I have been extremely vocal about my love for the OnePlus 5 over the last couple of months. It’s easily my favourite phone from 2017. But, OnePlus has decided that a second flagship in the space of six months is fair game and so enter the OnePlus 5T. Earlier OnePlus had said that the 3T after 6 months of launching the 3 was a one time thing but it seems the increased profits have made the company realize that 6 month cycles can be carried out, and who are we to complain. The devices coming out of OnePlus’ kitty have been quite amazing.
So, is the OnePlus 5T as good? Well, we will be doing a full review in the coming days, but here’s the short and skinny for now.
The OnePlus 5T is essentially the same as the OnePlus 5. The hardware part is exactly the same. If you are a OnePlus 5 owner, you don’t need to feel too hard done by.
However, it does have some new tricks that make it just a bit better if you’ve been holding out for a OnePlus 5.
The OnePlus 5T is slightly longer, slightly wider, slightly heavier, but it retains its slender girth, though it does gain an unsightly bulge around the camera lenses. This accommodates a slightly upgraded camera with a wider aperture which should improve low light performance, but we’ll have to save that for the full review.
The screen. It’s an 18:9 panel, and the bezels have gone almost completely. I’m not one of those demanding bezel-less phones but nevertheless its lovely.
The screen itself is the same pixel density, it’s just the ratios that have changed, but I did find that the light was slightly oversaturated compared to the older model so it may require some tinkering. As ever, there are lots of options for calibration in the settings.
For the first time the device comes with a clear silicon case out of the box which is a relief. OnePlus has probably put one for “free” owing to the gradual price rise in each successive model.
There are things it hasn’t got. It’s still not waterproof, officially (though YouTube is filled with people giving their OnePlus 5/5T’s a nice soak and a bath), and there’s no knowing if/when it will accommodate Project Treble. The 5T has quickly received an update to get the Oreo though and that is a good sign. OnePlus has always been on point with their timely updates.
The biggest coup in the software is the arrival of Face Unlock, ahead of anything similar to stock Android. And yeah, it works pretty well.
The bezels also mean there are no hardware buttons and the fingerprint sensor has moved to the back. Ultimately, people will say they have a preference, but it’s just what you’re used to, within a day you’ll forget you ever used it the other way.
Again, there’s no microSD support, something that if it wasn’t for the 128GB internal memory would drive me bananas, but the performance feels ever so slightly smoother, and OnePlus says it is focused on making sure it stays that way even after usage.
The important thing is the price hasn’t changed. So if you’re a new buyer, you’re getting the newer phone for the same price of Rs 37,999 (for the top end) and Rs 32,999 for the base model( Base model with more RAM and Memory than most top end phones) – and let’s face it that’s a lot of phone for your buck compared with the Pixel 2 or iPhone 8.
However, let’s be clear here, the OnePlus 5 is still a stunning phone and if the One Plus 5T didn’t exist, the One Plus 5 would still be my phone of the year. It’s a weird strategy to release an increment so soon, but existing users should not feel too annoyed.
All that said, the One Plus 5T…seems like everything that the company promised and even more. Wait for our full review to know more!
