OnePlus Waterdrop Test story - a subtle hint at OnePlus 6T notch design?

Last month, OnePlus shared behind-the-scenes details on how the mirror black OnePlus 6 was designed – if you missed that article, you can read it by heading here. And now, the Chinese company has shared another interesting tidbit related to the OnePlus 6 mirror black variant.

According to a OnePlus Product Manager Vito L., Jade T. – one of the industrial designers at OnePlus – was involved in the designing of the OnePlus 6 mirror black model. The designer shared a test they performed while designing the variant – it’s called the Waterdrop Test.

Here’s how Vito explained it:

Here’s how it works: take a single drop of water and apply it to the back of the OnePlus 6 Mirror Black. Now take another drop of water and apply it to a non-absorbent surface (the surface of your desk, on a dinner plate, etc.). Notice the size of the waterdrop. Is it flat like a frisbee? Or does it bead like a marble? The difference, as Jade explained, comes down to the “wettability” of the surface

On an ideal surface, Vito says in the post, the droplet will look as it’s shown in the following image:

As for the significance of this test, Vito said:

Just close your eyes and run your fingers over the Mirror Black surface – the smoothness gives you that extra-premium hand feel, while the subtle curve and rigidity makes the phone easier to hold and more resilient to impact. Jade conducted the water test on over 100 Mirror Black prototypes before selecting the one you see today

So that’s the insight the company provided about the OnePlus 6 mirror black version. While the effort is certainly appreciable, it’s difficult to ignore the use of the word ‘waterdrop’ in the name of the test.

For those who are unaware, ‘waterdrop’ or ‘water drop’ is the new buzz word in the smartphone industry. It’s a type of notch, which itself is a trend that arrived last year after iPhone X launched (technically though, the Essential Phone was the first smartphone to sport a notch).

Waterdrop notch, as the name suggests, looks like a drop of water. Opinions may vary, but many people are of the view that waterdrop notches are more cool looking than regular notches. Some of Oppo’s recent devices like F9, F9 Pro, and R17 come with this type of notch.

Other manufacturers like vivo and Huawei are following suite. So the waterdrop notch trend is surely catching up. The question is, will OnePlus also hop on the waterdrop bandwagon?

Well, the OnePlus 6T is now all but officially confirmed. Concept renders for the device that made it to news headline recently also showed a waterdrop notch. There also are reasons to believe that the Oppo R17 – which comes with a waterdrop notch – will serve as a basis for the OnePlus 6T when it comes to design.

And now, this strategically timed Waterdrop Test story, if not anything else, lends further weight to the speculation that the OnePlus 6T will come with a waterdrop notch. What’s your take on this? Do let us know your thoughts in comments below.

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