Design :
Turning to design, the OnePlus 5T is essentially the same as its predecessor, but still recognizably new. The new 6-inch screen occupies a much larger amount of the front of the device, which is a welcome change for 2017. Because of this, the fingerprint reader has now been moved to the back. This will almost certainly be a controversial move, but it was necessary in order to maintain the form factor OnePlus wanted to utilize.
Even though OnePlus is packing a huge display in a body that isn’t much larger than the display itself, the device doesn’t feel too big. Everything in Oxygen OS scales nicely to the new 18:9 aspect ratio, and you probably wouldn’t notice a difference in content unless you booted up a video and saw the option to expand it to cover the whole display.
The camera bump is now slightly more pronounced, since the company no longer had room to fit all the components behind the top bezel. While this change is definitely noticeable, it isn’t a deterrent by any means, and the edges are now rounded as opposed to the sharper angles housing the OnePlus 5 camera.
While the rest of the specs might make you think this camera is exactly the same as before, it’s actually one of the major changes in this iteration. OnePlus has replaced the 1.6x optical telephoto lens with a 1x 20 MP shooter that uses groups of four pixels to capture more light and apparently do better in low light circumstances.
Besides these changes, the body is almost exactly the same. It uses the same aluminum alloy shell and has the same antenna lines as the 5, but the body is just a tiny bit bigger. You’ve still got the same tactile power button and volume rockers, and the hardware-based notification switch returns with the same satisfying clicky feel.
If you haven’t held a OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 5T before, I really suggest you do. While most affordable phones settle for plastic housings and cheap materials, the OnePlus 5T feels every bit if not more premium than other flagships on the market. The 5T retains the ultra-slim and polished chassis of the OnePlus 5 as well as the 3,300 mAh battery that fared well in the OnePlus 5.
We wanted to give a special mention to OnePlus’ dedication to first party accessories – we were lucky enough to have a number of cases included with the phone and each one has a high quality feel while adding a bit of texture to the phone’s smooth metal housing. One particularly flashy red silicone cover makes the phone really stand out, but our unit has been clad in the Sandstone case that serves as a bit of a throwback to OnePlus’ previous, arguably more unique, smartphone designs.
As I mentioned earlier, the specs are the same as the OnePlus 5 from earlier this year, because Qualcomm still has not announced their new flagship mobile processor. Nevertheless, the Snapdragon 835 and 6-8 GB of RAM tear through just about anything you can throw at them.
It did seem a bit curious that OnePlus would release a new phone just to update the aspect ratio of the screen, but for many people on the fence about purchasing a OnePlus 5 this might just be the tipping point they needed.
Display :
The biggest selling point of this device over the OnePlus 5 is obviously the display, so it only seems fair that we cover that in a bit more detail.
The OnePlus 5T is using a 6″ 1080p Optic AMOLED panel from Samsung with a Diamond Pentile arrangement, and I have had very few problems with it. The lowest brightness setting gets down to just 2.1 nits, which is dark enough that I can’t see it at all outside, but I’m happy the setting exists since I love to read in bed at night.
You don’t have to worry about using the OnePlus 5T outside either, since this is one of the most contrasty displays on the market. The maximum brightness caps out at around 440 nits, which is pretty average, but the sunlight contrast ratio is where it really shines, only being beat out by the iPhone X in lab testing done by GSM Arena.
Some features of the display will be familiar, while others have been updated to align with the updated OxygenOS look. For example, the 5T’s version of an Ambient Display is really easy on the eyes and brings up an elegant readout of any notification that comes through. The one gripe that could be leveled against this feature is that it wasn’t converted into an Always on Display, a la Samsung – after all, this is an AMOLED screen.
Another feature that has been a favorite is the Reading Mode, returning once again from the OnePlus 5. It makes the display black and white, but with a color temperature that makes for comfortable reading of websites, apps, and even e-books. It’s the best companion for the Amazon Kindle application, allowing me to leave my actual Kindle behind once in a while.
I’m honestly really pleased with this display. You might say that OnePlus should have included a 2K display since the technology is now pretty standard in flagships, but I’ll happily take the ultra-competitive price and battery life over the higher resolution. You probably shouldn’t do mobile VR on this thing, but for people not incredibly interested in that, this display works just beautifully.
If you’re not satisfied with the display in it’s default state, OnePlus gives users a variety of options to tune it to your liking. You can use the sRGB mode to get a more color-accurate experience, or use the color temperature sliders to find a warmth that works for you. It’s this kind of customization that makes us love OnePlus devices, along with the ultra-customizable but still very simplistic Oxygen OS.
Camera :
For the OnePlus 5T, OnePlus removed the telephoto 1.6x secondary camera in favor of a 20 MP 1x camera that uses groups of four pixels to perform better in low light. They’ve retained the quick-jump 2x zoom button from the OnePlus 5, though this time it is all being handled via software as opposed to the mix of optical and software-assisted zoom in the OnePlus 5. This change is a trade-off you’re seriously going to have to consider for yourself, since low light performance vs optical zoom is a very personal preference.
A different focal length affects a couple of the modes too, primarily portrait mode. Background bokeh is still possible on the OnePlus 5T and we found that there was plenty more behind the subject when compared to similar modes in the original OnePlus 5 and the Pixel 2. The front facing camera has also changed, resulting in a tighter frame that required us to really reach out with the phone to put more into the frame while taking selfies or live streaming.
Without using portrait mode, hitting the 2X button on the OnePlus 5T still zooms into the frame, but the image is obviously a crop of the original sensor. We didn’t notice too much of a difference in quality between the actual zoom lens on the OnePlus 5 and the digitally achieved zoom of the 5T. If you go looking for it though, 5T photos have some obvious post-processing compared to the sharper optically zoomed images taken with the original OnePlus 5.
We tested this new camera in quite a variety of low light situations, and while it is certainly decent for what it is, it often gets trounced by the algorithmic processing of phones like the Google Pixel 2. However, the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL cost substantially more than the OnePlus 5T.
The 5T left quite a bit to be desired in ultra low-light circumstances, though it did quite well in regular light. It seems that the secondary lens only activates and backs up the main shooter in only the darkest of situations, which most users with even a little bit of photography knowledge would probably avoid in the first place. Ultimately, the promises of the 20 MP backup camera are technically sound, but prove to be largely unrealized, which is a shame because the camera does pretty well in other situations.One such situation is 4K video recording, which has been given EIS for better stabilized footage. The video itself is pretty clear and the shakiness has improved from the previous generation camera, so we can call that a win in the camera column. One thing we did notice was pretty good quality audio capture, so if you are a vlogger or one who enjoys doing Facebook or Instagram live streams, your voice will sound loud and adequately clear to your audience.
Based on the high expectations even OnePlus themselves puts forward, I’m honestly a bit disappointed in the quality of the OnePlus 5T camera. In our testing the quality proves just a bit sub-par across the board, and I really didn’t see a substantial difference in low light capabilities. I personally would have preferred the company kept the telephoto lens for clearer zoom, but some may have a different opinion on this subject. It will be interesting to see if OnePlus keeps this setup for the OnePlus 6 or tries something else.
| OnePlus 5T | |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.01-inch AMOLED 1080 x 2160 resolution 401 ppi 18:9 aspect ratio Supports sRGB, DCI-P3 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | 2.45 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, 10nm |
| GPU | Adreno 540 |
| RAM | 6/8 GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 64/128 GB UFS 2.1 2-lane No microSD expansion |
| Cameras | Rear cameras Main sensor: 16 MP Sony IMX 398 sensor, 1.12 µm, f/1.7 aperture, 27.22 mm focal length Secondary sensor: 20 MP IMX 376K sensor, 1.0 µm, f/1.7 aperture, 27.22 mm focal length Front camera: 16 MP Sony IMX 371 sensor, 1.0 µm, f/2.0 aperture |
| Audio | Bottom-facing speaker Three microphones with noise cancellation Supports AANC Dirac HD Sound |
| Sensors | Fingerprint Hall Accelerometer G-sensor Electronic Compass Gyroscope Proximity Ambient Light RGB Sensor Hub |
| Battery | 3,300 mAh Non-removable Dash Charge (5V 4A) |
| Material | Anodized aluminum |
| IP rating | None |
| Network | LTE: Supports 3xCA Supports 64QAM & 256QAM Supports up to DL CAT 12 (600 Mbps) / UL CAT 13 (150 Mbps) depending on carrier support Bands: FDD LTE: Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/ 19/20/25/26/28/29/30/66 TDD-LTE: Bands 34/38/39/40/41 TD-SCDMA: Bands 34/39 UMTS (WCDMA): Bands 1/2/4/5/8 CDMA: BC0 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi: MIMO 2x2, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5 GHz Bluetooth 5.0, supports aptX & aptX HD NFC GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo |
| Ports | USB Type-C (USB 2.0) Support USB Audio 3.5 mm audio jack |
| SIM | Dual nano SIM |
| Software | Android 7.1.1 Nougat OxygenOS |
| Colors | Midnight Black |
| Dimensions and weight | 156.1 x 75 x 7.3 mm 162 g |
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