OnePlus 5T 3 Month Review: Fast, Reliable And Stable

OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition Rear Dual Camera

OnePlus 5T has been an epic win in the market for OnePlus and is on a great run sales-wise. We have been using this phone as our primary device for 3 months now and we decided to do a long run review of this device. Here are our observations about how this phone works and feels after a full 90 day run

At the time of its release, the OnePlus 5T was creating a lot of buzz for the solid combination of hardware, software and camera that it brought to the table at a price that was very aggressive. The buyers loved that value that the device brought it. There were a few things that they had wanted to sweeten the deal further and OnePlus was listening.

The users wanted a sturdy implementation of face unlock on their phone and true to their tradition, OnePlus delivered on this through incremental OTA updates that were pushed out. The updates even added smart lighting to help face unlock when the phone was in badly lit environments. The added face unlock now works very well on the OnePlus 5T and is now being used very widely. We have had absolutely no issues with the face unlock so far and it works like a charm for us.

The other important thing that users were clamoring for in the OnePlus 5T was the Oreo update. At the time of release, there was expectation that it would come with Android Oreo out of the box, but OnePlus held back a bit on that and went through a few rounds of beta testing before rolling out the official Oreo update.

When the update hit the OP5T, it made a good thing even better. The already well thought out hardware and Oxygen Os experience on the phone got even better with the update. There were a few isolated cases of people complaining about ringing issues and some about battery but we have not had any of these problems with the Oreo update. The phone just got smoother and better with it. Right now, the OP5T very clearly outperforms our laptops and  we are able to get even an entire day’s worth of work done with our OP5T devices.

OnePlus 5T Rear View

We have used all three variants – the Midnight Black, Star Wars Edition and the Lava Red version. All of them and the 64GB version that came out at launch time are still top of the segment when it comes to multi-tasking. The device just handles any number of parallel apps with ease, there is absolutely no stutter or lag anywhere. We threw in a lot of heavy gaming at the phone and there was absolutely no noticeable issue with anything.

In India, the device supports VoLTE calling on Jio, Airtel and Vodafone – the three major national operators. The fact that OnePlus makes the hardware truly global makes it very easy to travel around with the OnePlus 5T. We took it with us to Malaysia, Europe and Singapore and we had no issues getting the phone to work with the local infrastructure there.

OnePlus 5T in the hand

The battery which is a 3300 mAH one comes with Dash charge support. On a single full charge, the battery lasted well over a day even on heavy usage and Dash Charge is a big value adder when you are looking to juice up fast and get ready for a busy day. If you have one of those car chargers that supports Dash Charge, you can charge up and you drive up.

The various color options also have had their share of followers and have augured very well for the OP5T being a hit with the masses. There has been a very good response to the Star Wars edition too.

OnePlus 5T Lava Red

We would be amiss here if we did not talk about the camera, this is clearly one of the best options camera-wise in the market now. The dual camera set up in the rear works very well and churns out very good images consistently. The bokeh effect is also neatly done. The 18:9 display helps when you want to watch videos on the phone. They have moved the fingerprint scanner to the back to make the display like this and that works okay too. The face unlock helps if you don’t like turning the phone over.

Overall, even after 90 days and with a lot of competition, the OnePlus 5T is still one of the contenders for the top spot in the affordable flagship segment that is meant for people who want the best and know their way around their android phone. The OnePlus 5T is still fsat, reliable and stable. It also has the added plus of making you look cool when you pull it out of your pocket.

Let us know what you think of the OnePlus 5T. Have a brilliant week ahead!

About Shakthi

I am a Tech Blogger, Disability Activist, Keynote Speaker, Startup Mentor and Digital Branding Consultant. Also a McKinsey Executive Panel Member. Also known as @v_shakthi on twitter. Been around Tech for two decades now.

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