OnePlus 10T 5G appeared on the market at the end of summer this year and, to put it mildly, the reviewers did not like it. It was probably mistakenly perceived as the successor to the “real” flagship 10 Pro. The OnePlus brand itself was cult among Android fans a few years ago. Legendary fluidity, superior design, brilliant screens were second to none. Probably not too good sales results caused the Chinese to decide to expand their portfolio with a cheap Nord series, and later they decided to almost completely merge with OPPO and resign from the independent development of the OxygenOS overlay. Especially the latter decision has led to the frenzy of fans of the OnePlus brand. OnePlus 10T 5G became the next target of their attacks. It was criticized for poor camera configuration (no cooperation with Hasselblad), no iconic profile switch (Alert Slider), no IP68 standard and no wireless charging. However, this smartphone has several strong advantages that make it likeable.
How do we rate the OnePlus 10T 5G design?
The design of the 10T is in line with the line of the flagship model 10 Pro – the camera island looks identical. The screen is not curved and is surrounded by almost equal frames (the bottom one is slightly wider). Fans of the brand are disappointed because on the side we will not find the iconic Alert Slider to mute the smartphone. From the back, the 10T looks very attractive and modern, although our fingerprints can be seen on the beautiful surface. Nice cases are a rescue – we received as many as 2 plastic cases with the phone. It’s good that OnePlus did not try to copy the design of iPhones, which happens really too often. The 10T 5G is a large device weighing over 200g, but it is very comfortable to hold and use. Of course, reaching for shortcuts from the top of the screen is very easy, but it is compensated by the large display.
What do we think about the OnePlus 10T 5G display?
The display on the 10T is a powerful 6.7-inch flat Fluid AMOLED (2412 × 1080 pixels, 394 ppi). The screen is supposedly protected by 5th generation Gorilla Glass, not Victus. The screen has a high 120Hz refresh rate, but it doesn’t support dynamic refresh – there are only two options: 120 or 60Hz. The screen is not marred by a large island, as in the latest iPhones (because OnePlus does not have additional sensors). There is only a small cutout for the selfie camera. The display supports Always on Display, but in the usual Android version, not the one offered by the latest iPhone. In the settings we can find tweaking the sharpness, colors and brightness of video with HDR (there is support for HDR10 +). The brightness of the screen is around 500 nits (so not the brightest panel available). More expensive flagships have screens, which can “shine” stronger – especially at maximum brightness (in OnePlus it is about 800 nits). The screen has very nice colors, it reads our touch perfectly and you can’t really fault anything. There is a fingerprint reader sewn into the screen, but we will unlock the phone much faster with a face scan.
OnePlus 10T 5G specs and operating system
In OnePlus 10T 5G, unfortunately, we will not find the latest Android 13 yet. The phone works under the control of the OxygenOS 12.1 overlay based on Android 12. The latest updates were from November 5. The OnePlus overlay, which still uses the Oxygen brand, looks more and more like the ColorOS platform we know from OPPO. You may like it – it is not overloaded, it works smoothly, although it is a bit too motley for our European tastes. Directly from the main screen we have access to Google Now, but also to the “shelf” of OnePlus. By the way, “OnePlus Shelf” is not very useful and a bit confusing – perhaps this is a good solution in China, where Google services are not available. The system has a few flavors, settings, additional ones, but it is not overloaded with them. The user can change the appearance of icons, use the weather application, to configure Always on Display, there is a split screen to support two applications and gestures. There is also a special mode for running games.
The whole system works quickly and smoothly also thanks to the fact that, in addition to the optimization itself, it is supported by the fastest Snap 8+ Gen 1 on the market. In our case, it was also 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 memory. There is also, of course, 5G, Wi-Fi ax, Bluetooth 5.2 and support for all geolocation systems.
Such a config scored almost 880K points in AnTuTu. This is a very good result, but it is a bit short of the top, which already exceeds 1 million points.
What photos and videos does the OnePlus 10T 5G take?
In flagships we expect a strong set of cameras. Recently, the standard is 3 lenses supporting the basic camera, wide angle and telephoto. Unfortunately, in OnePlus 10T we have one good camera, and the other 2 are far from it. Unfortunately, the 10T also does not have a telephoto lens, which was in the higher Pro model. It was replaced by a macro camera with a 2MP matrix! Such solutions are now found in phones for a thousand zlotys. The Sony IMX766 50MP main sensor performs well both day and night. At standard settings, it combines pixels, but you can also take photos in full 50 MP. The camera supports OIS and EIS stabilization. The lens is bright (f / 1.8) and really can’t be faulted. Much weaker photos are generated by the ultra-wide-angle camera, which is only 8 MP – there is also no autofocus. It is also much darker – f / 2.2. The macro lens is not worth mentioning at all, because the 2 MP in the flagship offends potential customers. The selfie camera is 16 MP and is not equipped with autofocus (but this is standard).
To sum up – OnePlus 10T 5G takes great photos day and night, but only on the condition that we will use only the main Sony 50 MP matrix.
When it comes to video quality, OnePlus will not disappoint us either. We will record very successful movies even in 4K 60 fps quality. Stabilization is sufficient, but it is not yet the quality we know from Apple, Samsung and the most expensive Xiaomi phones. Full Ultra Steady electronic stabilization is only available in FHD resolution, but for 60 fps
How long does the OnePlus 10T 5G battery last?
The battery and the process of charging it is one of the great advantages of the OnePlus 10T 5G. First of all, we get the iconic charger with a red cable in the set with the phone. Secondly, it now has a power of 150W! Such power charges two 2400 mAh cells. OnePlus ensures that the batteries will last 1600 charge cycles (previously the standard was 800 cycles).
10 minutes of charging the phone with the SUPERVOOC charger with a power of 150 W from 1% allows you to recharge the battery to about 70%. In about 20 minutes we will fully charge 10T. SUPERVOOC 150 W outclasses the charging we know from the most expensive iPhones and Samsungs. So we don’t have to connect our 10T to the charger at night – a short charge during the morning start-up is enough.
Conclusion:
OnePlus 10T 5G is a smartphone that fits like a glove to the premiere of 2022 – it has its very big advantages and advantages that try to cover up its smaller shortcomings. All manufacturers are struggling with the lack of appropriate components, with delivery delays, with logistics problems, with price increases. With all this, most brands want to start making money, and not just fight for quantitative market shares. OnePlus is a very nice smartphone with the most powerful processor, good screen, super-strong charging and very large memory. It is very nice and pleasant to use, even when we usually use iOS on iPhones. The phone works very smoothly and does not cause any problems. What you may not like is a rather weak set of cameras (for a flagship), the lack of the iconic Alert Slider and the high price. It is also worth considering whether the OnePlus 10 Pro, which now costs little more, will not be a better choice for us. However, then you have to remember that its processor is “without a plus”, but the iconic Hasselblad worked when configuring its much better set of cameras.
We love: performance
We don’t like: extra cameras
Who is the OnePlus 10T 5G for:
- People who need the most performance
- People who are looking for a smartphone with a very good screen
- People who need instant charging
- For the richest
- For fans of the OnePlus brand
Who the OnePlus 10T 5G is not for:
- Frugal
- People for whom the set of cameras is the most important
The main pros and cons of OnePlus 10T 5G
Advantages of OnePlus 10T 5G:
- Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
- 150W charging – one of the fastest in the world
- SUPERVOOC 160W charger included
- 16 GB RAM UFS 3.1
- 256 GB of memory
- A very successful design
- Great 120Hz Fluid AMOLED screen with HDR10+
- Good quality stereo speakers (power is not symmetrical)
- Battery with a capacity of 4800 mAh
Cons of OnePlus 10T 5G:
- Gorilla Glass 5
- Android 12 for now
- 8MP Ultra Wide Camera
- Aparat macro 2 MP!
- There is no Alert Slider
- No telephoto lens
- High price
