Oneplus has emerged as a global player when it comes to the ‘affordable flagship’ section of smartphones. It provides almost 9/10 features that the flagships from Google, Apple and Samsung provide, with a price tag nearly half of theirs, thus earning it the tagline “Flagship Killer”. But Xiaomi backed company Poco has come up with the Poco F1 in India which poses a close challenge to the former’s Oneplus 6. Though both the devices are running the same CPU and GPU, there is a lot more to look at while comparing these two, hence our Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1 comparison!
Design – Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1
OnePlus 6, unlike any other OnePlus phone, gets a glass body design, a notch on the front and a 19:9 ratio screen with slim bezels. Compared to the 16:9 ratio bearing OnePlus 5 and 18:9 ratio sporting OnePlus 5T, this one gets a big design upgrade. It looks elegant and premium but like any other flagship out there, forces you to slap on a case lest you leave those horrible smudges, micro scratches or (god forbid) drop your phone!
The material design used by the Poco team is reminiscent of when the smartphone era kicked in. Or maybe even earlier than that.
Poco is using a polycarbonate (simply means plastic) material to design the back body of the Poco F1. While it won’t be prone to smudges and won’t shatter if you drop it a couple of times, the device no way looks or feels premium to hold. Kind of reminds us of the Moto G 1/2/3 line up.
While Poco F1 provides us a polycarbonate back, it does not provide the feature which comes hand in hand with the same, i.e. a removable back. Keeping that in mind, the over all beauty and hand-feel of the Oneplus 6 is much better.
Winner: Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1 – Oneplus 6
Display – Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1
The OnePlus gets a 6.2-inch AMOLED screen, has 2280×1080 pixels resolution and claims to have Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for protection. OnePlus makes a better case for the notch than most companies. It’s clear in daylight and works great indoors as well. The text spacing around the notch is neatly wrapped and even the size of the notch is comparatively smaller.
Also, the way OnePlus 6 has used the 19:9 ratio screen is better than most. Its limited bezel space ensures more display real estate for viewing. The OLED display is one of the most beautiful we have seen on a smartphone. The blacks are deep and rich and it also helps conserve battery if you use a dark theme.
The Poco F1 on the other hand has cost cutting written all over the display department. While the screen is a 6.1 inch 2246 x 1080p display, it is an LCD one. The brightness is average and the colors, saturation and blacks quite mid-range level. The bezels and chin on the F1 are downright ugly and seem to have been forced upon the device for the mere fact that these are the trend nowadays. Oh, and the screen is protected by an older, Gorilla Glass 3.
Winner: Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1 – Oneplus 6
Hardware & Software – Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1
In the hardware department, both the devices go toe to toe and benchmark tests are a testimony to that. Both the phones come with the octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor, with RAM options going up to 8GB. For storage, you can choose between 64, 128 and 256GB, but Poco F1 lets you expand it further via the hybrid SIM slot.
The Snapdragon 845 has proved to be a reliable performer, erasing memories of the heating issues Qualcomm faced with its Snapdragon 810 a few years back.
Both the phones support dual 4G VoLTE. Battery wise, you get 4000mAh on the Poco F1. But OnePlus even with a smaller 3300mAh battery, wins the round, purely for its dash charging support. Dash charging, by far is the best charging solution we have seen on a smartphone and maybe the only one to beat it will be Oneplus itself.
OnePlus 6 is running on Oxygen OS, which is very close to a stock Android setup, but gets an intuitive set of features and gesture support for navigation. It has become one of the fan-favorite android skin in the recent years. Poco F1 has opted to stick with MIUI, but uses Poco Launcher with some lightweight tweaks to make the user experience nimble and friendly.
Oneplus 6 takes an edge in both departments, even if ever so slightly.
Winner: Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1 – Oneplus 6
Camera – Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1
Poco F1 gets 12+5 megapixel dual camera set up at the back with aperture f/1.9 on the primary lens, while the secondary one handles the depth-sensing duties. In layman terms, it means that the sole purpose of the secondary camera is to give you DSLR-like blurring. Interestingly, The Poco F1 gets a 20 megapixel camera on the front. Xiaomi clearly has some sort of understanding about their consumers here.
On the other hand, Oneplus 6’s camera might not be at par with the likes of iPhone X or Pixel 2, but it certainly is way above the mid-ranger segment where the likes of Poco F1 stand.
Winner: Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1 – Oneplus 6
Price – Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1
This is where the Indian mindset could change the dynamics. OnePlus 6 offers good value for what it features; hardware as well as software. The camera set up is great and the battery life gets a boost with the dash charging support.
For Rs 35,999 for the 64GB storage / 6GB RAM variant, OnePlus 6, till earlier this week looked like a pretty decent deal. But with the Poco F1, priced starting at Rs 20,999 for the 64GB storage / 6GB RAM variant, you’re looking at another affordable flagship device, reminiscent of Xiaomi’s Mi3 a few years ago.
Winner: Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1 – Poco F1
Conclusion – Oneplus 6 vs Poco F1
Oneplus has maintained that it is a player in the premium device space where as Poco F1 with a flagship level hardware config and a mid ranger camera/display is still sort of ambiguously placed. While Oneplus 6 is your best bet if you want a truly flagship experience but do not have a the budget for an iPhone X/Pixel 2 or S9, the Poco F1 is a great device to own if your budget is in the Rs. 15,000-25,000 segment and other than for its internals, is no where close to being called a flagship. Having said that, you can easily get the OnePlus 6 from online or offline stores, but good luck getting the Poco F1, which is likely to have a flash sale soon, where stocks may run out in a blink.
