REVIEW: Oneplus launches another flagship phone challenger, the Oneplus 8T
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By: Paolo Lacuna
SINGAPORE – Oneplus produces another compelling challenger in the flagship smartphone category with the recently launched Oneplus 8T. It’s more than just a minor step up to the Oneplus 8 with a more diverse rear camera set, better battery, faster-charging speed, modernised design, and a more fluid screen refresh. There’s a lot to like especially for Oneplus hardcore fans. We’re here to let you know what we think.
The design choices follow more modern phones, with a large camera module floating at the top left of the phone and a flat screen, which I prefer over curved screens on other smartphones. It’s available in Aquamarine Green and Luna Silver, but the former is a far better choice if you want a refreshing and bright look to your smartphone.
It’s still covered in Gorilla Glass with a metal frame that feels sturdy on hand. On the right side of the phone, the textured slider looks great and is easy to engage when you need to toggle to silent mode quickly. Easily one of my favourite features on Oneplus phones.
The Oneplus 8T includes a very fluid 120Hz AMOLED screen that’s quite big at 6. 5 inches. It supports FHD+ at 2400x1080 pixels, common in many flagship smartphones today. Scrolling through the UI and web pages is buttery smooth at 120Hz, with minimal wobble effect. You still have the option to switch to 60Hz if you want to save battery life. The fingerprint scanner lives underneath the display. It’s quick and accurate, and I rarely get any errors in unlocking the phone.
Like many flagship phones today the Oneplus 8T runs on the Snapdragon 865 5G but has a larger 12GB memory. What makes the Oneplus 8T stand out is OxygenOS11 which runs on Android 11, a rarity for smartphones not manufactured by Google. It’s a clean implementation with minimal bloat and allows for a lot of customisation if you take the time to explore.
You can optimise animations, one-hand gestures, and Always-On display clock options. And coupled with the high 120Hz screen refresh rate, the phone feels very snappy, and the performance is outstanding. Scrolling through TikTok content is seamless and enjoyable. Gaming is smooth and fluid, especially with fast games like Rebel Racing.
The Oneplus 8T is equipped with a powerful 4,500-mah battery, which easily lasts through the day. There is no wireless charging, but you won’t need it because of the included Warp Charge 65, Oneplus’ most advanced 65W charging solution that can power up the battery charged to 50% in just under 15 mins or 100% in under 40 min.
It is swift and safe as it includes 12 temperature sensors with an extra encryption chip in the adapter and cable to keep temperatures cool and safe.
The Oneplus 8T comes with a capable camera set which includes a 48MP primary camera, a 16MP ultrawide, a 5MP macro lens and a 2MP depth camera. There is no telephoto camera found with other flagship phones, but you can still get really good shots with the Oneplus 8T.
The colours are vivid with a nice pop of colour on standard shots, though bokeh effects sometimes look inconsistent. Details on the subject are sharp and accurate, giving a very realistic looking texture to images.
Portrait mode does it a lot better, with clear separation of subject from the background, giving a nice bokeh effect to images.
Taking tight shots on really small subjects provides sharp and accurate images, and is generally impressive.
Night shots using the Oneplus 8T’s nightscape mode can bring in more light and still include much details on the shot. The sample above was taken at dusk, and you can even clearly see the lit tennis court and the minuscule tennis player. The colours feel a bit too processed, giving it more of a cinematic feel rather than something realistic.
The Oneplus 8T includes a 16MP selfie shooter housed in a large punch-hole on the upper left screen. I found the selfie cam useful for video calls, but selfies can be better. You can see clearly in the sample that the Oneplus 8T did not do well with edge detection, taking shortcuts to cut out details like hair. It makes the photo look artificial.
The rear camera can shoot at a maximum 4K with options for 30 or 60 frames per second for video capture. Super stable mode only supports 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 30fps and captured videos look great and smooth with little wobble effect.
Overall, the camera selection for the Oneplus 8T is diverse enough to compose shots that will satisfy most consumers. There may be some limitations like the lack of a telephoto lens, but the Oneplus 8T can still produce images that can challenge most flagship phones today.
The clear standout features of the Oneplus 8T is its buttery smooth 120hz screen, reliable performance, enduring battery life and super quick warp charging all wrapped in a smartphone design that’s modern, bright and functional like the textured toggle switch. The camera is adequate and will perform within expectations of any flagship phone. This may not be the smartphone for hardcore smartphone photographers. Still, the Oneplus 8T will impress consumers looking for a great smartphone experience for media and social content consumption, gaming and simple productivity.
The Oneplus 8T is available in Aquamarine Green and Lunar Silver. Price starts at S$899 for the 8GB RAM with 128GB ROM version, and at S$1,099 for 12GB RAM with 256GB ROM version. You can get it at Lazada and Shopee, using the links below:
Lazada - Lunar Silver 8GB RAM+128GB ROM, Aquamarine Green 12GB RAM+256GB ROM
Shopee - Lunar Silver 8GB RAM+128GB ROM, Aquamarine Green 12GB RAM+256GB ROM
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