OnePlus 10T review

The OnePlus 10T is an excellent smartphone with premium construct high quality, a fantastic show, high tier efficiency, and insanely quick charging speeds.

At $649/£629/€699 it’s additionally the most effective worth high-end telephones with Qualcomm’s highly effective, and power-efficient, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset.

It’s the primary time a OnePlus ‘T’ telephone is being offered alongside the older mannequin whereas additionally bearing a near-identical design, however the two telephones have numerous variations below their hoods.

Fortunately the OnePlus 10T is an excellent telephone, nevertheless it does battle to justify its worth given the existence of the corporate’s personal Nord 2T, which has the identical rear cameras, performs properly for a mid-ranger, and prices quite a bit much less.

Design and construct

• No alert slider
• Unibody design
• Gorilla Glass 5

You’d be forgiven for mistaking the OnePlus 10T for the older OnePlus 10 Professional given their very related trying rear plates. On the 10T, the digicam module has 4 distinctive rings with three digicam lenses joined by a round flash within the high proper place.

I didn’t just like the have a look at first, nevertheless it has grown on me, very like the inexperienced hue of my ‘jade inexperienced’ assessment pattern has. Its shiny end made from Gorilla Glass 5 immediately picks up fingerprints however does make the telephone grippier and is completed off with shiny silver aspect rails. It’s a superb trying, nice feeling telephone though it slides off flat surfaces together with tables with the slightest nudge. A case is required to keep away from impression catastrophe.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The digicam bump melds into the unibody body superbly with no seams, although I believe the matt end of the choice ‘moonstone black’ mannequin (which is, and I quote, “impressed by the feel of basalt”) would higher evade fingerprints and enchantment extra to most colour-cautious smartphone consumers.

Sorely missed on the 10T is OnePlus’ signature alert slider, the small three-position change that modifications most of the firm’s different telephones from ‘ring’ to ‘vibrate’ to ‘silent’ and has been current on all its flagships till now, together with 2022’s 10 Professional and mid-range Nord 2T.

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OnePlus says it left it off the 10T because the element takes up house contained in the machine, which might have needed to have been thicker and larger to accommodate it in addition to a big two-cell battery – the corporate preferring the latter. Apple places a two-position mute change on all its iPhones, however no different Android producers have such a {hardware} change, and it’s a disgrace it’s not on the 10T.

The one buttons on the telephone are the ability/lock button on the proper edge and a single piece quantity rocker on the left. On the underside edge there’s a USB-C port and a down-firing speaker that pairs with the skinny earpiece on the high of the telephone to create a stereo pair.

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Haptics on the 10T are tight and punchy, although on the default settings the keyboard suggestions makes an audible ‘ding’ when it’s very quiet that I discovered slightly annoying. In any other case, the bodily suggestions from the system is superb.

One small factor to notice is there’s solely a free protecting case included within the field in India, with the remainder of the world lacking out. The telephone additionally doesn’t have an official IP ranking for mud and water resistance, which is irritating at this worth.

Show and audio

• 6.7in flat OLED
• 120Hz
• Stereo audio system

The display screen on the OnePlus 10T is without doubt one of the finest issues about it. It’s a 6.7in FHD+ OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh price, and it’s phenomenal. It’s a better-looking panel than the common Galaxy S22 – OnePlus actually is aware of easy methods to tune its shows.

It’s additionally a flat show, so the sides are usually not curved and don’t taper away on the left and proper edges like they do on the OnePlus 10 Professional. The punch-hole selfie digicam is notably within the centre on the high for the primary time ever on a OnePlus telephone.

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Colors are vivid and vibrant as we’ve come to anticipate from top-of-the-line OnePlus telephones, and the 120Hz price means menus and animations are beautifully fluid. The telephone can regulate between 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz relying on what you’re doing to save lots of battery life, although the ten Professional and iPhone 13 Professional can scale this all the best way all the way down to 1Hz and 10Hz respectively for even higher effectivity.

With a peak brightness of 950 nits, it’s additionally straightforward to see every thing in direct daylight although I nonetheless assume Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Extremely has the 10T beat for outside readability. Add in a zippy contact sampling price of 1000Hz with HDR10+ and 10-bit color accuracy and this can be a very good display screen – the most effective you may get on a telephone.

There isn’t any headphone jack right here and neither is there a dongle adapter within the field. The stereo audio system are excellent, with readability and bass you wouldn’t essentially anticipate. Nice for watching YouTube movies and listening to podcasts, nevertheless it gained’t change your good speaker for music.

The fingerprint sensor is positioned low on the backside of the show, a spot I discover trickier to shortly faucet than larger up, the place it’s on different telephones. However once you hit it head on it’s fairly dependable. I a lot most well-liked unlocking the telephone utilizing face unlock, the draw back being that is a lot much less safe than fingerprint biometrics.

Specs and efficiency

• Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
• As much as 16GB RAM
• 128 or 256GB storage

The OnePlus 10T is blazing quick. It’s acquired the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which is principally an overclocked 8 Gen 1, the processor discovered within the OnePlus 10 Professional, Sony Xperia 1 IV, Vivo X80 Professional, Galaxy S22 Extremely, and a number of other different high-end Android telephones.

In GFX Bench’s efficiency exams we run on each telephone we assessment, the 10T scored amongst the very best scores we’ve ever seen, hitting 59fps or 60fps for every take a look at, 60fps being the best doable rating.

However it scored barely decrease on Geekbench’s multi-core CPU take a look at than the OnePlus 10 Professional, and 2021’s 9 Professional for that matter, which in my e book exhibits two issues: that the noticeable positive factors in cell processors are extremely minimal on the high finish and are arduous to measure, and that benchmark numbers solely inform you half the story.

The opposite half of the story is daily utilization, the place the 10T completely sings. OnePlus says to think about the ten Professional because the digicam telephone and the 10T because the efficiency telephone, and the 10T lives as much as this billing. I by no means noticed dropped frames or stuttering animations, and though OnePlus’ software program is sort of unrecognisable from just a few years in the past, its flagship telephones are nonetheless close to flawless in relation to efficiency out the field.

I examined the telephone for greater than every week on giffgaff’s 5G community within the UK and roaming in New York Metropolis, and the telephone carried out admirably. I don’t absolutely purchase into OnePlus’s trace that it’s noticeably extra performant in on a regular basis utilization than the ten Professional, however it’s definitely a stunningly fast machine.

There’s a whopping 16GB RAM in my assessment unit that saved umpteen apps operating within the background (OnePlus says it will probably deal with about 35) to immediately decide up the place you left off. Suffice to say enjoying demanding cell video games is an absolute breeze for this telephone.

It’s also possible to go for a model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage whereas Indian clients can select a 3rd 12GB/256GB possibility. Storage is non-expandable, although there may be twin bodily SIM capability.

Battery and charging

• 4800mAh
• 150W wired charging
• 1600 cycle promise

Alongside its lightning tempo the OnePlus 10T is blessed with 150W wired charging, a small step up on the ten Professional’s already very good 80W speeds however in actuality the distinction is minimal in charging instances. The compromise on the 10T is that it doesn’t have wi-fi charging.

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OnePlus guarantees the 10T’s battery will retain at the very least 80% capability after 1600 cost cycles. This is similar promise discovered with the Oppo Discover X5 Professional and is double the business’s present normal of 800 cycles.

Although this isn’t used within the telephone’s client advertising, it’s quietly one of many 10T’s finest options, if correct. In case you cost your telephone as soon as a day, 1600 cycles is about 4 and a 3rd years, a good chunk of time in your battery to stay in an optimum situation. Time will inform if this promise delivers.

Charging itself is near magic with the 2 2400mAh batteries in a position to cost safely collectively at this excessive velocity for a complete 4800mAh capability. I plugged in with the telephone at 0% and it charged to 88% in quarter-hour. The second time I did this it solely acquired to 65% in that point however was at 100% by 23 minutes. That’s insanely good both approach, and meant I solely charged the telephone once I wanted to in very brief home windows of time. In a single day charging is a factor of the previous right here, and OnePlus says it has improved the cooling tech contained in the telephone to ensure it doesn’t cost sizzling.

This isn’t a two day telephone by any means however I comfortably acquired a day’s use with energy to spare throughout my testing.

Digital camera and video

• Nice 50Mp essential sensor
• Inferior ultrawide and macro
• Identical lenses as OnePlus Nord 2T

OnePlus has skimped on the digicam specs for the 10T in comparison with the ten Professional, and nor does it have the Hasselblad digicam branding of that telephone. In reality, it has the identical three rear sensors because the OnePlus Nord 2T, a telephone that retails for £369/€399 however isn’t on the market within the US.

So, the 10T has a 50Mp f/1.8 Sony IMX766 essential wide-angle sensor with optical picture stabilisation (OIS), which is usually used on mid-range and flagship Android telephones together with the Nord 2T and Discover X5 Professional. BBK Group should have numerous the sensors mendacity round. OnePlus says it has tweaked the optics in comparison with the Nord 2T, however it’s the identical sensor.

That’s no dangerous factor although because it’s a well-liked sensor for a cause. Paired with OnePlus’s strong color tuning, I like the look of pictures in daylight, with simply the correct quantity of saturation and distinction for my tastes. You’ll get extra heightened processing with Samsung, extra aggressive HDR with Google’s Pixels, and extra true-to-life colors with iPhone, however OnePlus greater than holds its personal right here.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

There’s a powerful array of software program goodies too, with an excellent evening mode, evening mode for video, extremely HDR to beef up distinction, portrait mode, a portrait mode particularly tuned for cats and canine (!), lengthy publicity, RAW seize, focus monitoring, and tons extra. The Hasselblad brand isn’t printed on the again, nevertheless it actually doesn’t matter when essential sensor outcomes are glorious and backed up by professional digicam options for people who go searching.

It’s also possible to report strong video in 4K at as much as 60fps, and enjoyable slo-mo video at 1080p.

Much less spectacular are the supporting sensors, the primary of which is an 8Mp f/2.2 ultra-wide. It’s serviceable and may seize some first rate photos in good mild, nevertheless it captures far much less element than the principle lens, and with totally different color science and no OIS. Examine this to the Discover X5 Professional, which makes use of the IMX766 for each the principle and ultra-wide lenses, and the 10T is lagging.

Worst is the 2Mp macro lens that may take shut pictures in focus from 2cm to 4cm from the topic. It’s enjoyable to play with and good to have the ability to take images that shut, nevertheless it struggles with lighting and focus and could be very a lot there so the telephone may be advertising with ‘triple’ cameras. The OnePlus 10 Professional has a 3.3x optical telephoto lens as a substitute, an enormous benefit. That stated, many competing manufacturers don’t put telephoto cameras on their telephones on the 10T’s asking worth, Apple included.

However that’s how OnePlus justifies the 2 telephones’ variations; the 10T is the efficiency telephone whereas the ten Professional is the digicam telephone. It is smart, however that doesn’t imply the 10T has a foul digicam. It simply has two inferior sensors discovered on one in every of its mid-range units.

The 16Mp f/2.4 selfie digicam is ok however struggles with white stability in sunnier situations. It’s additionally inferior to the 32Mp sensor on the cheaper Nord 2T.

Software program and updates

• Ships with Android 12
• Three years Android updates
• 4 years safety updates

Let’s shine a light-weight on the elephant within the room. OnePlus’s OxygenOS software program has modified dramatically in recent times and is principally now the identical as Oppo’s ColorOS bar some minor aesthetic tweaks. BBK Group, which owns each manufacturers, determined to merge the 2, so now OxygenOS appears quite a bit totally different to the way it did even two or three years in the past.

That’s to not say it’s an general dangerous factor, however there’s a sure character to the older model of OxygenOS that’s missing now. However it’s foolish to assessment a telephone primarily based on what it might have been like, so I’ll cease.

OxygenOS 12.1 primarily based on Android 12 is nice. It largely retains out the best way however does immediate you to conform to many statements of utilization once you first faucet on system apps or numerous software program choices. I needed to fiddle with the very customisable pores and skin for some days to tweak it to my preferences – issues like icon form, dimension, accent colors, show and font sizes, and so forth – however now it feels nice and really private.

Most different Android telephones with Android 12 get round their lack of bodily mute change or alert slider by displaying whether or not the telephone is in ring, vibrate, or silent with three totally different icons permitting you to shortly change modes at any time when the quantity buttons are pushed. Maddeningly, this isn’t the case on the 10T, and you may solely change between both ring and vibrate, or ring and silent. I solely labored out easy methods to change between these two choices with trial and error.

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These controls are too convoluted, compounded by the shortage of alert slider. It’s also possible to solely toggle between two ring modes reasonably than three within the swipe down fast settings, which is not like most different present Android telephones. A nit-pick maybe, however for me it was an enormous annoyance to not be capable of change between the three modes simply.

There’s a completely featured always-on show that retains a few of OnePlus’ conventional appeal, although discovering issues within the settings menu could be a bit tiresome as choices are hidden all around the store.

OnePlus has opted to maintain the older Android 11-style of notification shade icons, that are smaller than the brand new normal on Android 12, and I like this choice. Annoying although is OnePlus’s Shelf software program that lurks behind a pull down from the proper high fringe of the show in an motion copied immediately from the iPhone’s Management Centre on iOS and iPhones with notches. I ceaselessly by chance opened Shelf once I needed to drag down the notification and fast settings shade, which you now should invoke from the centre or left.

OnePlus will give the 10T three years of Android platform updates and 4 years of safety updates to maintain it absolutely safe till 2027. That is fairly good for an Android producer, with Samsung main the best way providing 4 years of Android updates and 5 years of safety updates for many of its new telephones. Google gives three and 5 respectively for Pixel telephones.

Value and availability

The OnePlus 10T prices $649/£629/€699 for the mannequin with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage and prices $749/£729/€799 to get the 16GB/256GB model. The previous solely is available in black and the latter solely is available in inexperienced.

OnePlus says there might be some regional variation within the European pricing.

It makes the 10T a beautiful saving over the $899/£799/€899 base mannequin of the OnePlus 10 Professional, and likewise offers the $799/£729/€749 Galaxy S22 a run for its cash (actually).

The worth proposition of the 10T is questioned within the UK and Europe by the existence of the corporate’s personal Nord 2T, which has the identical digicam sensors and nice efficiency for £369/€399, It’s a unique story for the 10T within the US the place the Nord 2T isn’t accessible.

I’d suggest trying out the $599/£599/€649 Google Pixel 6 when you should have the very best Android cameras, although the 10T has a lot quicker charging, a extra highly effective chipset, and a greater display screen.

Verdict

The OnePlus 10T is an inexpensive flagship telephone whose tremendous stability of worth and specs harks again to the plucky OnePlus of some years in the past. It skimps in largely the proper areas to ship a telephone with bleeding edge specs that undercuts the higher-end OnePlus 10 Professional sufficient on worth to current clients with a transparent shopping for choice.

The worth nearly undercuts the ten Professional – and different Android opponents – sufficient to justify the 10T’s existence. In case you don’t want wi-fi charging and a telephoto lens, the 10T will prevent some money.

The Nord 2T can be accessible for £369 with the identical rear digicam arrange, however if you need the easiest processor on an Android telephone proper now and a whopping 16GB RAM, the 10T is a strong all-rounder with a prolonged software program promise, and is straightforward to suggest.

Specs

• Android 12 with Oxygen OS 12.1
• 6.7in FHD+ 2412×1080 AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
• 8/12/16GB RAM (DDR4)
• 128/256GB inner storage (UFS 3.1)
• 50Mp, f/1.8 essential digicam, PDAF, OIS
• 8Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide
• 2Mp, depth
• 16Mp, f/2.4 selfie digicam
• Fingerprint scanner (in-screen)
• Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.3
• GPS
• NFC
• 5G
• Twin-nano SIM
• USB-C
• 4800mAh non-removable battery
• 150W wired charging
• 163mm × 75.37mm × 8.75mm
• 203.5g