. The OnePlus One is one of best smartphones available, but most people only talk about the fact that it’s so hard to buy one because you must have an invite to do so. Invites aside, here we’re going to talk all about its specs and price while also comparing it with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6.

Apple’s upcoming flagship is arguably the most hyped device of the year so we’ll try to find out if all the hype is indeed justified or if people should maybe stop standing in line for the iPhone 6 and start trying harder to get ahold of a OnePlus One. As mentioned, the iPhone 6 will only launch in a few days, but there are tons of leaks out there and we already know pretty much everything about it thanks to them. If the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Sony Xperia Z3 and Moto 360 have taught me anything is that a lot of the time leaks are actually worth taking into consideration. The mentioned devices were only released during the IFA, but we already knew most of the details weeks ahead thanks to various leaks. As for the OnePlus One, the handset has been released a few months ago so we naturally know everything there is to know about it.

Now, as you may or may not know, the iPhone 6 will come in two variants, namely a 4.7-inch one and a 5.5-inch model also known as the iPhone 6L. For the sake of fairness I’ll only talk about the latter during this comparison because the OnePlus One also features a 5.5-inch display so they’re equally matched as far as screed size is concerned. However, the resolution tells an entirely different story as the iPhone 6 is only said to feature a 960 x 1704 display, which amounts to about 356 PPI. There are some who speculate that we might see more, but generally speaking resolution hasn’t really been all that impressive on previous iPhone models ( the iPhone 5s only has 640 x 1136 for example) so it’s rather unlikely that we’re going to see a vast improvement.

In any case, 960 x 1704 is still a decent upgrade over its predecessor, but it’s still not as good as the OnePlus One’s 1080 x 1920 panel with 401 PPI. However, what the iPhone 6 lacks in resolution, it more than makes up for in protection as the smartphone is said to feature a very resistant Sapphire glass display. By comparison, the OnePlus One comes equipped with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is good, but not good enough to beat its competitor in terms of screen protection. Worth mentioning is the fact that only the 64GB and possibly the 128GB iPhone 6 models will feature the Sapphire display. This is according to analysts who believe Apple will be testing the waters so see how consumers react to this display and only if the reaction is positive will they offer this feature on all future flagship smartphones.

Hardware-wise, the latest word on the street is that the big iPhone 6 will sport a pretty impressive Apple A8 quad-core processor running at 2.6 GHz. However, I do need to mention that this seems to be the best case scenario and we might only end up seeing a 2.0 GHz CPU. But Apple does seem interested in making its latest flagship stand out from the crowd and a powerful A8 processor will surely do the trick so I do don’t want to rule out any options here. Unfortunately we don’t know if it can beat the OnePlus One in terms of processing power under these circumstances. The OnePlus One also comes equipped with a pretty powerful CPU, namely a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core clocked at 2.5 GHz.

So which one of them wins this round? It’s very hard to say until we hear the official specs, but the OnePlus One might have a little advantage it terms of performance as it comes equipped with 3GB of RAM while the iPhone 6 only has 2GB. Speaking of memory, – the internal storage variety this time – the latter features 16/32/64/128GB versions so there’s plenty of options to choose from. One the other hand, the OnePlus One only has 16GB and 64GB models with no microSD support, but this isn’t necessarily a disadvantage in this comparison as the iPhone 6 doesn’t feature a microSD card slot either.

As for the camera, Apple was heard stating that the iPhone 6 will come equipped with the best iPhone cameras to date, but did’t reveal any further details. So, seeing as how the iPhone 5s features an 8MP primary camera, we can expect to see at least a 10MP shooter complete with various improvements along with a 2.1-MP front-facing camera. Still, the OnePlus One will probably win when it comes to the cameras seeing as how it features a 13MP primary shooter and a 5MP secondary one. Last but not least, if we’re talking hardware we must also talk about the battery. Surprisingly enough, the iPhone 6 will sport a Li-Po 2,915 mAh battery (only the large model) according to some recent leaks. But is this enough to beat the OnePlus One? It’s close, but no cigar as the OnePlus One comes equipped with a bigger Li-Po 3,100 mAh battery.

As far as the price is concerned, we can see some massive differences between the two, which will undoubtedly play an important role when deciding which of them is worth considering for a possible purchase. The OnePlus One is ridiculously cheap for what it offers with the 16GB model priced at $300 and the 64GB variant only requiring you to fork out 350 bucks. However, you will need both luck and patience to buy one because OnePlus is only selling them to people who have received an invite. Needless to say, this makes the OnePlus One extremely sought after, but not quite as much as Apple’s iPhone 6 even if the latter does cost a lot more. Pricing for the iPhone 6 is still unclear at this point, but we can expect the 5.5-inch model to cost at least $800-$850, and that’s the price for the cheapest 16GB variant. Each subsequent variant is expected to cost about $100 more, which means that the 64GB iPhone 6 will be priced at around $1000-$1050, about three times as much as the 64GB OnePlus One.

Bottom line? As it’s often the case with iOS vs Android battles, it mostly boils down to what operating system you prefer. The iPhone 6 will most likely run on the upcoming iOS 8, which will launch together with the device on September 9th. The company will add plenty of new features and apps including Healthkit and Homekit. Apple is also launching a new mobile payment system that will allow you to make purchases at various stores directly with your iPhone 6, which certainly sounds neat. The OnePlus One runs on the Android-based CyanogenMod 11S operating system, but it will update to Android L within three months after Google releases the final build according to the company. The device is pretty easy to recommend all things considered, but it’s definitely a pain to get an invite in order to purchase it. The iPhone 6 might seem a bit overrated, but the new iOS 8 does bring a number of interesting features to the tablet and you will be able to buy the device without a fuss once it’s released. Assuming you can afford to spend the ludicrous amount of money of course.