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I’d take the OnePlus 6 over the Galaxy Note 9 any day of the week
July 03, 2025
For me, the winner of theGalaxy Note 9vsOnePlus 6battle is clear — I’d much rather get the OnePlus 6. The phone has five features more important to me than the extra bells and whistles Samsung’s flagship offers.
The software is amazing
The first thing is software. OnePlus’OxygenOSis a much better skin than Samsung’s Experience. It’s a lot cleaner — it looks and feels likestock Android. It has a lot of useful onboard features like the productivity tool Shelf, which lets you createnotesand offers quick access to recent contacts and apps. Shelf also shows you theweatherand info like your phone’s available storage, current battery percentage, and how much data you have left in a given billing cycle.
Also read:Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review
Another great OxygenOS feature is the App locker, which can secure sensitiveappsfrom prying eyes by requiring a PIN or fingerprint scan to open them, so only you can access it on yourdevice. Then there are off-screen gestures, which allow you to launch apps by drawing an O, V, S, M, or W on the display when it’s turned off. There are also gestures available for music to let you quickly skip tracks, pause songs, and more.
The Galaxy Note 9’s Samsung Experience skin also packs a few great features, like a Secure Folder somewhat similar to OxygenOS’ App locker. It lets you keep your files, images, and apps private in a separate folder, so only you’re able to access them. Other features like Edge panels give you quick access to apps and contacts via a swipe from the right edge of the screen, and more. The skin definitely has its advantages, but I still think OxygenOS is superior.
Dash Charge is extremely fast
The OnePlus 6’s next big advantage isDash Charge (Warp Charge in Europe). It’s extremely fast, charging the battery up to 60 percent in just 30 minutes, with a full charge taking around 90 minutes. Sure, Samsung’s flagships also supportfast charging, but it’s not quite as quick as OnePlus’ solution.
I can put it in silent mode in a split second
Then there’s the alert slider, a signature feature of OnePlus devices that lets you quickly switch between three modes: silent, vibrate, and ring. So instead of waking up the device and heading into the settings to put it in silent mode, just push the slider all the way up and you’re good to go. It’s a great feature I use all the time on myOnePlus 3T.
It looks better than the Note 9
The OnePlus 6’s next big advantage overSamsung’s flagshipis its design. It looks better in my opinion, especially because it sports a flat display instead of acurved one. The back is more attractive, and so are thecolor options. I especially like the midnight black version, which has a matte finish and therefore attracts fewer fingerprints than the black Note 9.
It has a great price-performance ratio
Lastly, there’s the price. The base model of the new Note comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and costs awhopping $1,000. The OnePlus 6 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage retails for $580 — $420 less. You can save even more by opting for the entry-level OnePlus 6 (6GB RAM and 64GB storage), which goes for $530. The price difference between the two is massive — the Note 9 is almost twice the price.
The Galaxy Note 9 has a lot more features than the OnePlus 6, likewireless charging, an IP68 rating, expandable storage, an iris scanner, and theS Pen, among other things.
I don’t need most of those things.
I don’t see myself using wireless charging or the Note 9’s fancy stylus. The OnePlus 6 has a fast fingerprint reader, which I prefer to an iris scanner, and I don’t need expandable storage if I’ve already got 128GB on board. Also, the OnePlus 6 may not have an official IP rating, but it can still handlesplashes of water— that’s good enough for me.
Read next:5 reasons you should buy the OnePlus 6
These things are far more important to me than all the extra features the Note 9 offers. For my needs, the OnePlus 6 is definitely the better option — though it’s hardlyperfect.
Do you agree with my opinion? Let me know where you stand in the comments!
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