The OnePlus 8T arrives with two batteries, a 120Hz flat display, and 65W fast charging

OnePlus 8T design and display

The OnePlus 8T builds upon its predecessor’s design, further refining it to a point where you got an almost bezel-less display experience with the same punch-hole selfie camera in the upper left corner that you’re familiar with from the OnePlus 8 series. With previous products the company has focused on matte finishes, but this time around OnePlus has selected a glossy coating. Don’t worry, though. This coating takes advantage of diffuse reflection, a form of light refraction that scatters light in different angles and directions, to produce a clean and shiny surface capable of mitigating the buildup of fingerprints. There are two colors available: Aquamarine Green and Lunar Silver.

Going back to the front of the OnePlus 8T we find a flat 6.55’’ 120Hz FHD+ AMOLED 2.5D flexible display. That’s a lot of information in one sentence so let’s elaborate. The big news here is that OnePlus has switched from a curved to a flat panel. The company states that it is “the first flat 120 Hz display ever to earn an A+ rating from DisplayMate.”

This rating is not surprising, given the display scores of the last two generations of OnePlus phones. The display of the OnePlus 8T has received Pixelworks treatment, just like its predecessor. This includes a special factory color calibration, DC dimming that reduces the flickering at low brightness, adaptive color temperature control, and true-to-life skin tones for all content involving real people.

According to OnePlus, this 2400×1080 pixel panel can achieve a peak brightness of 1,100 nits and has 8,192 levels of brightness for a smooth transition between various brightness settings. Of course, all of these claims will be thoroughly tested in our lab, so stay tuned for our OnePlus 8T review.

OnePlus 8T hardware and performance

The OnePlus 8T is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G chipset, coupled with a Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System. This combination should tackle every modern usage scenario with the added 5G connectivity cherry on top. The OnePlus 8T will be available with either 8 or 12GB of RAM, as well as either 128 or 256GB of onboard storage.

The phone sports a hefty 4,500mAh battery that is actually two 2,250mAh modules connected in series. This allows the two separate modules to be charged simultaneously, resulting in very fast charging times.

Oddly, the OnePlus 8T does not support wireless charging, a feature that OnePlus announced with great enthusiasm earlier this year on the OnePlus 8 Pro.

The first non-Google phone to ship with Android 11!

The OnePlus 8T comes equipped with OxygenOS 11 (based on Android 11) out of the box, featuring optimized animations and gestures, as well as numerous customizations such as 11 new Always On Display clock options, improved one-handed gesture controls, and Zen Mode 2.0. 

OnePlus also mentioned a few cool new AOD visualizations, so while your phone is sleeping you will now be able to see some artistic looks, or a few functional ones like an always-on display that shows you how often you’ve picked up your phone throughout the day.

OnePlus 8T camera system

Wide and an ultra-wide camera, but no telephoto lens

There’s a quad-camera system on the back of the OnePlus 8T and it consists of a 48MP main camera with optical image stabilization, a 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and dedicated macro and monochrome lenses. It’s an interesting choice, OnePlus is offering a strange mix taken from the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro camera systems. Gone is the telephoto lens from the 8 Pro but the Macro lens is present (5 megapixels this time, 3cm focal length) and so is the monochrome sensor.

There’s an improved Nightscape mode with enhanced AI algorithms as well as a new Video Portrait mode that can produce clips with a natural bokeh effect. The OnePlus 8T can record 4K video at 60 fps and has a Super Slow Motion mode: 720p video at 480 fps, 1080p video at 240 fps. The selfie camera is 16-megapixels with fixed focus and f/2.4 aperture. 

OnePlus 8T price and availability

The OnePlus 8T will be available through OnePlus.com on October 23rd at 11 am EDT for $749 in the United States. You will also be able to get the OnePlus 8T on Amazon in the US, and T-Mobile will offer the handset under a slightly different name, OnePlus 8T+ 5G.

Speaking of 5G connectivity, the phone will support all of the 5G bands used in the US except for mmWave, which Verizon Wireless and AT&T have been rolling out massively so far. This makes it best suited for T-Mobile users in the US, while if you use the OnePlus 8T with Verizon or AT&T you will be getting LTE speeds mostly.

And while there is only one model on sale in the US (the one with 12GB RAM, 256G storage), international buyers are getting to pick between two versions that are priced very competitively: