OnePlus 7T review
What is it?
The most complete and well-rounded OnePlus smartphone of 2019.
Design & Construction
- The rear design of the OnePlus 7T, with its circular camera module, is pretty distinctive. It’s not the most original design because Motorola phones have had it in the past but it’s still quite unique nonetheless.
- The gradient colour options, combined with the good build quality, ensure that the 7T feels reasonably premium in hand. It’s pretty light as well.
- What’s disappointing is that OnePlus has retained that waterdrop notch on this phone. Therefore, from the front, the 7T looks exactly like a 100 other mid-range Android phones with a similar notch layout. A hole punch or a truly bezel-less display would have been really better here.
- Also worth mentioning is that the 7T has a tall aspect ratio of 20:9, so its relatively easy to grip it in one hand.
Display
- That notch aside, I really cannot complain about the display. It’s a 6.5-inch AMOLED screen with a 90 Hz refresh rate. This means that everything appears quite smooth which really elevates the user experience.
- The display’s sunlight legibility, viewing angles and colour calibration are quite impressive as well.
User Interface & Performance
- Running the show here is OxygenOS built on top of the latest Android 10. As expected, the OnePlus 7T remains one of the fastest and the most fluid Android phones you can buy right now. The UFS 3.0 storage also helps will speed.
- The phone uses the new Android 10 gestures for navigation as standard. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of these gestures and thankfully OnePlus gives you the option of reverting back to the classic 3 navigation button layout.
- Great software, when combined with the powerful Snapdragon 855+ chip and 8GB of RAM, makes this phone brilliant for gaming as well.
OnePlus also has a track record of pushing Android updates on time and supporting their phones for as long as 3 years. Basically, when it comes to software, OnePlus remains unbeaten in the Android industry.
Cameras
- The 3 rear cameras (wide, ultra-wide and telephoto) you find on the OnePlus 7T here are almost the same as those on the OnePlus 7 Pro, but there are a few changes here.
- First up, the primary camera can now also take some pretty nice super macro photos. Then, you can shoot video with the ultra-wide-angle camera (this was not possible on the 7 Pro), and finally, the telephoto camera has 2x optical zoom instead of 3x on the 7 Pro.
- The main 48MP camera does take some very colour accurate photos and videos. As before, the stabilization in videos is very impressive. However, in a few cases, the camera’s algorithms are screw up a bit giving some inconsistent results. This is especially true for the Nightscape night mode, but still, overall, it remains a good performer.
- The other two cameras are reasonably impressive too. Just don’t expect them to beat iPhones or premium Galaxy phones, but for the average user, the results are still pretty good. Nightscape works with the ultra-wide camera too.
OnePlus 7T camera samples can be seen below:
Battery Life
- The OnePlus 7T comes with faster charging speeds as well. This new tech is officially called Warp charge 30T. It took me from 37 per cent to 76 per cent in around 15 minutes, which is mighty impressive.
- The battery capacity here is 3,800mAh and the battery life if quite mediocre. You can get around 5 hours of screen on time on medium usage. So, heavy users and gamers will be a bit disappointed here.
What else?
- The optical in-display fingerprint scanner on this phone is quick and very reliable.
- While OnePlus does claim that the 7T is quite water-resistant, keep in mind that there is no official IP water/ dust resistance certification here.
Verdict
- At a starting price of Rs 38,000, the OnePlus 7T is genuinely great value for money. In fact, if you are considering buying the 7T Pro, buy it only for its bigger and notch-less display. Otherwise, the 7T makes for a much better deal.
- Those choosing between the 7T and a proper flagship phone, keep in mind the cameras of this phone, while quite capable, are not flagship-beating. But, if you’re not a professional photographer or filmmaker, the performance is nothing much to complain about.
Check out our OnePlus 7T video review:
OnePlus 7T
Rs 37,999-39,999 (as tested)
8.2
Pros
- Fluid 90Hz display
- Smooth OxygenOS with latest Android 10
- Great value for money
Cons
- Cameras could be better
- Mediocre battery life
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