OnePlus 3T Review

OnePlus 3T is an upgraded version of the OnePlus 3, released in December 2016. This new smartphone features a 5.5 inches Optic AMOLED display with a Full HD resolution.

It also comes with a curved 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 for protection. On top of that, OnePlus also packs a larger battery in this device.

Display

The OnePlus 3t features a gorgeous 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED display with excellent picture quality and a 401 ppi pixel density. It also uses a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 4 to protect the screen from scratches and other wear and tear.

The display is sourced by Samsung and incorporates their Diamond PenTile sub-pixel architecture, allowing for improved contrast and colors. Its sRGB color rendering mode is also available, which can be used to deliver more accurate colors.

It also offers a dark mode that enhances deep inky blacks. These are some of the best we have seen on any smartphone, and the OnePlus 3T’s screen looks especially good in this mode.

The OnePlus 3T’s screen has excellent outdoor visibility, thanks to its dual polarising layer that reduces reflections and helps the display to be more visible even in sunlight. Its maximum brightness is 430 cd/m2, slightly lower than the OnePlus 3’s 550 cd/m2 rating, but it’s still evident in bright conditions.

Camera

The OnePlus 3t is an excellent phone for taking pictures, as it has an impressive 16-megapixel front camera. It takes sharper photos than the OnePlus 3, with plenty of details and color reproduction.

The rear camera on the OnePlus 3T is also competent and performs well in low-light conditions. It also features optical image stabilization, which helps to prevent blur when you’re trying to take photos.

OnePlus also redesigned the camera app on its latest smartphones to take better images, using the Snapdragon Camera application explicitly developed for devices with Qualcomm’s image signal processor. It also includes some neat features, including a slo-mo video and panorama.

The OnePlus 3t is available in gunmetal, combining the original’s Graphite finish with a darker look, and can be purchased with 64 or 128 GB of internal storage. Its price is similar to the OnePlus 3. Adding a new gunmetal color, OnePlus has done a great job staying consistent with its original design while making it better than the OnePlus 3.

Battery

One of the most significant changes with the 3T is the increase in battery capacity, from 3,000mAh in the OnePlus 3 to 3,400mAh. That’s a 13% jump that comes without adding any weight or volume, and it’s great to see.

It also lasted longer on PCMark’s battery life test, where we ran the phone through a mix of tasks that emulate what most users will be doing with their device. The OnePlus 3T lasts 10% longer than its predecessor in this test – an improvement that aligns with what you’d expect with the increase in capacity.

The OnePlus 3T’s stamina is so good it outlasted the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in our battery test. In our 90-minute Full HD video loop test, it lost just 14% of its charge – an excellent result that matches the S7 Edge and is better than both the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3. It can also use a day of power in half an hour thanks to OnePlus’ Dash Charging technology.

Performance

The OnePlus 3T is the company’s latest flagship, a souped-up version of the original OnePlus 3. It’s a terrific value smartphone that packs much performance into a compact package.

Its hardware is still top of the range, with the new Snapdragon 821 processor clocked at 2.35GHz and backed up by 6GB of RAM. The OnePlus 3T also comes with an Adreno 530 graphics processing unit, so you’ll easily play some of the more graphically-intensive games on the market.

As we said, the OnePlus 3T’s main selling point is the faster processor. In our benchmarking tests, it easily outperforms the OnePlus 3’s predecessor in both CPU and GPU tasks.

It’s one of the fastest Android phones we’ve ever tested, with smooth opening, closing, and switching between apps. The OnePlus 3T handles gaming well, too, with no dropped frames or other problems.