OnePlus partners with McLaren, opening with a special edition OnePlus 6T
Mobile manufacturer OnePlus has announced a long-term partnership with Formula 1 racing brand McLaren at its “Salute to Speed” event. As the name suggests, this unlikely pairing draws inspiration from both company’s interest in the pursuit of speed.
The immediate outcome of this relationship is the OnePlus 6T McLaren edition: a specially-designed OnePlus 6T that features a few very impressive hardware changes, as well as a stylish paint job. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau describes the McLaren edition as the company’s “fastest, most cutting-edge device ever”. Let’s see if that statement holds up under the harsh light of day, shall we?
OnePlus 6T McLaren edition: Specifications and design
The new smartphone might best be described as a supercharged OnePlus 6T. The emphasis on speed is quite clear, with the most impressive new feature being the whopping 10GB of RAM, which for the sake of context is more than most laptops tend to offer.
Combine this with 256GB of onboard storage, and the OnePlus 6T McLaren should be well-suited to film lengthy 4K video at 60fps, edit RAW image files and handle the most graphically taxing games the Google Play store can throw at it. Heck, with 10Gb of RAM at your disposal, you might be able to do all of these at the same time.
These are the most noteworthy changes when it comes to internal hardware. The phone is otherwise a normal OnePlus 6T, with a Full HD+ AMOLED screen, Android 9 and two 16-megapixel cameras.
McLaren and OnePlus have slightly tweaked the phone’s charging capabilities, though. OnePlus’ new charging system, Warp Charge 30, will supposedly offer a day’s charge in little more than 20 minutes connected to the wall. If that’s not a salute to speed, I don’t know what is.
OnePlus may have supplied the hardware, but McLaren has plastered their influence all over 6T McLaren’s design. The box boasts a carbon-fibre Speedmark insignia made with the same material that built the McLaren 2018 F1 cars, and also includes a booklet that details the history of both firms.
Open the box and you’ll be greeted by a OnePlus 6T with edges that fade from black to Papaya Orange as your eye moves from top to bottom. The glass-covered rear of the phone is designed to mimic that same carbon-fibre pattern mentioned above, and is adorned by a McLaren logo. It’s not overly lurid, and it certainly manages to capture what McLaren CEO Zak Brown describes as the ‘spirit’ of the brand.
OnePlus 6T McLaren edition: Price and release date
If you’re swayed by the prospect of a top-notch special edition smartphone, then brace yourself. Obviously, the OnePlus 6T McLaren edition is not cheap: you can expect to pay £649 for the privilege of owning one, which is £250 more than the price of the regular OnePlus 6T at launch. Still, what’s £649 when compared to the wallet-busting iPhone XS or Samsung Galaxy S9?
The release date has also been announced. For those of us living in North America or Western Europe, the OnePlus 6T McLaren edition will be available from 13 December. There’s no word yet on a launch date for India, China, and Scandinavia, however.
Source: expertreviews.co.uk
