The OnePlus 5T has now been officially unveiled, revealing a $499 smartphone that might have what it takes to challenge Apple's iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
An unboxing article that was inadvertently uploaded before the official announcement already spoiled the smartphone. However, hands-on reviews of the OnePlus 5T are definitely more valuable than a list of OnePlus 5T specs and features.
OnePlus 5T First Impressions
The OnePlus 5T is the latest flagship smartphone to join the trend of nearly bezel-less designs. The new OnePlus flagship smartphone is just slightly taller compared to the OnePlus 5, but the screen has been upgraded from the 5.5-inch display of its predecessor to a 6-inch Full Optic AMOLED display on the OnePlus 5T. The OnePlus 5T screen offers a resolution of 1,080 x 2,160, pixel density of 401 ppi, and various color calibration options.
Two things that the OnePlus 5T has kept are the headphone jack, which is no longer found in the iPhone X and Google's Pixel 2, and the fingerprint reader, despite the smartphone coming with its own facial recognition security feature.
The OnePlus 5T also retains the dual-camera set-up of the OnePlus 5, but the telephoto lens have been changed into ones with bigger aperture to improve the quality of picture in low-light situations, instead of providing zoom capabilities.
Rounding out the OnePlus 5T specs are the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and RAM of up to 8 GB. The smartphone will ship with the outdated Android 7.1.1 Nougat, but an Android 8.0 Oreo beta is expected by late December.
OnePlus 5T Face Unlock: Better Than iPhone X Face ID?
One of the more defining features of the OnePlus 5T is Face Unlock, the smartphone's answer to the Face ID feature of the iPhone X.
Face Unlock does not attempt to be as secure as Face ID, which is actually not saying much as Face ID security has been under scrutiny recently. What Face Unlock is aiming for is speed, and it beats Face ID in that aspect.
While Face ID takes a few seconds to open up the iPhone X, Face Unlock is almost instantaneous at below 0.2 seconds. It does not sacrifice security for speed though, as the feature only really unlocks the OnePlus 5T. For authenticating mobile payments and opening banking apps, users will still need to input a password or use the fingerprint reader.
OnePlus 5T Price: A Steal For $499
At $499, the OnePlus 5T could definitely be considered a steal, especially compared to the $999 starting price of the iPhone X.
The OnePlus 5T will hit the market on Nov. 21, and it can be expected to be a hot item over the holiday shopping season.
