OnePlus 10T assessment

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

At $649/£629/€699 it’s additionally top-of-the-line 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 bought alongside the older mannequin whereas additionally bearing a near-identical design, however the two telephones have various variations below their hoods.

Fortunately the OnePlus 10T is an outstanding telephone, however it does wrestle to justify its value given the existence of the corporate’s personal Nord 2T, which has the identical rear cameras, performs nicely for a mid-ranger, and prices so much 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 wanting 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 take a look at first, however it has grown on me, very like the inexperienced hue of my ‘jade inexperienced’ assessment pattern has. Its shiny end manufactured 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 great wanting, nice feeling telephone though it slides off flat surfaces together with tables with the slightest nudge. A case is required to keep away from influence 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 attraction extra to most colour-cautious smartphone consumers.

Sorely missed on the 10T is OnePlus’ signature alert slider, the small three-position swap that modifications lots 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.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

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

The one buttons on the telephone are the ability/lock button on the correct 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.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

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 score for mud and water resistance, which is irritating at this value.

Show and audio

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

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

It’s additionally a flat show, so the perimeters will not be 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.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

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

With a peak brightness of 950 nits, it’s additionally simple to see all the pieces in direct daylight although I nonetheless suppose Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Extremely has the 10T beat for outside readability. Add in a zippy contact sampling fee of 1000Hz with HDR10+ and 10-bit color accuracy and this can be a excellent display screen – top-of-the-line you will get on a telephone.

There isn’t a 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 count on. Nice for watching YouTube movies and listening to podcasts, however it received’t substitute your sensible speaker for music.

The fingerprint sensor is positioned low on the backside of the show, a spot I discover trickier to shortly faucet than increased up, the place it’s on different telephones. However once you hit it head on it’s fairly dependable. I a lot most popular 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 obtained the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which is mainly an overclocked 8 Gen 1, the processor discovered within the OnePlus 10 Professional, Sony Xperia 1 IV, Vivo X80 Professional, Galaxy S22 Extremely, and several other different high-end Android telephones.

In GFX Bench’s efficiency assessments 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 check, 60fps being the very best doable rating.

Nevertheless it scored barely decrease on Geekbench’s multi-core CPU check 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 aspects in cell processors are extremely minimal on the high finish and are onerous to measure, and that benchmark numbers solely let you know half the story.

The opposite half of the story is daily utilization, the place the 10T completely sings. OnePlus says to consider 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 kind of unrecognisable from a couple of 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 per 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 actually a stunningly fast gadget.

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

You can even go for a model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage whereas Indian clients can select a 3rd 12GB/256GB choice. 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 excellent 80W speeds however in actuality the distinction is minimal in charging occasions. The compromise on the 10T is that it doesn’t have wi-fi charging.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

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

Although this isn’t used within the telephone’s shopper advertising, it’s quietly one of many 10T’s greatest options, if correct. For those who cost your telephone as soon as a day, 1600 cycles is about 4 and a 3rd years, a good chunk of time on 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 obtained to 65% in that point however was at 100% by 23 minutes. That’s insanely good both manner, and meant I solely charged the telephone once I wanted to in very quick 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 obtained a day’s use with energy to spare throughout my testing.

Digicam and video

• Nice 50Mp major 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. The truth is, it has the identical three rear sensors because the OnePlus Nord 2T, a telephone that retails for £369/€399 however shouldn’t be on the market within the US.

So, the 10T has a 50Mp f/1.8 Sony IMX766 major 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 will need to have a number of the sensors mendacity round. OnePlus says it has tweaked the optics in comparison with the Nord 2T, however it’s the similar sensor.

That’s no dangerous factor although because it’s a preferred sensor for a cause. Paired with OnePlus’s stable color tuning, I like the look of photographs 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 formidable array of software program goodies too, with an excellent night time mode, night time mode for video, extremely HDR to beef up distinction, portrait mode, a portrait mode particularly tuned for cats and canines (!), lengthy publicity, RAW seize, focus monitoring, and tons extra. The Hasselblad emblem isn’t printed on the again, however it actually doesn’t matter when major sensor outcomes are wonderful and backed up by professional digicam options for those who go searching.

You can even report stable 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 pictures in good mild, however it captures far much less element than the principle lens, and with totally different color science and no OIS. Evaluate 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 photographs in focus from 2cm to 4cm from the topic. It’s enjoyable to play with and good to have the ability to take pictures that shut, however it struggles with lighting and focus and could be very a lot there so the telephone will 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 value, 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 sensible, however that doesn’t imply the 10T has a nasty digicam. It simply has two inferior sensors discovered on considered one of its mid-range units.

The 16Mp f/2.4 selfie digicam is ok however struggles with white steadiness 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 lightweight on the elephant within the room. OnePlus’s OxygenOS software program has modified dramatically in recent times and is mainly 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 seems to be so much totally different to the way it did even two or three years in the past.

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

OxygenOS 12.1 based mostly on Android 12 is nice. It largely retains out the best way however does immediate you to comply with 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 swap 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 swap modes each time the amount buttons are pushed. Maddeningly, this isn’t the case on the 10T, and you may solely swap between both ring and vibrate, or ring and silent. I solely labored out how you can swap between these two choices with trial and error.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

These controls are too convoluted, compounded by the dearth of alert slider. You can even solely toggle between two ring modes slightly than three within the swipe down fast settings, which is in contrast to most different present Android telephones. A nit-pick maybe, however for me it was an enormous annoyance to not have the ability to change between the three modes simply.

There’s a totally featured always-on show that retains a few of OnePlus’ conventional appeal, although discovering issues within the settings menu generally is 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 correct high fringe of the show in an motion copied instantly from the iPhone’s Management Centre on iOS and iPhones with notches. I ceaselessly unintentionally 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 affords 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 can be some regional variation within the European pricing.

It makes the 10T a horny saving over the $899/£799/€899 base mannequin of the OnePlus 10 Professional, and in addition 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 special story for the 10T within the US the place the Nord 2T isn’t out there.

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

Verdict

The OnePlus 10T is an reasonably priced flagship telephone whose superb steadiness of value and specs harks again to the plucky OnePlus of some years in the past. It skimps in largely the correct areas to ship a telephone with bleeding edge specs that undercuts the higher-end OnePlus 10 Professional sufficient on value 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. For those who don’t want wi-fi charging and a telephoto lens, the 10T will prevent some money.

The Nord 2T can be out there for £369 with the identical rear digicam arrange, however in order for you the easiest processor on an Android telephone proper now and a whopping 16GB RAM, the 10T is a stable 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 major 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