OnePlus 10T
A powerful, performance-focused phone with incredibly fast charging capabilities
Looking for a speedy flagship phone? Then the OnePlus 10T is definitely worth considering. Think fast performance paired with lightning speed charging – it’s undoubtedly a powerful piece of kit.
The 6.7-inch display sits flat against the body of the phone, and it looks great. With a resolution of FHD+ at 2412 x 1080p, with 10-bit colour depth, up to 950 nits peak brightness and HDR10+ support, you can expect a sharp, bright and vibrant screen no matter what.
Like most other flagship devices, the OnePlus 10T has a 120Hz refresh rate for silky smooth scrolling, swiping and tapping. What’s great is that it will automatically adjust itself down to 90Hz or 60Hz when appropriate, which will help to save on battery life. Again, that’s not quite as impressive as an LPTO display though, like you get on the pricier 10 Pro, which can go down to as little as 1Hz.
One slightly more disappointing design change is that the alert slider has been removed from the frame to make space for internal improvements. We understand the reasoning, but we did find ourselves missing it because it makes switching over to vibrate extremely easy.
Made up of three lenses, the rear camera system has been simplified for the OnePlus 10T and includes a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wideangle camera and a 2MP macro lens. A 16MP selfie snapper sits on the front.
One of the big changes in comparison to its series sibling is that there’s no partnership with camera manufacturer Hasselblad to lean on, which will mostly affect the camera software. For instance, there’s no Hasselblad Pro mode and no Tilt Shift. Nor is there the XPan mode.
The camera still takes some really good clear shots but we have to say… they’re not mind-blowingly good. You’ll still easily be able to get lovely photos in daylight yet if you’re shooting on a more overcast day or during the evening, it’ll be a bit trickier to get those same results. While there’s plenty of detail, they sometimes come out looking a little dull in comparison to what you would get elsewhere.
Mo’ guts, mo’ glory
Perhaps the most exciting part of this phone is its performance; it’s what defines the OnePlus 10T. A Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 powers the phone, which is the most up-to-date processor Qualcomm offers, and you can buy it with up to 16GB of RAM, which is the most ever used in a OnePlus smartphone. All of that sits alongside up to 256GB of storage, and OnePlus has also included a new cooling system as well to help stop it overheating when the going gets tough.
Its Geekbench 5 scores reflect that, having scored 1,035 in single-core and 3,476 in multi-core, which not only places it above the OnePlus 10 Pro but also on par with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and even ahead of some high-end handsets like the Oppo Find X5 Pro.
When it came to battery life, we were pretty pleased with what the phone had to offer. To test its 4,800mAh battery out, we downloaded and played an HD video on full brightness for over two hours. In that time, the battery level dropped only 12% which suggests it would have lasted almost 17 hours in total, making it one the longest-lasting smartphones around.
Another feature that makes this smartphone stand out is its charging capabilities – a 150W wired charger is included in the box, which OnePlus claims will charge the phone from flat to full in about 19 minutes. That’s incredible.
Behind the scenes, the OnePlus 10T relies on OxygenOS 12.1, based on Android 12, but the brand new OxygenOS 13 will be made available on it later in 2022. As far as operating systems go, we do like OxygenOS. It’s intuitive and easy to use with an app drawer that you pull up from the bottom of the screen and a shelf that you pull down from the top, which has handy widgets for your notes, mobile data usage and the weather.
A phone that does exactly what it says on the tin, the OnePlus 10T is a powerful handset with super fast charging capabilities, and the long-lasting battery doesn’t hurt either. Everything else about it is good, rather than great, and it does lack some of the features you’d hope and expect to see including an LTPO display, a waterproof build and wireless charging.
If you need something that will keep up with your busy schedule or that will cope with particularly demanding apps, then the 10T will be perfect. But if you care more about having a top-quality screen and a camera that will let you take professional-looking shots then you’ll be better off with the Pro.