The OnePlus 3T went on sale in late November, which seems just like yesterday. But believe it or not, about five months have passed and several new flagship Android smartphones have been launched. In this video, we’re going to discuss how the OnePlus 3T performs today and how it stacks up against the LG G6 and the Samsung Galaxy S8.
First I want to thank GearBest.com for sending this unit out to us for review. The 3T retails for $439 via the OnePlus store. However, you can sometimes find it cheaper on other sites like GearBest.com. I’ll provide a coupon in the description to get the 128GB model for just over $500.
One reason I love OnePlus devices, and the company in general, is because they tend to focus on the basic building blocks of a smartphone. The display, the build quality, processor, software, camera, battery life-- these are the features that need to be great to ultimately make the device great. From a build perspective, the OnePlus 3T is still top of the line. It features an aluminum uni-body build with tapered sides that aren’t too thin and not too thick. The fairly thin bezels and cool to the touch aluminum make this device feel great in the hand. The clear difference between this phone and the next wave of Android flagships is the display.
We’re starting to see the trend of 18:9 aspect ratio displays go viral, which means fingerprint scanners pretty much have to be moved to the back of smartphones. And that’s obviously not the case here. I do like having the sensor upfront because I often have my phone sitting on a flat surface. But I also like 18:9 displays with thin bezels so I’m not really sure how I feel about the new trend in smartphones. I do really like Samsung’s approach with the S8 by featuring encrypted biometrics features. With the S8, you can unlock the phone with your face or your eyeballs, which gives you more options to unlock your phone in various scenarios, like the one I mentioned where your phone is sitting on your desk.
The OnePlus 3T doesn’t feature an edge-to-edge display and the display itself isn’t even QHD. It’s a 1080p AMOLED panel. I don’t think the display looks bad but I do think it could look better. The price of this phone is about half of what you’d pay for the Galaxy S8 and I don’t think the display is half bad. It’s still an AMOLED panel with great contrast and brightness. It’s the 1080p resolution that is starting to look a little bit outdated.
The OnePlus 3T still manages to pack a punch in the performance and software department. It runs OxygenOS version 4.0 on top of Android Nougat. Under the hood is a Snapdragon 821 processor. If I single out the LG G6, one of the first of 2017’s flagships, the 3T (I would say) performs as well or better than that device, thanks to its simplified operating system. In my opinion, the strongest area of the OnePlus 3T is software and performance. The 3T has 6GB of RAM while even the newest Android flagships continue to ship with 4GB of RAM. The software is just like stock Android, except with additional useful customizable options and gestures.
The camera is right behind the display in the sense that it too is an area that can compare as well against high-end Android flagships like the G6 and S8. It’s a 16-megapixel f2.0 aperture that can take some good images in the right scenarios but it lacks that extra detail and low-light punch the high-end smartphones offer. With that said, OnePlus has improved the camera over the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 2. The 3T adds intelligent pixel technology, which reduces noise and low-light scenarios results to a sapphire lens and improved electronic image stabilization feature. But both the 3 and 3T have the same Sony sensor. It’s nice to see OnePlus improve their rear camera even if improvements are minor and many of them are in the software. Samsung decided to keep the same sensor found in the S7 in the S8, which isn’t a bad thing. But it would be nice to see a new physical sensor to kind of set the new precedent in the mobile industry. I will add that OnePlus did also up the front-facing sensor to 16-megapixels in the 3T, which in terms of strictly megapixels, that blows the LG and Samsung out of the water.
Battery life has held up with the Nougat operating system. You should be able to get around 5 hours of screen on-time, give or take, depending on how you use your phone. Using a black wallpaper and battery saver mode will push even higher.
The speakers are still lame as they are bottom-facing. The headphone jack is still an attractive feature and I hate that I have to mention that in these videos ever since the iPhone 7 came out. But hey, I still like to use it and I’m glad it’s there.
Overall, I am still a fan of the OnePlus 3T. It was one of the first smartphones to receive Android Nougat and the new update didn’t break the phone or set it back, sometimes that happens when a new update is pushed out via carriers. We are starting to see even more affordable devices kind of take a jab at the OnePlus 3T, such as the Motorola G5 Plus. But for about $439 for the base model, the OnePlus 3T is still very competitively priced even to this day. I can wholeheartedly recommend the device to those looking for a flagship smartphone with a mid-tier price.
And once again, I do want to thank GearBest.com for sending us the 128GB variant OnePlus 3T. You may visit the OnePlus 3T listing via GearBest.com here.
OnePlus 3T (128GB; Coupon: PdOneP3t for $539.99 price) via GearBest.com: http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_590704.html?wid=21&lkid=10644938
OnePlus 3T (64GB; Coupon: OP3TSR for $409.99 price) via GearBest.com: http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_617043.html?wid=11&lkid=10644938&...
