In the past, OnePlus has always offered battery capacities in its smartphones that were above average. Ever since the OnePlus 5, the manufacturer has installed fixed and rechargeable energy cells with a capacity of 3,300 mAh in its smartphones.

Battery capacities of OnePlus smartphones

  Battery capacity
OnePlus One (Test) 3,100 mAh
OnePlus 2 (Test) 3,300 mAh
OnePlus 3 (Test) 3,000 mAh
OnePlus 3T (Test) 3,400 mAh
OnePlus 5 (Test) 3,300 mAh
OnePlus 5T (Test) 3,300 mAh
OnePlus 6 (Test) 3,300 mAh

In this respect, there are no changes in the new OnePlus 6. To estimate how the OnePlus 6 fares against competitors like the Huawei P20 Pro, Xperia XZ2 and Galaxy S9, we put the newcomer under the same conditions and settings, with 50% display brightness and the same SIM card from PCMark’s battery benchmark.

OnePlus 6 battery benchmarks in comparison

  Runtime Capacity
Razer Phone 10 hours 43 minutes 4,000 mAh
Huawei P20 Pro 9 hours minutes 4,000 mAh
Sony Xperia XZ2 9 hours 15 minutes 3,180 mAh
Huawei P20 9 hours 6 minutes 3,400 mAh
OnePlus 6 7 hours 34 minutes 3,300 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S9 7 hours 15 minutes 3,000 mAh

It is easy to see that the OnePlus 6 with OxygenOS 5.1.5 cannot keep up with the competition in PCMark’s battery benchmark.

Still good for more than a day

In everyday life, we see a different picture. During the test period, the OnePlus 6 lasted over 17 hours despite intensive use. The display was active for 5 hours and 34 minutes. The Sony Xperia XZ2 has a battery life of over 7 hours on the same hardware platform, but the display has a lower resolution and is over half an inch smaller. Compared to a Huawei P20, however, the OnePlus 6 lasts an hour longer.

OnePlus 6 Akkutest
With intensive use, the OnePlus 6 is good for over 5 hours and 30 minutes. / © NextPit Image source: NextPit

If you handle the OnePlus 6 a little more gently, it is quite possible to tickle out a day and a half running time. However, this rule can also be applied to the competition in order to extend the runtime.

Really fast quick-charging technology

Until recently, the OnePlus quick-charging technology was called “Dash Charge”, but it flew off the product pages shortly after the new OnePlus 6 was introduced. Now OnePlus is only talking about Fast Charge. No matter what it’s called, either Fast Charge or Dash Charge, it is currently the fastest charging technology smartphones available.

The OnePlus 6 battery was charged from 0 to 100 percent within 85 minutes. The first 50 percent of the battery is charged within the first 30 minutes, but only if you use the Fast Charger from OnePlus or an Oppo VOOC power supply. At such a rapid charging speed, wireless charging is definitely not missing.

AndroidPIT OnePlus 6 5964
The battery charges really quickly with the Fast Charger provided. / © NextPit Image source: NextPit by Irina Efremova

Conclusion

When it comes to battery life, the OnePlus 6 can’t offer any crazy number. Overall it’s at the same level as its predecessors, the OnePlus 5 and 5T. So if you still own a OnePlus from 2017, it’s not worth upgrading to the OnePlus 6. The internal hardware may have become more energy efficient thank to Qualcomm 845, but its power-saving potential is consumed by the larger display. We still have to consider the upcoming software update, because as is usually the case with modern smartphones, manufacturers can still optimize one or the other.

Do you own a OnePlus 6? What do you think about its battery life?