OnePlus 8T 5G Review – Buy Or Not To Buy?

OnePlus 8T 5G Review: The year 2020 witnessed some of the most appealing smartphones, and one of them is the OnePlus 8T 5G smartphone from the OnePlus brand. All those who have been following the OnePlus product launch cycle will know that the ‘T-series’ is inevitable. New in the line, the new OnePlus 8T sits cozily between OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro.

The new OnePlus 8T is a cutting-edge model and has borrowed quite a few features from the OnePlus 8 Pro, such as a primary camera sensor and a similar display. It also adds a refresh look to the smartphone in many small ways, starting with a 65W fast charging and UFS 3.1 storage. 

The OnePlus brands’ T’ series smartphones generally have some advanced features and tweaked designs, and it is launched to stay relevant till the brand launches its next generation. OnePlus has added almost everything it had in the OnePlus 8 Pro, with a few more upgrades under its hood. Now let’s look at OnePlus 8T review to find out how it performs and whether it is powerful and appealing enough to make a mark in India’s smartphone market. 

OnePlus 8T 5G Review – Design & Display

The latest OnePlus 8T brings a few subtle changes in its design segment. It continues to with an aluminum frame with a glass back, but the design is way different than the OnePlus 8. A glossy glass finish at the back has a broader camera module in the top corner, which features four cameras and two flashes. Talking about its weight, it feels the smartphone is on a little heavier side and weighs similar to the OnePlus 8 Pro. It feels top-heavy even with a phone cover.

Another design feature that sets the OnePlus 8T 5G smartphone stand apart is its camera setup. The brand has shifted the rear camera from the center to the top left corner of the device. Along with the camera placement, the phone has made a few placement changes to its buttons.

The phone looks slightly less striking with a flat-screen but definitely makes it easier to see content with no glare or color shift at the edges of the display. There’s no vignetting effect on the screen that is usually there in the curved edge screen designs. Sadly, the phone sees one drawback: it lacks water-resistant features and an IP68 certified like the OnePlus 8 Pro.

Coming to its front, the OnePlus 8T features a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display and houses a 16MP selfie camera and a single microphone placed on the top. The phone supports a 120Hz refresh rate, just like the 8 Pro. The brand claims a slight bump in the touch sampling of the OnePlus 8T from 180Hz to 240Hz. The smartphone’s bottom holds a dual SIM slot, USB Type-C charging port, a microphone, and a speaker. Despite having a glossy back, the smartphone does not get fingerprints quickly. Overall, our latest OnePlus 8T review says that the phone looks great in the hands, and its vibrant color options enhance the look even more.

The company has offered various display modes in its latest offering, and now the user can choose between Vivid, Natural, and Advanced as per their requirement. 

OnePlus 8T 5G Review – Performance

The OnePlus 8T is powered by the standard Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor paired with Adreno 650 GPU. It comes in two variants, i.e., 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage and 12GB RAM and 256GM internal storage. The OnePlus 8T is powered on the same processor as the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro, without upgrading it. Even though the processor did not see any upgrade, the phone managed to deliver smooth performance while performing any gaming activity, editing, or even multi-tasking.

The OnePlus 8T is among the few smartphones that house dual stereo speakers coming to its audio performance. The phone has a primary speaker placed at the bottom, and the earpiece of the smartphone doubles up its performance as the second speaker. It offers a reasonably loud sound without any contortion. It comes with Dolby Atmos support, and one can enable the option to enjoy a better sound experience.

The OnePlus 8T 5G review about the software shows that the phone is the first one from the OnePlus brand to have Android 11 with its own OxygenOS 11. With an upgraded OxygenOs11, the smartphone features some new skin with tweaked animations. You may notice a few changes in the OnePlus 8T specifications of the display with contemporary clocks and battery percentage designs. Other features include face recognition, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, Wi-Fi 6, and multiple satellite navigation systems.

The company has notched up its game by including one-hand mode in OnePlus 8T feature, which further makes it handy for the users to use the device. Apart from this, the smartphone device comes with the Zen mode. The device is impressive when it comes to its feel, performance smoothness delivered by the OxygenOS 11.

OnePlus 8T Camera Specifications

The OnePlus 8T 5G camera specifications include the same Sony IMX586 48MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture, 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture, 5MP macro lens with f/2.4 aperture, and 2MP monochrome lens with f/2.4 aperture.

The OnePlus 8T camera offers a decent camera performance, and it looks like the company isn’t changing the formula much with the 8T. The rear camera of the smartphone is capable of capturing 4k videos at 60fps. The front houses a 16MP selfie camera and can also record 4k videos.

The OnePlus 8T review, as compared to its predecessor it boasts of a wider FOV for the ultra-wide camera, and the macro camera comes with a higher and better resolution.

One can expect some stunning photos with some punchy colors and no oversaturation or noise during a bright sunny afternoon. The images clicked from the ultra-wide-angle lens also deliver accurate colors with the right color and detail. However, during the night, the phone faces some issues in focusing while capturing the shots.

Coming to its video recording, the OnePlus 8T has excellent video recording capabilities. It allows users to record 4k videos with an option to switch between the primary and ultra-wide-angle camera. It is capable of shooting some great videos during daylight. In contrast, the low-light video quality is average.

One thing that could bother some users is that the phone applies an unnatural skin smoothening effect found in other Chinese smartphones but not favored by many users.

OnePlus 8T 5G Review – Battery Performance 

The OnePlus 8T is pack with a 4,500 mAh battery and supports 65W fast charging. The phone’s battery manages to last up to 18 hours on a single charge. The phone comes packed with a 65W wrap charger, and as per the company’s claim that the smartphone can fuel the battery from 0 to 100% in 40 minutes, we have no choice but to agree with the company, as they did deliver what they claim. 

OnePlus 8T 5G Review – Final Verdict 

After an insipid OnePlus 8, people were looking forward to OnePlus 8T to meet their demands. While the OnePlus 8T manages to deliver some exciting upgrades and changes, it still leaves out many important features. Talking about the overall OnePlus 8T 5G review, the smartphone device is a solid offering from the company and does almost everything a user expects from a mid-range flagship. It justifies its starting price tag of Rs 42,990. At this price, what you get is a powerful processor, 120Hz display, and also a 65W fast charging feature.