- [Mr Mobile] The king of the $400 smartphone category
just got killed.
Its successor, a physically identical flagship,
with better specs, a souped-up camera,
and in the US, a 10% price bump.
Is the OnePlus 3T worth the extra 40 clams?
This is the MrMobile review.
(upbeat electronic music)
The question I posed in the intro is the only one
I'll endeavor to answer in this review.
The other question, whether OnePlus is being
pragmatic or greedy by releasing
a more expensive refresh just before the holidays,
I'll leave to you to discuss in the comments.
The essence of this phone is very simple.
If you like the OnePlus 3, you'll like the 3T even more.
In the hand, the two phones are indistinguishable,
save the newer model's gunmetal paint job
and a sapphire lens cover on the primary camera.
The big changes are inside.
And even they aren't that big.
First, the Snapdragon 820 processor makes way
for the faster and newer 821.
This reduces boot time, increases app loading speed,
and theoretically helps with camera performance.
More on that in a second.
In addition, the battery gets a 13% bump
over the older model,
and a new 128 gig storage option
is available at the higher price tier.
The software continues to be OnePlus's own OxygenOS.
It's based on the older Android Marshmallow
but aside from having an older security update,
I don't really mind, for two reasons.
The first is that OnePlus has committed to delivering
Android N before the end of the year
and significantly speeding up
its update delivery going forward.
Yeah, yeah, I know, every company says that,
and you're right to be skeptical.
But here's the other thing.
OxygenOS is better than ever.
I almost like it as much as I like the Motorola Android skin
and if you've been watching me for a bit,
you know that's saying a lot.
It continues to blend the super-smooth performance
of near-stock Android with very smart feature improvements.
Among them, swipe up on the home screen
to jump to a Google search.
Hold down the capacitive buttons to reveal notifications,
or do a bunch of other stuff.
Do a three-finger swipe for a screen shot.
And lock access to any app you want with a thumbprint.
And these are just some examples.
You can make basically every button and the ringer slider
do exactly what you want.
The result is a phone that can be quickly made to feel
just like home with very little effort.
If you're a selfie story teller,
there's one last thing to get excited about,
a new front-facing camera
with the same 16 megapixel resolution as the main shooter.
I ran an unscientific Snapchat poll
and most of you agreed that the OnePlus 3T
outperformed the other front-facing cameras I used,
Pixel, the Moto Z, and the Mate 9.
Results from the FFC in regular shooting
were similarly impressive given enough light.
I still think lower resolution sensors
with bigger pixels are the way to go
if you're mainly shooting selfies in the club
but for daytime stills and video calls,
and especially Snapchat, this camera's great.
As I said earlier, the primary camera is unchanged
from the OnePlus 3 but the viewfinder has gotten upgrades
in the form of a beefed-up manual mode
and new software stabilization
that works in concert with OIS
to produce a nice, steady shot.
Also the focus is lightening quick,
almost as that on the Google Pixel.
The bad stuff?
It doesn't take much sun on a subject
to make it overexposed.
And this camera is yet another reminder
that HDR isn't a cure-all.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for a second.
(upbeat electronic music)
Odds and ends?
The display is the same PenTile AMOLED panel as on the 3,
which means that purists will find something
to hate about it even in sRGB mode.
I think it's fine, with two little exceptions.
One, it doesn't get quite bright enough in the sun.
And two, the built-in night mode
uses the worst shade of pee yellow I've ever seen.
Moving on to battery life,
the 3T's extra reserve is enough to see me to the end
of even a heavy use day,
as long as I don't do too much audio streaming.
And the super-quick Dash Charge rapid replenishment
still lives up to its name.
Some issues from the OnePlus 3 seem to have been corrected,
like the annoying LTE signal jumping,
while other bugs have cropped up,
like the screen not always turning off in phone calls
when using the dialer app.
With every new so-called flagship killer
that OnePlus launches, the prices climbs
a little bit higher.
If you're put off by that,
I can't say I blame you.
The level of quality the company pulled off
a couple years ago at $299 was truly legendary
and it made the brash branding a lot easier to swallow.
But the truth is, even at $439,
there's no question in my mind that the 3T is worth it.
It's a well-made phone with a nice set of cameras,
an outstanding software, and a subtle sense of style
that's kinda grown on me.
In my view, it's still the king
of the $400-$500 smartphone segment.
More thoughts in the OnePlus 3 review
and the $400 smartphone round-up
on MrMobile's YouTube channel.
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Until next time, thanks for watching,
and stay mobile, my friends.