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Hands-on with the best smartphone you've never heard of - everything that's new with the OnePlus 6T
Hands-on with the best smartphone you've never heard of - everything that's new with the OnePlus 6T
Antonio Villas-BoasOct 29, 2018, 21:41 IST
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Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
The new OnePlus 6T smartphone was announced by OnePlus on Monday, but I've had the device in-hand for a few days, so I can tell you about it.
OnePlus had originally planned to announce the OnePlus 6T on Tuesday, but Apple's announcement of its October event on the same day led OnePlus to reschedule its event to Monday to prevent being overshadowed by Apple. It must have been a difficult decision for OnePlus, but the company did have some big announcements that would have likely played second fiddle to Apple's event had it kept its original Tuesday plans.
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Apart from announcing the OnePlus 6T itself, OnePlus also announced that it's new device will be carried and sold by a US carrier for the first time in its history. That's a major deal for the company, as smartphone popularity in the US is often dictated by availability in carriers' stores.
That's not to say that OnePlus phones aren't popular - they're the most popular smartphones that a lot of Americans have likely never heard of. Release after release, crowds of people line up to buy the new OnePlus phone outside of temporary popup stores. I went to the OnePlus 6 popup store a few months ago, and while there was a line down the block, passersby didn't know about OnePlus.
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The OnePlus 6T is also the first OnePlus phone to become compatible with the largest carrier in the US, Verizon. As usual, it's also compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile, too.
The OnePlus 6T will start at $550 and will be available to buy from T-Mobile and from the online OnePlus store on November 1. For T-Mobile customers in New York City, the Times Square T-Mobile store will be selling the OnePlus 6T three days before it's official release starting at 5 p.m. on Monday.
The OnePlus 6T's notch is the smallest and most tasteful there is compared to other notched phones, like the iPhone XS and Google Pixel 3 XL.
The screen itself is among the biggest on any smartphone.
The OnePlus 6T has a 6.4-inch display, which is on the larger end compared to most smartphones you can buy.
With that said, the OnePlus 6T isn't as large a device overall as other phones with similar or smaller screens. As a result of its narrower bezels, it's actually slightly smaller than the Pixel 3 XL, which comes with a 6.3-inch display.
Compared to previous OnePlus devices, the OnePlus 6T is on the heavier side, which is a bit of shame, but it could come as a result of new features that I'll get into later.
It has a familiar design, but sleeker.
The OnePlus 6T's back is a little bit of a throwback to the time when most phones had fingerprint sensors on the front. Indeed, now that the fingerprint sensor has returned to the front with the OnePlus 6T, the back of the phone no longer has one, making for a sleeker look.
There's no headphone jack.
This one's going to be a little controversial for some people: OnePlus said that 59% of its users were already using wireless Bluetooth headphones, and the company made the decision to remove the headphone jack.
Removing the headphone jack also allowed OnePlus to include the in-display fingerprint scanner, OnePlus founder Pete Lau told Business Insider in an interview.
For those who like to stay tethered to their favorite pair of wired headphones, a USB-C adapter will be included with the OnePlus 6T.
The OnePlus 6T has a bigger battery than previous models.
The OnePlus 6T has a 3,700mAh battery that's larger than the 3,300mAh batteries from its previous devices. So far, battery life has been impressive.
That extra battery size could have something to do with the extra weight in the OnePlus 6T. If that's the case, the extra weight is worth it.
There are some overall camera improvements and new camera features.
The OnePlus 6T has a dual-lens camera system, with the primary 16-megapixel lens acting as the main camera, and the secondary 20-megapixel lens helping with the depth of field for portrait mode shots.
While the hardware is similar to the previous OnePlus 6, OnePlus tuned some of the software for better shots, especially those using HDR. Indeed, the OnePlus 6T's HDR did very well in the photo above by revealing details in darker shadowy areas on the tree without brightening up those areas too much. Low-light performance has also been improved.
There's also a new Nightscape feature for better low-light shots of cityscapes, and a studio lighting feature for portrait mode shots that's designed to provide more even lighting for faces.
The OnePlus 6T will be the first OnePlus phone that will be available to buy from a US carrier. It's also the first OnePlus phone to be compatible with Verizon's network.
The OnePlus 6T will be available to buy from T-Mobile in the US, and it's the first OnePlus phone to be available to buy from a US carrier. The OnePlus 6T and its surprisingly low price tag is a perfect match for T-Mobile and its customers who enjoy their carrier's lower fees.
On T-Mobile, the OnePlus 6T will start at $580 for the 8 GB RAM model with 128 GB of storage, $30 more than the base 6 GB RAM OnePlus 6T if you bought it from OnePlus itself. The company will let T-Mobile customers trade in their old devices for a $300 credit until November 1. That essentially reduces the price of the OnePlus 6T to $280, which is an insane value. That's around $11 per month for a 24-month installment plan.
What's missing in the OnePlus 6T compared to other top Android devices.
The OnePlus 6T excludes features like wireless charging, an official water-resistance rating, and stereo speakers, which have generally become standard on most high-end smartphones.
It might seem odd to release a smartphone without these features in 2018, but you have to remember that the OnePlus 6T starts at $550 compared to the $700+ price tags on other high-end smartphones.
About the water-resistance, specifically: While the OnePlus 6T doesn't have an official rating, the company is confident that the phone can withstand light splashes, like rain.
Apart from the above, the OnePlus 6T shares a lot of specs with the OnePlus 6.
The OnePlus 6T has similar specs as the OnePlus 6, including:
The Snapdragon 845 chip from mobile chipmaker Qualcomm
6 GB to 8 GB of RAM for smooth performance
Fast charging with OnePlus' Dash Charging brick, which keeps all the heat from charging away from the phone itself. Overall, less heat in a smartphone is better
1080p resolution display, which still looks great despite the sharper resolutions on other high-end smartphones. To note, the OnePlus 6T has a higher-resolution display than the new iPhone XR
It's $20 more for the base 6 GB RAM model, but you get twice the storage at 128 GB as the OnePlus 6, which came with 64 GB of storage
The 8 GB RAM model with 128 GB of storage is $580 like last the OnePlus 6 with equivalent specs, which is the model that T-Mobile will also be selling
The 8 GB RAM model with 256 GB of storage will cost $630, like the OnePlus 6 with equivalent specs
Still, while much of the meat might taste the same as the OnePlus 6, the OnePlus 6T certainly has some extra flavor from the extra features and updates.
