Oneplus 5 has been one of this year’s most loved mobile across the globe. A few months after the Oneplus 5 was launched the company decided to upgrade the line with Oneplus 5T. Oneplus mobiles are generally known to have longer shelf-lives. But the OP5 turned out to be the quickest mobile to be phased out. But the spirit of Oneplus 5 still lives in Oneplus 5T. Oneplus 5T is an incremental upgrade and not much is different from Oneplus 5. If you have already bought the Oneplus 5, you need not feel bad about the new 5T. You still have one of the fastest mobiles of 2017. So let us have a look at Oneplus 5T and review everything that is different from OP5.
Design
The design identity of both OP5 and OP5T are the same. A few changes have been made and that is mainly due to the larger screen. Oneplus 5T has a 6-inch edge-edge display. So that is the only major difference here. Because of the thin bezels, the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the back. The camera bump at the back is slightly more pronounced than the OP5. Finally, the dimensions are few millimetres bigger in the 5T. It is a bit slippery, but with 5T, Oneplus has added a soft silicon TPU back case in the box. The newly released Oneplus 5 Star wars special edition is available in Sandstone white or Crait White and it is not slippery, but it can pick up dirt over usage. The alert slider is in Crait Red to suit the Star Wars theme. Overall, we still have the same design as the OP5 but with some minor changes.
Display
Now here is a huge change when compared to Oneplus 5. 5T has an edge-to-edge 6.01-inch optic AMOLED screen. The resolution supported is full HD+, but it is one of the best displays I have seen in recent times. The colours are spot on. The display is bright under both indoor and outdoor lighting conditions. The contrast ratio is high and the black levels are deep. I am using the OP5T along with my Galaxy Note 8 with 2K resolution and I don’t find any huge marginal difference between them. Oneplus 5 had a very good display, and with 5T it got better due to the full vision display.
Hardware and Performance
The mobile is powered by the latest and the greatest Snapdragon 835. It comes in 2 variants: 6 GB RAM with 64 GB memory or 8 GB RAM with 128 GB RAM. I would recommend the 8 GB variant because of its storage capacity. The mobile is super fast, blazing fast and insanely fast. Opening any native or installed app is ridiculously instantaneous. Installing apps is fast, switching between apps is crazy fast. Without any doubt, this mobile can match (or even surpass) the flagship phones from any Android phone maker. I played PES 2018, Shadow Fight 3, Overkill 3, Modern Combat 5, Riptide GP2, Lego Jurassic world, Chameleon Run, Baloone Super Monkey 2. In spite of playing the games continuously for over 2 hours, the mobile did not heat up a bit. Such a mobile is rare these days.
The fingerprint sensor at the back is fast and accurate. The loudspeaker is loud and audio quality is crisp. Network latching was spot on. The mobile gave me no troubles making or taking phone calls on JIO and Airtel networks.
Camera
Another minor change which many users may not notice is in the camera. Oneplus 5T has a dual 16 MP + 20 MP setup. But the 20 MP camera is not a telefocus 50 mm lens like in the OP5. In Op5T it is a 20 MP sensor with a wide f/1.7 aperture and 27 mm just like the 16 MP sensor camera. So this lens is to assist more light into the image processor and also to aid the portrait mode. Technically there must have been a huge improvement in low light photography. But the improvement is marginal yet mildly noticeable. I would have prefered a telefocus or a wide-angle lens to give me a different perspective, rather than extra Mega Pixels. But with what we have in hand, the OP5T can compete with the likes of Samsung Note 8 or Pixel XL 2, but may not excel in most light conditions. Focusing is fast and accurate. Portrait algorithm is improved. Colors are accurate and exposure is perfect. The front facing 16 MP camera can also click some lively selfies. The gyro assisted electronic image stabilization videos is magical. The camera performance may not excel the flagship competition, but it is one of the best in its price range.
Software
On the software part, there are 2 new additions on the Oneplus 5T. Face unlock is a feature which can unlock the mobile phone with your face. It works fast and it has about 80-85% accuracy. It struggles a bit under low light, but it is one of the fastest face ID implementation in the market right now. It supports only one face right now. Another new feature to the Oneplus 5T is the Parallel apps, which is just a marketing name for Dual apps. It supports a bunch of social media apps to be used with 2 different login credentials.
Apart from these changes, everything we saw on the Oneplus 5 review, still holds good for the Oneplus 5T. The Star Wars special edition has a few themed wallpapers and a Star Wars theme built in.
Limited Edition of @OnePlus_IN #OnePlusAndStarWars 5T will be priced at Rs 38999 https://t.co/kjzmXjSrPo
— Giridhar (@cgiridhar) December 14, 2017
Battery
Oneplus 5T still has the same 3300 mAh battery as the Oneplus 5 along with the blazingly fast Dash Charger. But because of the bigger display, battery life has dipped roughly about 10% on the 5T. But with Dash Charger, in 30 minutes, the battery is filled up to 60%. The mobile does not heat up while charging. Only the charging unit gets heated up. The circuit to sense battery level and pass on the required Wattage is on the charger brick.
Verdict
If you already have a Oneplus 5, there is no logical reason to migrate to Oneplus 5T. If you are on an older device and a fan of Star Wars, you must check out the special edition. The Kylo Ren back case included is cool. But for anyone looking for a blazingly fast mobile without burning a huge hole in the wallet, the Oneplus 5T would be the right pick.