Introduction
OnePlus announced a long-term partnership with high-performance British carmaker McLaren and the first device to come from this relationship is the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition.
As a "Salute to Speed" - which is the tagline for this product - the McLaren Edition brings 10GB of RAM with an already fast and powerful Snapdragon 845 CPU. OnePlus has never been a slouch when it comes to its devices' performance, so to partner with a company that races in the Formula 1 Grand Prix just makes sense.
The McLaren Edition comes in a unique "Speed Orange" color scheme, sure to intrigue both car and smartphone enthusiasts, alike. Inspired by the McLaren's classic papaya orange paint job, the phone has a reflective orange racing stripe and carbon fiber design behind the rear glass. The McLaren logo is also reflective and jumps at your when the light hits just right.
On the theme of speed, OnePlus is debuting its new Warp Charge 30 charger on the 6T McLaren Edition, which claims to be able to charge the phone up to half battery in 20 minutes. We will definitely be testing this claim. We don't expect battery life to be any different though, seeing as both devices have the same battery capacity, display, and internals.
Storage stays at 256GB and non-expandable, which might be a missed opportunity to offer 512GB like the Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition or the Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche design. Otherwise, aside from the unique retail package and some other tidbits throughout the software, the phone is the same as the vanilla 6T in all other aspects. Here are the phone's technical details.
OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition specs:
- Body: Metal and glass build, with reflective orange stripe and McLaren logo
- Display: 6.41" Optic AMOLED, 2,340 x 1,080px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio 402ppi
- Rear cameras: Main camera: Sony IMX 519 1/2.6" sensor, 16MP, 1.22µm pixel size, f/1.7 aperture, phase detection autofocus, OIS, EIS. Secondary camera: Sony IMX376K sensor, 20MP, 1.0µm pixel size, f/1.7 aperture. 2160p/60fps video recording, 1080p/240fps or 720p/480fps slow motion
- Front camera: Sony IMX 371 sensor, 16MP, 1.0µm pixel size, f/2.0 aperture; EIS; 1080p/30fps video recording.
- OS/Software: Android 9 Pie with Oxygen OS and McLaren tweaks
- Chipset: 10nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, quad 2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold + quad 1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver, Adreno 630.
- Memory: 10GB RAM / 256GB ROM
- Battery: 3,700 mAh battery with Warp Charge 30
Most phones boxes are pretty similar, so it's not often we get a unique and exciting unboxing experience. Let's check out what's inside the box on the next page.
OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition unboxing
The McLaren Edition comes in special retail packaging with a fine texture you can feel that makes the papaya orange color pop at you. "Salute to Speed" - the phone's tagline - is embossed into the box in black bold print. Finally, OnePlus and McLaren's logos are at the lower corners of the box.
This is just a sleeve - the real box is inside and it features a premium carbon fiber-like texture all around. Opening the magnetic lid reveals one more tagline: "Fast and Smooth", and Salutes to Speed one more time. The first think you take out is the book, but be careful when flipping the last page, because this is where the phone is!
When we first opened it, we almost dropped the darn thing since we didn't know it was in here and it isn't really secured to the book-box. Anyway, the book has McLaren's brief history, visions, and philosophies and what's cool is the phone itself has an AR feature built-in that brings the pages to life with photo galleries and videos.
Under the book you'll find the new Warp Charger, which effectively succeeds Dash Charge and has 50% more wattage (30W vs 20W) and the charging cable is wrapped in a very nice bright orange braided cord. There's a 3.5mm to USB-C headphone adapter, also orange, and a sturdy carbon-fiber case included.
Under the case is a plaque with McLaren's Speedmark logo, made from hand-crafted carbon fiber used on the McLaren MCL33, which will drive any Formula 1 fan wild. Underneath this is the standard documentation pack with a bright orange quick start guide.
While we do like the carbon fiber case, we find that it covers the beautiful glass underneath. If it's any consolation, the case carries the McLaren branding on it as well.
Hardware and design
The McLaren Edition OnePlus 6T has a very unique color scheme which the company calls "Speed Orange". We admit, we were a bit disappointed that this phone wasn't entirely orange. This scheme features a reflective orange accent that wraps around the lower perimeter of the glass and fades into black towards the top.
When the light hits it just right, the orange accent almost appears to be glowing and the McLaren branding is also reflective. In the upper center, there's a dot pattern under the glass that when held to the light, has a carbon fiber appearance. The pattern spreads outward from the camera and fades into black.
We really like these aesthetic choices in the glass but we feel they are more "safe" than "Formula 1 Car". We feel like the design could have been more eye catching and not so subtle. That said, this is still a gorgeous device.
Other than the color and polished frame, there isn't really any other difference with the phone's exterior. There's a mic at the top, and the volume rocker and dual SIM tray on the left side. At the bottom there's a USB-C port, which is the only port or entry so you'll need a headphone jack adapter if you want to use your own cans.
Top • Left
The left side of the bottom grille is the loudspeaker and the right is a microphone. On the right is a power key with OnePlus' physical notification switch, which we really love and we wish more phone makers did this.
Bottom • Right
On the front is the same 6.41-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a water drop notch. The phone's display goes right to the edges of the phone with the chin being the thickest part. As for the notch: there's a speaker slit above the 16MP camera and the proximity and light sensors are clumped along with the camera, which really minimized the need for a wider notch.
Finally, the camera array is identical to the standard 6T's: 20MP + 16MP dual camera setup with a dual LED flash.
The overall design of the McLaren Edition 6T is sleek and unique. While we were expecting to see a bright orange-colored phone in this box, the glowing orange accent is also just as nice. This is definitely a unique-looking phone but we're not really eager to throw it into the included case. It just covers up the beautiful glass in what could pass off as a generic carbon fiber case.
At least the case also carries the McLaren branding, has really nice grip, and the sturdy case is a great way to protect your investment.
Warp Charge 30
The new Warp Charge 30 adapter debuts in the McLaren Edition phone and is a 50% increase in power over the 20W Dash Charge adapter. Following some legal roadblocks with two companies that also use the name Dash, OnePlus is now calling its VOOC-based charger Warp 30.
With the theme of speed, OnePlus claims that the phone can charge a full day's worth of battery in just 20 minutes. We tested this and were able to get the phone to charge to 25% in the first 10 minutes, and then we reached 65% in a half-hour. The phone topped all the way up to 100 in an hour and a couple of minutes.
By contrast, the OnePlus 6T reaches to 55% in a half-hour, 10% below what the McLaren Edition can do. Despite having updated charging technology, battery life is identical to the 6T's 90h overall rating with about 29h of talk tie, 12h of browsing, and 15:40h of video playback.
Chinese companies seem to be the only ones pushing forward with fast-charging standards: OPPO with its 50W VOOC on the RX17 Pro and Huawei with its 40W Super Charge on the Mate 20 Pro. Other brands rely on either Qualcomm's Quick Charge or USB-C Power Delivery. We do expect to see Warp Charge make it to the Next OnePlus device.
Check out our comparison of Warp Charge against other fast-charging standards.
Snapdragon 845 with 10GB of RAM
The McLaren OnePlus 6T is officially among the smartphones with the most RAM in the world. At a whopping 10GB, this phone is no joke when it comes to performance. Even with the 6GB or 8GB model 6T, the Snapdragon 845 is still no slouch thanks in part to OnePlus' excellent job of optimizing the firmware as well.
We don't predict a significant difference with the added 2GB of RAM. Naturally, we ran the usual benchmarks tests to see. Unfortunately, there were no changes in the scores so whatever benefit the extra 2GB of RAM might have, it's not easily detectable or measurable.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XS Max
11432 - Apple iPhone X
10215 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
9712 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
9026 - OnePlus 6
9011 - OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition
9005 - Xiaomi Pocophone F1
9003 - OnePlus 6T
8977 - Google Pixel 3
8146 - Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition
8032 - Oppo Find X
8018 - Google Pixel 2
6437 - Oppo RX17 Pro
5944
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XS Max
4777 - Apple iPhone X
4256 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
3642 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
3291 - OnePlus 6
2450 - Xiaomi Pocophone F1
2438 - OnePlus 6T
2431 - Google Pixel 3
2377 - OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition
2376 - Oppo Find X
2322 - Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition
2315 - Google Pixel 2
1912 - Oppo RX17 Pro
1835
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XS Max
99 - Apple iPhone X
65 - OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition
61 - OnePlus 6T
60 - Oppo Find X
60 - Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition
60 - Xiaomi Pocophone F1
60 - OnePlus 6
58 - Google Pixel 3
57 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
53 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
45 - Google Pixel 2
41 - Oppo RX17 Pro
23
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XS Max
60 - OnePlus 6
55 - Google Pixel 3
55 - OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition
54 - OnePlus 6T
53 - Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition
53 - Xiaomi Pocophone F1
53 - Oppo Find X
50 - Apple iPhone X
49 - Google Pixel 2
43 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
27 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
25 - Oppo RX17 Pro
19
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XS Max
353210 - OnePlus 6T
293994 - OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition
292716 - Oppo Find X
291218 - Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition
286938 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
273913 - Xiaomi Pocophone F1
265314 - OnePlus 6
264200 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
248823 - Google Pixel 3
233699 - Apple iPhone X
233100 - Oppo RX17 Pro
154861
Oxygen OS with McLaren extras
The McLaren Edition phone has a few software changes that reflect the partnership. Otherwise, it's running the same Oxygen OS skin over Android 9.0 Pie that the regular OnePlus 6T has.
The first think you'll see is the boot animation which briefly shows McLaren followed by an orange glowy honeycomb pattern.
The included wallpapers keep with the theme of speed and are kind of abstract, but remind us of automotive lights zooming past in a long exposure. The default wallpaper intensifies in color and moves as you unlock the phone. It looks pretty cool but it doesn't immediately translate into "McLaren".
Home screen • Folder view • Wallpapers • App drawer
The other unique thing about this device is the fingerprint unlock animation, which is appropriately called "McLaren". The last thing trace of McLaren that there is on this device is the pre-installed AR viewing app that brings the pages of the booklet from the box to life. The app is nowhere in the app drawer, instead, you can find it in the "Toolbox" when you swipe left from the home screen.
There are also exclusive ringtones that are set as the default on the McLaren Edition. The default ring is called "McLaren" and the default notification tone is called "Chic". Sadly, these ringtones could have been called anything as they sound quite generic.
Toolbox • Quick toggles • All toggles • Phone information
We feel like there should have been more mentions of McLaren around the software aside from the name of a theme and the name of an unlocking animation. There could have been some really sweet McLaren wallpapers or a McLaren icon pack or some kind of McLaren button that changed the theme to include even more orange. Instead, the wallpapers that are unique to the McLaren Edition are pretty generic-looking.
Settings • Mclaren theme • McLaren ringtone • McLaren AR experience
Camera
This Edition's camera is no different than the regular 6T. You get the same 16MP + 20MP dual camera setup and the same 16MP front-facing camera. With the 6T, we wondered why the secondary camera was there if it had the same focal length.
It only appears to notice that the upper sensor is covered while in portrait mode. Otherwise, we could still take photos in 2X zoom or in low light and the camera app didn't seem to care that the other sensor was covered. That doesn't mean the 6T or its McLaren edition take bad photos.
The camera app itself is just as it is on the 6T. There's a 2X/1X zoom toggle right in the lower center of the viewfinder (if you're holding it in portrait) and you swipe either left or right to switch between shooting modes: Video, Photo, Portrait, and Night. There is also a Google Lens shortcut here for searching for things and landmarks by image.
Swiping up will reveal more shooting modes including Pro Mode - which can shoot in RAW as well, Time-lapse, Panorama, Slow motion, and there's a shortcut to the camera app's settings as well. Pro mode gives you full control of ISO (100-3200), white balance, shutter speed (1/8000s to 30s), manual focus, and exposure compensation (-2/+2 EV in 1/3 stop and 1/2 stop increments). There's even a histogram for exposing properly.
Though it's the same camera, we still went out and shot some photos with the McLaren Edition 6T.
Camera samples 1X zoom
Camera samples 2X zoom
When zooming in, photos are just a tad bit noisier than regular 1X photos. As we mentioned before, covering the secondary camera when taking a zoom shot doesn't affect anything which makes us wonder why it is only used for bokeh.
Daylight samples
The phone takes wonderful photos in sunlight but HDR tends to not know when to kick in. There is an option in the settings to disable automatic HDR and manually control when to activate the shooting mode. For most people, the setting should be left alone.
The phone does take very nice sunset and landscape photos with rich colors.
Low light
Low light photos look great. In order to keep noise down, it won't expose the shadows as well as like a Google Pixel 3 or the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. This phone is great for taking photos in a dimly lit restaurant or taking photos of cityscapes at night. It won't do as well inside a night club with a lot of movement.
Daytime selfies
Selfies look great in all lighting conditions. When taking selfies in softer light like in the shade, it tends to tone down the radiance of Ricky's face but the most true-to-life selfies were ones taken in direct late-afternoon sunlight.
His face is well exposed in all the selfies and the background behind the subject is also well represented.
Portrait selfies
The bokeh effect on the selfie camera is not bad, but works far better the more light is available. The bokeh itself is smooth and noise is well suppressed. As for the subject line, it struggles a bit indoors but looks much better outside.
Competition
Usually, a special edition smartphone like this one is hard to compare to other devices due to its exclusivity and availability. In the McLaren Editon's case, you'll only be able to officially find it in the US, Canada, India, and Europe.
Then again, this is the cheapest car-branded smartphone we've ever come across, so it might be easy to find competitors considering the price and considering that the McLaren might not offer too much more than the vanilla 6T other than a snazzy paint job and a marginal difference in performance.
If you are dead set on getting a smartphone with a premium design from a car company, the Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche Design will set you back more than twice the retail price of one McLaren 6T. But if you are looking for the most premium of them all, Huawei's Porsche design would be it.
Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche • Oppo Find X Lamborghini • Samsung Galaxy Note9 • Huawei Mate 20 Pro
If you were going to spend money on something more realistic than sourcing a Mate 20 RS, the Galaxy Note9 offers a screen just as big with battery life to boot. The S Pen makes a great tool and the software is packed with features.
If the Note9 isn't your thing, perhaps the Mate 20 Pro might fancy your need for a beautiful-looking device. The Mate 20 Pro is probably the most attractive smartphone to come out of 2018, especially that Twilight model.
Finally, if you still have your heart set on an automotive edition smartphone. You can also consider the Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition. If you can manage to source one, it will set you back over 1,500 USD plus the cost of figuring out how to get it to you, should it not be available in your market.
Verdict
The McLaren edition OnePlus 6T goes for $699 in the US, which is just a $70 premium over the top-tier vanilla OnePlus 6T in the US. While this is a great price for a special edition phone, it will be up to you to decide if the $70 premium is worth it.
For that premium, you get a sleek and attractive (yet subtle) color scheme, a bright orange Warp 30 charger, 2 extra GB of RAM that don't make a difference in everyday performance in the first place, a few software exclusivities, and a premium unboxing experience with a memorable McLaren plaque and look-book in the box. OnePlus has also thrown in a free case which would otherwise cos t you around $30.
So as you will see, the price premium is not that big. It seems they've just figured out a way to make their most tricked out 256GB tier of the 6t a bit more desirable.
We really thought that OnePlus could have gone even further with the McLaren Edition to make it more special. If it charged $800 or even $900 to offer wireless charging, or a bigger battery, or official water-proofing, or maybe 512GB of storage instead of 256GB. Or maybe a full paint job with real papaya orange paint, perhaps it could have made a bigger impression. The McLaren edition left us wanting more.
We do kind of wish that OnePlus announced the McLaren Edition at the same time as the 6T. That way, those with interest in the McLaren Edition could have waited for it rather than buy the vanilla 6T.
But if you're not excited about this McLaren Edition 6T, all hope is not lost. OnePlus did announce that it was entering a long-term partnership with the automotive brand. We surely expect more from the next McLaren Edition OnePlus device. Until then, the McLaren 6T is a great buy for any Formula 1 enthusiast or anyone who really appreciates a great-looking phone and prefers one a splash of exclusivity.
Pros
- Speed Orange looks great
- Premium packaging and unboxing experience
- OnePlus' debut of Warp Charge 30
Cons
- Not drastic difference over vanilla 6T
- Minimal McLaren exclusivities in the software
- Still no IP rating or wireless charging, or headphones in box
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