In May this year, OnePlus launched its flagship smartphone, the OnePlus Three, that made all the other flagships look puny in front of this beast. Not only was this smartphone loaded with high-end specs, it was also priced so well that the leaders had to rub off their high prices.
Now, only 6 months later, OnePlus has launched an upgrade to the OnePlus Three, the OnePlus Three T or 3T. It is very rare for a company to completely kill off the flagship and replace it with a new one within 6 months. OnePlus Three is no more, and instead you now get two variants of the OnePlus 3T.
With the new specifications, the smartphone looks like a beast in a nice sturdy aluminum body. It can easily be the most sought after flagship phone since Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is out of the race, and Samsung Galaxy S7 and Google Pixel X/XL smartphones are priced almost Rs. 10,000 more than this phone.
The smartphone runs on Android 6.0 MarshMallow, but will come with an update to Android Nougat 7.0, by the end of this year. It will also sport the latest Snapdragon 821 chipset, which is the fastest and most efficient yet by Qualcomm. Thankfully this time, you get two options for internet storage – 64GB and 128GB and we couldn’t be more thankful.
Take a look at the specifications below –
- 5.5-inch AMOLED 1920×1080 display, 401 ppi
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Oxygen OS on top, Nougat coming in December
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC coupled with 6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of storage
- Adreno 530 GPU
- 16MP Sony sensor on the front camera, f/2.0, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash
- 16MP front camera with improved low-light photography
- USB Type-C with dash charging ability
- 3,400 mAh battery with 13% more stamina
OnePlus has priced the smartphone $40 higher than the OnePlus Three, which seems a little higher because OnePlus phones have always been priced at $399. However, the 64GB version will retail at $439 and 128GB version will retail at $479.
Why launch a new flagship in 6 months?
The products heads of the company feel that it is justified to provide the best experience to the customers, which they cannot wait another year for. If a smaller upgrade with a slight additional cost can do the same, then that is the best method for the company.
Generally companies would wait for a year to give the smartphone users an upgrade over the previous generation. In this case, even though this is a small upgrade to the existing flagship, OnePlus Three will not be sold on the side.
On the downside, it could make existing OnePlus Three users slightly angry and confused, since their smartphone has become a generation old. And whenever a phone is not longer the flagship, it loses its sheen in terms of OS updates.
Should this be your next smartphone?
OnePlus 3T will be coming to India soon with an expected price of Rs. 30,999 and 32,999 for 64GB and 128GB variants respectively. If you’re looking to buy a smartphone with a budget of more than Rs. 30,000, we recommend you take a lot at this product before looking at Samsung, LG, Google and Apple.
This smartphone is a bang for the buck and we cannot emphasize enough. It packs in everything high-end at a competitive price. The camera is impressive, the processing speed is at par with Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Oxygen OS makes it look like stalk Android with some intelligent customizations.
The company has also said that customer feedback has been the most important part of the update. With a bumped up camera, processor and battery, the phone is now well-rounded and versatile as compared to its competitors.
The new model will come in two new colours – Soft Gold and Gunmetal gray. It will be available in the US starting 22nd November and Europe starting 26th November. The company hasn’t announced any plans of launching it in India but stay tuned for updates on that.
