The flagship market has stood the test of time and flourished despite a drastic decline in demand. People are continually looking for cutting edge features, and a dependable product that manifests a sense of class through an impressive styling without going overboard like some Chinese handsets. Hence comes the new OnePlus 7T, a smartphone that builds upon its flagship legacy and improves upon it through its subtle features that make it irresistible and something to die for.
What OnePlus 7T brings to the table is a new buttery smooth 90Hz display, a new and improved camera and some cool fast charging tech. So is it a worthy addition to the lot or just another flashy piece of metal, well let’s check it out!
Screen & Build
Right out of the box, it’s a lot challenging to discern the difference between the OnePlus 7T and the former Oneplus 7. The design is similar to a well-blended mix of metal and glass, which isn’t something that would lose its grace over time. The design misses out on that pop-up front-facing camera found in the Pro but still looks grand and majestic.
The front has that fresh-looking dewdrop shaped notch that houses the camera unit while the screen comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor underneath which works like a treat. Even though we heavily relied on the face unlock feature, the option came in handy in some absurd lighting conditions. On the plus side, the placement for the fingerprint sensor on the screen emits a glowy radiance which we found to look particularly fresh and geeky.
The side houses a nifty little slide toggle button that lets you switch between noise, vibrate and silent profiles on the go which often came in handy. The only suggestion we could give is to use an excellent back protection case in case you happen to be clumsy like me. The lack of dedicated IP certification for water resistance is also bothering.
The most significant change this time around is the Fluid AMOLED 6.55-inch display like we saw on the flagship OnePlus 7 Pro. This 90Hz refresh rate makes small things like a simple scroll through the UI an enticing experience. Gaming too feels a lot more playable, and there is almost no lag when enacting commands and their effect is displayed on the screen.
The screen has the same 2400 x 1080 resolution as its former iteration, but what has changed is the fact that it emits 1000 nits of max brightness, which is HDR ready and easily legible under sunlight. The blacks are uniformly deep and make for an immersive experience through its punchy colours that are as true as it can be.
Performance & User Interface
Despite the bumped CPU to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, we hardly noticed any significant improvement in the production. Maybe this bump in chipset would help in battery boost or might support the latest charging technology embedded in this new 7T.
Games ran sufficiently smooth without any noticeable lag whatsoever. We managed to clock 40+ fps despite our gaming on high graphics setting when we ran the new Call of Duty mobile, PUBG, and Asphalt 8 on this device.
The smartphone managed to clock about 389552 in AnTuTu 2.0 benchmarking which is well an above the Asus Rog Phone II, and the Redmi K20 Pro smartphone.
OxygenOS 10 is as smooth as ever with a hoard of new features to complete the experience. There are a lot more customisation options for the theme, some changes in quick settings and some changes around the app icon, font, colour accents to name few. Besides these subtle UI elements, there are dedicated Night Mode, Reading Mode, Fnatic Mode and Zen Mode, which adds over the best Android UI which is OxygenOS.
Improved Triple Camera
The OnePlus 7T gets some updated tech behind the back, which comes in the shape of a new triple camera sensor unit.
The setup comprises of the same 48-megapixel Sony sensors as seen on the OnePlus 7 coupled with a 12-megapixel telephoto lens and 16-megapixel ultrawide lens. This triple sensor setup accounts for some stunning imagery in a reasonable amount of sunlight. The portrait mode is suitable for taking stellar shots, and wide-angle takes in a lot of subjects without needing to pan around.
Nightscape mode on the OnePlus 7T is a huge leap forward in regards to photography. Given an adequately steady hand, the photos taken in low light looked very clear and perfect for Instagram.
The video recording is perfect thanks to its OIS+EIS setup but could benefit from a software filter to tone down the windy buzz coming from the microphone.
Additionally, this lens setup can shoot macro shots at distances of just 2.5cm, which we found to be exceptionally bright and crisp.
As is evident, the front-facing camera samples seem comparable to those taken by the OnePlus seven camera unit. The selfies were good and sufficiently detailed, allowing you to click those after-party shots with ease.
Fast Charging
The latest addition to the repertoire of features present on the OnePlus 7T is the new 30T Warp charging support. Despite its modest outlook, OnePlus claims it does 0 to 70% of charge within 30 minutes.
As per our testing, this claim falls short in real life but is a delightful experience nonetheless. The 3800mAh battery offers an overall use age time of over a day with a single charge. The use included a mix of average social media apps, an hour or two of YouTube and a whole lot of daily gaming sessions lasting 2-3 hours.
Gizmo Verdict
The OnePlus 7T is a great smartphone that fixes some overlying faults with its earlier iteration and borrows a few cues from the 7 Pro. The new fluidic screen, a fast charging technology, updated processor and the capable triple camera unit, adds a new class to the already great smartphone.
If you are looking for a flagship smartphone without spending a whole lot of cash, the OnePlus 7T is an excellent piece of hardware.
