- OnePlus announced its newest flagship during a virtual press event on Wednesday, as well as a new pair of wireless earphones.
- The OnePlus 8T offers a few notable upgrades over the OnePlus 8 that was released this spring, including a 120Hz display, a slightly bigger battery, a four-lens camera system, and 65W wired charging.
- The best version of the OnePlus 8T costs $749 and is available for preorder — it will ship to buyers on the same day Apple’s first two iPhone 12 phones are released.
Fall brings over a slew of new Android handsets each year, including the latest “T” series phone from OnePlus. The Chinese smartphone vendor refines its OnePlus phones from the first half of the year, and the OnePlus 8T is the latest addition to its catalog. If you skipped the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro this spring, then you have to check out the OnePlus 8T that was just unveiled. Mind you, there’s no Pro version of the 8T, so that’s all you get this fall from the “Never Settle” company. That said, Google should be embarrassed to be selling a mid-range phone like the Pixel 5 for $700 when the impressive OnePlus 8T costs just $50 more.
Priced at $749, the 12GB/256GB OnePlus 8T fits right in between the cheapest iPhone 12 version and the iPhone 12 that most people will buy — that’s the $729 iPhone 12 mini and the $829 iPhone 12. It’s also $50 more expensive than the original $699 OnePlus 8. A version with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will also be available in some markets with a slimmed-down price tag. The OnePlus 8T launches on October 23rd (on OnePlus.com and Amazon), on the same day the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro hit stores, but preorders begin right away, several days ahead of Apple’s own preorders. Unlike other “T” series launches, OnePlus is now going head to head against Apple, though this is a competition that OnePlus is unlikely to win.
Android fans who are never interested in Apple’s iPhones should have the OnePlus 8T on their shortlist. Aside from the 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS3.1 storage, the OnePlus 8T features the Snapdragon 865 processor from Qualcomm, a 6.55-inch OLED hole-punch screen with in-display fingerprint sensor, a coveted 120Hz refresh rate, and 3D Corning Gorilla Glass, quad-camera system, 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 support, 65W Warp Charge battery charging technology, a “multi-layered” cooling system (vapor chamber, graphite, thermally conductive silicone), and 4,500 mAh battery.
Comparatively, the OnePlus 8 features a 90Hz display and a 4,300 mAh battery that supports 30W charging speeds. The OnePlus 8 also has just three cameras compared to four on the T version.
The OnePlus 8T camera features a 48-megapixel main camera (OIS, f/1.7 0.8 μm pixel size), 16-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens (123-degree field of view, f/2.2), 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel monochrome lens. Other features include an improved stabilization system and a new Video Portrait mode. The selfie camera has a 16-megapixel sensor (f/2.4, 1.0 μm pixel size).
The phone ships with OnePlus’s newest OxygenOS 11 operating system that brings over all the regular Android 11 features you expect, as well as a cleaner UI that should simplify one-handed operation. The Always On Display feature will let you display various elements, including the time, date, notifications, battery status, messages, and even the number of unlocks so far. Several AOD customizations are available, including a partnership with Snapchat to deliver support for a Bitmoji AOD, your personal avatar.
OnePlus also announced a new pair of wireless earphones during its virtual press event on Wednesday, the OnePlus Buds Z that were leaked well ahead of the event. The earphones will be available to order on November 2nd for $45.99. A Special Edition Steven Harrington model will launch for $59.99 at a later date.
