The OnePlus 3T was launched in India earlier this month at a price of Rs 29,999 for the 64GB variant and Rs 34,999 for the 128GB model.
Just like Apple’s ’S’ models, the 3T has exactly the same design as the OnePlus 3 and comes with a bigger battery (3,400mAh), the Snapdragon 821 processor as compared to the 820 in the OnePlus 3, a better front facing camera at 16MP, a sapphire glass cover for the rear camera and software tweaks in Oxygen OS.
In terms of design, the only difference between the 3 and 3T are the new color variants, namely Gunmetal Grey and Soft Gold. While the former has been available since launch, the latter will finally go on sale on January 5 exclusively via Amazon India.
It must be noted that the Soft Gold variant is only available in the 64GB variant. The 128GB storage model can only be bought in Gunmetal Grey. OnePlus claims the Soft Gold variant "is unbelievably beautiful and presents a lighter, yet elegant look."
If you are interested in buying the OnePlus 3T in Soft Gold, you can register for the January 5 app-only sale starting today. Open sales will start from January 6.
Let’s see how the OnePlus 3T differs from the OnePlus 3 in detail
Design
The OnePlus 3T looks almost identical to the OnePlus 3, with a few software and hardware tweaks that OnePlus says “were “inspired by feedback from the active OnePlus community.”
Design wise the biggest difference between the 3T and the outgoing model is the new Gunmetal Grey and Soft Gold colour variants.
Hardware
This is where the OnePlus 3T sprints ahead of its predecessor. It comes with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 821 processor (as compared to the 820 in the OP3) clocked at 2.35GHz, the Adreno 530 GPU, 6GB of DDR4 RAM and a 3,400mAh battery. The battery is 13% larger that the One Plus 3, which had a 3,000mAh battery.
While these are not massive improvements in any sense of the word, this should make the OnePlus 3T slightly faster than its predecessor.
The handset also comes with OnePlus’s ‘Dash Charge’ technology, which the company claims can give the phone enough juice to last a day with just a 30 minutes charge.
Display
If you were hoping the OnePlus 3T comes with a QuadHD display, you’re in for a disappointment as the new handset still makes do with a 5.5-inch 1080p Optic Amoled display.
Now, what is this "Optic" AMOLED technology that OnePlus is talking about? Well, it is an AMOLED panel that OnePlus has tuned for greater emphasis on blacks and reds, which OnePlus believes gives a better brewing experience
The lack of a QuadHD display might be a disappointment for some, especially those interested in using the smartphone for VR.
Camera
The front camera of the OnePlus 3T has been bumped up from an 8MP sensor to a 16Mp Samsung 3P8SP sensor with an aperture of f/1.0 and a pixel size of 1.0 microns.
Unfortunately, the OnePlus 3T comes with the same rear camera as in the One Plus 3 - a 16MP Sony IMX 298 sensor with an aperture of f/2.0 and a pixel size of 1.12 microns. The rear camera comes with an updated Electronic Image stabilisation algorithm as well as Optic Image stabilisation.
On the software front, the camera has seen some tweaks such as an improved manual mode which will allow you to control the white balance, ISO, shutter speed and so on and RAW image support.
Software
The OnePlus 3T is running the latest version of OxygenOS based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. No Nougat for now sadly which might be a put off for some.
