The main or even the only reason for launching OnePlus 5T could be the display with 18:9 aspect ratio. Because in 2017, full view display has been in trend and OnePlus seemed to be lagging behind other companies. Even though the specifications of OnePlus 5 are still strong, it hardly attracts customers in terms of looks, especially in the face of current challenges. In such a situation, how could OnePlus risk being left behind. That too when this company is known for selling only one model at a time.
The news of OnePlus 5T having Snapdragon 836 processor turned out to be a complete rumor. Because Qualcomm has not launched any such chipset till now. The new smartphone also uses Snapdragon 835 processor which is the best mobile chipset to date. Like OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, there is nothing new in terms of performance in this mid-cycle upgrade. One variant has 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage and the other variant has 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage.
OnePlus has kept up with the trend by offering a taller screen. But the company has failed to make a phone without borders. The edges of the front glass are curved. There are still clear borders around the screen. We have seen something similar with the Oppo F5, Vivo V7 Plus and Honor 9i. Interestingly, this phone will be available only in black colour. It is possible that OnePlus will also introduce new colour variants in the future, as it has been doing in the past.
The 6.01-inch AMOLED screen has a resolution of 1080×2160 pixels. We believe this setup will become the standard at this price point. The screen is bright and vibrant. We didn’t face any issues while using it. Interested buyers will be happy to know that the OnePlus 5’s jelly scroll effect was missing from the OnePlus 5T.
The location of the fingerprint sensor has changed. Until now it was present under the display, but now it has moved to the back. It is easier to reach and works faster. OnePlus has also used face recognition technology in the phone. You will be able to unlock the handset using the front camera of the OnePlus 5T. It works just like the Oppo F5. It takes a little time to setup. But after that, unlocking the phone becomes fast and easy.
We had only one complaint with OnePlus 5 that the outer edges of the rear camera were getting worn out easily. It seems that this time the company has removed this shortcoming. The bulge of the camera does not look awkward. If seen, now it is closer to the design of iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus.
At the bottom is the USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm audio socket and a large speaker grill. On the left is OnePlus’ trademark OnePlus Alert slider that lets you quickly switch to Do Not Disturb mode. Apart from this, the volume buttons are also on the right. There are two nano-SIM slots on the right and the power button is also on the same side. Storage cannot be expanded, so there is no microSD card slot.
Apart from the screen, a big difference between both the flagship devices of OnePlus is the dual camera setup. In the new smartphone, the secondary camera present on the rear is now responsible for giving better performance in low light. You will get a 20 megapixel sensor along with 16 megapixels on the rear. Both have the same aperture f / 1.7. In low light, the camera app will automatically switch to the secondary rear camera, so that the performance is better. Due to having two cameras, there is support for portrait mode. We will tell you in detail about its photo quality only after reviewing the OnePlus 5T.
On the software front, it’s disappointing to note that the OnePlus 5T still runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, with the company’s own OxygenOS 4.7 on top. The company has promised to release an Android 8.0 update in early 2018. OxygenOS still has a lot of customization options, but the experience is almost stock Android.
We will soon come up with a detailed review of the OnePlus 5T. During this time, we will discuss in detail about the phone’s camera, battery, screen and performance.
(Please note that our correspondent’s airfare and hotel expenses for the launch event were borne by OnePlus.)