OnePlus 6
Shares rank 31 of 46 smartphones by recommenders
Cheap, well-supported phone that still handles everyday tasks and runs Linux well; the common caveat is failing parts like cameras and buttons with age.
7 people recommended OnePlus 6 in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 14 comments.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 4
The record
Recommended in 6 of 12 months
In 9 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 9 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 14% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 14 of the 18 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Mainline Linux and postmarketOS support
“OnePlus 6 comparatively is almost mainlined properly from start to finish”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux” “I'd say the OnePlus 6 is fully supported so it's one device at least”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux” “install postmarketOS on a Fairphone 5 or OnePlus 6”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “A new Android malware from Google” - Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Motorola GrapheneOS devices will be bootloader unlockable/relockable”
Cheap for its specs
“way better specs than anything Pine64 offers, you can get it for the fraction of the price”
Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: Which companies do you admire and why?” “you may get better performance / $ with a OnePlus 6T or other formerly-Android phone”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Android May Soon Restrict On-Device ADB” “They are sub $100 and its very well supported”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Half of Linux Users Stick with X11, Despite Years of Wayland Being Forced” Still meets everyday needs
“these older devices meet my needs perfectly anyway”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “LineageOS 23.2” “I can do a ton of things with it already”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Fairphone 6 and PostmarketOS working main camera”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Aging hardware with usability issues
“all of those devices have issues that a geek like me can accept”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?” “both the camera and buttons died on the 6”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Flet 1.0 – Build cross-platform apps in Python” “they all stayed 80% usable”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?”
Other smartphones people recommend
The four most recommended other smartphones, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone | 438 | 190 | 789 | 36% | 12 | 7 yrs97 people | — |
| Fairphone | 110 | 42 | 94 | 54% | 12 | 3 yrs14 people | — |
| iPhone 13 mini | 105 | 32 | 44 | 70% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Apple iPhone Pro | 90 | 45 | 138 | 39% | 12 | 4 yrs24 people | — |
| OnePlus 6This page | 7 | 1 | 4 | 64% | 6 | — | — |
Also compared with iPhone SE, Jolla Phone, Nokia N900 and Apple iPhone 12 mini.
What people said
14 of the 18 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“way better specs than anything Pine64 offers, you can get it for the fraction of the price”
“all of those devices have issues that a geek like me can accept”
“they all stayed 80% usable”
“both the camera and buttons died on the 6”
“I can do a ton of things with it already”
“OnePlus 6 comparatively is almost mainlined properly from start to finish”
“I'd say the OnePlus 6 is fully supported so it's one device at least”
“you may get better performance / $ with a OnePlus 6T or other formerly-Android phone”
“The OP6 was their last good phone which actually lived up to their "flagship killer" premise without compromising on features.”
“install postmarketOS on a Fairphone 5 or OnePlus 6”
“pmOS runs well on a couple OnePlus phones (6, 6T”
“Without any additional security patches something like the 6T will sound problematic for a lot of people here.”
“these older devices meet my needs perfectly anyway”
“They are sub $100 and its very well supported”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.