interestingly priced high-end lacks excitement

OnePlus’ new generation of smartphones from the 10-series was expanded last month with the OnePlus 10T, in addition to the OnePlus 10 Pro announced earlier this year. In recent weeks we have tested the OnePlus 10T for you, and you can read our experiences with this device in the OnePlus 10T review.

OnePlus 10T review

After the OnePlus 10 Pro review, it is now time for the latest device in the 10-series from OnePlus; the OnePlus 10T. It is also the ninth generation high-end smartphone of the brand, after all, the OnePlus 4 did not exist. The new OnePlus 10T should offer the best in terms of features, without costing the top prize. This is reflected in the price of the device. This starts with an amount of 699 euros. Still a lot of money, but in this review of the OnePlus 10T we will see if it is worth that money.

After all, there is also plenty of competition; we see that, for example, in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. We previously tested that phone in the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review. In addition, there are some smartphones from other brands and from the ‘own stable’ such as those from Oppo. We discuss what the OnePlus 10T has to offer in this OnePlus 10T review.

Sales package

The OnePlus 10T is housed in the well-known red box. Here we find everything we need. With this package we can even talk about an extensive package in 2022. There is simply a charger included, also the fast charger and we find a silicone case in the box. Furthermore, some paperwork and of course the device itself.

Design and interface

The design of the OnePlus 10T is very similar to that of the 10 Pro. However, there are a number of differences. The most important are missing the alert slider. This is a handy addition to many high-end OnePlus models, but what this 10T has to do without. A shame, because it was a really handy feature. In addition, the Hasselblad brand is missing on the camera. For the 10T, OnePlus apparently did not need Hasselblad’s help and of course that also saves costs.

On the front is a 6.7-inch Full-HD+ AMOLED screen, which delivers excellent performance. On summer days, the screen of the OnePlus 10T is easy to read and the screen can also be dimmed sufficiently in darker environments. At the back we see the large camera module in which three lenses are placed. We will of course return to the camera in detail later in the OnePlus 10T review.

We have the OnePlus 10T in the color Jade Green. This one is very shiny and can also be on the smooth side. A case is therefore definitely recommended. The glossy back is also very fingerprint sensitive. The phone also feels solid and is well finished.

Interface

The interface is as we are used to from OnePlus. The 10T comes with Android 12 with the latest OxygenOS 12 environment. I mentioned it before on DroidApp, I personally think this new version of the skin is a step backwards. It looks less sleek than before and we see more and more influences from Oppo’s ColorOS. Although I think that’s a great skin on Android, this combination on the OnePlus is less my taste. Something seems to have been picked from ColorOS here and there, and I have that feeling again with this smartphone.

That does not alter the fact that the interface itself is also bad. It is clear that the device is still very fast, is equipped with many personalization options and you can also adjust the visible icons in the notification bar with this, for example. There is the Always On Display, along with the silhouette that you can activate for this. The fingerprint scanner of the OnePlus 10T does its job very quickly, but in my opinion it is a bit too low, although it takes some getting used to.

Communication: calling, surfing the internet and networking

We don’t have to tell you that a high-end smartphone is fully equipped. That is also the case with this phone from OnePlus. There is dual SIM support and for calling you use standard calling and texting apps from Google. As is known, these do an excellent job. There is nothing to criticize about the call quality of the 10T, which is very good. No disturbing factors or crazy features, just having very clear conversations.

Internet is of course also one of the possibilities of the OnePlus. The 10T lets you use WiFi or 5G. Also on board we find the well-known things such as Bluetooth, NFC and of course location determination such as GPS. Everything works as you would expect, no crazy quirks.

Multimedia: music and film

The screen is perfect for watching a series or movie. Colors come into their own and the brightness can be adjusted well. By this we mean the maximum brightness on sunny days and the minimum brightness in lower light environments.

Listening to music is also fine on the OnePlus 10T. The sound quality is quite nice with the device. At times I find it just a bit too high in its sound, but for the average user the speaker of the device will certainly suffice. In the aforementioned cases, it is at maximum volume against the shrill sound. You can also listen via a headset, although you will have to connect it via Bluetooth or possibly with the USB-C connection, because like so many devices, there is no 3.5 millimeter connection on the 10T.

Camera: photo and video

As already indicated in the OnePlus 10T review, there is no Hasselblad collaboration in the field of the camera with this device. The smartphone will be equipped with a triple camera with three lenses. This concerns a 50 megapixel main camera, an 8 megapixel wide-angle lens and a 2 megapixel camera for capturing macro images. The camera app works as you would expect with a user-friendly operation and also fast. The settings are in logical places and of course it is possible to switch between different modes.

What about the photo quality? We have tested the camera of the OnePlus 10T under various circumstances. The main camera shoots reasonable pictures, although these are sometimes faded and lack contrast and color under certain circumstances. The wide-angle lens is different and does not convince us. We miss details and here too we see faded images every now and then. In addition, we even see strange stitching errors in the photo below. A telephoto lens cannot be found on the OnePlus 10T. There is, however, an option in the camera app that allows you to zoom 2x, and it performs quite well for something mainly digital zooming. However, we would have preferred to see a telephoto lens in the camera body instead of a 2 megapixel macro lens. These kind of 2 megapixel lenses are mainly there for decoration.

In the evenings the photos are quite nice, although they can be moved a bit quickly if you move just a little too much. Night mode can be activated automatically in dark environments. You can view the photos we took with the phone in the digital photo album.

Selfies and video camera

The front camera of the OnePlus 10T has 16 megapixels and shoots acceptable selfies. You can of course also use the video camera and it lets you film in 4K, Full-HD or HD quality. The images you shoot with the OnePlus 10T video camera are fine, with the image stabilization also doing its job well. Below you will find a video that we made with the OnePlus.

Performance: battery, speed and memory

On board the OnePlus 10T we find the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset from Qualcomm. An excellent processor that makes the device feel lightning fast. We haven’t noticed any crazy bugs or annoying hiccups in recent times. And rightly so, because if you pay that much money for a smartphone, it just has to be good. We have the version with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Knowing OnePlus, the variant with less working memory certainly does not disappoint.

Then the battery of the OnePlus 10T. It has a decent capacity of 4800 mAh. With quite a bit of use you will get to the end of the day. We note a screen-on-time of approximately 3.5 hours, sometimes peaking at 4 hours. A decent score for an Android high-end. Although the battery life was much less, it was not immediately a disaster, because OnePlus has provided the phone with 150W fast charging. With this, the brand immediately sidelined all competitors. Fully charging the OnePlus 10T battery takes only 19 minutes, a top performance. Wireless charging is not an option with the phone.

Update Policy

OnePlus indicated when the device was announced that the OnePlus 10T can expect three Android updates and three years of security updates. A nice score, but it still lags behind compared to, for example, Samsung. There is also an important caveat. The update policy may be in order on paper, we have seen in the past that OnePlus sometimes delivers sloppy work. Updates appear somewhat irregular over time and are sometimes also full of bugs. But let’s assume that OnePlus has improved and addressed things.

Rating

We can conclude that the OnePlus 10T is a great smartphone. However, it is a segment in which many smartphones are available, and the 10T does not automatically take home the gold. However, the lightning fast charging is something that no one can imitate, and that is a very nice feature. However, in terms of the camera, there are still a few things that can be improved, because we are not impressed by that. Furthermore, it is brutally a boring device. Is that bad? No, not if you’re just looking for a decent smartphone that you can use for a few years, and which you can charge at lightning speed.

The OnePlus 10T is available at OnePlus itself, Coolblue, Mobiel, Belsimpel and Bol.com.