OnePlus 8T: The Weird One of the Three

 

OnePlus 8T: The weird one of the three

OnePlus unveiled some new devices at their launch event just two days ago, featuring a new special edition Nord for Europe and India, the weirdly priced and specced OnePlus 8T, new Buds Z true wireless earbuds, and teasers for an upcoming OnePlus smartwatch. This isn’t it either, as the tech company are set to unveil two Nord models headed to the U.S. and the mentioned smartwatch near the end of this month. Techtober is really kicking off now! But, what exactly do these ‘new’ devices bring to the table this time around? Read on to learn more about the tech.

OnePlus 8T: What’s new?

The OnePlus 8T is the 6 month refresh of the OnePlus 8 earlier on this year, but features a few higher end specs to improve the lower end versions experience. The most striking difference is the rear camera bump, reminiscent of a Galaxy phone or recent Huawei phones. The reasoning behind this refreshed design point to making the camera's look better than what they actually are, despite its actual quality. It recycles the same 48 MP main sensor, 16 MP ultra-wide angle lens and then slaps on a 5 MP macro lens and a 2 MP monochrome lens. It doesn't seem like they're giving up on the colour filter lenses. They may also start a new trend of using dual LED flash on their lower end phones. 

The display takes from the 8 Pro with a 6.55” 120 Hz panel, but is set to a 1080p resolution and is of a slightly lower quality. Some reviewers observed a streaky rainbow colour when looking at it from the side. Other than that, we’d have to use the device for a longer period of time to determine if there are any other display issues, such as the green tint or yellow tint at low brightness. Regarding charging, it does not have wireless charging capabilities, but it does feature WarpCharge 65. It has been said to fully charge the device from 0 to 100 in 39 minutes, which is pretty close to claims from Oppo with similar batteries. OnePlus achieved this speed from two smaller batteries, with capacities equalling the 4,500 mAh rating, which allows for quicker charging but with some heat issues. To counteract that, there is vapour-chamber cooling to dissipate some of that excess heat. However, reviewers still observed pretty high temperatures. 

There were a plethora of colour-ways available to the previous generation of devices, but this version only gets two: aquamarine green and lunar silver. The green colour option looks pretty similar to the green colour from the 8 and 8 Pro and the lunar silver like the OnePlus 7T from around this time last year. Both colours are available all around the world with every configuration. Speaking of, the device is only available with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage in the United States and starts at $749. In the rest of the world, there are also 8 GB RAM, 128 or 256 GB internal storage options starting at £549 and €549. There will be a T-Mobile variant, named the OnePlus 8T+ 5G, with the only difference being IP water resistance, something the unlocked model will not have, and 256 GB storage paired with 12 GB of RAM.

OnePlus Nord Special Edition

Not much changed with the special edition Nord, but the new device comes in a special Gray Ash colour. It’s available for the same price as the regular Nord in all configurations in Europe today (15/10/2020) and India tomorrow (16/10/2020).

OnePlus Buds Z

It seems like we only just got new buds from OnePlus, but at this price point, they are more than welcome for people who didn’t get the original. Claims say up to 20 hours of battery life on a full charge, and 3 hours of ‘vibrant’ audio from 10 minutes of charge. They support Dolby Atmos audio, IP55 sweat resistance, and will be available on November 2nd for just $49.99. They retain the same stick style from the original, but utilize silicone tips instead of the AirPod-like unibody design. I will be buying these as soon as I can, since the originals would fall out of my ears too easily just like AirPods and EarPods.

OnePlus Watch

Back in 2015, OnePlus were rumoured to be working on a new device to open up their ecosystem with a smart watch. Unfortunately, the device didn’t materialize and went under the radar for a while. Not too long ago, these leask resurfaced around the same time the OnePlus 8 series were getting some recognition. But, we were let down again. Now, we officially know from OnePlus themselves about this new addition to the OnePlus ecosystem. Before the information was given, we had reason to believe the watch would have a similar design to that of its sister company’s smartwatch: the Oppo Watch. That had a square design with rounded corners and was matched with a lot of ‘Apple Watch Clone’ criticism. OnePlus usually copies the designs of their sister companies with first generation products and progressively update the design to their fans liking. This time around, OnePlus are just jumping right in and changing it up. We know for sure it has a circular design and we have reason to believe it will launch alongside the U.S. bound OnePlus Nord models later this month. 

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What do you think of the OnePlus 8T? Is it worth a look for anyone in the United States at its current price, or should you only consider it if you’re elsewhere in the world? The OnePlus Nord’s seem pretty close to launch, so maybe those will be better? We’ll have to wait and see when more information arises and for the launch event, around October 24th! See you then!