The best-kept secret in smartphones is coming to a US carrier for the first time ever

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

The OnePlus 6T will be sold by T-Mobile. Pictured above: The OnePlus 6.

• The OnePlus 6T will be the first smartphone from OnePlus to be sold by a US carrier.
• It could also cost $550, $20 more than the current OnePlus 6.
• Despite no previous availability at US carrier stores, OnePlus phones have an incredibly dedicated fanbase that line up around city blocks around the world to buy the newest model.
• Availability in T-Mobile stores will surely boost the popularity of OnePlus, as its phones come with lower price tags with the same - or better - performance than competing phones from Apple and Samsung.

The OnePlus 6T, the upcoming smartphone from the small smartphone maker OnePlus, will be sold by T-Mobile when it's released, according to CNET.

It'll be the first OnePlus phone to be sold by a US carrier.

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That's a significant move for OnePlus, as most Americans buy their smartphones from their carrier stores rather than directly from the phone maker.

T-Mobile will sell a model of the OnePlus 6T that's optimized for its network, including a new band that T-Mobile promises will deliver "better and faster" coverage, according to the report.

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

Otherwise, the regular unlocked models of the OnePlus 6T will continue to be sold from the phone maker itself from popup stores and online as usual, and will be compatible with global networks that use the GSM standard. In the US, that includes AT&T and T-Mobile, but not Verizon and Sprint, which use the CDMA standard.

The OnePlus 6T could cost $550, $20 more than the current OnePlus 6 that costs $530. But the price isn't finalized, according to CNET.

While OnePlus phones are popular among their fans, chances are that someone wouldn't know what a "OnePlus" is if you stopped and asked them on the street.

Part of the reason why you might never see a OnePlus phone on the street in the US is because they've never been available at carrier stores. Indeed, most Americans still buy their smartphones from their carriers, and a smartphone's popularity is often dictated by it's availability at carrier stores. OnePlus phones also aren't compatible with Verizon, the US carrier with the most subscriptions.

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

Despite this, OnePlus has an incredibly dedicated fanbase that lines up around city blocks around the world to buy the new model, much like iPhone fans line up to buy the new model. OnePlus phones are one of the only Android phones that gets people to line up.

Fans covet the lower price tags and performance of OnePlus phones, which cost hundreds less than the competition from Apple and Samsung, and sometimes even exceed their performance. OnePlus phones also have excellent design, and they run on a largely unaltered version of the Android operating system that's especially popular among Android enthusiasts.

When a customer walks into a T-Mobile store to buy a new phone, the OnePlus 6T's price tag, specs, and design are likely to be a tempting option compared to pricier devices on display.

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