There’s a whole lot of hype around the OnePlus 6 and the company is only piling on to this with tidbits dropping in every day. Earlier today, OnePlus India announced ticket giveaways for the Avengers: Infinity War. And now, the company has confirmed that the OnePlus 6 will feature a glass back with five-layer Nanotech Coating.
OnePlus co-founder and CEO Pete Lau announced this on the official forum in a long post about ‘Honest Design’. “Excellent industrial design should give people a sense of ease, which is best embodied by a burdenless feeling,” Lau said, adding, “A company needs to be honest about the design of the product. It also needs to work on a daily basis to refine the subtle details, even if those details may seem minor.”
Lau recounted how he met a OnePlus user in 2015, who thought the sandstone back on the OnePlus 1 “most clearly differentiated” the company from other smartphone makers. Lau said the user wanted sandstone finish on more OnePlus devices, but was also impressed with metal body of the OnePlus 3, which the company released that year. “Although sandstone black is different, we must look at the overall effect of the product and take an honest, impartial stance in order to improve the overall result.”
OnePlus 6 Design
Lau said the OnePlus 6 went through many iterations of design before the company settled on the design. “Appearance-wise, we’ve always maintained our signature horizon line and precise curve to the back of the device. From the OnePlus One to the OnePlus 5T, the horizon line and characteristic curve have remained as important elements of our design language.”
The CEO also mentioned that the company has incorporated glass materials on OnePlus 6, to provide users with a different “interpretation of a familiar material”.
The additional layers give the back of the device a stronger impression of depth that our most demanding users will surely appreciate. Closely examine the OnePlus 6 and you’ll indeed see this subtle nuance embedded in each device.
Lau said, “The advantages of glass over metal are manifold: glass communicates a transparent, bright, and pure feeling. The way glass transforms under different lighting is a particularly important challenge—the OnePlus design team tested over 70 glass prototypes before selecting the best one.”
Talking more about the glass back, Lau added that it would have five printed layers of Nanotech Coating, a first for the smartphone industry, where manufacturers usually apply three coatings. OnePlus says, “The additional layers give the back of the device a stronger impression of depth that our most demanding users will surely appreciate. Closely examine the OnePlus 6 and you’ll indeed see this subtle nuance embedded in each device.”
The glass back also allows the OnePlus 6 to have wireless charging, which would make it the first OnePlus phone to support this feature. So what do you think of OnePlus’ decision to go with a glass back for the phone? Are you more excited for the phone now? Let us know below.
