OnePlus 8T Review

OnePlus 8T is the fourth phone from OnePlus in just about four months. That is quite unprecedented coming from the brand that likes to focus on one series at a time. But this year, the OnePlus 8T comes just a few weeks after the new OnePlus Nord budget phone.

OnePlus 8T price in India: Rs 42,999 (8GB RAM/128GB storage); Rs 45,999 (12GB RAM and 256GB storage)

What is new in the OnePlus 8T?

The OnePlus 8T has a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display, which makes it a bit smaller than the OnePlus 8 Pro. However, this display is brighter and goes up to 1100 nits if the need arises.

While the phone has a clear OnePlus look, it is less flashy than the OnePlus 8 Pro with a glass back and frames that offer an anodized aluminum finish. The stylish phone gets a camera module which is the largest OnePlus has ever had, though this too offers a quad-camera with a different mix of lenses. In the front, there is a single punch hole camera while the buttons are the same as other OnePlus phones.

One big change is the 65Watt Warp Charger, the fastest ever from OnePlus and certainly the fastest I have used. And yes, this phone comes with Oxygen OS running Android 11 out of the box.

OnePlus 8T design

The OnePlus 8T continues to feature an aluminum frame with a glass back, but the design is very different compared to the OnePlus 8. The sides of the display aren’t curved anymore, which makes the front look less striking, but it’s more practical. It’s easier to see and interact with content at the edges of the display. There’s no vignetting effect which is typically seen on curved-edge displays. The second thing I noticed is that the OnePlus 8T is heavier (188g vs 180g) and thicker (8.4mm vs 8mm) compared to the 8. The exact reasons are unclear but this new model feels top-heavy even without a case. Prolonged one-handed use can get fatiguing quickly.

The new Aquamarine Green colorway looks great, and despite it having a glossy finish, fingerprints aren’t a big problem. The OnePlus 8T also comes in a Lunar Silver colorway, which is said to have a matte-frosted finish. The camera module shifted to the left instead of being in the middle, and its rounded corners match the softer contours of the rest of the phone.

Display

OnePlus has made some subtle improvements to the display too. It’s the same size and resolution as that of the OnePlus 8, at 6.55 inches and full-HD+, but it now supports a 120Hz refresh rate just like the 8 Pro. OnePlus claims the touch sampling rate has also been bumped up to 240Hz (from 180Hz on the 8), for better touch response. The display is also HDR10+ certified and has a JNCD color accuracy rating of under 0.55 as well as a maximum brightness of 1,100nits. OnePlus says the 8T has a slimmer chin since the display connector now bends behind the panel. I don’t see much of a difference (if any) when comparing the 8T and the 8 side by side. Finally, there’s a cutout in the upper-left corner for the single selfie camera.

performance

OnePlus usually uses Qualcomm’s slightly speedier ‘+’ SoC variants for its refreshes but sadly, we have no such luck with the OnePlus 8T. It continues to sport the standard Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC. It will be available in two configurations at the time of launch — 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for Rs. 42,999, and 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for Rs. 45,999.

The OnePlus 8T uses UFS 3.1 flash storage, compared to UFS 3.0 in the OnePlus 8. According to the Androbench test, though, there doesn’t seem to be a big difference in reading/write speeds. However, the OnePlus 8T still uses LPDDR4X RAM and not DDR5 RAM like in the OnePlus 8 Pro.

Other features include an in-display fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, face recognition, 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and NFC. The OnePlus 8T also supports multiple satellite navigation systems and the expected suite of sensors, plus a flicker detection sensor in the camera module.

The display looks superb, with punchy colors and plenty of options to calibrate it to your liking. The 120Hz refresh rate makes every little system animation and gesture feel snappy and responsive. The stereo speakers are loud and the sound is clear. HDR10 videos looked great when played from YouTube or locally. Netflix wasn’t able to detect the OnePlus 8T display’s HDR capability, but that should be easy to fix with an update.

Battery

OnePlus has padded the 8T with a slightly larger 4,500mAh battery, compared to the 8’s 4,300mAh. More importantly, this phone supports much faster charging. The OnePlus 8T is the first OnePlus device to support Warp Charge 65, which is the OnePlus trademark. You get a slightly redesigned charger with a USB Type-C output.

Fingerprint and face recognition worked swiftly for unlocking the phone. I found the in-display fingerprint sensor to be quick and rarely encountered a misread. Face recognition also worked well, although I wish there was a ‘raise-to-wake’ option for a more seamless experience.

cameras

There are a lot of cameras on the back of the OnePlus 8T. You now get four rear lenses instead of three, but most of the functionality remains the same. The cameras are a 16MP, f/2.2, 123-degree wide-angle; a 48MP, f/1.7 main camera that defaults to a 12MP mode; a 5MP macro camera; and a 2MP monochrome sensor. On the front, there is a 16MP unit. The OnePlus 8T continues to use the Sony IMX586 48-megapixel, the optically stabilized sensor for its primary camera — a sensor we’ve seen on OnePlus’ 7-series phones, the OnePlus Nord, and even several budget phones such as the Redmi Note 7 Pro from 2019.

There’s no reason for the macro and monochrome sensors that I can find, and that’s frustrating. I hate gimmick cameras, even though manufacturers have told me that they often basically come for free. What people want are zoom and good low-light performance; the number of people who want a 1-inch-to-focus dedicated macro lens is vanishingly small, and I can’t figure out what the monochrome sensor even does.

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Should you buy the OnePlus 8T?

The OnePlus 8T is a good upgrade for all OnePlus users who are on phones that came before the OnePlus 7. I won’t be surprised if OnePlus 8 buyers feel a bit shortchanged after this one because it is, by all means, a better phone, coming just months after they got theirs. OnePlus has tried its best to leave some edge for the OnePlus 8 Pro, but this comes in the middle. In fact, with the performance of the past Ts, the OnePlus 6T, 7T and now the 8T, consumers might just be inclined to wait for this and not buy the base model, which also faces heat from the more affordable Nord series.

The OnePlus 8T is not a huge leap on any of the OnePlus phones that have come recently but clearly is a better phone with more time spent on perfecting the hardware and software. This is now one of the top options available for those hunting for an Android flagship and the 5G just makes it future proof.

Buy Now: OnePlus 8T 5G

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