Apple Pay ‘Making Up a Lot of Ground’ With Competitors Thanks to Success of Apple Pay Cash

A new report out this week by Bloomberg highlights Apple’s ongoing efforts to boost adoption of Apple Pay, which is said to be gaining more traction this year thanks to the launch of Apple Pay Cash, as well as a growing number of of retailers supporting the mobile wallet. Although it still struggles to surpass rival mobile wallets, analyst Gene Munster argues that Apple’s real advantage lies in the fact that it’s the only digital wallet with payment options for mobile apps, desktop, peer-to-peer, and in stores.

According to Munster, Apple Pay Cash’s launch in December 2017 “was a big missing piece” to the Apple Pay ecosystem, and has led the company to “make up a lot of ground” with its competition in 2018.

In total, 60 percent of United States merchants will have Apple Pay-ready equipment in their shops by the end of this year, which is an increase from three percent four years ago, when Apple Pay launched. Apple Pay already has made impressive growth in the United Kingdom, because merchants there “already accepted contactless payments and consumers were already using contactless cards,” explained Crone Consulting CEO Richard Crone.

Multiple analysts believe that Apple’s biggest opportunity in the mobile payments field is to increase acceptance of Apple Pay from e-commerce sites and to beef up the features of Apple Pay Cash. According to data from Crone Consulting, the number of online mobile app transactions using Apple Pay is “growing much faster” than transactions made inside retail stores. In this area, Apple Pay is used by hundreds of thousands of websites and is accepted by 85 of the top 100 global e-commerce apps. Senior managing director for Falcon Point Capital, Michael Mahoney, agreed:

“When it started, you’d tap and physically cause a purchase to be made,” Michael Mahoney said. “The whole world of mobile commerce has so much shifted to everything being done on the phone and shipped to you. My kids don’t even think of going to the store. Apple Pay has morphed along with that change in behavior.”

As of estimates from August, 31 percent of worldwide iPhone users have used Apple Pay in some way in the last year, up from 25 percent one year ago, according to Loup Ventures data. In regards to the total number of active users making at least two transactions per month, Crone Consulting estimates that Apple has 32 million users in the U.S., compared to its total user base of around 252 million global. In terms of U.S. usage, PayPal has the most at 250 million users and Walmart Pay is just below Apple Pay at 31 million users.

Apple Pay Cash was the highest-rated peer-to-peer payments platform on the market, according to a review by Consumer Reports. The service beat out Zelle, Square Cash, Venmo, and Facebook Messenger P2P payments, mainly due to Apple’s stronger privacy and security measures. Munster pointed out that the growth of Apple’s P2P platform is convincing new people to add their banks into Apple Pay (which is required for P2P iMessage payments), many of which eventually add their credit and debit cards into Wallet as well to enable the main NFC features of Apple Pay.

Apple is also continuously expanding the mobile wallet into new countries, and this week Apple Pay will launch in Belgium. Belgium-based newspaper De Tijd reports that several sources believe Apple Pay will launch in early November — as soon as tomorrow, November 1 — with major bank BNP Paribas Fortis supporting the launch. Next, Apple Pay is said to be “coming soon” to Saudi Arabia.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Siri Experts From Apple Attending Natural Language Processing Conference in Belgium Over Next Five Days

As it announced in its Machine Learning Journal, Apple is attending the 2018 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing in Brussels, Belgium between today and Sunday, November 4.

Apple has set up a booth staffed with natural language processing experts from its Siri team and encourages conference attendees to stop by.

Apple has also highlighted an opening for a Siri-related software engineering position within the company, based out of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where it has a research and development office focused on Siri.

“The launch of Siri was a defining moment in the history of Artificial Intelligence,” the job description states. “Hundreds of millions of people now use Siri to send a message, play their favourite song or even take a selfie.”

Earlier this year, The Information published an in-depth look at how Siri has transitioned from one of Apple’s most promising technologies into a “major problem” for the company. The report cited a dozen former Apple employees who reflected on Siri’s “squandered lead” over rivals Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Apple responded to the report with a statement claiming that Siri is “the world’s most popular voice assistant,” and touted “significant advances” to the digital assistant’s performance, scalability, and reliability.

We have made significant advances in Siri performance, scalability and reliability and have applied the latest machine learning techniques to create a more natural voice and more proactive features. We continue to invest deeply in machine learning and artificial intelligence to continually improve the quality of answers Siri provides and the breadth of questions Siri can respond to.

Apple has steadily improved Siri with features such as Shortcuts and customized language models that improve the assistant’s ability to recognize names of local points of interest, such as small businesses and restaurants.

Tag: Siri
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Nintendo Planning Major Update for Fire Emblem Heroes and ‘Broadening the Scope’ of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Nintendo this week held its financial results briefing aimed at the second quarter for the fiscal year ending in March 2019 (via Reuters), during which it discussed its smart device business and major updates coming to two of its iOS apps: Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

Starting with Fire Emblem Heroes, Nintendo’s director and president Shuntaro Furukawa said that the company is planning a major version 3.0 update to the iOS game that will arrive around the end of 2018. The president didn’t divulge any more information on the update, but ensured that Nintendo will keep pouring effort into development and operation of Fire Emblem Heroes following its huge success on the iOS App Store.

According to Furukawa, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will also be updated in the near future, but this one will be focused on “broadening the scope of the gameplay.” The iOS game is a pared-down version of the full games found on consoles like Nintendo 3DS, DS, Wii, and GameCube, and focuses on a small campsite that players can redecorate and customize to their liking, with a few other mini locations that can be visited through an in-game map.

Although details are still scarce, it sounds like Nintendo is planning to slightly expand the explorable area of the game with the update, and potentially add in new gameplay features. The company has consistently held new seasonal events and introduced new features — like gardening — over the past year, but its scope has largely stayed the same as when it first launched.

It’s doubtful that this means Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will see a full village for players to navigate on iPhone, since Nintendo’s mobile business so far has used the strategy of introducing a smaller version of its franchises to entice people to check out the full games on console.

Because of this, it’s possible that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp’s big update could align with the next mainline entry in the franchise on Switch, which is set for release in 2019. Furukawa did not detail when exactly we’ll see the iOS update, but noted that “details will be announced closer to the time of the update,” so it might not be until next year.

Lastly, the president confirmed that Mario Kart Tour is still on track to be released during the current fiscal year ending in March 2019. After Mario Kart Tour launches, Nintendo will have released six games on the iOS App Store: Miitomo, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Dragalia Lost.

Tags: Nintendo, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
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iOS 12.1 Extends Battery-Related Performance Management Feature to iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X

Apple on Tuesday released iOS 12.1 following six weeks of beta testing. As mentioned in the release notes, the software update extends Apple’s performance management feature to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

From the release notes:

Adds a performance management feature to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down, including the option to disable this feature if an unexpected shutdown occurs, for iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

Apple has reflected this change on its iPhone Battery and Performance website, noting that performance management “may be less noticeable” on those iPhone models due to their “more advanced hardware and software design.”

The performance management system was first enabled in iOS 10.2.1, but it was limited to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus until yesterday’s release of iOS 12.1.

Last December, Apple did mention that the design of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X allows for a “different” performance management system that “more precisely” prevents unexpected shutdowns, but prior to iOS 12.1, no performance management feature of this kind had been enabled on the trio of iPhones:

iPhone 8 and later use a more advanced hardware and software design that provides a more accurate estimation of both power needs and the battery’s power capability to maximize overall system performance. This allows a different performance management system that more precisely allows iOS to anticipate and avoid an unexpected shutdown. As a result, the impacts of performance management may be less noticeable on iPhone 8 and later. Over time, the rechargeable batteries in all iPhone models will diminish in their capacity and peak performance and will eventually need to be replaced.

Why is Apple slowing down some iPhone models if necessary?

From our January 2018 article What to Know About Apple Slowing Down iPhones to Prevent Unexpected Shutdowns:

iPhones, like many other consumer electronics, are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which have a limited lifespan. As the battery in your iPhone ages, its ability to hold a charge slowly diminishes.

A chemically aging battery can also have increased impedance, reducing its ability to provide a sudden burst of power when demanded by other components in an iPhone, such as the CPU and GPU. A battery’s impedance will also temporarily increase when it has a low charge and/or in cold temperatures.

A battery with a high enough impedance may be unable to provide power quickly enough to the iPhone when needed, and Apple safeguards components against the drop in voltage by shutting down the device.

Apple recognized that iPhones unexpectedly shutting down on users is not a good experience, and starting with iOS 10.2.1, it quietly implemented a power management feature to prevent these shutdowns. The update was released in January 2017, and a month later, Apple said it saw a major reduction in shutdowns.

The performance management feature can be disabled if desired in the Settings app, under the Battery Health menu, also new to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X in iOS 12.1. At this time, the feature does not appear to extend to the new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
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Uber now offers a $15 monthly plan for access to cheaper fares

Uber has launched a subscription service that gives riders exclusive access to “consistent, low prices” for a monthly fee.

It appears to be an effort by Uber to boost loyalty among riders and discourage them from hopping between different ridesharing services.

Ride Pass is available for UberX and UberPool trips in Austin, Orlando, Denver, and Miami for $15 a month, and Los Angeles for $25 a month. The higher fee for Los Angeles is because folks there will soon get free access to Uber’s ebikes and scooters, too, as part of the package.

The service, which aims to offer savings of up to 15 percent for each ride, bases its prices on data for similar routes made previously and will be unaffected by surge pricing — a big annoyance for many Uber riders.

“One thing we hear a lot from riders is that changes in price — however small — can make it tough to plan their day with Uber,” Dan Bilen, product manager at Uber, wrote in a post announcing Ride Pass. “The daily commute is a classic example, and it goes something like this: you pay one low price for the ride to work, only to find the ride back home is a different story. You’re frustrated, and from that moment on you might think twice about leaving the car at home.”

Bilen said Ride Pass aims to make Uber “a reliable alternative to driving yourself — an affordable option people can use for their everyday transportation needs.”

You can sign up for Ride Pass through the Uber app, and with each ride you’ll be able to track the savings you’re making over the regular rates — to make sure it’s worth it.

This isn’t the first time Uber has experimented with subscriptions plans, with Uber Plus in 2016 offering a variation of Ride Pass in selected cities.

Meanwhile, Lyft — Uber’s main ridesharing rival in the U.S. — made its subscription-based “All-Access Plan” available nationwide from this month.

Lyft’s offering charges $299 a month for 30 rides that cost up to $15 each — if a single ride costs more than $15, you simply pay the difference, and if you take more than 30 rides, Lyft promises to discount each ride fee by 5 percent.

Neither Uber’s Ride Pass nor Lyft’s All-Access Plan are guaranteed to save you money, but there are certainly potential savings for those who use ridesharing services on a regular basis.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Lyft has a new fixed-price subscription plan for frequent passengers
• Going my way? Waze takes its carpooling service nationwide
• Lyft wants to know about your ride experience before it’s even over
• Lyft offers some fun stats to celebrate its 1 billionth ridesharing journey
• Lyft’s self-driving taxis have made 5,000 trips for paying riders in Las Vegas

A foldable smartphone at CES 2019? Anything is possible, says LG

Foldable smartphones may become one of the standout mobile trends of 2019, with several manufacturers officially stating they’re working on such devices for the coming year. While LG is not one of them, a rumor indicates it has no intention of missing out. The company will apparently show a foldable smartphone during a presentation at next year’s CES technology show in Las Vegas, says mobile leaker Evan Blass.

In a tweet he says he cannot speak for Samsung, which has already confirmed it will release a foldable phone in the future, “But I do know that LG plans to unveil a foldable phone at its 2019 CES keynote.” While he provides no further details on the device itself, or whether this will simply be a tech showcase, rather than a product we’ll be able to buy; LG has long been at the forefront of flexible screen technology, validating the rumor to a certain extent.

Digital Trends spoke to Ken Hong, LG’s head of global corporate communications, to get an official response. He said “LG’s policy is not to comment on rumors and speculation,” but when pushed on the subject, he hesitated and added, “Anything is possible at CES.”

Technical know-how

Patents for folding phones have been seen from LG for several years, we’ve covered leaks stating the company would have a foldable device in 2017, and before all that, it pioneered the flexible screen with smartphones such as the G Flex and G Flex 2. It also reportedly spent $1 billion on a factory in South Korea dedicated to making flexible screens, all of which adds up to not only experience, but also the ability and interest to make folding smartphones a reality.

While, “anything is possible,” at CES, does that mean it’s likely? LG is not saying anything at all on the subject, and although Samsung and Huawei have confirmed folding smartphone plans; neither have stated anything about when they will launch outside of some time in 2019. Huawei has linked its folding smartphone with 5G, indicating it may not arrive until a 5G network launches — a date which is equally unknown. Microsoft is also rumored to be examining a foldable device design.

CES 2019 begins on January 8, 2019, and we’ll keep you up to date with LG’s foldable smartphone news and rumors right here.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Huawei is working on a 5G foldable phone, the Mate 20 X may be its template
• Samsung Galaxy X: Everything we know so far
• Samsung Galaxy S10: Here’s everything we know
• A ThinkPad tablet with a foldable screen could be in Lenovo’s future
• 5G may spur the return of smartphones locked to specific carriers

How to automate your morning routine with the Amazon Smart Plug

Alexa routines are incredibly powerful, and if you have an Amazon Smart Plug, integrating it into an existing routine is dead simple and a great way to make your mornings go even smoother. Here’s how to do it!

Products used in this guide

• Amazon: Amazon Smart Plug ($25)
• Amazon: Echo Dot (3rd Gen) ($50)

How to use a Smart Plug with your morning routine

For this guide, we’re going to assume you already have an existing morning routine and an Amazon Smart Plug connected to your Amazon account.

Open the Alexa app.

Swipe from the left edge of your screen to open the menu.
Tap Routines.

Tap your morning routine.

Tap Add action.
Tap Smart Home.

Tap your Smart Plug (in this example, it’s named Coffee Pot).

Choose if you want it to toggle on or off.
Tap Next.

Tap the arrow at the top left corner.

With all of that done, you’ve just successfully added the Amazon Smart Plug to a morning routine. Now, stop reading this and go ahead and try it for yourself!

Our top equipment picks

A smarter outlet

Amazon Smart Plug

$25 at Amazon

Alexa’s favorite smart plug.

Amazon’s first foray into the smart plug market is nearly a home-run. It works beautifully with Alexa, setup takes just a few seconds, and it blends seamlessly into the background. We just wish it also worked with Google Assistant.

If you’re invested in Alexa speakers, the Amazon Smart Plug just makes sense over any of its competitors. The sheer simplicity of getting it connected to your home Wi-Fi network and smart speakers is a breeze, and from there, you’re left with a trusty and good-looking plug for your house.

Best Dot yet

Echo Dot (3rd Gen)

$50 at Amazon

One of the best smart speakers for $50.

Not only is the Echo Dot insanely affordable, but it’s also just a darn good smart speaker. It sounds great for its size, has a pretty fabric design, and works beautifully with other Alexa gadgets.

Any smart speaker that’s powered by Alexa will work well with the Amazon Smart Plug, but the Echo Dot stands out among nearly everything else thanks to its tremendous bang-for-your-buck.

Do you use Android Auto in your car?

If you’re not already using Android Auto, it’s time to fix that.

As tempting as it can be, it’s never a good idea to take your eyes off the road while driving to play with your phone. No matter what Tweet, text, or Snapchat you think you need to look at, it can wait until you’re no longer behind the wheel.

With that said, if you’re listening to music, using turn-by-turn navigation, or need to answer an important call, Android Auto makes it easy to perform these actions in a safe manner.

Android Auto is a really great tool, but how many people are actually using it? Here’s what our AC forum members have to say.

Robisan
10-29-2018 05:31 PM

“

Yes, currently directly on the phone screen and will be a requirement on my next car purchase (soon I hope). Google did a pertty decent job implementing the phone-based AA experience and really looking forward to having it on a 7″ or 8″ dash display.

Reply

SteelGator
10-29-2018 06:38 PM

“

I use it in my wife’s car, but my car does not have it. Starting to use it though even when I don’t have a screen to cast it to in my car. Seems to put a few things right at my finger tips that I need when in the car. Still getting used to it more.

Reply

chezm
10-29-2018 08:21 PM

“

Been using since got my 2016 Golf, used both AA and CP both mostly good experience. Will be using AA with my new pixel waiting to arrive this week.

Reply

Torisen1
10-29-2018 09:09 PM

“

Yes, I use it wired in my 2016 Chevy Spark. I can’t imagine getting a car without it.

Reply

What about you? Do you use Android Auto?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Spotify’s family plan now comes with a free Google Home Mini

Come for the easy setup, stay for the algorithm-based recommendations

One of the most popular names in the music world today isn’t a band or a record label: it’s an app called Spotify. Spotify was one of the earliest and most popular music streaming services on the market today. The service is available on almost every platform, from cars to home assistants to high-end speakers to phones, tablets, and computers. Spotify’s prowess with data analysis and algorithmic music suggestions have made the service addictive for music-hungry users, and as the first major service to offer student pricing, it’s spread like wildfire on college campuses across the country.

Here’s what you need to know before and after you dive in with it.

The latest Spotify news

October 31, 2018 — Spotify’s family plan now comes with a free Google Home Mini

If you live in a house with multiple music fanatics, Spotify Premium for Family is a great value. For just $14.99/month, you get access to six individual Premium accounts so everyone can enjoy their own custom Spotify experience.

Now, as part of a new partnership with Google, all Spotify Premium for Family plans come with a free Google Home Mini.

Both new and existing subscribers can take advantage of this promotion starting November 1, and you’ll be able to claim your free Home Mini through December 31.

Get your free Home Mini here

September 14, 2018 — Spotify is raising its offline limits!!

Spotify’s offline limits have been one of the bigger sticking points for Premium users. While Spotify’s 10,000 song library limit takes a while to reach, the 3-device, 3,333 song limit for Spotify’s offline content has been quite easy for users to hit, especially if they subscribe to any huge community playlists. Well, after years of persistent user complaints, Spotify is upgrading its offline limits to 10,000 songs on up to 5 devices. A Spotify spokesperson confirmed to Rolling Stone:

At Spotify, we’re always working on improving the experience for our users. We can now confirm that we have increased the number of offline tracks per device — from 3,333 on three devices to 10,000 tracks per device for up to five devices.

Being able to use more devices with Spotify’s offline content is great news, but the fact that you’ll be able to download your entire library on a single device is even better, since most users only use one phone at a time, and want to be able to access all of their music offline rather than just a third of it.

All the big details

Getting Started

Spotify is built to be as easy a listening experience as possible, and for most users, making an account is as easy as pressing one button. From setting up an account to getting your library established, we’re here to help you avoid as much pain as possible while you make the switch.

Getting started with Spotify

Pick your subscription

There are a lot of subscription styles out there for Spotify, but which one will fit you — and your family members — best? We break down the difference in Spotify subscriptions beyond the price points and show their prices and pitfalls, especially the very tight strings wrapped around Spotify Premium for Family subscriptions.

How to pick a Spotify account

Play your music everywhere

One of Spotify’s perks is that users can play back their music just about everywhere: their watch, their phone, their TV, their car, their smart speakers, high-end speakers, their computer, and just about everything in between. Best of all, connecting to all of these diverse devices uses the same simple UI: Spotify Connect. Here’s how this musical magic works and what it works with.

Spotify Connect: What it is and why it’s awesome

Settling in with Spotify

Once you’ve gotten your account up and running, it’s time to start mastering Spotify and making it work for you. From library management to offline playback and beyond, there are some simple things you can do to turn your Spotify experience up to 11.

Top 5 tips to make the most of your Spotify subscription

Playlist problems persist…

Playlists are a big part of any music service, but they’re doubly important on Android because playlists curated by everyday users can be highlighted by Spotify’s search and shared with your friends, family, and followers. There’s just one little problem: you can’t really edit playlists properly on Android. Or Chromebooks, for that matter.

Spotify has a playlist problem on Android

… but Spotify’s playlists have a secret ally

Even if you can’t tweak your playlist order, description, and image on Android, it’s still possible to build a big, beautiful playlist on Spotify. If you start running out of ideas for additions to your playlists, don’t worry. You can leverage the work you’ve already done and Spotify’s algorithms to expand your playlist with Playlist Radio.

Use Spotify’s radio to build bigger, better playlists

Queues, subqueues, and frustration

Managing and mixing up your queue on Spotify is a bit of a minefield for two reasons. The first is that rather than showing your listening history by letting you scroll up in your playlist, whatever you’re playing is at the top of the queue and what you last listened to is at the bottom if it’s visible at all.

The second is that Add to Queue doesn’t do what it’s called, which can turn an already confusing queue into a vanishing, inconsistent tur-queue-ken.

Spotify’s Add to Queue is a lie

Offline mode could use some work

We take our music out for a run, we bring music into the shower, and we always bring music when we travel, be it by plane, train, or automobile. And since we bring our music where our internet sometimes cannot follow, that means that offline modes for our music apps are important. Offline for Spotify is lackluster at best, and that’s disappointing for a whole host of reasons.

Offline mode on Spotify sucks out loud

Made For You is made in heaven

Finding something to listen to can be a tricky proposition for any music lover, but Spotify is known far and wide for their algorithmic prowess. And the best example of it isn’t the Discover Weekly or the year-end statistics. No, siree, the best use of Spotify’s number-crunching genius is a little section in Your Library called Just For You.

Spotify’s ‘Made For You’ is a love letter to music addicts

Spotify vs. Google Play Music

Spotify has a lot of competition, but perhaps the biggest competition they face on Android is convincing people that they’re better than the music player that came pre-installed on your phone: Google Play Music. To be sure, both services have their ups and downs, but here is a critical comparison of the two services to help you decide if you want to give Spotify your time, attention, and money.

Spotify vs. Google Play Music: The battle of the bigs

What’s your take?

What do you love or hate about Spotify? Let us know in the comments!

OnePlus 6T vs. OnePlus 6: Should you upgrade?

OnePlus launches a new phone every six months, but with the company offering top-notch hardware on all of its devices, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to upgrade with each cycle. Here’s what you need to know if you’re already rocking the OnePlus 6 and are eyeing the 6T as a potential upgrade.

OnePlus 6T

Subtle upgrade

$549 at OnePlus

Pros

• Narrower cutout
• Larger 3700mAh battery
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• 128GB storage as standard

Cons

• No headphone jack
• In-display sensor is slow and unreliable

The OnePlus 6T can be best summed up as a new variant of the OnePlus 6. Very little has changed on the hardware side of things, and while the phone has picked up a new cutout for the front camera, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and a 3700mAh battery, it’s missing the headphone jack.

OnePlus 6

Great hardware

$529 at OnePlus

Pros

• Same chipset as the 6T
• Top-notch performance
• Fingerprint sensor actually works
• Headphone jack

Cons

• GSM-only
• Notch is ungainly

You can hold on to your OnePlus 6 for at least one more generation. The phone is still one of the fastest in the market, and there’s nothing fundamentally new in the OnePlus 6T that warrants an upgrade. If anything, you’re better off with the OnePlus 6 if you care about wired audio.

OnePlus has followed a dual flagship release cadence for the last two years, and the strategy seems to be working for the company. As we’ve seen in years past, the fall refresh is more about tweaking a few elements rather than a wholesale overhaul, and that’s the case on the OnePlus 6T as well. With very little changing when it comes to the underlying hardware, let’s take a look if you should make the switch to OnePlus’ latest.

Should you upgrade from the OnePlus 6 to the OnePlus 6T?

OnePlus doesn’t really change a lot of the hardware elements with the T refresh, and as such, the overall design aesthetic as well as the specs are identical between the OnePlus 6 and 6T. The main changes with the 6T center around the fact that it now has a narrower cutout at the top of the display, and the traditional fingerprint sensor has made way for an in-display solution.

The 6T also has a slightly larger 6.41-inch display (versus the 6.28 inches on the OnePlus 6), which leads to a taller profile. One thing that’s different though is the width of the phone — the 6T is 0.6mm narrower than its predecessor, and that makes a lot of difference in real-world usage. It is also heavier thanks to the larger 3700mAh battery, and that also contributes to giving the device an added sense of heft.

The narrower notch up top isn’t nearly as annoying, and it’s far easier to ignore. And while the in-display sensor presents a novel new way to unlock the phone, it isn’t as fast or reliable as the standard module it’s replacing. Authentication using the optical in-display module usually takes well over a second, and I’ve found that it was particularly bothersome to use when the device was laid flat on a table.

The sensor also failed to recognize my fingerprints on several occasions, and if you were looking at the feature as a possible reason to upgrade, I’d recommend holding off for a few generations. The tech is very cool, but the implementation just isn’t there yet. As an alternative, face unlock on the 6T is just as accurate as the OnePlus 6, and continues to be one of the fastest in general on Android today.

The in-display sensor is very cool, but it just isn’t as fast as traditional fingerprint readers.

Aside from that, there isn’t much to differentiate the 6T from its predecessor. Both phones are powered by the Snapdragon 845 and come with 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and feature Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, AptX HD, and dual rear cameras. OnePlus is offering 128GB of storage as standard on the 6T, which more than negates the $20 price hike to $549.

The 6T also has Gorilla Glass 6 protection at the front and back, and I (thankfully) haven’t had a chance to test out its real-world effectiveness yet. But the Gorilla Glass 5 back on the OnePlus 6 weathered a few tumbles over the last five months without any issues, so I’m hopeful that the new version will be just as resilient.

One point of contention for fans of wired audio is the fact that the 6T no longer has a 3.5mm jack. It was an odd move for the company to make, but the industry in general is moving away from wired audio and OnePlus is the latest company to follow that trend.

OnePlus phones were never short on performance, and with both the 6 and 6T running the Snapdragon 845, you can be assured that there won’t be any slowdowns in day-to-day use. OnePlus is also taking advantage of the generous amount of RAM with a new feature called smart boost that caches data from frequently-used apps within the RAM to boost app load times. The feature is designed to help load games like PUBG faster, with OnePlus noting that it worked with a lot of app developers to optimize loading times on the 6T.

The overall software experience on both phones is near-identical, as is the performance.

For now, smart boost is limited to the 6T, but it should be making its way to other OnePlus phones shortly. Another area where things are identical between both phones is the software. With the OnePlus 6 picking up the Pie update, both devices are running the latest version of Android. OxygenOS continues to offer one of the best third-party software experiences on Android, and that hasn’t changed with the Pie update.

With the 6T sporting the same cameras as the 6, there isn’t any difference in this area as well. That said, OnePlus introduced a Nightscape mode on the 6T that staks several images to produce a more vivid image in low-light shooting scenarios.

Overall, the OnePlus 6T doesn’t offer anything drastically new that warrants an upgrade from the OnePlus 6. The in-display tech is still in its infancy and will take a few generations to get the same speed and accuracy as traditional fingerprint readers, and while the cutout is much smaller, that alone doesn’t justify paying for what is basically the same hardware. The OnePlus 6 is still one of the most capable phones in this segment, and the fact that it has a 3.5mm jack makes it the default choice for those interested in wired audio.

OnePlus 6T

Subtle upgrade

$549 at OnePlus

Same great formula with a few minor improvements.

With the OnePlus 6T, you get a much more palatable notch at the top of the display and an in-display fingerprint sensor, a first for the company. That said, the underlying hardware is identical to its predecessor, and there really isn’t a need to upgrade.

OnePlus 6

Great hardware

$529 at OnePlus

Still one of the fastest phones in the market today.

The OnePlus 6 has plenty of juice left, and with the phone debuting just five months ago, it has the latest hardware in the market today. Combine that with the fact that it has received the Pie update and the 3.5mm jack and you get a device that should hold its own well into 2019.