● OS +++++
S●ONEPLUS 3T £399+++++
SUPERTEST SUPERPHONESBargain star is still sweet at
T-time despite the price hike
Arriving less than half a year after
the OnePlus 3, the 3T seems
as premature as Christmas
decorations in September. It’s
got a few extras, sure, but the
price has also gone up from a
bargaintastic £329 to a more
punishing £399 – or £439 if you
want 128GB of storage.
It’s still slim, all-aluminium and
a real looker. Last year it could sitnext to £600 phones without
looking remotely cheap, but LG
and Samsung switching to slim-
bezel, odd-aspect-ratio screens
has taken some of the shine off
the 3T’s mainstream looks.
You really have to dig to find the
changes, like those tasty bits of
brownie in a tub of Ben & Jerry’s.
First, the OnePlus 3T has a new
Snapdragon 821 CPU. The lastversion had a Snapdragon 820
and this one is just 10% faster,
according to chip chef Qualcomm.
Will you notice the difference
day to day? Probably not. There’s
a bigger battery here too, but it
seems to drain at the same speed
as its predecessor.
Are those extras worth the £70
extra? In all honesty, no. But when
the pound’s post-referendumtumble likely dissolved the best
part of OnePlus’s UK profit margin,
it’s quite forgivable.
We still have an inkling that
OnePlus would have been happy
to keep selling us the old model
if it could. So the 3T doesn’t have
the ultra-bargain status of the
discontinued OnePlus 3, but at
£200 less than some rivals it’s still
an extremely tempting prospect.It might look like standard
Android, but the OnePlus 3T
actually runs OxygenOS – a
custom version with a few
added extras that let you
tweak the design and layout.DESIGN
Metal baby
It’s compact despite the
5.5in screen, but the 3T’s
all-aluminium body isn’t
so attention-grabbing
now that its more
expensive rivals are
adding glass to the mix
again. The mute switch is
still a nice touch, though.
●●●●●●●●●●SCREEN
Raising the tone
The original OnePlus 3
didn’t have the best
colour accuracy, but the
3T fixes that. There’s
a slightly warmer tone
here, giving your pics and
videos that little bit of
extra pop. It’s still only
1080p, though.
●●●●●●●●●●CAMERA
Long shot
Even with OIS, the 16MP
f/2.0 rear camera reveals
a few weaknesses
compared to its premium
competition. You still get
great shots, but there’s
a lack of detail in complex
scenes and auto HDR
effects aren’t convincing.
●●●●●●●●●●OS AND APPS
Out of the Marsh
It launched with Android
Marshmallow, but an
over-the-air update
added Nougat to the 3T
in January. This brought
split-screen view for
working on two apps at
once and in-line replies
for notifications.
●●●●●●●●●●Super Mario Run
(free demo,
full ame £9.99)
Nintendo’s plucky
plumber has been
hoovering up
coins on iOS since
late last year, but
he’s only recently
made the jump to
Android. You can
play the first few
levels for free, but
if you want more
Mario action you’ll
have to pay for
the full game.NOW APP THIS
Make a split
Long-press the ‘recents’
key to find Nougat’s new
split-screen option. Tap a
second app and it’ll share
space with another.See a shrink
You can fit more icons
and widgets on your
homescreen by adjusting
the dot resolution in the
Display Settings screen.ONEPLUS 3T TIPS & TRICKS