OnePlus now is a household name thanks to their flagship grade phones that pack solid value and guarantee a brilliant experience. They are back with the T refresh to the OnePlus7 – The OnePlus 7T. OnePlus 7T is in many ways a very major upgrade to the OnePlus 7. I spent considerable time with the phone and here is my review.
As soon as you take the OnePlus 7T out of the box, the first thing that grabs your attention is the phone’s large and pronounced 6.55-inch display. Even when the screen is turned off, it seems to stretch delightfully to each edge of the phone, and is only interrupted by the phone’s tiny drop notch that houses the front camera lens, which is situated top-center in the front.The minute you turn this screen on, the Fluid AMOLED panel’s real star quality makes itself known. It has a 90Hz refresh rate. This is the same panel used on 2019’s OnePlus 7 Pro and, as we all know by now, the 90Hz screen equates to “buttery smooth” scrolling, swiping and transitioning. All in all, the display is one of the heroes of the phone and the fact that it is flat and not curved is a big plus for people like me who are not fond of curved displays.By refreshing at a higher rate than an average smartphone’s typical 60Hz, the crispness and clarity of the screen is markedly improved to the eye, and every transition (scrolling, page turning, app switch etc) appears incredibly slick and smooth. Although it sounds like a small point when I say it here, the screen is the part of the phone that you use the most, hence the fact it moves so well now is something that makes the experience wonderful and pleasing.
Add that to the fact that the OnePlus 7T’s screen also delivers 400 pixels-per-inch in terms of sharpness, which is so premium and good that it is imperceptible to the human eye, that and strong peak brightness levels. The display is also covered with Gorilla Glass, giving it great levels of protection, too. I can’t say enough how good the screen is on the OnePlus 7T.
Coming to the design, the OnePlus 7T at first glance looks like a slightly taller and thinner OnePlus 6T, mostly because of the 20:9 aspect ratio. The front it is all screen, with very very tiny bezels around each side. When you flip the phone over, you see the big difference with a circular three camera array sitting on a frosted glass matte finish, which on my review device was Glacier Blue.
Like I said, the rear camera array is circular and positioned top-center of the back of the phone. It is not fully flush though, protruding a fraction out from the rest of the back (OnePlus has an official case with the phone where the cutout is as such so the camera protrusion sits flush with the casing).The power button remains on the right hand frame edge, as too does OnePlus’ distinctive manual silent mode switch, which is a personal favorite of many users now. The ability to instantaneously kill all beeps, bongs and rings – even without having to turn on the phone is charming and very practical.The volume rocker remains on the left hand side, while charging and power (USB Type-C) and SIM card slot are located on the bottom, along with a speaker.
OnePlus has delivered a blindingly fast mobile phone in the OnePlus 7T. The device has at its heart is a state-of-the-art Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus CPU, which along with the Huawei Kirin 990 currently is one of two market-leading Android processors.
In fact, the only processor that actually beats the 855 Plus is Apple’s latest A13 Bionic processor as featured in the iPhone 11 range of phones, but that is largely immaterial in terms of real-world performance, and especially so when it comes round to OS and app performance on a day-to-day level. In terms of Android phones right now in 2019, the OnePlus 7T is blindingly fast. But then that is now regular expectation from a OnePlus phone and they have not disappointed with the OnePlus 7T.
The blazing fast Snapdragon 855 Plus is coupled with a healthy 8GB of RAM as well as an Adreno 640 GPU. They all combine to deliver flawless performance both in-app and in-game, with the phone delivering perfect results during testing while playing my favorite Android games like Mario Kart Tour, Dragon Ball Legends, Hearthstone and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.
OnePlus 7T comes with a minimum of 128GB of internal storage and, yes, for the vast majority of people, I feel that this storage quantity is more than enough. The power users of today are more than happy with this and so am I. Yes, 128GB of storage is the minimum I would want to see on a flagship phone, but realistically I rarely go over the 64GB level when using a phone long-term, so I am very happy with this. More storage is always welcome, though, naturally.
Coming to the battery, the OnePlus 7T uses a 3,800mAh battery. That is a 100mAh increase over last year’s OnePlus 6T and the exact same battery used in the OnePlus 7. You definitely get a day’s usage out of it, and above average or pretty heavy usage, too. For example, on a couple of work-related trips to Delhi for briefings, where I was very heavily hotspotting the phone to my laptop so I could work using it for music, following Google Maps and taking in news and social media, too, I returned home with 13 to 23 per cent battery at around 8:30-9:30pm. OnePlus has equipped with the OnePlus 7T with its latest Warp Charge technology, meaning that the device can be juiced to 70 per cent in just 30 minutes.
The OnePlus 7T has an in-display fingerprint reader to unlock your screen. If you don’t like using your fingerprint, you can still use a PIN or your face for security (but not for authorizing digital payments).
OnePlus 7T has a fuss-free and highly competent camera offering. The rear array is made up of three cameras. It comes with a 48MP primary camera (26mm, f/1.6) with image stabilisation, a 12MP telephoto camera with 2x zoom (51mm, f/2.2) and a 16MP 117-degree wide-angle camera (17mm, f/2.2). In the front, meanwhile, you get a 16MP (25mm, f/2.2) selfie camera
Here are some sample images below that I took while testing the phone.
While talking about any OnePlus phone, there has to be mention of Oxygen OS. The OS is a great example of staying out of your way but having the just the right amount of customizations. The evolution of Oxygen OS into one of the most liked Android skins is testament to the effort and thoughtful innovation that has gone into the building of the OS. The OS is a big plus in the very fast and blazing performance of the OnePlus 7T. The phone comes with Oxygen OS 10.x which is based on Android 10 out of the box.
Verdict
Starting at Rs 37,999/- for the for the 8GB/128GB variant and Rs 39,999/- for the 8GB/256GB variant, there is no doubt in my mind that the OnePlus 7T is the Android Phone of the year. This is a must buy if you are looking for a reliable fast performer that is future-proof.
