The 4-year-old Chinese brand, OnePlus has launched a new flagship smartphone named OnePlus 5T in the New York City. The smartphone is a refined version of OnePlus 5, which has a great proposition in 2017, in comparison with the other premium flagship smartphone. Still, the device cannot be accepted as a flagship, and here is why. Coming to the pricing, the phone comes in two models, one with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB onboard flash storage for ₹32,999 and for the 8 GB RAM and 128 GB onboard flash storage retails for ₹37,999. The price tag remains the same with the OnePlus 5 and the OnePlus 5T, which makes a tough decision for the customers.
As we no more measure the “flagship smartphone” by the processor it has been used or the amount of RAM and storage it has, here are the few departments we expected an upgrade from the OnePlus.
Though the phone uses a new 1:2 aspect ratio screen 6.01-inch edge to edge display, the real problem with the display is the fact that it is not of a flagship class. The optic AMOLED screen used by OnePlus 5T has a resolution of FHD+, which makes it up to 400 pixels per inch. For the native eye, this is a lot of pixels, but, if you are into VR, then this will not impress you. Not only this, the smartphone does not offer Dolby Vision or HDR 10 complaint, so, even though this is a great smartphone in all the forms these do not cut the bar.
The next thing that we expected to see some improvement is with the IP68 rating, as nowadays we are spending a fortune on smartphones, having some kind of assurance against the water and dust resistance will always give us a peace of mind. OnePlus 5T has not been awarded any certification what so ever. So, be careful, when you are near a lake, pool, or even your coffee mug, which might damage the phone.
Last, but not the least, the wireless charging, being smartphone enthusiasts, one feature that we wish to have is the old school Qi-based wireless charging capability (good old Palm and Nokia days). Whatever the fast charging technology they use (Dash charging), having these little fancy things will help any smartphone to get the flagship status.
Looking at the actual tech specifications, the OnePlus 5T is powered by top of the tier Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa-core SoC with up to 2.45 GHz clock speed, paired with either 6 GB or 8 GB LPDDR4x RAM and 64 GB or 128 GB USB 2.1 dual channel memory, which is the latest memory standard for any kind of smartphone storage, which also helps with the faster app launches and quicker data transfer between the devices. Like always, OnePlus is never a fan of SD card and the story remains the same for this model as well.
In terms of connectivity, the device offers dual nano-SIM card slots with 4G LTE and VoLte capability on both the slots. Standard features like WiFi, WiFi Hotspot (dual channel) with Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC makes it perfect for any condition.Majority of the LTE bands across the globe are supported by the uninterpreted browsing experience, so, this is a truly global phone.
On to the camera, the device retains the same dual camera setup on the back. But the implementation is bit different. The company has ditched telephoto lens in favour of the wider aperture lens. Now, the company uses 16 MP + 20 MP wide-angle lens with F/1.7 aperture and 4K video recording capability, the company has greatly improved the EIS for the video recording capability. For the selfie enthusiasts, the phone uses a 16 MP selfie shooter with F/2.0 aperture with 1080p video recording capability.
In terms of operating system, the device runs on Oxygen OS built on top of Android Nougat 7.1.1 with Android Oreo update in the near future. For the first time, the company has added many value-added features like dual-apps, app locker, and a file manager making it a lot easy for the users. The company also promised to continue the zero bloatware policy, so, the phone will not have any third party apps.
Finally, the battery measures at 3300 mAh, which can be charged in just 90 minutes using the Dash charger (fastest in the market). The company claims that the battery can last for an entire day of usage.
To conclude, if you are looking for an affordable flagship smartphone, then OnePlus 5T will be a great option. However, if you are into “true flagship” then spend some extra ₹ to get a perfect flagship smartphone like LG V30, Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, or an Apple iPhone X.