Review of OnePlus 5T - a smartphone that has no competitors

I bring to your attention a detailed review of the flagship smartphone OnePlus 5T. Brief characteristics: 6″ Amoled 18:9 / Snapdragon 835 / 6GB / 64GB / 3300 mAh / dual camera / ultra-fast operation and charging. I’ll tell you about all this and much more under the cut. Attention! What follows is a lot of text, photos and screenshots without spoilers. The phone arrived from the Fasttech store by Singapore Post in 3 weeks. 50% of the cost was paid.

Proof

Specifications

Main characteristics:

• Shell: OxygenOS
• Housing material: Anodized aluminum
• SIM card type: Nano
• Number of SIM cards: 2
• SIM card operating mode: Alternating (1 radio module)
• Dimensions (HxWxD, mm): 156.1*75*7.3
• Weight: 162 grams

Screen:

• Screen type: AMOLED
• Diagonal: 6.01″
• Screen resolution: 1080 x 2160
• Pixels per inch: 401
• Gorilla Glass: 2.5D Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5

Memory:

• Built-in memory: 64 GB
• RAM: 6GB LPDDR4X
• MicroSD memory card support: no

Platform:

• OS: 7.1.1 Nougat (Already 8.0)
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• Graphics accelerator: Adreno 540
• Number of Cores: (4×2.45 GHz Kryo & 4×1.9 GHz Kryo)
• Type: 64-bit
• Those. process: 10 nm

Camera:

• Main camera: dual (16 MP Sony IMX 398 RGB + 20 MP IMX 376K), f/1.7
• Autofocus: Yes
• Flash: dual LED
• Video recording (main): UHD 30 fps / FHD 60 fps / FHD 30 fps / HD 30 fps / HD 120 fps
• Front camera: IMX 371, 16 MP, f/2.0
• Video recording (front): FHD 30 fps / HD 30 fps

Wireless network:

• GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• FDD LTE: Band 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/30/66
• TDD-LTE: Band 34/38/39/40/41
• TD-SCDMA: Band 34/39
• UMTS(WCDMA): Band 1/2/4/5/8
• CDMA: BC0
• Wi-Fi: MIMO 2*2, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5 GHz
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0, support aptX & aptX HD
• NFC: Yes
• Wireless charging: No

Multimedia:

• Supported video formats: MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, WEBM
• Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG, MID, M4A, IMY
• Supported image formats: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, DNG

Location:

• GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo

Nutrition:

• Battery capacity: 3,300 mAh, Dash Charge (5V 4A)
• Battery mount: Non-removable

Miscellaneous:

• USB Type C (v2.0, OTG, USB Audio support)

Available in three colors. The start of sales of the white version with a rough back cover is scheduled for January 9. In red color it is intended for the Chinese market, however, the fast market already has a 128GB version on sale, but not at a reasonable price. Perhaps there is something cheaper somewhere.

A limited edition was also released, dedicated to the new part of Star Wars.

There are two versions of this smartphone:

• 6 GB RAM and 64 GB ROM (reviewed model)
• 8 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM

Package

Supplied in an ascetic white box made of thick cardboard. Judging by its condition, something like this happened to my parcel. There's nothing interesting on the reverse side.

The interior of the packaging, as always with OnePlus, is thought out to the smallest detail. The smartphone is snapped into a plastic backing to avoid unnecessary shaking.

The package includes: the phone itself, a protective case, a proprietary charger with support for Dash Charge, a USB to Type C cable, a paper clip and waste paper. Instead of an adapter for the usual sockets, the store supplies a third-party charger with a Euro plug. But in this case it is a little more than useless.

The case is silicone and does not represent anything interesting. The same as all the others like it on Ali for a couple of bucks. It doesn’t particularly increase the dimensions, but it can contribute to the appearance of scratches on the lid from debris clogging under it due to a loose fit to the body.

⇡#Autonomous work

The OnePlus 5T uses the same battery as the OnePlus 5, with a capacity of 12.54 Wh (3300 mAh, 3.8 V). And this despite the fact that the screen has grown by half an inch, and the original “five” did not set autonomy records (although it did not fall flat on its face in the test). The question is, what are the developers counting on? The obvious answer is that an AMOLED screen, even a huge diagonal, still consumes a little energy, and other processes have not changed. Well, really, no catastrophe happened - the OnePlus 5T lives quietly for a day under any load. I definitely wouldn’t count on one and a half to two days, but I won’t have to frantically look for a way to recharge in the middle of the day.

It is quite logical that in our traditional test with HD video playback at maximum brightness, with Wi-Fi and notifications turned on, the smartphone showed impressive numbers - after all, in dark scenes almost no energy is consumed. But surprisingly, it also significantly surpassed its predecessor! The developers have clearly worked their magic on load distribution in such simple tasks.

The OnePlus 5T is charged using the USB Type-C port – the same USB 2.0 standard, with normal data transfer speeds. But, of course, the kit includes a Dash Charge adapter that offers a voltage of 5 V and a current of 4 A. It allows you to replenish half the charge in 25 minutes, and fully charges in an hour and a half.

Appearance

I previously used mainly shovels with 5.5″-5.7″ screens, including OnePlus One, but for about half a year I’ve been using the SGS7 with a 5.1″ diagonal. I admit, there were some doubts and concerns about such an impressive size of the 5T. However, in reality it turned out to be not so scary. It literally took one evening to get used to it and shoveling no longer causes discomfort. Those who have not previously owned smartphones with displays >= 5.5″ will probably find this device much more difficult to master. The body is made of anodized aluminum. On specialized forums you can find disputes about the slipperiness of the subject. Some ardently claim that it fits in the hand like a glove, while others cannot use it without a case. I belong to the second category. For me, almost all metal smartphones are incredibly slippery. 5T was no exception. Like foamed soap, of course, it doesn’t fly out of your hands, but the desired reliable grip on your hand doesn’t occur. There are no complaints about the quality of workmanship and fit of parts. The assembly is not inferior to competitors from A-brands. There is no moisture protection. The 5T is only 2mm taller than its predecessor 1+5 and 3.4mm taller than the 1+3T. But this is the picture that emerges when compared with competitors that have a screen with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The LG V30 with a similar diagonal has noticeably more modest dimensions, but the price tag is $350-400 higher. And finally, a comparison with the iPhone 7 Plus and 8 Plus. Let's move on to considering the design of the subject. 80.43% of the front panel is occupied by a 6.01″ display, on which a quite good protective film is glued out of the box. I’ll tell you why I didn’t take it off a little later. Navigation buttons are now on-screen. This will scare off many, but the time has come when you have to reconsider your priorities. I don’t think that with current trends any manufacturers will return to 16:9 and mechanical/touch buttons. At the top there are: an LED indicator, a front camera, a proximity sensor, a light sensor and a speaker grille.

Backside. On top there is a decently protruding double photo module covered with sapphire glass, an additional microphone and a dual LED flash. The NFC module is hidden behind a thin strip above the camera.

The fingerprint scanner is now on the back. The location is quite convenient. The index finger rests exactly on it. And under the scanner the manufacturer’s logo is engraved. Fortunately, there are no certificates, “made in rank” or other information on the lid.

At the top end there were no vital elements. On the bottom there is a 3.5 mm mini jack, a microphone, a USB Type C 2.0 port and an external speaker. When, so to speak, the phone is tightly compressed in a horizontal orientation, there is a 99% probability that the speaker will be blocked by your hand. It would be more logical to place it on the other side. Well, or turn the phone over so that the speaker is located on top, near the left hand. On the left side there is a volume rocker and a mechanical sound mode switch. The lever has a rather tight movement. I've been liking it since its first appearance in OnePlus 2. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to switch it deftly while holding the phone with one hand. Especially with a cover. You have to use your second hand. There are 3 positions available, the behavior of which you can customize yourself. The default settings are Silent, Do Not Disturb, and With Sound. The rocker sits confidently and does not wobble. The click is clear. If you press in the middle, both “+” and “-“ are triggered. On the opposite side is a tray for two Nano SIM cards and a power button.

Yes, only for SIM cards. There is no possibility of memory expansion. For most, this, of course, will be a serious disadvantage, but on the other hand, the price difference between the 64GB and 128GB versions is noticeably lower than that of many other smartphones. Apparently, this was the calculation. The power button wobbles slightly if you intentionally help it.

Display

The key change in the 5T compared to the previous generation is that instead of a 5.5-inch matrix, the engineers shoved a 6-inch one here.

Of course, the body has slightly increased, but this is not at all critical. Let's say "thank you" to the new 18:9 aspect ratio.

Of course, the increased usable area is good. However, you get used to it very quickly, and the diagonal alone is not enough to make you rush headlong to sell your old OnePlus 5 and buy a 5T.

Otherwise, this is a typical AMOLED screen with its advantages and disadvantages. The first is fierce contrast, oversaturation of colors (for some this is more of a drawback), chic black color, which also saves battery power.

The disadvantages here are exactly the same as in any other smartphone with a screen of this type: rainbow tints when the device is tilted and greenery at an acute angle.

Even at the factory, a fairly high-quality protective film is glued to the screen. It has an oleophobic coating, but, of course, not as good as directly on the glass - Gorilla Glass 5.

I didn’t like the behavior of auto brightness - it is always below a comfortable level. And the minimum threshold is too dim for night vigils. As soon as you turn the slider up a little, the backlight starts to hurt your eyes. Not at all Xiaomi and their fine brightness control.

Screen

OnePlus 5T has a 6.01″ Optic Amoled matrix with a resolution of 1080 x 2160, an aspect ratio of 18:9 (2:1) and an area of ​​93.21 cm². Optic Amoled is the same Suped Amoled that is installed in top Samsung devices, but with some adjustments and optimizations from OnePlus. I won’t throw around big words about framelessness, because... There are frames and they are distinct. Let’s leave the title “Frameless Man of the Year” to all the bluebugs, cubots and the like. The pixel density is 401 ppi. The whole thing is covered with tempered 2.5D fifth-generation Gorilla Glass. And it is precisely because of this that the film was not removed. There are a huge number of negative reviews about the latest “gorilla” on the Internet. When used carefully, the screen sooner or later becomes covered with small scratches, whether on the subject or on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, for example. As they say, it’s a strong statement, of course I won’t check it. In addition, the factory film saved the screen of the subject from a metal object falling onto it from a small height, forming two small creases on itself. Unfortunately, the issue of oleophobic coating remains unexamined, but judging by other reviews, everything is exactly the same as on all other current flagship devices.

Below are the results of testing the 5T display from GSM Arena. The following phrase was heard in their material: “Minimum brightness is 2.1nits - we've rarely seen a lower number. Those who are in the habit of using their phone in the dark will appreciate it."

. Like, the minimum brightness is 2.1 nits and they rarely saw values ​​lower. In my opinion, they are exaggerating. The same SGS7 seems darker... But there are no questions about the maximum level. Under bright sunshine the screen remains readable. I have never seen a smartphone with auto brightness, which would set a truly comfortable backlight level. 5T, unfortunately, was no exception. Not completely past, of course, but a little darker than I would like. As for color rendering, it can be completely customized to your taste. Initially, the standard mode is set, which most colorfully displays all the beauty of amoled in the form of an overly rich and saturated image. There is support for sRGB and DCI-P3 color space with a warmer tone and natural colors. Viewing angles are maximum. There are no color distortions when tilted. Only the brightness drops. Black is really black, which is to be expected. There is no jelly when scrolling.

DCI-P3.
(Sorry for the stray finger)
In addition to the three modes mentioned above, “Adaptive mode” and “Custom color” are also available, where the temperature is set manually. There is also a “Night Mode” that makes the picture yellow to reduce eye strain, and a “Reading Mode” that adapts the temperature to a comfortable level in specified applications. Touch for 10 touches. You can turn on the screen with a double tap. With custom kernels, you can activate the activation by swiping. There is also a certain analogue of the Always On Display, which is activated when you pick up the phone. Some reviews indicate that the corners of the screen are rounded. In fact, this is just a software effect. In custom recovery there are no roundings.

Design

Some people think that OnePlus stole its design from the iPhone 7 Plus. Perhaps this is true. However, who cares. The smartphone fits perfectly in the hand, is pleasant to the touch and generally not embarrassing. What else is needed?

First of all, you notice that the device is very thin. And all thanks to the neatly rounded sides of the smartphone.

Secondly... and here, in fact, there is nothing to tell. 5T is a wonderful, comfortable smartphone with a fairly discreet design.

The only point that you should definitely pay attention to. The device is very slippery, because it has matte metal on the back, and 2.5D protective glass on the front with excellent “oleophobia.” It’s easier to drop the device on the floor, so you should think about a case in advance.

There is such a kit, although it is simple, silicone, with protruding sides so as not to scratch the screen. It will do for the first time.

Wireless network

Supported frequency range:

• GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• FDD LTE: Band 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 25 / 26 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 66
• TDD-LTE: Band 34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41
• TD-SCDMA: Band 34 / 39
• UMTS(WCDMA): Band 1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8
• CDMA: BC0

There are no differences in supported frequencies for different markets. There are no questions about the quality of 2G/3G signal reception. There are no complaints about 4G on specialized forums either. There is no extraneous noise during a conversation. I am the interlocutor and the interlocutor can hear me well. In the elevator the signal drops, but does not disappear. There is only one quibble - the maximum volume of the earpiece could be a little higher. But if you have a root and desire, this is a fixable matter. However, I have never seen similar statements on the forums. WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. MIMO 2*2 antenna configuration. 2.4G measurement (apartment 50 m²): near the router, through one room, in the room on the opposite side of the apartment, at the farthest point from the router on the balcony. 5G measurement. The procedure is the same. It is also worth noting that switching between WiFi and mobile Internet is very fast. Starting from the animation of icons in the curtain to, in fact, the activation of the network itself. Can be used with two nano-Sims. One radio module is installed.

Supports GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo. While in the apartment, I instantly found 26 satellites, connecting to 7 of them took about 7 seconds. After ~6 sec. picked up 5 more. Bluetooth 5.0 with support for aptX, aptX HD and SBC.

NFC is, of course, present. Android Pay works correctly both out of the box and on a rooted device without overly tedious dances with a tambourine. According to information from a friend from MSK, on ​​OnePlus 5 the Troika card was read and rewritten without problems. I think that nothing has changed at 5T. Unfortunately, I can’t say for sure. Unfortunately, there is no wireless charging. After two months of using the QI charger with SGS7, I completely lost the habit of using wires.

Design. We wanted it like Samsung, but it turned out like inexpensive OPPO

It’s worth starting to curse about the appearance of the OnePlus 5T with the fact that almost all of the “allegedly fake” leaks turned out to be true. The screen of the new product is elongated, and the scanner has moved to the back. Everything is as the renderings showed.

Don't you think that a round scanner doesn't go well with a square logo? Or is it just me who feels dissonant?

Now even hard-core OnePlus fans have no doubt that the new 5T is an almost complete carbon copy of the OPPO R11s, which the Chinese rolled out back in October. They look like two twin brothers trying to unlock each other's iPhone X via Face ID. Even the fingerprint scanner is the same round and located in the same place.

Oneplus 5T and OnePlus 5:

With this, OnePlus seems to be telling us - “guys, we certainly pretended well to be an innovative startup from China and all that, but don’t demand too much from us, we’re just a subsidiary of OPPO.”

Is it good? Considering the hype about the "uniqueness" of the Oneplus brand and their smartphones, I don't think so. After all, it is slowly becoming clear to everyone that Oneplus smartphones are exactly the same “Chinese” as Xiaomi or Meizu.

Memory

My copy has 6GB of LPDDR4X 1866 MHz RAM and 64GB of UFS2.1 2-LANE ROM. A funny observation - sometimes there is a discrepancy in the readings between standard RAM monitoring and, for example, through AIDA64. For example, the first one shows 2.2GB of free RAM, and Aida shows 1.4GB. But I look at the moment of writing this line and the difference is already around 100 MB. With a bunch of applications in the background, the level of free RAM can drop to 970 MB. With the stack cleared, ~2.4GB is available. Screenshots of ROM speed testing and comparison with the results of SGS8 with a similar type of memory. Sequential reading is significantly higher on the S8. The evidence on database operations is generally disgraceful. Nubia Z17 Mini even performed better. Either the software is not compatible with the subject, or the moon is in the wrong phase.

Video recording

The smartphone records videos of very decent quality and detail in 4K resolution.

Stabilization is a separate matter. It may be digital, but it works almost perfectly. Thus, on this point, the five stands on a par with the iPhone 8, LG V30 and Asus Zenfone 4.

The interesting thing is that while you are shooting a video, the work of the stub is not visible - everything is twitching, jumping - some kind of horror. I finished filming, went to the Gallery, launched the video, and there everything was orderly and smooth.

By the way, on video with Full HD resolution and 60 fps, stabilization works even worse than when shooting 4K. Let's look at an example.

Performance

The OnePlus 5T is equipped with an eight-core 64-bit Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 processor, made using 10 nm technology. FinFET LPE process. Includes 4 Kryo 280 cores with clock speeds up to 2.45 GHz and 4 Kryo 280 cores up to 1.9 GHz. Until December 25 last year, it was considered the flagship solution in the Qualcomm line. It was replaced by the 845, but smartphones on it have not yet been presented. Adreno 540 graphics accelerator, up to 710 MHz. OpenGL and Vulkan API supported. 5T is one of the fastest smartphones at the moment. No exaggeration. The network already has a huge number of all kinds of comparisons of the speed of work with Google pixels and other flagships, where you can see this with your own eyes. I personally compared it with the Pixel 2. I won’t say that the 5T is much faster, because... This is more of a placebo than the truth, but it’s definitely not worse. There are absolutely no lags, freezes, slow animations, brakes or anything like that. There is simply no delay between clicking on the application icon and displaying the content. I considered the SGS7 to be quite a fast phone and was happy with everything, but now it seems that it works at the level of a 2013 device. What follows is a pack of screenshots from various benchmarks. All tests were carried out without a refrigerator, cleaning RAM or other tricks.

Report from AIDA64

Antutu Benchmark. Geekbench 4. CPU and GPU test. Here you can find the Google Pixel 2 XL test results for comparison. 3DMark. The image is clickable, if anything. All other tests in the new version of 3DMark give maximum results. Sky Castle 2. 57-60 fps. Basemark OS Platform Benchmark and Basemark X Game Benchmark with maximum and medium graphics levels. GFXBench GL. In WoT, at maximum graphics settings, stable 58-60 fps with rare drops of ~1 second. up to 30 fps in difficult scenes. When playing for a long time, the device does not heat up and I did not notice any throttling.

NFS: No limits goes like clockwork without visible friezes. Thanks to the Vulkan API we get a more colorful picture.

Guns of Boom also runs without any problems. In multiplayer, Lineage 2: Revolution also does not lose face. I didn’t notice any subsidence, but to be fair, I didn’t get into large crowds of players. Perhaps in this case the situation will be worse. Overall, the 5T handles any game currently available with ease.

Eventually

Sales of OnePlus 5T will start on November 21 at a price of $500 for 6/64 GB and $560 for 8/128 GB. In the first wave, the smartphone will be available in the US, Europe and India. Russia, as always, is not on this list.

Oneplus 5 smartphones are becoming more expensive with each new generation, but are they becoming much cooler to make it worth running for them? No.

Oneplus 5T is a typical Chinese flagship with all the attendant disadvantages. You can take the same Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 and get exactly the same user experience.

OnePlus can no longer surprise users with its price/performance ratio. Competitors have learned to make similar products.

The company cannot clearly explain why their Oneplus 5T is better than other smartphones, because the price and characteristics/features are very similar. This is the main pitfall for Oneplus. I think that next year we will see a transformation of the brand or its merger with the parent company OPPO. Oneplus is likely to become a line within the OPPO portfolio, where the main difference between smartphones will be “pure” Android and cooler specifications.

At the moment, I see no point in the existence of the company in its current form. Oneplus has finally turned into an ordinary “Chinese”.

Audio Video

There is only one external speaker and its sound quality is on par with the vast majority of other smartphones without focusing on super sound. The maximum volume is enough to not miss calls on a noisy street. Not particularly suitable for listening to heavy music, because... the sound becomes muddy. In general, nothing special. The situation is the same with playing music through headphones. Nothing special. aptX, aptX HD and SBC are supported. It is also possible to use Type C headphones, but to do this you will have to activate this feature in the settings. Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG, MID, M4A, IMY. There is no standard player in the firmware, nor is there an FM radio. Google Play Music preinstalled. Presets for OnePlus headphones, a seven-band equalizer and standard templates are available.

Possibility of setting the sound mode switch. It is also possible to select the type of vibration and its intensity for calls, notifications and touches. Unfortunately, the vibration is just as nasty and earth-shaking as on all other Android smartphones. A promo video from Samsung with HEVC (H.265), 51 Mbps, 3840*2160 parameters is played by the standard gallery without any hitches, but due to 18:9 it is not displayed on the entire screen. The situation is the same in third-party galleries. This issue has been fixed in the YouTube app and now the video adjusts to any screen using a two-finger pinch. Supported video formats: MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, WEBM

Has it started to slow down, as is common with Android?

Hello PenTile: this has already forced many to upgrade

With the old man's power, everything is ambiguous. On the one hand, there is not a single application that would put the OnePlus 5 in an awkward position.

On the other hand, the latest flagships do everything a little better: they open applications microseconds faster and flip through screens more smoothly.

But this can be seen from the perspective of a person through whose hands fifty smartphones pass a year. Such thoughts would never even occur to the average buyer.

Headphone jack against all odds. How could one refuse it?

Perhaps the most noticeable thing is “fatigue” during photography. HDR makes a smartphone really think twice.

Fresh Samsung or Xiaomi don’t allow themselves to do this. At least shoot a series (older Galaxy really easily shoot 5-10 frames in a row without noticeable lags).

Fingerprint scanner and Face Unlock

A distinctive feature of the 5T is that it unlocks the phone with your face, in addition to the usual fingerprint scanner. However, at the moment it is no longer so distinctive, because with the update to 8.0, owners of OnePlus 5 also received this “trick”. The principle of operation, of course, is not the same as that of Apple’s Face ID, but this does not affect the correct functioning. It works almost flawlessly. In order not to rant for a long time, watch a better visual video:

There are no problems in a bright room or outside. In a dark room, backlighting the screen itself helps. At brightness below 20% and when you are in complete darkness, you will have to use the scanner. For a successful unlock, it is not necessary to hold the phone strictly in front of your face. With sufficient lighting, it works even at a distance of 1 meter, but this only happens if the phone is looking directly at you. Through trial and error, I came to the conclusion that to unlock with your face, you need your eyes to be open. But various grimaces do not affect a positive outcome. With the hat on it works every other time. During normal use, without deliberately avoiding the front camera and other “buts,” the lock screen doesn’t even have time to appear. Test in complete darkness: As for a regular scanner, it is as fast as possible. Doesn't react to wet hands. Test: A total of 5 fingerprints can be entered. It will not be possible to make multiple copies of one finger. If a match is found, the process stops immediately. Even putting another finger on first doesn't help. You can get out of the situation only by lifting one finger, so to speak, in parts. But this process is quite long and hemorrhoidal.

Sound

Special thanks to OnePlus for not encroaching on what is sacred, that is, the 3.5 mm audio output.

Of course, moisture protection is good. However, not everyone needs it. This is real! There is no need to give arguments here “in order for it to be.” I spilled a glass of beer on my smartphone, and it passed out - it’s your own fault, not the manufacturer’s, who didn’t think, you’re kind of armless. No one is offended by developers because people drop their smartphones on the asphalt.

But “I forgot the 3.5 adapter at home”, “lost it somewhere” - these are completely real and frequent situations. In addition, there are a lot of users who have high-quality wired headphones and connect them via an adapter - well, why complicate everything?

As for the sound itself, everything is in perfect order - at the level of any modern flagship.

The main speaker, which in our case works alone, did not disappoint either. The conversational speaker does not help him in any way, which means there is not even such a symbolic stereo.

The volume of the multimedia speaker is above average, and the quality also has no surprises: no positive or negative.

Camera

The dual main camera module consists of a 16 MP main Sony IMX 398 sensor, f/1.7 aperture, 27.22 mm focal length, 1.12 micron pixel size and an additional 20 MP Sony IMX 376K sensor with a 1.0 micron pixel size. The aperture and DF are the same as the main one. Phase detection autofocus, dual LED flash, electronic image stabilization. It’s worth noting right away that in the 5T, with the change of the second camera, they also got rid of the optical zoom, which was present in the regular five. Now 2x zoom is nothing more than a regular digital zoom. And they moved away from this decision, supposedly in favor of improving the quality of pictures in low light. At the same time, according to OnePlus representatives, the quality of the zoom was not affected. How true these words are can only be found out by direct comparison of the subject with its predecessor. Focusing is fast, photos are taken instantly. In portrait mode, about 2 seconds are spent on post-processing. 2x zoom A 100% crop in a photo using 2x zoom is exactly the same as a 200% crop in a photo in normal mode.

Original and 2x zoom. Next, let's look at the blur effect in portrait mode. There is no option to adjust the degree of blur. The bokeh is quite pleasant and natural. If the subject of shooting has clear boundaries, there should not be any special problems with blurring what is not necessary. In low light conditions, the blur effect is not available. When shooting in this mode, it is possible to save a copy of the photo without bokeh.

But it can blur half of the subject.

In a room with not the best lighting. Next are pictures in automatic mode using the main camera.

HDR is too aggressive for my liking. A good half of the pictures are oversaturated.

HDR.

HDR.

In my evening photographs, the color of the sky is strikingly different from reality, for the better. At the time of shooting it was about 17:00 and it was quite dark, but for some reason the sky in the photo is light blue.

The front camera has a 16 MP Sony IMX 371 sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 1.0 micron pixel size. It doesn’t really stand out against the background of the front-facing cameras of other smartphones. In low light, detail is lacking and noise creeps in, but outdoors in sunny weather they will turn out quite good. A “beauty mode” is available, smoothing out imperfections on the face and noise, but worsening detail. Records video in 1080p and 720p at 30fps. The camera application is simple and not overloaded with unnecessary settings. For “Photo” you can choose one of the modes: without HRD, auto HDR, HDR and HQ, the purpose of which I did not fully understand. I didn’t see any differences from the usual “without HRD”. There is no usual MP setting. Only one of three aspect ratios can be selected: 1:1, 4:3 and 18:9. With manual settings everything is much more interesting. Shutter speed from 1/8000 to 30 sec. White balance from 2300K to 7500K. ISO from 100 to 3200, but in pitch darkness you can set Auto to 6400. It is possible to set the focal point and shutter speed. There is a level. It is also possible to save the specified settings as a preset for reuse. There were no manual settings for video shooting. Other settings: As for GCam ports with HDR+ support, there is still no 100% stable build for devices with two cameras. At least for 5T. Without any special settings, I took a couple of test photos - I got a negative result and scored. We have to wait for a more updated version.

Excellent battery life, fast charging process

Despite the fact that the manufacturer has slightly increased the screen area here, the battery size remains the same - 3300 mAh. This is a decent capacity, which provided the smartphone with a very good 11 hours 09 minutes of operation on a single charge in the execution mode of our test scenario, according to which videos are automatically played at medium brightness and websites are scrolled.

Thus, OnePlus 5T turns out to be more durable than the Galaxy S8 (9 hours 47 minutes), but is slightly inferior in this indicator to its predecessor model (11 hours 26 minutes). Despite the large size and longevity of the battery, it should only take 97 minutes before the OnePlus 5T is fully charged again - which is amazing. However: due to the aluminum case, inductive charging is, logically, not supported here.

The battery lasts a long time and recharges quickly

Autonomy

The device is powered by a non-removable 3300 mAh battery. Another distinctive feature of OnePlus smartphones is the Dash Charge fast charging technology. The 5T is currently the fastest charging smartphone in the world. But only if you use the original charger. When Dash is charging, the LED lights up blue, and the battery icon in the status bar changes to the image of a lightning bolt. When using third-party ones, there is a red diode and a regular icon. There will be no measurements with a voltmeter, because... if the “OnePlus - original power supply - original cable” chain is intruded, fast charging stops. For the same reason, it becomes impossible to use any docking stations. If Dash Charge is important, of course. Charging from 2% to 100% took 1:26 hours. My SGS7 with the original Samsung charger charged in 1:36. Little difference, really. But the difference in the amount of charge infused in 30 minutes is already huge. My copy charges 65% in half an hour. While the result of S7 is almost half as much - 38%. You can find reviews online about a full charge in 1:17 minutes. Characteristics of the original Dash PSU: 100-240V ~ 50/60Hz 0.6A / 5V - 4A. The cable length is 105 cm. As for autonomy, it is approximately at the same level as that of other flagships. More than enough for a day with 6 hours of active screen. The usage scenario is normal, namely: surfing the Internet, social networks, an hour of YouTube, some photos, 40 minutes of calls, 40 minutes of Google Music, connection with miband, brightness indoors ~ 40% and 70+ outdoors, WiFi did not turn off at night, 3G was active for about 7 hours. The average result ranges from 5:30 to 6 hours. A power saving mode and other limiters on background application activity are available. I did not notice any excessive heating either during games, or during tests, or during normal use.

Very durable battery

Even though the screen is bigger, the OnePlus 5T's battery capacity hasn't increased compared to the OnePlus 5. I wasn't able to do any comparison tests, but I'm very pleased with the way the OnePlus 5T holds up. One and a half or even two days of fairly active workload (with social networks, music and Youtube) is quite enough for him

More than decent sound

First of all, I want to note that the 3.5 mm headphone jack is in place, which is good news, despite the fact that the headset itself is not included in the package. The connector is located at the bottom, in the most correct place from an ergonomic point of view.

The speaker of the OnePlus 5T is also located at the bottom and, despite its small size, works to its full potential. The sound is so loud that even if you decide to listen to music with friends, you don’t have to connect an external speaker.

During a conversation, there are no complaints about the microphone. You hear perfectly, you can be heard perfectly.

Branded shell without unnecessary frills

OxygenOS has always differed from many firmwares in the direction of greater adherence to the principles of “pure” Android. There is practically no external “improvement” in it, which many manufacturers who strive for individuality both outside and inside are guilty of.

But OnePlus has found a great balance between cleanliness and functionality. OxygenOS is convenient and not overloaded, and this is (among other things) the secret of the performance of smartphones of this brand.

Shell and software

The subject runs Android 8.0, covered with a proprietary Oxygen OS shell. For those who don’t know, OOS is the same bare android, but with some additional features in terms of interface customization. At the moment the firmware is in beta status. Moreover, it was released on 5T later than on 3, 3T and 5. There are no junk applications in the system. The Chinese version of the smartphone, by the way, runs on Hydrogen OS firmware without the Russian language or Google services. My 5T arrived with OOS and the seventh android on board. It’s no good using 7 when you have 8, so I’ll talk specifically about Oreo. I’ll immediately highlight the only drawback of this shell - the navbar, damn it, is white even in dark applications. Moreover, in some it quite correctly adapts to the color of the status bar. I was unable to identify any patterns. The OnePlus Switch app was recently released to help you transfer data from your previous smartphone. It will likely be included in the initial setup in future OOS updates. You can transfer absolutely all information, but without saving data inside applications.

The standard launcher has a Shelf panel - a kind of Google Now take on it, only not with a news feed, but with the weather, the ability to take notes, recently running applications, memory monitoring and the ability to add widgets from any application. By swiping up from the bottom in any part of the screen, the curtain is called up. There is support for icon packs. You can also change the number of columns and icon size. The application menu is called up in the same way as in the Pixel launcher.

There is no Cyrillic alphabet in the dialer. Call recordings too, but ACR from the market copes without problems. It is possible to add any country code to the number, block the selected number and activate noise reduction during a call.

In the navigation panel settings menu, you can swap the buttons, assign an action to a long/double press, activate the camera call by double-clicking the power button, and completely hide the navbar and then call it up by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. In “Gestures” the following are available: calling the curtain by swiping on the scanner, holding your finger on the scanner to release the shutter in the camera application, turning the phone over to mute the sound during a call, taking a screenshot with three fingers and various gestures on the switched off screen that you can configure yourself. In the status bar, you can change the battery icon, display the percentage indication (but not inside the icon, unfortunately), enable the display of seconds or completely hide the clock and control the display of certain icons in the status bar.

In addition to the standard white and gray theme, all-white and black options are also available. Apply to the entire standard set of applications.

Plus, there is also the ability to change the color of some interface elements. True, the proposed color palette is negligible. However, if you wish and have root, you can decompile the settings apk and replace the standard hex codes with any others. LED color control for notifications is available. The color during charging will spread to all chargers except the original one. You cannot set the glow color for individual applications using standard tools, only on/off. If necessary, third-party software like Light Flow can help. In the “For Developers” menu, you can enable the advanced reboot menu.

There is really nothing more to say about the shell. What makes a naked android so beautiful is that there is nothing superfluous.

Software

Android 8 has already arrived on the 5T. However, for some reason I escaped this fate. The update doesn’t appear, and I’m stuck on Android 7.1.1 like I’m stuck.

Of course, I’m cheating, because the device works on the basis of its own shell - Oxygen OS (in my case it was 4.7.6), with which the version of the “green robot” does not matter much. And that's why.

It is simply impossible to make OnePlus 5T slow down or lag at least once.

There is no task that could load the device so much that some application would crash (except Instagram, which works poorly everywhere). And this is why I am simply crazy about OnePlus smartphones.

This is exactly how flagships should work, and not like devices from a famous Korean brand. I bought it, set it up, everything flies. After two months and after 2-3 updates, the device slowly turns into a pumpkin.

As for gaming performance, everything is expectedly boring. OnePlus 5T tears up any game at maximum graphics settings. There is no throttling or heating to pan level. Drops do occur, but only from 60 to 58 frames per second.

By the way, one of the coolest advantages of all OnePlus smartphones is gestures. For example, with the screen turned off, you can draw the letter “V” with your finger and the flashlight will immediately light up. To switch the song, draw the “>” or “<” symbol on the display. And to stop playback, we slide two fingers across the screen. It’s extremely convenient, and most importantly, the sensor recognizes gestures accurately.

Firmware, root, custom

Another plus for OnePlus is the complete absence of dancing with a tambourine during firmware. No wandering around Chinese sites, no agonizing waits for the bootloader to be unlocked, no ticking knoxes and other nonsense. The bootloader is unlocked with one command via fastboot, with another short command the custom recovery is uploaded and then everything is the old fashioned way. OnePlus is still little known to a wide range of consumers and is most popular among geeks. Well, what would a geeky device be without an extensive community of users with a huge variety of all kinds of customizations, kernels, tweaks and other little joys. The abundance of all these “goodies”, of course, cannot yet be compared with that of the Nexus 5, for example, but it’s already quite possible to while away the week selecting the appropriate firmware or kernel. The community on w3bsit3-dns.com is still pretty weak, so you'll have to go to XDA for anything interesting. At the moment, a dozen custom ones are available. Some are compiled based on OOS, while others are AOSP/CM-based with a wider range of capabilities. You can also find half a dozen different custom kernels. I won’t go into the details of the settings, because... The review is already too long. I will only say that with the necessary knowledge you can: overclock the device or, on the contrary, moderate the ardor of the processor and gain autonomy, calibrate the screen even more accurately, manage the unloading of applications and a bunch of other things. I won’t dwell on customization and other tweaks either, because... Before us is an almost naked android and you can do whatever you want. I will only note that Magisk installs without problems and Android Pay works correctly on a rooted device. Recently, by the way, Xposed was brought to 8.0.

How much is OnePlus 5 selling for now?

OnePlus 5 can still be found on sale: both on AliExpress or Gearbest for ~$300, and on Avito for approximately ~12-20 thousand rubles.

A smartphone in good condition can be easily rented for a year or a little more.

Three-position switch - a real killer feature

It turns out that for a minimum amount you will still have a flagship in your hands. Yes, the past one. Yes, without a fancy screen. But it’s cheaper and works no worse than its more recent counterparts.

It is unlikely that you will want to exchange it for a simpler smartphone - any budget Redmi will be worse .

And this will be a good reason to get to know OnePlus.

Accessories

Finally, I would like to say a few words about the original accessories. There are a bunch of different cases for the 5T: silicone, carbon, with a rough coating, and even made of natural wood. If anyone is interested, on the railway some of these cases are sold 2-3 times cheaper than on the official website, where they charge from $20 to $30. I bought red silicone and rough black silicone, but they still won’t arrive. Railway + Belgian post = pain. And this is what the subject looks like in the complete case.

It was an iPhone clone

Once upon a time it was the best affordable AMOLED.
That's why I loved and love OnePlus 5, it’s for the original design, inherited from the “troika”.

OnePlus 3, of course, is even more comfortable for an oldfag due to the mechanical button, but the fifth series without the T index received at least a touch-sensitive Home key. Without her, 1+ is not himself - just another “Chinese”.

Doesn't remind you of anyone?

Surprisingly, after all this time, the sensor works like a clock and shows no signs of wear.

Looks like “Chinese”. I should. But before the photo shoot, it was enough to wipe the smart phone, and here it is as good as new.

Conclusion

Since placing my order for the 5T, the price tag in other stores has dropped greatly. As a result, for 455 bucks you can get a flagship device with a good design, top-end hardware, a high-quality 6″ Amoled screen, a decent but not the best camera on the market, a lightning-fast scanner paired with face unlock, incredibly fast operating speed, naked Android and the fastest charging. Do you know any worthy analogues? Me not. The disadvantages include the lack of moisture protection, optical stabilization and the ability to expand memory. But even taking this into account, in my opinion, the 5T is doomed to success at this price in a narrow circle of users. Especially if it continues to fall further. Phew, finally finished. Thank you all for your attention.

The product was provided for writing a review by the store. The review was published in accordance with clause 18 of the Site Rules.

My experience buying OnePlus 5T

The device was introduced on November 16, 2022 and first went on sale in the United States on November 21. The presentation in China was scheduled only for the end of November, so in order to make a review before everyone else, I placed an order in the American OnePlus store.

I’ll say right away that there were no problems with payment and delivery of the smartphone to the Banderolka warehouse. This is not Apple, to whom you are trying to give your money, but they also turn their nose up at you.

The problems began after the parcel arrived at the warehouse of that same Banderolka. I used this service because in the summer of 2017 I ordered an HTC U11 in the same way and, as a result, made a text review of this device, almost the very first in Russia. A positive experience, why not repeat it. But it was not there!

3 days after it physically arrived at the Qwintry warehouse, the parcel still appeared in my account, although I asked to speed up this process through technical support. Afterwards, I created a declaration, completed the shipment, paid and waited for the service to respond. A day later, technical support contacts me and says that they will not be able to send the parcel by their mail (Qwintry Air), which is cheap, fast and convenient. The stumbling block was the notification, which was not available for the 5T model.

To my question, how did they manage to send HTC U11 earlier without notification, the answer came that it was a different time, it was possible to negotiate. Nowadays, customs are no joke, so go ahead, choose state mail, which is almost twice as expensive, the parcel takes three times longer, and there are a lot of risks.

There was nothing to do and I had to pay extra and take a risk.

As a result, my parcel with OnePlus 5T left the Parcel warehouse on December 5 (I could have easily ordered it in China), and I received it at the Russian Post office only on December 30. There is no need to talk about any speed here. I’m just keeping quiet about the risks.

The funny thing is that while the 5T was coming to me (on foot, obviously), I managed to order another one from Gearbest.com (objectively the best price among all Chinese sites) and the smartphone from the Middle Kingdom came to me with a difference of only a week.

On the left is the box from the Chinese version of OnePlus 5T, and on the right is from the American

Same thing, only rear view

In general, “thank you” to Banderolka.

Good equipment

Unfortunately, as is already becoming common with OnePlus devices, there is no slot for Micro-SD memory cards. In addition to the version with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory, the manufacturer also offers models with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

We tested the latest version, which still has approximately 110 GB of free space. The USB Typ-C port only supports the old and slow data transfer protocol version 2.0. However, old-fashioned and, fortunately for many users, built-in here, there is even a 3.5mm classic audio jack for headphones. At the press conference, the announcement of this fact caused a storm of applause.

Business users will most likely like the Dual-SIM slot, since it allows them to use two SIM cards simultaneously on one device. The OnePlus 5T supports LTE speeds on the main SIM card; the second card is capable of meeting the standards of only 3G networks and telephone connections. Until now, the only mobile phone with 4G/4G is Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

In addition to the USB 2.0 Typ-C interface, there is also a classic audio jack

Sometimes mild Bluetooth Audio problems

OnePlus 5T supports the latest wireless data transfer standards Bluetooth 5 and AC-WLAN. Audio fans should rejoice in the presence of Bluetooth codecs such as AptX and AptX-HD, which allow you to stream music in very good quality wirelessly - if your headphones allow it, of course.

However, by default, OnePlus 5T does not work with the best quality, but with the standard SBC Bluetooth codec. Anyone who wants to squeeze out more quality must manually select the desired codec in the “advanced” settings.

During testing on the Sony WH-1000XM2 headphones, however, the sound was constantly interrupted if we tried to play music with the AptX-HD codec. On the Pixel 2, on the contrary, this phenomenon did not occur. Regular AptX did not create any problems.

In the settings menu you can change Bluetooth Audio codecs. The best of them, AptX HD, caused some problems during testing...

Attractive price

By the time it hits the market, OnePlus 5T runs the Android operating system still in version 7 with an adapted user interface. OnePlus wants to roll out version 8 this year. The latest security system patch dates back to early October 2022, which is the current level at the time of testing.

The smartphone still runs Android 7. Practical: you can adjust the color intensity of the screen and define gestures for working with the display off, for example to turn on the flashlight

OnePlus is pursuing an aggressive pricing policy for its new top model and is not making the price higher than the previous model.

As a result, the 64 GB model will cost more than 35,000 rubles, and the 128 GB version will cost the buyer approximately 40,000 rubles.

The market launch was scheduled for November 21. At the same time, users will really get “a lot of phone” for their money.

Roughly similar in technical specifications, for example, Huawei Mate 10 Pro and HTC U11 Plus, cost 799 euros. By the way: the dollar prices are identical. Here, OnePlus is not taking the chance, like many manufacturers, to earn a little more money.