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The OnePlus 6 might be better than the Note 9 in other galaxies, but not this one
July 24, 2025
Whether it’s industry burnout, laziness, or catering to a specific audience, I can only speculate. It was an oddly tame reaction for likely one of the top two or three best phones of the year. A surprising number of comparisons have popped up between the powerhouse, power-user friendly Note 9 and the affordable, basic, but decently equippedOnePlus 6. We don’t know why everyone seems to be picking the OnePlus 6, but it is what it is.
Let’s take a closer look at these two devices. In reality, there is no real comparison here.
This comparison isn’t about price
Nobody can really win or lose a cost-vs-worth argument, because what matters changes from person to person. Anyone can toss the argument of value around and be right half of the time without even trying. It’s a cheap kind of article. It’s everywhere, easy to swallow, and bad for your health if you consume it consistently — It’s the McDonald’s of hot takes.
A ton of people consider the OnePlus 6 a great value and just as many believe the Note 9 is a great value. Neither demographic is wrong because value is in the eye of the beholder. It’s like watching a video where someone says their favorite color is green and, because of that, it’s better than all of the other colors. That’s not how a comparison works.
Worth is derived by weighing the size of your wallet against your preferences and needs. Obviously, your needs differ from mine. Our needs (yours and mine) differ from the other people reading this. Thus, in an actual, objective comparison between two devices, discussing price is counter-productive. It’s used to level what is otherwise an uneven playing field between two devices that otherwise are not comparable.
If you want to know which phone is the best between any two devices, discussing price gets in the way more than it adds clarity.
Sometimes the better things are simply more expensive and that’s the way it is. Whether or not it’s worth it to you is your opinion and your opinion is unique to you alone. What you’re able to afford doesn’t affect what I buy and what I can afford doesn’t affect what you buy. Worth isn’t a metric you can gainfully measure and that makes it pointless to talk about when comparing two things so different from one another.
From this point forward, nothing about this comparison is going to deal with cost. Let’s begin!
Let’s start with the similarities
Basically the only similarities in these devices are the specs, whichyou’ve likely seen ad nauseum already. We won’t bore you with a super detailed analysis of minor differences, so here’s a quick list of the things these phones both do very well:
What the OnePlus 6 does better
There are some things the OnePlus 6 does better than the Note 9. The list isn’t very long.
That’s a relatively sizable list. We’re not trying to marginalize one device in favor of another here. The OnePlus 6 is a good device. No one’s debating that.
What the Note 9 does better
The Note 9 does basically everything not previously listed better. A lot of people don’t know everything the Note 9 even does, so let’s get this list going!
That is a much longer list and it doesn’t even include bunch of smaller features like the Secure Folder, the ability to clone some apps for multiple accounts, a Find My Phone function with your Samsung account, Knox security, Samsung Pay’s MST technology, and all that other stuff specific to Samsung phones (though not exclusive to the Note 9).
No, this comparison isn’t fair
Comparisons like this aren’t fair at all. These devices are not built for the same type of consumer. The OnePlus 6 is a basic device with high end specs. It’s mostly for scrolling Facebook, taking the occasional photo, playing the occasional mobile game, and making the occasional phone call. It’s not a power user phone and it’s not supposed to be. Despite what you might be told, phones are not as generic as they may seem. They are built for different types of people. The Note 9 is nothing like the OnePlus 6 aside from some common specs under the hood.
The OnePlus 6 competes very well with devices like theLG G7($749.99), theSamsung Galaxy S9($719.99), and theGoogle Pixel 2($649). If you want to see the OnePlus 6 on a pedestal, ask people to compare it with those phones. Those devices were all built, priced, and marketed to the average consumer. You don’t see a stylus in the body of those devices because average consumers don’t usually need stuff like that. There is a reason the OnePlus 6 sold one million units this year so far. It’s not because it’s taking a piece of the Note 9’s cake. It’s because it’s taking pieces of the Galaxy S9’s cake. The OnePlus 6 does what the S9 was designed to do better and at a cheaper price.
Let’s bring price back into this. The OnePlus 6 goes for under $600 and the Note 9 goes for about $1,000. you’re able to ask about whether the extra features are worth $400 until the cows come home and you could get a different answer from literally everybody you ask. Again worth and value are intensely personal opinions. You can’t measure them or use them as an objective source of information when asking a question like what phone is the best phone. There are two answers to that question.
You can get the best phone for you, but that requires weighing your options against your needs and preferences. Personal opinion doesn’t have much to do with finding the best phone overall. Phones are tools, and the Note 9 is like a Swiss Army Knife. It simply does a lot more stuff, which makes it a better tool.
People like car comparisons, so let’s do one of those. The OnePlus 6 is like a Honda Civic. The base model goes for $19,000, it gets you to and from the office, and it has enough space for your briefcase, your dry cleaning, and some bags. The Note 9 is like a Dodge Ram. Its base price $27,000 and it’ll tow your boat, help you move a couch, and provide a place to store your toolbox on the move. You don’t pit the two against each other and say the Civic is better because it drives forward, takes corners better, and is cheaper. Those two vehicles were designed to do entirely different things.
The Note 9 and the OnePlus 6 are exactly the same way. The Note 9 is built for more intense smartphone users who want to do more things. The OnePlus 6 was built for people who just want to do the basic stuff really well. Bringing worth into it just pushes the line in the direction of someone’s personal choices.
At the end of the day, you’re going to buy what you’re going to buy — I’m not here to sell you anything. However, every now and then, it’s fun to sit down and just talk about what phones are better from the standpoint of just being better, instead of always trying to get super specific about things like wallet tolerance and use cases. The Note 9’s list of features is damn impressive and it should be celebrated.
Find a phone with a battery that big, 2018 flagship specs, and a stylus that competes favorably with the best in consumer tech without resorting to a notch or removing a headphone jack. I’ll wait.
What do you think? Sound off in the comments. No doubt we’ll get some good discussions going — I can’t wait to read them!
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