Released in November 2016 as a mid-cycle ‘Turbo’ boost to the OnePlus 3, the OnePlus 3T is the definitive expression of the ‘Flagship Killer’ philosophy. It retains the stunning, razor-thin aluminium unibody and 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED display of its predecessor but upgrades the internals to stay ahead of the pack. At 158g, it is a sleek, ergonomic masterpiece that has cemented OnePlus’s reputation in the UK as the brand for those who want the fastest possible hardware without the ‘Samsung tax.’
The technical headline is the move to the Snapdragon 821 processor, clocked at 2.35GHz, paired with a massive 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM. This overhead ensures that the ‘OxygenOS’ interface remains the smoothest Android experience on the market, capable of handling intensive multitasking with zero lag. The 3T also introduces a significant battery upgrade, squeezing a 3,400 mAh cell into the same thin frame, a 13% increase over the original model. It continues to feature ‘Dash Charge,’ which provides ‘a day’s power in half an hour’ by moving the heat management to the power adapter, allowing the phone to stay cool while charging during gaming.
The imaging department has also seen a technical boost, with the front-facing camera jumping to 16 megapixels for incredibly sharp selfies. The rear 16-megapixel Sony IMX298 sensor features both Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and an updated Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS 2.0) for rock-steady 4K video. Connectivity is comprehensive with 4G LTE, NFC, and a lightning-fast ceramic fingerprint sensor. The OnePlus 3T is a technical powerhouse that proved a ‘disruptor’ could iterate faster than the established giants, offering a truly uncompromising flagship experience for a fraction of the cost.