OnePlus 5T, the Best Android Phone You Can Buy

by Arvin Apsen Cell phone repair parts

OnePlus has always been keen to confound expectations and swim against the tide, offering stylish and powerful handsets at a fraction of the cost of some of its more famous rivals. It has also fallen into a pattern of updating its phones mid-cycle; the OnePlus 5 is only a few months old and has been rendered obsolete by the arrival of the shiny new OnePlus 5T, an evolution which retains much of what made the 5 so appealing but panders to what is perhaps the biggest trend of 2017: a bigger screen with reduced bezels.

Given that internally, it's very much the same phone as the OnePlus 5, is this update worth considering if you're already a OnePlus fan? Does the 5T have what it takes to compete with other bezel-free handsets available on the market? And is OnePlus wise to be indirectly targeting Apple's iPhone X in its marketing? I'm here to find out the answers.

OnePlus hasn't attempted to redesign the wheel when it comes to the 5T's looks. From the back it's almost a dead ringer (no pun intended) for the OnePlus 5, with the biggest change being the relocation of the fingerprint scanner from the front of the device to the back. As is the case with so many Android Google Pixel XL repair parts It rests right where you index finger usually sits and pleasingly fast and accurate.

The phone's metal frame is covered in a black matte coating but it's still rather slippy in the hand, so I appreciate the fact that OnePlus has very kindly bundled a free TPU case in the box. The antenna lines are visible at the top of the bottom of the phone; these break up that blackness quite neatly.

On the left-hand edge you'll find the mechanical slider which allows you to toggle between Do Not Disturb, Silent and Ring – a feature which really should be present on more Android handsets – as well as the volume rocker.

On the opposite side there's the power button and the SIM tray, which accepts two Nano SIMs. The bottom edge is home to the powerful mono speaker, USB Type-C port and 3.5mm headphone socket. Yep, OnePlus continues to fly the flag for those with wired headphones.

Flip the handset onto its back and you'll encounter the single biggest difference between the 5T and its forerunner – that massive screen. Glad in Gorilla Glass 5, the 6.01-inch 1080p panel uses Optic AMOLED technology which means you get strong colours and deep, convincing contrast.

While it's not a QHD screen, I think the decision to stick with standard FHD is a wise one, as it saves unnecessary strain on the processor. While the 5T's display isn't quite as expansive as the screens seen on the iPhone X and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 – the bezels are still quite large at the top and the bottom – it's certainly a step in the right direction and a marked improvement over the 5.5-inch panel seen on the OnePlus 5.

It's worth noting that the OnePlus 5T is sold without any kind of water or dust resistance, despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary. While it seems that the phone is capable of surviving an accidental dunk in water, OnePlus will not honour any warranty claims for water damage, so it's perhaps best to avoid doing so.

OnePlus 5T review: Software & User Experience

OnePlus' OxygenOS may look a lot like stock Android, but it showcases some decent customisation options under the hood, as well as a few neat tricks.

The big news with this model is that OnePlus has created its own Face Unlock system which differs from Google's rather lackluster implementation which has been present since the days of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

While it's not quite as advanced as Apple's FaceID on the iPhone X – which uses a 3D imaging camera to map your face – OnePlus' solution is nevertheless impressive.

The phone is able to read your face irrespective of whether or not you're wearing glasses and is incredibly quick to unlock; sometimes, the screen would unlock the moment I pushed the power button, not even giving me chance to read my notifications (you can, thankfully, change this in the settings). I was also surprised at how well the camera works in dark environments, and the fact that it can read your face even when it's lying flat on a table or you've just pulled it out of your pocket.

Of course, just like FaceID, it's not a perfect system and there were a few times when it failed to work. However, unlike the iPhone X, the OnePlus 5T has a backup – the aforementioned fingerprint scanner.

OnePlus has given its consumers the best of both worlds, and while its iteration of Face Unlock isn't as secure or clever as Apple's, you have your fingerprint as a backup for when it doesn't work – or you can't turn it off entirely. It's good to have options.

OxygenOS has its own launcher too, which does away with Google Now on the left-hand home screen and introduces OnePlus' own take, a "shelf" which shows your recent contacts, apps, data usage and battery life.

To be honest it's hardly the most useful of screens – despite the fact you can add your own widgets – and I quickly installed the Google Now launcher from the Play Store.

Still, there are some nice elements to the default UI; like the Pixel phones, you swipe upwards to open the app drawer, and you can use custom icon packs and tinker with the layout of each home screen.

There are some odd software changes, too. OnePlus has removed the ability to schedule your "Do Not Disturb" period, instead expecting you to manually set this using the three-stage mechanical slider on the side of the Google Pixel XL LCD screen replacement .

The phone also currently lacks support for HD streaming via apps like Netflix, although OnePlus has stated that this is a DRM problem and that a fix is on the way. On the whole this remains one of the most pleasant custom skins on the market. Granted, it's still based on Nougat – Orea is in testing and is expected early next year – but this won't be a deal-breaker to most consumers.

In terms of pure performance, the OnePlus 5T is blisteringly fast thanks to the inclusion of the Snapdragon 835 chipset and 6GB of RAM. This is the de facto standard for most of 2017's Android flagships and provides a pleasing degree of power for pretty much every task. 3D gaming is smooth and responsive, and there's never any pauses or stutters when moving around the UI.