The OnePlus 6 was unveiled by OnePlus yesterday featuring a glass design, notched display, and top-notch internals. Despite coming with a new design, the OnePlus 6 lacks any kind of official IP certification and is not water-resistant. What about IR blaster then? Does the OnePlus 6 feature one?

Sadly, just like all previous OnePlus phones, the OnePlus 6 also lacks an IR blaster. This means that you cannot use the phone to control other electronic devices like TV, music player, AC around you unless and until they are of the ‘smart’ kind. OnePlus is among the very company that takes user feedback seriously. Thus, it is disappointing to see the company not take a note of its user feedback and realizing how useful an IR blaster is on a smartphone.

With the OnePlus 6 also lacking an IR blaster, your options of buying a flagship or a premium smartphone with one are very limited. Right now, the only major handsets on the market that come with an IR blaster include the Huawei P20/Pro and the Honor 10. All other major flagships launched this year like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and LG G7 lack an IR blaster. It is quite ironic that Samsung does not include an IR blaster on its flagship devices anymore as it was the company that kickstarted the trend with the Galaxy S4 and other companies followed suit.