Jeremy Pether
Staff Writer
OnePlus have always marketed their devices as “flagship killers”—phones coming in at a low price point while still retaining the features seen on high-end devices. Indeed, the OnePlus 5T lives up to its reputation. Starting at $499 for the 64 GB model, with a $559 128 GB model, it’s about half the price of the current flagships, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 costing $950 and the iPhone X at $1000. Despite the much lower price point, the OnePlus 5T easily keeps up with both phones.
The OnePlus 5T is incredibly fast. It’s running a much lighter Android setup than competing phones with OxygenOS. While Samsung’s TouchWiz has a bad tendency to bog down phones, OxygenOS feels fast and fluid. The phone’s hardware also packs a punch, with a Snapdragon 835 and an Adreno 540, both of which are top of the line components. Despite throwing everything at it during testing, it refused to slow down or freeze up.
For anyone who loves long battery life, good news: this phone doesn’t compromise on battery. On average, after a full day of heavy use it had about 70% charge left. The battery life is ridiculously long, to the point where it’s possible to stop carrying around annoying battery banks. The only charging accessory you’ll really need is the included Dash Charger. The OnePlus Dash Charger is absolutely incredible, taking the phone to full charge in under an hour. The ability to get a decent amount of charge in a short time is great, especially when on the go and stumbling across an open outlet.
A lot of features seen on 2017 flagships are here as well. The 5T 18:9 AMOLED display with thin bezels makes the phone feel almost like one giant screen. The physical home button is gone, but it feels like a worthy tradeoff. The phone also has a fingerprint reader, located on the back panel about two-thirds of the way up the phone. Even though it’s on the back of the phone, it feels natural and easy to consistently activate. Face unlock has been added as well, and it works very well (although it’s not the most secure option.) Both the fingerprint and face unlocks are incredibly fast as well, making the phone feel light and responsive.
The camera is the only feature that isn’t on par with the latest flagships, but it’s very close. It’s a pretty great camera with a full-featured camera app, including a pro mode that allows you to adjust everything about the camera, and even save the photos as raw files. The camera is more than enough to take stunning pictures, and the video it takes is incredibly good, especially if you want to edit or color correct the footage in post. While it makes for a great camera, it’s still beat out by flagships like the iPhone X and the Galaxy Note 5, particularly with the portrait mode. The portrait mode has some issues defining the outlines of people or objects, making the effect not look as sharp as it does on other phones.
OnePlus has a solid phone on its hands. Despite being almost half the price, it keeps up with the latest flagships, even beating them in certain areas. It’s a fast, lightweight phone that’s sure to please. With a price tag starting $499, it’s probably the best value you can get on a smartphone right now. The OnePlus 5T is available from the OnePlus website unlocked, and works on all American carriers except Verizon and Sprint.
