ONEPLUS 8T

Another winner from OnePlus that packs in style, power and ridiculous charging speeds From £549 oneplus.com

Yet again the upstart brand produces a screen and experience that topples more expensive rivals

OnePlus is on a roll. We’ve already had the excellent OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus Nord this year, and the OnePlus 8T is closing out 2020 in style as well – but how does this new flagship stack up against the rest of the competition?

OnePlus knows how to make a great-looking phone – and in this case the impressive aesthetics start with a 6.55-inch, 1,080 x 2,400 resolution, HDR10+ AMOLED display. Colours are bright, details are sharp, and scrolling is super-smooth thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate. It’s fantastic for everything from movies to games.

The phone comes equipped with a four camera setup on the back: a 48MP wide, a 16MP ultrawide, a 5MP macro and a 2MP depth. While it’s not up there with the very best phone cameras on the market – there’s no optical zoom, for example – the rear camera array is certainly no slouch, and it’s going to get you very good photos in most situations.

The OnePlus 8T comes with a Snapdragon 865 processor – the best Android chip this year, except for the Snapdragon 865 Plus. You also get 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of internal storage. As you would expect, the phone absolutely zips along no matter what you’re trying to do with it – multiple browser tabs and demanding games are absolutely no problem.

Aside from a slight improvement in the type of flash storage used, these specs exactly match the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. The lack of any substantial jump from these phones is a bit underwhelming, but of course as it’s later in the year, OnePlus can now put all of these components together at a cheaper price.

The phone comes with OxygenOS 11, which has long been one of our favourite alternatives to stock Android – it’s well designed, subtle, and has a lot of good ideas built in. With the 8T, these extend to an always-on display you can customise in various clever ways – with calendar events and media player status, for example.

The OnePlus 8T is also one of the first handsets to push fast charging speeds up to 65W, which means you can get a full charge from virtually nothing in just half an hour. No wireless charging is a shame, but the fast speeds are good enough you can just juice it up in 15-minute bursts during the day.

All in all, we love the 8T. The price is supercompetitive – especially in the UK – and in return for your money you get a brilliantly designed phone with stacks of power.