OnePlus Launches the OnePlus 8T

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.”

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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.

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Conversation 13 comments

  • Pbike908

    14 October, 2020 - 10:58 am

    <p>I think I am going to order a galaxy S20 today on an Amazon prime day special price of $750. My galaxy S8 is three years old. I can get the S20E from Samsung for $475, however, the review say the E fingerpint sensor is wonky as is the AI proximity sensor and camera shutter lag. $300 is a significant difference, however, I keep my phones 3 years, use it every day, and I like a top notch camera. I just don't want to pony up $1000 for an iphone 12 pro, but that looks like a sweet phone. </p>

  • peterc

    Premium Member
    14 October, 2020 - 11:31 am

    <p>Excellent, I look forward to your review. I was looking at the promoted images on the Oneplus community website taken with the 8T, and as always they are gorgeous, but as to how many are taken in PRO mode with custom settings and a tripod compared to snap-and-go is another matter. </p><p><br></p><p>Here in the UK the 8GB/128Gb storage device costs £549 an theres trade in to be had too. Ace…</p><p><br></p><p>edit&gt;&gt; will Paul’s review be able to test and compare versus the Samsung galaxy s20 FE? Thinking about photo quality etc.</p>

  • bart

    Premium Member
    14 October, 2020 - 11:43 am

    <p>Though I am not looking to buy this phone, the specs/price on this thing is just amazing. Especially after the announcement 'of that other company' yesterday.</p>

  • bassoprofundo

    Premium Member
    14 October, 2020 - 2:43 pm

    <p>Ugh… same old story around wireless charging with Oneplus… If Samsung can put it into a $600-700 flagship killer (S20 FE), and even Apple can put it into their budget model (iPhone SE), Oneplus could throw it in too. </p>

    • roho

      Premium Member
      15 October, 2020 - 7:24 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#586382">In reply to bassoprofundo:</a></em></blockquote><p>"wireless" charging is way over rated. </p>

      • earlster

        Premium Member
        15 October, 2020 - 11:52 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#586460">In reply to RoHo:</a></em></blockquote><p>I've used it for several years now, and totally love it. It's a big part of my buying decision. It's clearly not important to everybody, but I wouldn't call it 'way overrated'</p>

  • anderb

    Premium Member
    14 October, 2020 - 6:23 pm

    <p>You missed the quotes around "just" i.e. "just" $799</p>

  • ponsaelius

    14 October, 2020 - 6:39 pm

    <p>Quad camera is always good. Having two cameras almost no one uses is not really a "feature".</p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    15 October, 2020 - 5:54 am

    <p>A smartphone just doesn't have the depth to make a real telephoto lens a reality. You would need make the phone a couple of cm thicker and you'd need a much bigger sensor to make up for the reduced light coming through the telephoto lens, the the lens also having a much bigger external surface, more to scratch.</p><p>I do a lot of wildlife photography and I'd love a 500mm equivalent lens, but you'd need a phone that is probably 6cm thick or more, just to house the lens. I'll be sticking to my system camera for the time being.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      15 October, 2020 - 9:13 am

      It doesn’t need the depth: Telescoping lenses inside the body can be mounted vertically and use angled mirrors.

  • just4m0

    15 October, 2020 - 11:32 am

    <p>I have a Pixel 2 XL that, although not a perfect phone, has served my very well over the past 3 years. The Pixel 5 looks disappointing. I feel Google could have done much better. Samsung phones are incredibly overpriced, come with too much crapware, and they are slow to upgrade/patch the OS. Apple is not an option. I refuse to become another minion in their ecosphere.</p><p><br></p><p>This phone looks interesting and, other than Google, seems to have the closest thing to stock Android. I can't, however, find answers to the following questions.</p><p><br></p><p>How often does OnePlus push out OS updates/patches?</p><p>How long will OnePlus support the OS on the phone? New versions of Android?</p><p>What about OnePlus itself? How is their support? Do they stand behind the product? How hard/easy are they do deal with if you have a problem. For me this is a concern. Most Chinese companies have extremely poor customer service and often fail to live up to promises.</p><p><br></p><p>If you have any input or details that the article doesn't cover it would be greatly appreciated.</p><p><br></p><p>Thank you.</p>

  • earlster

    Premium Member
    15 October, 2020 - 12:29 pm

    <p>Is it just me, or does this phone look like a Samsung S20 clone? Same rounded corners, 4 lens camera on the back top left?</p>

  • MacLiam

    Premium Member
    16 October, 2020 - 2:22 pm

    <p>Looking forward to your review of th 8T, not that i"m in the market because I am still quite happy with the 8 Pro I picked up a few months ago. As to wireless, I ordered the fast charger stand but found that I had to take the phone out of the thick protective case (the biggest Unicorn Beetle) to get anything near advertised charging performance. I found a a clumsy workaround that involved folding up some paper wedges and shims to position the charger and the cased phone to keep the bottom half of the phone from slipping away from the contact plate, but it's not foolproof. It's faster and not that much of a hassle to use the provided plug-in charger with the cased phone. I didn't return the wireless charger because it works with my older iPhone (an 8+).</p>

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