OnePlus 6 Vs Asus ZenFone 5z: The five major differences

The OnePlus 6 and the Asus ZenFone 5z still retains a 3.5 mm headphone jack

| Updated: Sunday, July 8, 2018, 19:56 [IST]

The Asus ZenFone 5z and the OnePlus 6 has a lot of common features between these devices. However, they also have a set of differences which makes these smartphones unique to themselves. Let us look at the top five differences between these two affordable flagship smartphones which are running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC (which is again a common feature). In terms of pricing, the Asus ZenFone 5z is priced at 29,999 for the entry-level model and the OnePlus 6's entry-level model retails for Rs 34,999.

Display

The first striking difference between these smartphones is the display. The OnePlus 6 has an Optic AMOLED display, whereas the ZenFone 5z has an IPS LCD display. OnePlus 6 also has a slightly bigger display (6.28-inch) and the ZenFone 5z has a 6.2-inch display. At any given point in time, I prefer an OLED display. However, it is just me as IPS LCD displays do have advantages like better viewing angle and it will also not suffer from the pixel burning-out issue like the OLED display.

So, the OLED display on the OnePlus 6 offers deep blacks but fails to offer the impressive viewing angle offered by an IPS LCD display and they have their own pros and cons.

Speaker Setup

The OnePlus 6 has a mono speaker on the bottom of the smartphone, whereas the ZenFone 5z has a dual stereo speaker, where the earpiece doubles as a speaker to offer an immersive audio experience. When it comes to sound quality and loudness, ZenFone 5z does offer better sound due to the dual speaker setup and OnePlus 6 is not behind either. However, the ZenFone 5z for sure has an overall better audio experience.

Camera

Both phones have a dual camera. However, the implementation is completely different on both the smartphones. The Asus ZenFone 5z has a 12 MP primary sensor (f/1.8, 1.4µm) and an 8 MP wide angle lens, which is something similar to the LG G7 ThinQ or the LG V30, where the secondary camera offers super wide angle shots (with more field of view). The OnePlus 6 has a 16 MP primary sensor (f/1.7, 1.22µm) and a 20 MP secondary low light sensor, which enhances the photos taken on the low light photography. The OnePlus 6 also has a 16 MP front-facing selfie camera and the ZenFone 5z has an 8 MP selfie shooter.

micro SD Card slot

The Asus ZenFone 5z comes with a hybrid SIM slot, where the secondary SIM slot doubles as a micro SD card slot, which accepts micro SD cards up to 512 GB. Whereas the OnePlus 6 does not support storage expansion. It is difficult to remember a time that I used a micro SD card on my smartphone. However, I still prefer having a micro SD card slot for sure.

Operating system

The last difference that I wanted to mention about these smartphones is a tricky one and I think it is a most important thing that most of us might easily neglect. The OnePlus 6 is running on Android 8.1 Oreo with custom Oxygen OS skin on the top, whereas the Asus ZenFone 5z is running on the Android 8.0 Oreo with custom Zen UI on the top. The Oxygen OS on the OnePlus 6 is similar to the stock Android, whereas the Asus ZenFone 5z has a different approach.

Google is speculated to release the next Android Version (dubbed as Android P) and the ZenFone moniker, being a flagship smartphone is not running on the latest Android version, even though the device has been launched after several months of Android 8.1 Oreo release. However, both smartphones brands have confirmed that their offerings will receive Android P and the OnePlus 6 will also receive the next letter upgrade after Android P and we have no information about that for the Asus ZenFone 5z.

Conclusion

From my perspective, the Asus ZenFone 5z gets a plus one mark for the dual speaker setup, wide-angle camera, and a micro SD card slot. Whereas the OnePlus 6 scores points on the display and the OS department. Depending on your requirement, one can choose between these devices.