OnePlus today announced its OnePlus 8T, a mid-season refresh of its first 5G-capable smartphone, the OnePlus 8. It starts at just $749.

“With the OnePlus 8T, we’re offering pro-level capabilities for even more users across our flagship smartphone portfolio,” OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau said in a prepared statement. “Featuring a class-leading 120Hz AMOLED display, our upgraded 65-watt fast charging technology, and fresh, bold software in OxygenOS 11, the OnePlus 8T offers an impressive overall package of powerful hardware and smooth software.”

The OnePlus 8T appears to be a minor update to its predecessors, but it has many advances over the competition, including its flat 120 Hz Fluid Display, 65-watt Warp Charge fast-charging, and an updated quad-camera system. And unlike, say, any iPhone, the OnePlus 8T features a true edge-to-edge display.

Warp Change 65 is particularly impressive, too: It can charge the handset to 100 percent in under 40 minutes, and it does so without overheating the phone or its charger. And unlike with previous models, customers can use the bundled charger to fast-charge other devices up to 45-watts. And you can use other chargers with the OnePlus 8T to charge at up to 27-watts.

From a specifications perspective, the OnePlus 8T delivers as expected for a flagship-class device, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, 8 or 12 GB of RAM, 128 or 256 GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage, and Wi-Fi 6 and 5G connectivity.

The camera system is, of course, an open question. OnePlus bills it as a quad-camera system, but it really only has two traditional lenses—a wide-angle main lens and an ultra-wide lens with a 123-degree field of view—plus two curiosities, a macro lens and a monochrome lens. I’d rather see a true telephoto lens than those latter options, with true optical zoom. But the camera system does sport some niceties such as a Video Portrait mode that looks interesting.

The OnePlus 8T is available for $749 in a matte-frosted Lunar Silver and a glossy Aquamarine Green and is powered by the Android 11-based OxygenOS 11, which features an updated design and several useful new features like an always-on display with clock faces and more. Presales start now and the new handset will be available on October 23.

I’ll be reviewing the OnePlus 8T as soon as possible and will delve deeper into its hardware and software features at that time.

Tagged with OnePlus, OnePlus 8T