The OnePlus 10T is an exceptional mobile device. It’s not because it has fantastic photos, a beautiful design, or a speedier processor than any other smartphone before it. No. The charging speed is its most significant achievement.
With the included USB-C cable and SuperVooc 160W charger, it will charge to 50% in about eight minutes and to full capacity in approximately twenty minutes. Assuming you can find a plug socket and haven’t forgotten your charger at home, it doesn’t really matter if your phone dies in the middle of the day as long as you have access to a charger.
In fact, the 10T charges faster than the more expensive flagship model from OnePlus. The OnePlus 10 Pro (£799) “only” utilizes 80W SuperVooc charging and takes approximately 30 minutes to fully charge. That’s an additional ten minutes.
This is an impressive increase and reason enough for me to choose the OnePlus 10T over the Pro, but what’s even more impressive about the 10T is how difficult it is to discern the other changes.
1. Design
At first impression, the OnePlus 10T appears similar to the OnePlus 10 Pro. A similar “induction hob” camera housing occupies the upper-left quadrant of the vehicle’s back. The edges are encased in a chromed, color-matched frame, and the 6.7-inch display is interrupted in the middle by a selfie camera cutout. Each phone weighs little more than 200 grams and is around the same size and thickness.
Obviously, there are distinctions, but they are subtle. It employs Gorilla Glass 5 instead of Gorilla Glass Victus for protection, and the display lacks the 10 Pro’s curved edges. The rear glass (again, Gorilla Glass 5) protrudes gently to meet the camera bump, rather than flushly.
Unfortunately, there is no IP classification, although the 10 Pro was IP68 certified. OnePlus claims that the 10T is splash-resistant, but without a certified rating, you should keep it as far away from damp as possible.
Further tweaks have been made to the phone’s edges, though you wouldn’t notice them if you were unfamiliar with OnePlus phones from the past. On the bottom is a speaker grille, nano-SIM card slot, and USB-C connector, in addition to the volume rocker and power button in its usual locations on the left and right edges, respectively. There is no 3.5mm jack or microSD expansion slot, however these absences are not unusual.
If you’ve ever owned a OnePlus phone, you may have noticed that I didn’t mention the three-position “do not disturb” slider. It is because none exists. OnePlus has deleted it, citing lack of room in the chassis as the primary cause for its disappearance. This is unfortunate, as I’ve really loved this feature on OnePlus’ high-end devices in prior years.
But, you’ll only miss the function if you’re upgrading from a OnePlus 9 or older device, and I don’t believe its absence is sufficient to choose the OnePlus 10 Pro over the less expensive 10T.
2. Display
The same holds true for the 6.7-inch, 2,412 x 1,080 display, which is not as sharp as the display on the 10 Pro, but still performs admirably. It is an AMOLED display, so the contrast ratio is practically ideal, with vibrant colors and support for essential features like HDR 10+ and 10-bit color. It also has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, the same as the 10 Pro.
It does not offer the same claimed peak brightness as the 10 Pro, which purportedly reaches 1,300cd/m2 during HDR playing, but we observed a peak brightness of 476cd/m2, which is absolutely fine in most circumstances. With a Delta E color variance score of 1.49 against sRGB in the phone’s Natural color setting, colour accuracy is also satisfactory.
As usual, OnePlus takes advantage of AMOLED technology by offering a variety of always-on screen settings — information that remains on the screen while the phone is in standby mode – however this information appears faintly, making it challenging to read in bright light.
It is also oddly not “always on” by default; you must turn it to “All-day” mode if you want it to operate continuously. Under the default Power Saving setting, the phone will automatically turn off after eight seconds of inactivity.
3. Performance
Interestingly, the chipset that powers the OnePlus 10T is a slight improvement over the one that powers the more costly OnePlus 10 Pro. According to Qualcomm, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 features 10% faster CPU and GPU performance, as well as enhanced efficiency, resulting in longer battery life.
This performance boost was only apparent in the single-core Geekbench 5 results, which makes sense given that just the single Performance core has had its clock speed increased to 3.19GHz. That’s all well and good, but you’re not going to see this change in your everyday life.
Perhaps even more impressive is the charging speed of this phone. With the supplied 160W SuperVooc USB-C charger, the OnePlus 10T charges from 0% to 100% in approximately 20 minutes.
This makes it one of the quickest-charging smartphones we’ve ever tested (the Xiaomi 12 Pro’s 120W is rated at 18 minutes for a full charge), and if you just need a quick boost to get you home, it charges to 50% in around eight minutes. Moreover, it doesn’t appear to heat up excessively while doing so, which is a very outstanding feat of engineering and a crucial factor for the long-term health of the battery.
4, Camera
Comparing the OnePlus 10T’s camera to that of its more costly sister, I have mostly praised the OnePlus 10T. The camera arrangement, however, is one area in which it is obviously inferior. The first issue is the absence of a telephoto camera. Only a 50MP (f/1.8) wide camera, an 8MP (f/2.2) ultrawide camera with a 120-degree field of view, and a somewhat useless 2MP macro camera are included on the rear of the device. There is also a 16MP (f/2.4) front-facing camera.
In comparison to the 10 Pro, which features a 50MP ultrawide camera with a 150-degree field of view and an 8MP 3.3x telephoto, this option is pitiful. The quality is not particularly spectacular, especially when compared to the Google Pixel 6, which has arguably the best camera in this price range.
Don’t get me wrong, the images captured with the OnePlus 10T seem fine. However due to a variety of shortcomings, it falls behind its competitors. In bright light, for example, detail capture is excellent, but there is a tendency toward overexposure, and colors can be a tad oversaturated.
Verdict
The OnePlus 10T excels in numerous areas. It has a quick-charging, long-lasting, super-responsive battery and a smooth, bright display. It looks excellent and doesn’t cost a fortune, too.
It is not without drawbacks, however. The cameras are inferior to those on the Google Pixel 6 (£450), despite the 10T’s higher price, and there is no telephoto camera, unlike the Samsung Galaxy S22 (£600) includes one for around the same price. Not to mention that there is no IP rating.
Despite these flaws, the OnePlus 10T is still an exceptional midrange smartphone. If you frequently find that your phone has drained to an unusable level of energy and you need a quick boost before leaving for work or returning home, this is the appropriate device for you.
