Pros:
- Solid performance
- Beautiful 120Hz display
- 39-minute fast charging
- Great specs for the price
Cons:
- Disappointing camera performance
- No wireless charging
Our Vardict
2020 has been a awesome year for smartphone’s the massive turnout in the tech industry, OnePlus Nord was said to be the best among all but not the bestest.
We can see for our self that iPhone12 Pro Max And Samsung Galaxy Note20 ultra 5G is still competing on the 2020 best smartphones awards let take a look at the OnePlus 8T if is the best flagship device we can lay hands on this holiday.
- OnePlus 8T specs
- Design
- Pros and cons
- Battery Durability
- Price and availability
Highlights:
The OnePlus 8T’s delivers a super smooth 120Hz display and super fast charging, but the cameras could be better.
OnePlus 8T could have been a new flagship best phone, with its unique specs, and excellent display, and super fast charging. But the cameras don’t quite measure up to other leading phones.
With a 120Hz display, a flat-screen design, and four rear cameras, as well as a dual battery system, the OnePlus 8T is aiming to be the flagship-killer phone OnePlus made its name creating. But after many successes in recent years, this phone feels like a misstep.
OnePlus 8T specifications:
Body: 160.7x74.1x8.4mm, 188g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass), glass back (Gorilla Glass), aluminum frame; Colors: Aquamarine Green, Lunar Silver.
Display: 6.55" Fluid AMOLED, 1080x2400px, 20:9, 402ppi; 120Hz, HDR10+, Always-on display.
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 (7 nm+): Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585); Adreno 650.
Memory: 8GB/12GB RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage.
OS/Software: Android 11, OxygenOS 11.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, 1/2.0", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultrawide-angle: 16 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 123˚, 1/3.6", 1.0µm; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4; Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama.
Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.4, (wide), 1/3.06", 1.0µm; Auto-HDR.
Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, Auto HDR, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 65W, 100% in 39 min (advertised).
Misc: Fingerprint (under display, optical); stereo speakers; NFC.
OnePlus 8T Price And Availability:
There’s only one version of the OnePlus 8T available in the U.S. and it's the model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It's been available to buy since October 23.
The beefy U.S. spec, which is variable in Aquamarine Green and Luna Silver colors, will set you back $749. That makes the 8T $50 more expensive than the OnePlus 8, which started at $699 but had less RAM and storage.
In the U.K. the Lunar Silver model is only available with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but costs £549. The Aquamarine Green only comes with the higher spec and costs £649. Both went on sale October 20.
At this price, though, the higher-spec OnePlus 8T still pushes the upper end of the mid-range phone arena. That’s both a good and bad place to be in. As many phones have hit or surpassed the $1,000 marker, there aren’t a great deal that offer a suite of flagship specs or standout features for a sub-$800 price. However, the competition that’s there is stiff indeed.
The $699 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE offers a serious mix of flagship specs, with only a few compromises in the form of a plastic back and less RAM than the 8T. The $699 Google Pixel 5 also undercuts the 8T, but compromises on both refresh rate and processing power, though it offers stellar photography performance instead.
Over in the U.K., the entry-level OnePlus 8T offers superior specs to both the £599 Pixel 5 and Galaxy S20 FE. so it's arguably a more competitive handset on Britain’s side of the Atlantic. But this was once a price point where OnePlus mostly stood alone; now it’s got to face down two phones that have very appealing features.
So the OnePlus 8T has its work cut out if it wants to beat similarly priced phones. And it’s worth noting that the OnePlus Nord offers a lot of phone for £379, roughly $490, even if it’s not as powerful on paper, and isn't available in places like the U.S.
OnePlus 8T Design:
Speaking of the OnePlus Nord, the OnePlus 8T looks like OnePlus’ budget device. Both phones sport a neat rounded rectangular design with displays that are flat, not curved like the edges on the OnePlus 8’s display. This makes the 8T a lot easier to grip, if not as aesthetically pleasing.
The OnePlus 8T is a little larger than the Nord and the OnePlus 8, measuring 6.32 x 2.91 x 0.33 inches and weighing 6.6 ounces. With its glass back and premium finish the 8T feels more like a flagship phone than the Pixel 5 with its aluminium back.
This has long been a strong part of OnePlus phones and while you might not be getting a true flagship phone, the 8T certainly has that high-level of build quality and finish that feel more in line with $1,000 handsets. And whatever treatment OnePlus has given the 8T, its back is pretty resistant to fingerprints, which makes a pleasant contrast to some phones.
There’s no IP68 water and dust resistance rating here, something that’s expected in a lot of flagship phones but a feature that OnePlus has shunned for years. In practical terms, that doesn't matter a great deal as OnePlus has used various seals to keep water out of its handsets, meaning that they’ll survive a quick drop into a sink or a drenching from a sudden downpour. That doesn't mean I’d advocate dropping a OnePlus 8T into a pint on a regular basis.
The biggest change the OnePlus 8T brings to the table is its rather prominent rear camera module that houses four cameras and a flash in a rounded rectangle unit positioned in the top right-hand side. That’s a significant change from the OnePlus 8’s pill-shaped trio of cameras that sat in the top middle section of the handset.
I prefer the older design for its neatness. But chunky rear camera modules are en vogue in 2020, and the OnePlus 8T’s module is hardly the most offensive. And it’s positioned in a spot that means you’re less likely to hit it with your fingers when snapping a photo in haste.
With only silver and green for color options, the OnePlus 8 doesn't exactly have a broad range of finishes to choose from. While I’d have liked to have seen the striking blue hues of the OnePlus 7T return, I think both the Aquamarine Green and Lunar Silver colors are rather attractive.
OnePlus 8T Battery Life:
You should expect the OnePlus 8T to get you through a day’s worth of use before gasping for electrical juice, thanks to its 4,500 mAh battery. In our test, which involves continuous web surfing with the display set at 150 nits of screen brightness, the 8T managed 9 hours and 58 minutes with its screen running at 120Hz.
Drop the display down to 60Hz and you’ll get 10 hours and 49 minutes of battery life, which is better than the average time for smartphones. But since going back to 60Hz isn’t an easy thing, I’d rather take the hit in battery life. And that's thanks to OnePlus’ new Warp Charge 65.
Very fast charging has always been one of the best features of OnePlus phones. And ramping up the speed of Warp Charge from 30W to 65W has further boosted OnePlus’ charging tech. The OnePlus 8T will now charge from zero to 55 percent battery capacity in a mere 15 minutes. Wait for 30 minutes and you'll have a battery that’s 93 percent full.
That should actually be ‘batteries’ as OnePlus has used two smaller batteries rather than one large battery pack in the 8T. Doing this somewhat circumnavigates the limitations of electrical resistance and heat when upping charger wattage and allows the 8T to charge very fast. Expect this tech to be adopted by other phone makers next year.
In practical terms, Warp Charge 65 means battery anxiety is pretty much eliminated if you’re near a wall socket. This charging comes at a price though, as there's no wireless charging support with the OnePlus 8T.
This is a little disappointing, as we’ve waited ages for OnePlus to finally adopt wireless charging with the 8 Pro, only to see the OnePlus 8T drop it. I was told that OnePlus boss Pete Lau tried out a prototype with a wireless changing coil and decided it gave the phone too much bulk, so asked for it to be removed. I’m an advocate for wireless charging and feel it should now be a feature for mid-range phones, as well as flagship handsets, given the Pixel 5 has a wireless changing coil.
Conclusion:
If you’re looking to upgrade from an non-OnePlus phone, then the 8T is still difficult to recommend at the moment. It might beat the Galaxy S20 FE on paper, but Samsung’s phone is cheaper n the U.S. and delivers impressive performance; it can also match the OnePlus 8T’s 120Hz display while taking better pictures. And if you can make do with a less powerful chip and a 90Hz display, which I think is fine, then the Pixel 5 crushes the 8T on phone photography.
But the most interesting thing here is the debut of OxygenOS 11. The lightweight skin OnePlus adds on top of Android remains relatively fuss free, but brings in a few improvements. These include gestures optimized for one handed use. For example, there's a gap between the main settings heading and the menu options, meaning things like Wi-Fi and display controls are positioned toward the lower two-thirds of the screen making them easier to reach.
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