Every once in a while, a phone comes along that sparks a conversation.
or that changes the way that we use our mobile devices.
And, for the people who don't actually want to carry around adapters and relearn all of their gestures,
Well for them, there's the One Plus 5T.
A purely incremental improvement over the One Plus 5.
and now, in Zen Stone White.
Oooohhh.
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I first checked out the 5T when OnePlus sponsored my trip to their New York launch event,
and since then I've spent about a month using it, And I've got a few impressions to share.
OnePlus's slogan is, Never Settle.
But, if we're being honest, they come in at a lower price,
with a few key feature trade-offs against the top-tier flagship.
So...
Isn't that exactly what they're asking us to do?
Well when it comes to construction quality, the original black 5T feels good.
with a great curved shape, nice clicky buttons, and a satisfyingly smooth body to glass transition.
And then the sandstone white adds a little bit more grip,
and subjectively a better look.
Though with that said, if you're the type to apply a dbrand skin, this might not be a huge issue for you.
The one area where you are settling, is water resistance.
and this is something that I would really hope to see OnePlus address in the 6.
Moving onto specs, here's a rundown of the freshly launched sandstone white edition.
It's..
Exactly the same as the regular 5T, which is pretty much the same as any other flagship smartphone,
at least until Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 to start showing up in the wild sometime later this year.
The decent sized 3300 mAh battery,
combined with the lower 2160:1080 resolution on the 18:9 OLED display,
Amounts to a, settling or a compromise of sorts,
But it's not one that I think anyone is likely to notice in day-to-day use.
I got great battery life out of the 5T regularly making it through very demanding days,
and the screen was sharp, with no off-axis viewing anomalies or burn-in on either of my units.
And, watching movies in the wider aspect ratio, was a treat.
Aside from the bottom mounted single speaker.
Which I would like to see addressed on the 6 as well.
Onto software, we are settling a little bit, again.
To be clear, I actually really like oxygen OS.
It's damn close to stock Android, but, with a few thoughtful add-ons.
like better screenshot management, shortcut keys, OnePlus's signature notification toggle,
And, this really cool feature that I've mostly only seen on Asian focused phones.
The ability to run multiple installs of apps.
So you don't have to switch your login profile all the time,
which is a huge boon for anyone with separate work, and personal social media accounts.
Like me.
However, instead of shipping with Oreo, like the Pixel 2,
we're stuck with nougat, until OnePlus rolls an update sometime in 2018.
And, you can't count on the support period either.
The 3 and the 3T, both got Android Nougat, with Oreo to come,
But the 2, which was released in Mid 2015 is still stuck on Marshmallow, so your mileage may vary.
Now let's talk about the quality of life things.
OnePlus's is facial unlock,
isn't as good as face ID on the iPhone 10,
or even Samsung's iris scanner from my anecdotal experience.
But, now that winters rolled around, it is a heck of a lot better than nothing,
So I definitely prefer that to taking my hands out of my gloves or my pockets.
Though it should be noted, that when I wasn't wearing gloves,
I was really pleased with the performance of the rear mounted fingerprint sensor.
Even if I do continue to prefer front placement.
As for the camera, Well ditto I guess.
It's missing some top-tier features, like 480 fps slo-mo, and it's not
Across-the-board quite as good as the best flagships out there.
But, there are a couple of things that it does really well.
One, It just works.
It's got Pro Mode options, like the ability to see an on-screen histogram, and shoot in RAW,
But the default app and it's default mode,
is super simple to use and gets it right enough, most of the time.
And even their portrait mode It's actually pretty good among the ones we've tested.
And two, with the second camera actually dedicated to low-light,
I got some really impressive shots in very challenging situations.
Like, in a dimly lit aircraft.
I mean it's not like you're gonna be able to do a poster sized print with acceptable quality,
But, if you gauge a cellphone camera on it ability to capture the moment,
The 5T with its quick launch with the double tap,
it's fast shutter, and acceptable image quality, performs admirably.
So I guess by this point in the video, You've probably picked up on my point by now.
The never settle slogan, is a bit, I don't know, let's call it optimistic.
But, I'm still going to recommend the 5T.
Because at five hundred bucks for the base model,
It's cheaper than anything else that I would consider competitive, with the overall user experience.
Also, a sort of related comment, literally, as I sat down, to write this script.
My Type C to 3.5mm adapter died, forcing me to toss aside my daily driver Pixel 2 XL,
for the 5T, so I could plug in, and jam out to some tunes.
Like, bloody hell cellphone industry,
Why are you doing this to me?
And as for OnePlus,
Thank you, for at least putting it off for one more cycle.
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(mumbling) [I don't know why i do this, i feel like it's kinda dirty, like,]
(seductively) [Hey, uh..]
[I see, I got under here, like mmhh..]
[yeah.]