A Supercharged, Gimmick-Free, Android Experience

Taken at face worth, the OnePlus 8T is a powerful new Android handset that provides a quick, clean and gimmick-free smartphone expertise.

Boasting a fluid show, crazy-fast charging and glass supplies that give it a premium really feel there’s an apparent enchantment to the system. It’s the most recent launch from a model that has greater than confirmed its merchandise as worthy opponents to equally priced smartphones from know-how giants akin to Apple, Samsung, Huawei and Google.

The 8T, which grew to become available for purchase within the U.S. market as we speak (October 23), is priced at a reasonably aggressive $749 and comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The mannequin has two coloration choices, often called Aquamarine Green and Lunar Silver.

On paper, it looks like an especially simple promote: a handy guide a rough 5G-enabled Snapdragon 865 processor, Android 11, 120 Hz refresh fee, quad digital camera setup, 4500mAh battery and warp charging that powers the cellphone from useless to full in about 40 minutes.

In actuality, the 8T launch is a bit more sophisticated as it is not solely competing with rivals just like the Pixel 5 ($699) and iPhone 12 ($799), but in addition its personal siblings, sandwiched between the cheaper OnePlus 8 ($599) and the highest tier OnePlus 8 Pro ($799).

If you low cost the competitors and take a look at the OnePlus 8T in a vacuum, nonetheless, you might be unlikely to be disenchanted. It lacks a function as quirky because the Pixel’s movement sense gesture management (however who makes use of that, actually?), and its digital camera system could not beat a few of its friends, however new 8T cellphone affords a chic person expertise total.

Also read: Google Reveals New Pixel Smartphone

Across a number of days of testing (evaluation system offered to Newsweek by OnePlus), the 8T impressed as a day by day driver after switching over from a Google Pixel 4 XL. If you might be solely within the top-line specs, listed below are some standout 8T options:

Dimensions: 6.33 x 2.92 x 0.33 inches (Weight: 188g).
Build: Glass back and front (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum body.
Screen: 6.55 inches Fluid AMOLED, 120Hz, 1080 x 2400 pixels.
Operating system: Android 11, OxygenOS 11.
Chip: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865.
Camera setup: 48 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (extensive), 16 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 123˚ (ultrawide)1/3.6″, 1.0 micrometers
5 MP, f/2.4, (macro) 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
Video: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps
Selfie camera: 16 MP, f/2.4, (wide)
Colors: Aquamarine Green, Lunar Silver
Battery: 4500 mAh, non-removable, fast-charging 65W
Under-display fingerprint sensor, Dual SIM

The 8T screen is big and bright, but not so wide it can only be operated with two hands. The 6.55-inch diagonal display is nice and vivid, with small bezels and a whopping 120Hz refresh rate, which is the number of times the display refreshes every one second.

Broadly, the higher the refresh rate the smoother the viewing experience—and while it is easy to dismiss as marketing mumbo jumbo the screen was indeed very smooth when browsing social media and gaming. High refresh rates have become a bit of a OnePlus USP in recent years, and it certainly helps the 8T to stand out from the crowd.

For comparison, the Pixel 5 offers 90Hz and the iPhone 12 has 60 Hz. Could I personally tell the difference between 90Hz and 120Hz? No, but I’m still glad it exists.
Aesthetically, the 8T is a good-looking handset. I liked the Aquamarine Green color the company sent out for review, and it was nice to have a flat-edged display instead of the curved screens that have become so common on premium devices of late.

The Gorilla Glass back did not appear to retain fingerprints and the rear camera module, while popping out a little, wasn’t too obtrusive. Same goes for the pinhole selfie camera at the front, which I personally liked as it gave more room for the display.

The screen provides nice haptic feedback upon pressing, and a neat button on the right side of the device lets you quickly toggle between silent, vibrate or sounds. The finger scanning security tech—under the display—also worked without a hitch.

Aside from the screen tech, the second biggest selling point is how fast that 4500mAh 8T battery can be charged using its USB Type-C 65W charging pack. In well under an hour, the phone can go from nothing to full. It’s hard to go back to anything else. The battery easily lasted a full day during testing, although wouldn’t last two.

Inside the 8T sits a Snapdragon 856 chip, which allows you 5G connectivity if you are in an area that provides it. For now, it’s not a huge consumer selling point, as we are still a good bit away from the next generation technology rolling out properly. The 8T doesn’t use the latest 856 Plus processor, but was more than capable during testing and never stuttered in use. Performance overall was snappy, fast and responsive.

The customized version of Android 11 running the 8T, Oxygen OS, was also pleasingly clean. Apps open extremely quickly, as do tabs on the browser, and it has some neat features built in, including a dark mode and always-on display. There are a lot of settings to play with, too, including ambient display, adaptive brightness and some simple quick gestures, including a way to take screenshots with a three-finger swipe.

Android’s permissions manager is also still great, letting you see which apps are given access to your location, microphone, files, contacts, camera and logs etc. All in, the Oxygen OS is bloatware-free and gimmick free, with a calm and refined vibe.

Even coming from the Pixel’s camera, I ultimately found little to complain about with the 8Ts quad array of lenses. It’s not amazing, but it’s good enough. The 48 megapixel main camera did well in good light and having the 16MP ultrawide is always welcome.

The 8T has a “nightscape” mode that can take pictures in low-light scenarios alongside time-lapse, panorama and slow motion capabilities. Unfortunately it lacks a telephoto lens as found in the 8 Pro, instead offering a 10x zoom that frankly is pretty bad, leaving images a pixelated mess. If you are buying a smartphone to take a lot of pictures, you may be better off with the Pixel 5, but I would say that for general users taking photos of their family, food or pets, the cameras would more than suffice. And, like its prior phone models, OnePlus is likely to improve the system with future software updates.

OnePlus 8T photo main lens — The OnePlus 8T’s fundamental lens produces a effective image in good lighting.
Newsweek

There are some further downsides, however nothing that I’d think about a deal-breaker. The 8T would not do wi-fi charging, would not enable exterior storage and would not have an IP68 water and mud resistance ranking. Oh, it has no headphone jack.

Is the OnePlus 8T a great cellphone? Yes. But is it a nice cellphone? Sure. Is it a cellphone you can purchase? It relies upon. At $749, the competitors in 2020 is excessive.

For anybody involved with finances, the Pixel 5 affords a very stable Android expertise with higher photo-taking specs from $699. The iPhone 12 hit the market as we speak priced at $799, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE can also be $699. There’s in all probability not sufficient within the 8T to justify upgrading from the six-month-old 8, whereas the high-end 8 Pro is just $50 extra. Reports counsel the cheaper OnePlus Nord (at the moment costing the equal of $480 within the U.Ok.) will quickly be out there within the U.S., complicated issues additional.

The U.Ok. has the choice of a wallet-friendly 8GB of RAM/128GB storage variant, and it will have been good to have seen a extra inexpensive model for the U.S. market.

The OnePlus 8T shouldn’t be revolutionary and never the most cost effective, however succeeds in three areas: display, quick charging, working system. If these are your priorities, its a thumbs up.