The big picture: The OnePlus 10T 5G comes with a lower-resolution display and a worse camera system than the company’s flagship 10 Pro handset but makes up for it with an upgraded SoC, faster charging, and a lower price point. Some might also prefer the 10T’s flat screen over the Pro’s curved one.
About half a year after revealing its flagship smartphone, OnePlus is finally introducing a more affordable non-Pro version, the 10T 5G. While still a premium handset, it cuts $250 off the launch price of its Pro sibling while improving some specs (and downgrading many others).
The handset features a 6.7-inch, 1,080 x 2,412 AMOLED display with a dynamic refresh rate that switches between 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz based on content. The screen also has a 360Hz touch response rate, 10-bit color depth, and HDR10+ support.
Powering the OnePlus 10T is Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (the 10 Pro uses the non-plus version) paired with up to 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The company developed a new cooling solution for the 10T with the largest vapor chamber in any of its phones.
The camera department has seen the most cost-cutting measures, with OnePlus even dropping the Hasselblad branding and software features. The handset comes with a 50-megapixel IMX766 main camera with OIS, an 8-megapixel ultrawide, and a 2-megapixel macro. On the front, there’s a 16-megapixel fixed-focus camera located in a hole-punch cutout.
Other noteworthy downgrades compared to the Pro version are the lack of an alert slider, missing Wi-Fi 6E support, and a relatively-paltry IP54 rating.
The OnePlus 10T has a decently-sized 4,800 mAh battery with 150W fast-charging support, with a full charge allegedly taking only 19 minutes. However, in countries with 100-127V power outlets, the charging speed is limited to 125W, making the phone charge from one to 100 percent a whole minute slower. The company claims the battery will retain about 80 percent of its capacity after 1,600 charging cycles.
The phone will ship with the company’s Android 12-based OxygenOS 12.1 preinstalled, and claims it will receive three major Android updates and four years of security updates.
The OnePlus 10T 5G will be available in Moonstone Black and Jade Green, with pre-orders in the US starting September 1 and shipments beginning on September 29. Pricing starts at $649 for the 8GB / 128GB variant, while the 12GB / 256GB model will cost $749.