OnePlus 7T Review – All of the best bits of the OnePlus 7 Pro but without the price

Announced in September with availability in October, the OnePlus 7T promises to be one of the best phones of the year bringing with it a significant spec bump that makes the Pro model feel a bit redundant.

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Specifications

• Screen: 6.55in FHD+ 90Hz Fluid AMOLED (402ppi)
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+
• RAM: 8GB of RAM
• Storage: 128 or 256GB (UFS 3.0)
• Operating system: OxygenOS 10
• Camera: 48MP + 12MP + 16MP triple rear camera, 16MP selfie camera
• Battery: 3800mAh battery with Warp Charge 30T
• Connectivity: USB-C (3.1) LTE, dual sim, wifi ac, NFC, Bluetooth 5 and GPS
• Dimensions: 160.9 x 74.4 x 8.1mm
• Weight: 190g

OnePlus 7T vs OnePlus 7T Pro vs OnePlus 7 Pro

The 7T has had a much larger upgrade than the 7T Pro, so much so that most of the specs are now inline with each other.

The two biggest differences are that the 7 Pro has a larger 6.67-inch display running at 1440 x 3120 pixels that lacks a notch thanks to the motorised pop-up compared to the 6.55 inch 1080 x 2400 display of the 7T. The 7T Pro also has a fractionally larger battery with  4085 mAh vs 3800 mAh.

Design and Build

Build quality remains identical to the OnePlus 7 Pro and the OP7, and the design is very similar. Compared to the original OnePlus 7 this is marginally taller and heavier thanks to the larger screen, but it is small enough not to be immediately apparent.

The rear of the phone has seen a camera design change going from a thin column to being arranged in a circle.

The notch does ruin the clean lines and futuristic aesthetic that the Pro models have, but I think this is a small sacrifice to pay for quite a substantial difference in price.

As always with OnePlus this lacks an official IP rating and has no 3.5mm jack. The IP rating is apparently expensive to get and this is why OnePlus doesn’t do it, but they claim it should handle the occasional splash of water. I have mixed feelings about this, saving money is always good, but I live up north and regularly get rained on, so the reassurance of an IP rating is nice.

Display

The display is suspiciously similar to the Realme X2 Pro being the same size, resolution and having the same refresh rate. Both are superb, and while it isn’t quite the resolution of the Pro models, I personally find it hard to tell the difference.

The combination of the lightweight OxygenOS and the 90Hz display mean that the display is ultra responsive. As much as I love the 90Hz I am not quite enamoured with it as some reviewers, going back to a 60Hz panel doesn’t offend me as much as other people.

Testing this in Amsterdam during December meant I didn’t have to suffer from too much sunlight. OnePlus claims this hits 1,000 nits while on Auto mode, which is the same as the Realme display, and when I tested that in Rome, I had no issues with screen visibility.

Like most AMOLED display colours are beautiful, vibrant and accurate.

Camera

The quality of a camera on a phone has quickly become the main selling point of phones in recent years. Camera quality has improved so much, that many people, including myself, have ditched traditional point and shoot cameras for most scenarios. Camera quality is also something that appears to differentiate an affordable flagship and a premium flagship.

With this being on the low to mid-end of flagship pricing, I would say it performs about right, if not better than expected. You get a superb specification, and in most scenarios, it does a magnificent job, and it is good enough that I think is more than capable for almost every consumer.

Ultrawide

The ultrawide lens is my favourite lens on any phone, and I think it is madness Google continues to omit it on their Pixel 4 phones. The OnePlus has a 16MP ultrawide, which is larger than the 8MP you will find on the Realme. It is capable of producing some excellent shots, allowing you to capture a much wider area than the standard lens. However, like all phones, you lose quite a bit of quality when switching to ultrawide.

Zoom

The OnePlus 7T features a 2x zoom, it is almost the same as the Pro model, which technically has a 2.2x zoom but then crops it to create 3x. It is nice to have, and at this price point it is a good addition, many other more expensive phones have a similar zoom level, but it does fall behind options from Huawei and OPPO.

Night Mode

This tends to be the biggest downfall of phones. It has been what has separated the Huawei P30 Pro from the pack, and also what let down the Realme X2 Pro.

The biggest issue I found with the Realme was its tendency to have very blurry night time shots, whereas the P30 Pro seems to magically ignore motion when using a long exposure. The OP7T sits somewhere between the two in my opinion, I get much more consistently decent shots than the Realme, but not as good as the P30 Pro. It is worth noting that the Huawei P30 Pro can sometimes be too aggressive with its night mode making night shots look like it is daylight.

In the first example, both the OnePlus 7T and Realme produce excellent results, I personally think the Realme did better, but this was likely just a lucky shot.

In this example, I used all three phones I had on me and in my opinion, the OnePlus does the best of the bunch creating a natural look without causing glare from the lights. The P30 is a bit too aggrieve here making the sky look more grey, and the Realme overdoes everything producing a poor shot overall.

Example Shots

Performance and Benchmarks

Having an almost identical internal spec to the Realme X2 Pro, and featuring the Snapdragon 855+ performance is exemplary. In fact, the differences in software become apparent again here, with the OnePlus 7T comfortably outperforming the Realme X2 Pro in benchmarks, and the Realme had 12GB of RAM vs 8GB here. In terms of real-world performance, I doubt you would notice much difference but it is always good to know you have one of the fastest phones on the market.

For day to day usage, like most flagship devices, everything runs absolutely perfectly, there were no issues with laggyness, no apps froze or crashed. The combination of the SD855+, 90Hz screen and superb lightweight OxygenOS makes everything feel instant

Battery

At 3800mAh this is not class-leading, but it is hardly bad and considerably better than the 2800 mAh you find on the Pixel 4. You should easily get a full day of moderate to heavy use out of this and you can probably push past a full day for a lighter load.

The 30W Warp Charge is faster than most brands, including Google and Samsung. OnePlus says that the 7T can maintain a 30-watt charge for 14 minutes, six minutes longer than OnePlus 7 Pro. That means the battery can go from dead to full in 60 minutes.

Software

I think the overwhelming consensus is that OxygenOS is one of the best software options out there, only being surpassed by Google themselves (and even that is up for debate). The OS is likely one of the biggest reasons to opt for OnePlus over other more affordable flagship options from Xiaomi and Realme.

Out of the box, you get OxygenOS 10 which uses Android 10 including the new trendy dark mode. OnePlus keep things simple with OxygenOS with no bloatware. The overall software experience is superb and this helps with the incredible performance that the SD855+ chipset and 90hz screen offer. Oneplus are also better than most for updates, so you won’t be waiting around for ages for the next Android release.

Overall

The OnePlus 7T takes all the best bits of the OnePlus 7 Pro while keeping the price on the lower end of flagship phones. In my opinion, it has received such an extensive upgrade it seems almost pointless choosing the OnePlus 7T Pro over this.

For most people, I think this represents the ideal balance of price and performance. There are cheaper similar specced phones (Realme X2 Pro) and there are much better camera phones (Huawei P30 Pro), but this sits nicely between the two, the camera outperforms the Realme, and you save £200 vs the P30 Pro.

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James Smythe( Editor-in-chief )

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.

Last update on 2024-04-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API