We all loved the OnePlus 3. It was a $399 phone that felt like a $799 phone. It had a sleek design, a thin profile, and impressive performance—everything that you’d expect to see in something like the newest phone from Apple or Samsung. But how do you follow up that success just five months later?
With the OnePlus 3T, the company showed us: improve everything, without losing the good thing you’ve got going. Here are 5 reasons why the new OnePlus 3T is awesome.
1. It costs just $439
It might be a $40 increase to $399 OnePlus 3, but who’s gonna notice when it’s this cheap? In terms of quality—in both design and specs—the OnePlus 3T is on par with phones like the Google Pixel and the iPhone 7. The Pixel comes in at $749, while the iPhone 7 is $649 (the similarly-sized iPhone 7 Plus is $769). At nearly half the cost, the OnePlus 3T is a no-brainer for anyone in the market who doesn’t want to buy a $700 computer every two years.
2. The same great design/hardware
The OnePlus 3T is very nearly identical to the OnePlus 3. The only noticeable difference is that the new version is just ever so slightly heavier and thicker than the OnePlus 3 (thanks to the bigger battery). Aside from that, the OnePlus 3T has the same unibody, aluminum body, USB-C port, and elegantly refined design. It’s the kind of phone you don’t want to put a case on just so you can show the back of it off.
3. Upgrade in performance is noticeable
This is where the 3T update is worth the $40. The 3T comes with the Snapdragon SD 821, an update from the 820 that was in the OnePlus 3. Although it also comes with the same 6GB of RAM, the processor upgrade is noticeable. Doing just about anything is crazy, crazy fast—whether it’s switching between apps or gaming. It might not be quite as fluid as the iPhone 7, but it can keep up with just about anything on the Android platform.
4. Bigger battery
One of the best upgrades in the 3T is the bigger battery. The OnePlus 3 had a 3000 mAh battery, while the 3T has a 3400 mAh battery. While the actual day-to-day battery life experience depends on all sorts of different things, the 3T really will get you through a very full day of usage, including time streaming audio, on phone calls, and other on-screen time. As a means of comparison, the Google Pixel XL comes with a 3450 mAh battery and the iPhone 7 Plus comes with a 2900 mAh battery.
5. Fast charging is amazing
One of the most convenient new features I’ve used in any smartphone I’ve used in the past couple of years is fast charging. It’s one of those things that Android users will be able to hold over iPhone users for a long time to come. The OnePlus 3T uses its own proprietary system called Dash charging, which allows for extremely fast charging times. OnePlus claims you can get a full battery charge in a half hour, which you can imagine is pretty handy when you forget to charge your phone overnight.