OnePlus is breathing new life into its more affordable T series smartphone lineup this week with the new OnePlus 10T, scheduled to officially launch on August 3 with a big event in New York that will unveil the much-rumored handset. It should also confirm many of the specs we’ve heard about for a while already.
However, despite all the rumors, there are still aspects of the new phone that are shrouded in mystery. As such, OnePlus almost certainly has a surprise or two up its sleeve for Wednesday’s event, which will also include the unveiling of OxygenOS 13 — a significant update that many OnePlus fans are hoping will clean up the mess that is OxygenOS 12. It remains to be seen whether that will happen, but it should add even more anticipation for Wednesday’s launch event.
How to watch the OnePlus 10T launch event
We’ll naturally have all the breaking news on the OnePlus 10T and OxygenOS 13 when they land, but if you’d prefer to be part of the experience as it unfolds live, OnePlus will be live streaming the event on its YouTube channel, starting at 10 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT. You can also register on the OnePlus 10T product launch page to stay on top of the latest news and announcements.
OnePlus is also opening the event for in-person attendance by fans who live in New York City or are willing to make the trip. It’s being held at the Gotham Hall; tickets are $25 per person and include a gift bag with free OnePlus Nord Buds and a OnePlus tote bag, cap, and brooch.
While you’re waiting for things to kick off on Wednesday, OnePlus has a couple of teaser trailers on its YouTube channel and several other videos that offer hints of what to expect from the gaming and camera capabilities of the company’s latest smartphone.
What to expect at the OnePlus 10T launch event
Unlike some other launch events, OnePlus has already told us exactly what products will be coming on Wednesday. This event will be centered entirely on the OnePlus 10T and its accompanying OxygenOS 13 operating system. However, that doesn’t mean we know exactly what to expect from those.
The specs on the OnePlus 10T are a bit hard to pin down as there’s no OnePlus 9T to follow up on. The last T series device was the OnePlus 8T in 2020 — a decent smartphone that sadly didn’t stand out from its competitors. While late 2021 saw a limited-market release of the hybrid OnePlus 9RT exclusively in China and India, the rest of the world got only the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro.
The new OnePlus 10T will likely more closely follow in the footsteps of the OnePlus 10 Pro released earlier this year, cutting a few corners to provide a more affordable option for those who don’t need the company’s most premium smartphone. From the leaked renders we’ve seen, the OnePlus 10T will mirror the design language of its Pro sibling, minus a few of the more elegant touches.
For instance, we’re expecting a plastic frame rather than a metal one and possibly some changes to the camera bump. The flash has been relocated to the upper right corner of the camera module, as confirmed in the official OnePlus 10T 5G trailer, and the camera bump appears to feature a contoured edge that blends in more naturally with the rear casing.
In terms of actual specs, rumor has it the OnePlus 10T will feature a 50-megapixel (MP) main camera joined by an 8MP ultrawide lens and 2MP macro lenses. The front will feature a 16MP hole-punch selfie camera. While leaked renders suggested that it might move to the center, it’s difficult to know for sure as OnePlus’ official photos and videos of the 10T have focused primarily on the rear casing, providing only glimpses at the front of the device (generally with a dark screen that hides the hole).
One notable omission is that the OnePlus 10T will not take advantage of the company’s famous collaboration with Hasselblad. This means no Hasselblad branding on the camera module and none of the more specialized tuning and color calibration of the OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 10 Pro.
The OnePlus 10T will have an even more unusual drawback: the alert slider is reportedly going away. This was useful for quickly switching into silent or vibrate mode, but despite being around since the OnePlus 2 came along in 2015, there’s just no room for it inside the OnePlus 10T — at least not if the company wants to improve its smartphone in more important areas.
OnePlus chief designer Hope Liu explained to The Verge that the company had to ditch the switch to make room for the components necessary for “high wattage charging, a large battery capacity, and better antenna signal.” The slider may seem like a small component from the outside, but Liu says it takes up 30 square millimeters of the motherboard. With the other features that OnePlus plans to add to its new phone, keeping the alert slider wouldn’t have been possible without stacking the motherboard, thereby making the device thicker.
That’s probably not surprising, considering the company’s tagline for the launch event is “Evolve Beyond Speed.” We’re expecting the OnePlus 10T to not only feature a more powerful antenna system optimized for gaming, but also 150-watt super-fast charging — more than double the speed of the OnePlus 10 Pro, which is limited to 65W in the U.S. version.
The other highlight of Wednesday’s event will be OxygenOS 13, which many hope will be on par with Android 13 and iOS 16. Unfortunately, the messy release of OxygenOS 12 earlier this year means that OnePlus has its work cut out for it, and the company’s statements on its operating system plans so far have been confusing at best. The OnePlus faithful will surely be watching Wednesday’s event with bated breath to see if the company’s new OS release will truly save the day.
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