OnePlus Announces 6T Flagship Smartphone And T-Mobile Support

At an event held in New York City earlier today, OnePlus rolled out its follow-up to the OnePlus 6, called 6T. It’s rare for a phone to get through to a launch date with minimal leaks, but that was one situation not enjoyed by OnePlus for the 6T. I am honestly not sure too much at the event was an actual surprise. That’s not a bad thing, per se, it just means that there weren’t as many “oohs” and “ahhs” as usual.

The OnePlus 6T is an iteration of the 6, but the 6 might still suit some better – all because the 6T doesn’t include a headphone jack. OnePlus itself already sells wireless ear buds, so it’s been prepared for this move, but that still won’t take away the sting from those who really like the perks of wired audio (like me).

The most obvious difference between the OP6 and 6T is that the notch has become more of an outline around the camera, taking on a tear-drop shape. If you have a OnePlus 6, you don’t need to worry about the 6T if you were hoping for a camera upgrade, as the hardware appears to be identical to that model. Even the new Nightscape feature, which (should) vastly improve night shots, is going to be ported to the OP6 (but not previous devices, it appears).

Like the OP6, the 6T is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845, and again, this is another area where no improvements have been made – it’s the same chip at the same clock speed. But, that’s not a bad thing, since it’s the fastest option available right now. During the launch event, OnePlus invited Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon to the stage, who reassured us that the 5G revolution was soon to begin, and OnePlus would be part of it. Of course, the 6T doesn’t support 5G, and it won’t be upgradeable. So, we’ll likely see it pop up with the OP7.

The OP6T also has the same screen resolution of the OP6, of 2280×1080. However, the 6T does manage to whittle away at the chin of the phone, which is a small change that I looked over in the leaks. Despite this shrink, the antenna underneath is the most capable yet, supporting 233 carriers in 74 countries.

What is notably new is an under-screen finger print reader. OnePlus said that this feature could have very well came to the OP5T, but the company wasn’t confident enough about its reliability. Now, the niggles that were there have been ironed out, and now the company is very confident in being able to offer it as a solution people can trust.

A sweet upgrade from the OP6 is the bump from a 3300mAh battery to a 3700mAh one. It almost feels pointless to talk expected battery life since everyone’s use cases are different, but a 12% gain is easy to appreciate even without other numbers.

I said before that there wasn’t much to be “wowed” over from this announcement, simply because everything seemed to be leaked ahead of time. I concede to being impressed by one thing in particular, though, and that’s the T-Mobile partnership. With it, Un-carrier customers can score a 6T for $300 off when trading in a supported device (seen below). The trade-in offer even includes the original OnePlus One, which means anyone able to take advantage of this deal would be able to upgrade their device after four years to a new top-end model for $250. Not bad!

T-Mobile Trade-in Models

• Apple: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus
• Samsung: GS8 series, Note 8, GS7 series, Note 5, GS6 series
• Google: Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel, Pixel XL
• LG: V30, V30+, G7, V20, G6
• Motorola: Z2 Force; Z2 Play; Nexus 6
• OnePlus: 5, 5T, 6, 3, 3T, X, 2, 1

Speaking of price, the base 6T includes 6GB of memory and 128GB of space, for $549. You can boost the RAM to 8GB for another $30, and for $629, you can score the 8GB / 256GB model. The phone officially hits stores in three days, but the New York flagship T-Mobile store will be putting a couple of hundred on sale tonight to satiate the appetites of some lucky fans.