OnePlus 10T review: A sub-flagship phone boosted by top-notch performance

The OnePlus 10T is not perfect, but it makes sense if you choose performance over everything else

The OnePlus 10T is a sub-flagship smartphone in the OnePlus premium line. Geared towards performance, the smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 system-on-chip. Besides, it boasts 150W fast-wired-charging technology. With flagship essentials, latest chip, and big capacity battery supported by industry-leading fast charging solution, the smartphone seems to be a good value-for-money smartphone (Rs 49,999 onwards). Is it? Let’s find out:

Design

The OnePlus 10T looks identical to its elder sibling the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G (review), but lacks the premium factor. It has glass on the front and the back, but the polycarbonate frame here replaces the aluminium frame of the Pro model. The glass on the back has a two-side curved profile, which makes it easy to hold and operate. However, the smooth glossy texture on the back cover is slippery and easily attracts smudges. As for the build, the phone is broad, thick, and heavy. With the protective case on (part of in-box accessories), it becomes unwieldy. Speaking of protection, the phone lacks any ingress rating for protection against water and dust related damages.

Display and Audio

The OnePlus 10T sports a 10-bit 6.7-inch fullHD+ AMOLED screen of 120Hz refresh rate. It is a top-tier display with good brightness, contrast, and colours. Importantly, it is a good fit for diverse content types such as videos, photos, text, and graphics. The display is HDR10+ certified and it works well in supported video content available on over-the-top platforms such as Amazon Prime Videos. The native support for high dynamic range extends to some games as well and the display impresses with deep blacks and clearer whites compared to non-HDR compliant screens.

As for the audio, the OnePlus 10T has a dual-speaker set-up for stereo output. However, there is right-left channel imbalance because the speakers are not symmetrical and have different loudness and sound signature. The OnePlus 10T might not have the audio output, but the stereo speakers still manage to elevate the experience while watching videos, listening to music, and playing games. 

Camera

The imaging performance of the OnePlus 10T is not up to the mark. It is because there is just one camera sensor of the four on the phone that truly stands out, and that is the primary 50-megapixel sensor. It is quick in fixing focus, captures the frame with almost zero shutter lag, and performs well in low light conditions. The ultra-wide-angle sensor is good, but not of flagship grade. One can take the best out of it in daylight conditions, but low light is a challenge. The macro lens is there just to put up a triple-camera system figure on the specs sheet. Coming to the front camera, it is good for selfies and videos but struggles with portraits.

OnePlus 10T: Specifications

Display	10-bit HDR10+ certified 6.7-inch fullHD, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, up to 1000Hz touch sampling rate
Audio	Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Noise Cancellation support
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on front and back
Rear Camera	50MP Sony IMX 766 OIS + 8MP ultra-wide-angle (119-degree) + 2MP Macro
Front Camera	16MP with support for EIS
Battery	4,800 mAh
Storage	128GB and 256GB (UFS 3.1)
RAM	8GB, 12GB, and 16GB (LPDDR5)
Chip	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
Charger	150W SUPERVOOC Endurance Edition
Operating system	OxygenOS 12.1, based on Android 12
Colours	Moonstone Black and Jade Green

Performance

The OnePlus 10T is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 system-on-chip, paired with up to 16GB RAM (LPDDR5) and 256GB on-board storage (UFS 3.1 dual-lane). It boots Android 12-based OxygenOS 12.1 interface, and would receive the upcoming OxygenOS 13 later this year. The performance is top-notch as expected from a premium sub-flagship smartphone. Importantly, there is no drop in performance after extended usage even when used for power-and-graphic-intensive tasks.

Battery

A dual-cell battery of a combined capacity of 4,800mAh powers the OnePlus 10T. The phone easily sails through a day on a single charge on moderate usage with a display set at 120Hz refresh rate. Naturally, the battery drains quicker if the phone is used for power-intensive tasks for extended periods. Thankfully, the phone ships with a 150W fast-wired-charger, which replenishes the completely drained battery fully in less than 30 minutes. While all is good on the battery side, the lack of wireless charging leaves a room for inconvenience for some.

Verdict

The OnePlus 10T is not perfect, but may make sense if you choose performance over everything else. The smartphone has a good display, top-notch performance, and quick battery charging tech. Aside to these, there is barely anything to make it outshine its peers in its price segment.