SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 12 — Yesterday, OnePlus and McLaren unveiled the collaboration they've been teasing for weeks now at the ‘Salute to Speed' event in the UK: The OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition is a smartphone inspired by the carbon fibre pattern that first appeared on a McLaren Formula 1 car back in 1981.
As suspected, Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus and British automotive company McLaren's collaboration resulted in a Formula 1-inspired OnePlus smartphone that made its entrance at the ‘Salute to Speed' launch event yesterday in the UK. This isn't your average OnePlus 6T, though, it's a McLaren Edition OnePlus 6T.
Speaking strictly about exterior aesthetics, the rear of the device features the iconic carbon fiber pattern that a McLaren Formula 1 car donned 37 years ago in 1981 — the first car to ever use the material. The bottom edge of the back case is accented by a hint of the Formula 1 model's trademark Papaya Orange, which turns up towards the edges in a gradient that fades to black, framing the iconic McLaren badge centred at the bottom of the rear side.
Carbon Fiber debuted on a McLaren Formula 1 car in 1981. 37 years later, we're bringing this iconic pattern to the #OnePlus6T McLaren Edition. pic.twitter.com/3ukQJppLqg
— OnePlus (@oneplus) 11 December 2018
Speaking about specs, this phone charges up to a day's worth of power (50%) in just 20 minutes, a feature called Warp Charge 30 that salutes the legendary Formula 1 team speed. Instead of having 8 GB of RAM like the original 6T, the racecar model brings the internal memory up to 10 GB.
Like the flagship, the device is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 SoC; the custom software on the McLaren Edition, however, brings exclusive animations and themes to the device like live wallpapers, an alternative boot-up animation, and a new screen lock animation, all of which feature that classic Papaya Orange. Apart from these characteristics, the device shares most of its genes with the classic model.
Recently, Chinese tech company Huawei collaborated in a similar way with German-based luxury automotive brand Porsche to also create a premium, sportscar-inspired premium smartphone. That device charges 70% in just 40 minutes, is powered by the Kirin 980 chipset, and is dressed in high quality leather. The Porsche Design of the Huawei Mate 20 RS starts at €1,595 (about RM7,554) which is over double that of the OnePlus-McLaren model.
The OnePlus 6T McLaren edition will set buyers back US$699 (RM2,924) starting tomorrow, December 13 at 10 AM EST, as opposed to the original 6T model which has a price tag of US$549. — AFP-Relaxnews
