OnePlus 8T review: Strong overall package for 600 euros

The new OnePlus 8T costs only 600 euros and offers, among other things, a 120 Hertz OLED display, a quad camera, warp charge with up to 65 watts and much more. What else it has to offer and whether I can recommend it to others, you will find out in the following lines.

At a suitable point I will always use the OnePlus 8T with the cheaper one OnePlus North, but also with the more expensive one 8 Pro to compare. In the end, of course, we also clarify the question of which device is more suitable for whom.

Haptics, design & processing

If there's one thing that bothers me a little about my OnePlus 8 Pro, it's its enormous dimensions. I'm a fan of big smartphones, but this is a bit too much even for me. Fortunately, OnePlus has done a much better job with the 8T. It's noticeably smaller, lighter and can therefore be operated relatively well with one hand. Sure, it's still a big smartphone, but most people will probably be able to get used to this size.

Both the back and the front are made of glass and the frame is made of matt aluminum. While here Samsung with the S20FE If you want to save costs, OnePlus fortunately takes a different approach and delivers an extremely high-quality smartphone at a reasonable price. When it comes to colors, the buyer can choose between silver and green. I have also tested the latter and always looks a little different depending on the incidence of light, which I personally like very much. However, the back is glossy in green and is therefore much more susceptible to fingerprints than the silver model, which is matt. In the end, everyone has to decide for themselves what they like better now.

If we turn the smartphone around, we are greeted by a huge display, which is only interrupted by a small punch hole in the upper left corner. The edges are very thin, even though the 8 Pro and I live X51 5G to be ahead of the curve here. The design is definitely one of my highlights and doesn't have to hide from significantly more expensive smartphones.

Finally, I would also like to praise the workmanship, for which there is no reason for criticism. The keys are bombproof, the alert slider feels extremely high quality and in general the OnePlus 8T makes a very good, stable impression.

Display - nice and smooth

The display measures 6,55 inches and has a sufficiently sharp resolution of 2.400 x 1.080 pixels. As is typical for OnePlus, it is an OLED panel that supports a fluid frame rate of 120 Hertz, which makes animations look nice and fluid. Other smartphones with only 60 Hertz, which, mind you, also cost more than 1.000 euros, can cut a large slice of the game. Yes Apple, I mean exactly you.

The recess is almost never noticeable. (Image: TechnikNews)

I don't have any reason to criticize the rest of the display. The colors are reproduced in an intense but sufficiently realistic way and the black level is simply excellent. On top of that, it also offers a very good maximum brightness that is almost nothing like more expensive smartphones. Overall, the OnePlus 8T really has a great display and doesn't have to hide from significantly more expensive smartphones. Compared to the cheaper OnePlus Nord, it is even better in terms of brightness, viewing angle stability, refresh rate and color reproduction.

Software - almost pure Android

The OnePlus 8T uses version 11 of Oxygen OS, based on Android 11. With the latest version of Qxygen OS there were some new features, which we are about already reported here. What should be noticed first of all are the slight design changes in the settings, in the notification bar and also on the start screen. This makes it even easier to operate elements with one hand, which is also the strategy of Samsung's software. Another innovation is the always-on display, which shows the time, date, battery level and missed notifications. Personally, I like the software very much because on the one hand it is very simple and beautiful and on the other hand it offers some useful additional functions.

Performance - fast and fluid

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, which is manufactured in a 7 nanometer process, works under the hood. Depending on the version, there is 8 or a full 12 GB of RAM to the side. Apps start and close extremely quickly and there were virtually no stuttering during my entire test period. The OnePlus 8T never reaches its limits and is sure to perform quickly and smoothly for the next few years. I have never had such a good and smooth performance with any other smartphone. It doesn't get any better than that.

Battery - full extremely quickly

The battery has a capacity of 4.500 mAh and ensures really good battery life. I always got through a day with the 120 Hertz refresh rate activated and even 1,5 to 2 days were usually no problem. At the end of the day, with a screen-on time of 6 to 8 hours, I usually had about 20 to 30 percent battery left. These are really strong values. For me, it also lasted a little longer than the Pro model.

With the OnePlus 8T, the Chinese manufacturer is introducing the new Warp Charge 65 charging function. This charges the device from 40 to 0 percent in just under 100 minutes. That's really quite impressive and a successful upgrade compared to Warp Charge 30T in the OnePlus 8 Pro and Nord.

Thanks to Warp Charge 65, the battery can be charged from 40 to 0 percent in about 100 minutes. (Image: TechnikNews)

Camera solid, but with room for improvement

On the back, in the upper left corner, we find the camera layout, which has unfortunately been adapted to the general public. This includes four sensors, including a 48 megapixel main camera, 16 megapixel ultra wide-angle camera, 2 megapixel monochrome lens and a 5 megapixel camera for macro shots. Videos are possible in 4K with up to 60 FPS and look very good.

Let's start with the main camera, because it really impresses across the board when there is enough light. Colors are beautifully saturated but reproduced realistically, the sharpness is decent and the dynamic range is really good. I think the Vivo X51 5G is a little better, but in daylight the OnePlus 8T can still keep up very well with the larger 8 Pro. However, the tables turn in low light. Don't get me wrong, it still delivers quite passable pictures here and the night mode sometimes actually works wonders, but for 600 euros you can simply expect more. The photos are blurry and far too yellow. The Vivo X51 5G is much better here, the Pro model a little better too and compared to the much cheaper Nord I can hardly see any differences. I was also negatively struck by the extremely poor autofocus in low light. Here are two examples:

The images from the ultra-wide-angle camera are very good for the price. They impress with great color reproduction, a good dynamic range and decent sharpness. In bright light, it is even visibly better than those in the Nord and Vivo X51 5G and, to be honest, I don't see any differences to the 8 Pro, which only delivers visibly better results in low light.

The built-in monochrome lens, which offers no noticeable advantage, is rather unnecessary. It looks different with the macro camera. The pictures could still be visibly sharper and more accurate in terms of color, but you can definitely live with that. It is not as bad as the 2 megapixel sensor that is used in the Nord, for example.

Test photos of the OnePlus 8T

Let's take a look at a few test photos. The following images are absolutely unprocessed, but compressed without loss in order to keep the loading times and memory consumption of the website low.

Comparison with the OnePlus 8 Pro and Vivo X51 5G

Let’s compare the camera in different situations with the OnePlus 8 Pro and Vivo X51 5G.

The Vivo X51 5G takes the best pictures in daylight as well as in lowlight, since both OnePlus devices cannot quite keep up. What is noticeable is the minimally better color rendering in low light of the 8T compared to its more expensive brother, but the pictures here are visibly better in extremely low light. Not to be forgotten is the weak zoom of the 7T successor, which by far cannot keep up with the others. I would have expected a little more for the price.

Comparison with the OnePlus Nord

Finally, we want to take a look at how the camera fares compared to the cheaper OnePlus Nord.

The differences between the two models are really limited, no wonder, because both have the same camera sensor installed. On the other hand, there are clear differences in favor of the OnePlus 8T with the ultra-wide-angle camera and especially the macro camera.

Other

I would like to positively highlight the built-in stereo speakers, which are quite loud and offer a nice, balanced sound. Unfortunately, this is anything but common in this price range.

The smartphone can be unlocked quickly and securely using the fingerprint sensor in the display. It responds very reliably and is virtually as good as the more expensive Pro model.

After all the praise, it is now time for criticism, because unfortunately the OnePlus 8T lacks some features that are actually to be expected for 600 euros. On the one hand, there is no wireless charging, an IP-68 certification against the ingress of water and dust, a micro SD card for memory expansion and a 3,5 mm jack connection. At least I can do without the latter and I think it's time to say goodbye to this feature, but I would have liked to see at least two of the functions just mentioned for the price of 600 euros on offer. A Google Pixel 5 For example, it is in a similar price range and offers wireless charging and certification against the ingress of water and dust.

Conclusion

I really liked the OnePlus 8T, because for only 600 euros you get really good hardware, such as a 120 Hertz display, great performance, a long battery life, very good speakers and not to forget very nice, fast software. I would have expected a little more from the camera, although you can still get by with it absolutely and I just miss a few features. If you can do without this and if you don't have too many expectations of the camera, you can use the OnePlus 8T without hesitation and will be very happy with it.

Now, of course, the question is whether the extra cost over the OnePlus 8 Pro is worth it. The Pro model with 128 GB of flash memory currently costs around 800 euros, and if the camera is important to you and you don't want to miss out on features like wireless charging, etc., the extra cost of around 200 euros is worth it. If you don't necessarily want the best, but still want a pretty good, current OnePlus smartphone, then go for the 8T and save yourself the 200 euros.

Or should you rather use a OnePlus Nord? Here, too, the price difference between the two models is 200 euros and those who value the advantages of the 8T compared to the Nord should probably spend a little more money and use the 8T. Otherwise the north is sufficient.

No matter which of the three smartphones you choose, you won't go wrong with any one. These are all three excellent devices and I can recommend them across the board. OnePlus has caught up a lot this year and I'm excited to see what they'll bring to market next year.

Thank you for providing the OnePlus 8T!

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