OnePlus 3T Smartphone Review

Name: OnePlus 3T
Brand: OnePlus

Flagship 2.0. After less than six months, OnePlus has introduced the successor to its high-end smartphone OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T. We will find out what the improved version is capable of and if the upgrade is worth it.

Manuel Masiero, ✓ Sven Kloevekorn (translated by Andreas Osthoff), Published 12/16/2016 🇩🇪 🇭🇺 ...

Android Touchscreen Smartphone

For the original German review, see here.

Not even six months after the launch of the OnePlus 3, OnePlus has discontinued its high-end smartphone OnePlus 3 – it is not produced anymore. Its successor is the OnePlus 3T, which has been available since December 2016. The design is pretty much identical to that of the 5.5-inch predecessor and most of the hardware is similar as well: AMOLED panel with Full HD resolution, 6 GB LPDDR4-RAM, Adreno 530 GPU and a 16 MP main camera.

So what does the "T" from the new OnePlus 3T stand for? A handful of small, but nice upgrades. Instead of the quad-core SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996, we now get the slightly faster Snapdragon 821 MSM8996, which clocks at 2.35 GHz instead of 2.2 GHz. The lithium-ion battery is also larger and now has a capacity of 3400 mAh instead of 3000 mAh. The OnePlus 3 was available with up to 64 GB internal storage, whereas the new OnePlus 3T supports up to 128 GB. The additional charge for the 128 GB model is only 40 Euros (~$42) compared to 439 Euros ($439) for the 64 GB version in the manufacturer’s online shop – this might be a good upgrade since the OnePlus 3T is still not equipped with a microSD-card reader. The resolution of the front camera has also been increased from 8 to 16 MP.

Does it make sense to switch to the OnePlus 3T? And is it really better than its predecessor OnePlus 3? We will compare both smartphones in our review as well as using the following high-end rivals: the Apple iPhone 7, the HTC 10, the Huawei P9 and the Samsung Galaxy S7.

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OnePlus 3T (3 Series)

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro 4 x 2.4 GHz, Kryo

Graphics adapter

Qualcomm Adreno 530

Memory

6 GB

, LPDDR4

Display

5.50 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 401 PPI, capacitive Touchscreen, 10 Multi-touch points, Corning Gorilla Glass 4, Optic-AMOLED, glossy: yes

Storage

64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash, 64 GB

, 50.61 GB free

Connections

1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm headset, 1 Fingerprint Reader, NFC, Brightness Sensor, Sensors: Fingerprint, Hall, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity, Abmient light, eCompass, BeiDou

Networking

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.2, GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS (band 1, 2, 5, 8), LTE Cat. 6 (band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 38, 40), Nano-SIM, Dual SIM, LTE, GPS

Size

height x width x depth (in mm): 7.35 x 152.7 x 74.7 ( = 0.29 x 6.01 x 2.94 in)

Battery

0 Wh, 3400 mAh Lithium-Ion

Operating System

Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Camera

Primary Camera: 16 MPix (Sony IMX 298, 1.12 µm, OIS, phase recognition autofocus (PDAF), f/2.0, UHD Video, RAW Support, Auto HDR)
Secondary Camera: 16 MPix (Samsung 3P8SP, 1.0 µm, EIS, Fixed Focus, f/2.0, 1080p Video)

Additional features

Speakers: Mono speaker, Keyboard: virtual, Power adapter, USB cable, SIM tool, Quick-start guide, OxygenOS 3.5, 24 Months Warranty

Weight

158 g ( = 5.57 oz / 0.35 pounds), Power Supply: 100 g ( = 3.53 oz / 0.22 pounds)

Price

439 Euro

Links

OnePlus homepage

Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

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Case

The design of the OnePlus 3T is not really that different from the OnePlus 3. All the dimensions are identical and therefore, accessories for the OnePlus 3 (such as protective covers or flip cases) should also be compatible with the OnePlus 3T. One new feature is the rear of the aluminum unibody. It is not bright silver anymore, but a slightly darker shade of gray called "Gunmetal". The second color is called "Soft Gold", but it is not yet available.

Thanks to its excellent build quality, even gaps and extremely high torsion-resistance, the OnePlus 3T leaves a very sophisticated impression, just like its predecessor. Ripples on the screen – even under a lot of pressure – are no problem for the smartphone due to the OLED technology.

It is possible to equip the OnePlus 3T with two Nano-SIMs via the card tray on the right side, which sits flush with the chassis. The internal storage has a capacity of 128 GB but unfortunately it cannot be expanded due to the absence of a microSD-slot. The battery is also integrated into the chassis and cannot be removed.

Connectivity

The high-end SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 (ARMv8 based) is slightly faster compared to the OnePlus 3. It is supported by 6 GB LPDDR4-RAM and either 64 or 128 GB of UFS 2.0 storage, depending on the model. The latter manages transfer rates comparable to regular SSDs. Our test model with 64 GB of storage provided 50 GB of free storage ex-works.

The OnePlus 3T comes with the ports that we are already familiar from the previous model. This includes the USB 2.0 port with the Type-C jack and USB-OTG support. You also once again, get a multi-colored notification LED, a notification button as well as a fingerprint scanner inside the home button. Internal connections include Miracast, Android Beam, Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC.

Left side: Volume rocker, notification switch

Right side: SIM-slot, power button

Bottom: Headset port, microphone, USB Type-C, speaker

Software

The OnePlus 3T is shipped with OxygenOS, which is a customized Android version developed by OnePlus. Our test model was equipped with Oxygen version 3.5.3, which is still based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, but an update to Android 7 is supposed to be available this year.

Compared to vanilla Android, OxygenOS 3.5.3 only changes small aspects. One addition is Shelf, for instance. It is an additional page on the home screen that can be accessed by a swipe to the right. Among others, it shows recently used apps and contacts as well as the battery capacity and the available storage capacity. Other features include a night mode, which reduces blue colors, a file manager as well as an app-locker function, where the access to individual apps can be protected via a pattern, a PIN or a password.

Communication and GPS

The communication module of the OnePlus 3T is also identical to that of the predecessor. Besides GSM and UMTS quad-band, the smartphone supports all the common LTE bands in Germany. Downloads can reach speeds of up to 300 Mbps via LTE Cat. 6 (upload up to 50 Mbps). The OnePlus 3T also supports two Nano-SIMs and can therefore be reached via two phone numbers.

The OnePlus 3T supports the wireless standards 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and can therefore use 2.4 as well as 5 GHz networks. We had no problem in practice at a distance of 10 meters (~33 ft) to our reference router Fritz!Box 6490. With 313 Mbps (send) and 257 Mbps (receive), the OnePlus 3T is not quite as fast as the OnePlus 3, but this should be a result of different routers (OnePlus 3: Linksys EA8500). However, we did not notice any performance differences between the two smartphones when we streamed videos or copied files in practice.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
Apple iPhone 7 A10 Fusion GPU, A10 Fusion, 128 GB NVMe (Klaus I211)	485 MBit/s +55%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Mali-T880 MP12, Exynos 8890, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	335 MBit/s +7%
OnePlus 3 Adreno 530, 820 MSM8996, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	323 MBit/s +3%
OnePlus 3T Adreno 530, SD 821, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	313 MBit/s
Huawei P9 Mali-T880 MP4, Kirin 955, 32 GB eMMC Flash	185 MBit/s -41%
iperf3 receive AX12
Apple iPhone 7 A10 Fusion GPU, A10 Fusion, 128 GB NVMe (Klaus I211)	532 MBit/s +107%
OnePlus 3 Adreno 530, 820 MSM8996, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	320 MBit/s +25%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Mali-T880 MP12, Exynos 8890, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	281 MBit/s +9%
Huawei P9 Mali-T880 MP4, Kirin 955, 32 GB eMMC Flash	279 MBit/s +9%
OnePlus 3T Adreno 530, SD 821, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	257 MBit/s

The position of the OnePlus 3T can be located via the satellite networks GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou. We were able to locate our position with an accuracy of a few meters, both outdoors as well as indoors.

The performance of the smartphone was also reliable in practice. We tested it on a 6.5 km (4 mi) bicycle ride and except for some minor deviations; the OnePlus 3T was just as accurate as the professional navigation device Garmin Edge 500.

Telephone Functions and Voice Quality

The phone app of the OnePlus 3T is similar to the OnePlus 3 and the standard Android app. In addition to a number pad, there is a tab for favorites as well as a call history.

The voice quality of the OnePlus 3T leaves a good impression. The call partners can understand each other very well, even though our voice sometimes sounded rather tinny. The integrated noise suppression of the dual-microphone works perfectly and ensured a good call quality even in loud environments.

Cameras

Picture with the main camera (click for original)

Sony's IMX 298 sensor in the OnePlus 3T is similar to the 16 MP camera of the OnePlus 3, so the good picture quality has not changed. Thanks to the updated software, the quality of video recordings is even slightly better, and they are still taken at up to 4K at 30 frames per second. The biggest new feature of the main camera is sitting on the outside: a lens cover, which is made of a slightly harder sapphire crystal than before.

The webcam resolution has been increased from 8 MP (Sony IMX179) to 16 MP (Samsung 3P8SP). It is still a sensor with a fixed focus and an aperture of f/2.0, smile recognition for selfies as well as 1080p video recording at 30 FPS. Despite the impressive MP count, not everything is better. We actually like the selfies of the OnePlus 3 a bit better, because the same picture was slightly more blurry.

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3

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We took pictures of the ColorChecker Passport and our test chart under controlled lighting conditions. Colors are slightly too warm and too saturated on the OnePlus 3T, and the effect is even a bit stronger compared to the OnePlus 3. Although the result does not look natural, it actually leaves a good impression. We can see slightly frayed edges between colors and picture structures, even in the center.

Picture of the ColorChecker colors. The original color is displayed in the lower half of each patch.

Accessories and Warranty

OnePlus ships the smartphone with a modular power adapter, a USB 2.0 cable with a Type-C jack, a SIM tool as well as a quick-start guide. There are several accessories for the OnePlus 3T, which are compatible with the OnePlus 3 as well. The manufacturer offers a flip cover, protective cases ($24.95) and a car charger ($29.95) that also supports quick-charge.

The OnePlus 3T comes with a 12-month warranty by default. It is possible to extend the warranty period to 18 or 24 months for prices between $20 and $80 depending on the service.

Please see our Guarantees, Return Policies & Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

Input Devices & Handling

The handling of the OnePlus 3T is very smooth via capacitive touchscreen, which is covered by a layer of Gorilla Glass 4. It recognizes up to 10 inputs simultaneously and executes inputs quickly and reliably, even in the peripheral areas. The handling of the physical buttons that are perfectly integrated into the chassis is just as smooth. They have a short travel and give accurate feedback, thanks to their firm pressure point. Unlocking the smartphone via fingerprint scanner was no problem either. It is integrated into the home button and recognizes stored fingerprints very accurately. OnePlus has not changed the usual Google keyboard.

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Display

The 5.5-inch Optic-AMOLED screen of the OnePlus 3 with all of its advantages is also available in the OnePlus 3T. It has 1920x1080 pixels and a high pixel density of 401 PPI. The average luminance is also comparatively high for an AMOLED screen at 429.9 nits, and we even measured up to 518 nits with an average distribution of bright and dark picture contents (APL50).

Because of the same display, we can also measure the same PWM flickering on the OnePlus 3T as we did on the OnePlus 3: If you reduce the luminance to 10% or less, the screen will flicker at a frequency of 240 Hz.


468 cd/m²	422 cd/m²	395 cd/m²
468 cd/m²	421 cd/m²	398 cd/m²
471 cd/m²	425 cd/m²	401 cd/m²

Distribution of brightness

tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2

Maximum: 471 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 429.9 cd/m² Minimum: 3.76 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 84 %
Center on Battery: 421 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 7.1 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.93
ΔE Greyscale 6.8 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
Gamma: 2.23

	OnePlus 3T Optic-AMOLED, 1920x1080, 5.5"	Apple iPhone 7 IPS, 1334x750, 4.7"	HTC 10 Super LCD 5, 2560x1440, 5.2"	Huawei P9 IPS-NEO, JDI, 1920x1080, 5.2"	OnePlus 3 Optic-AMOLED, 1920x1080, 5.5"	Samsung Galaxy S7 SAMOLED, 2560x1440, 5.1"
Screen		50%	31%	33%	19%	35%
Brightness middle	421	556 32%	445 6%	582 38%	419 0%	350 -17%
Brightness	430	519 21%	434 1%	563 31%	431 0%	351 -18%
Brightness Distribution	84	90 7%	93 11%	91 8%	84 0%	98 17%
Black Level *		0.34	0.36	0.38
Colorchecker dE 2000 *	7.1	1.3 82%	2.8 61%	4.4 38%	4.1 42%	2.04 71%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *	15.3	2.6 83%	5.8 62%	7.4 52%	12 22%	3.25 79%
Greyscale dE 2000 *	6.8	1.9 72%	3.7 46%	4.8 29%	3.3 51%	1.63 76%
Gamma	2.23 ^99%	2.26 ^97%	2.31 ^95%	2.2 ^100%	2.1 ^105%	2.07 ^106%
CCT	7866 ^83%	6818 ^95%	7164 ^91%	6175 ^105%	6550 ^99%	6391 ^102%
Contrast		1635	1236	1532
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)		63.15		77.78	89.38	86.86
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)		99.71		99.44	100	99.35

* ... smaller is better

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

ℹ

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.

Screen flickering / PWM detected

244 Hz

The display backlight flickers at 244 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) .

The frequency of 244 Hz is relatively low, so sensitive users will likely notice flickering and experience eyestrain at the stated brightness setting and below.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17146 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

The Optic-AMOLED screen is already pretty well-calibrated ex-works, but tends to show a slightly cool picture due to its color temperature of 7494 K. If you do not like that, you can change the color temperature in the display settings between "warm" and "cold". Our example configuration (screenshot on the right) shows that the display does not transform into a perfectly adjusted panel, because it is still far from the ideal values for the grayscale and the colors (DeltaE <3). Among the comparison devices, we can see better performances by the Apple iPhone 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7, where the manufacturer has ensured an almost perfect calibration ex-works.

Subjectively, the OnePlus 3T shows a good picture, which is particularly convincing thanks to vivid colors and rich blacks.

ColorChecker (Standard, target color space: sRGB)

ColorChecker (Custom, target color space: sRGB)

Colorspace (Standard, target color space: sRGB)

Colorspace (Custom, target color space: sRGB)

Grayscale (Standard, target color space: sRGB)

Grayscale (Custom, target color space: sRGB)

Saturation Sweeps (Standard, target color space: sRGB)

Saturation Sweeps (Custom, target color space: sRGB)

Display Response Times

ℹ

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.

↔ Response Time Black to White
11 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 6 ms rise
11 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 5 ms fall
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 26 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21 ms).
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
11 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 6 ms rise
11 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 5 ms fall
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 21 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (33 ms).

Thanks to its AMOLED panel, the display content of the OnePlus 3T is easy to see. There are no deviations even from extreme angles, and the high luminance of 429.9 nits ensures good outdoor capabilities.

Performance

The OnePlus 3T is equipped with the high-end SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 and is a few percent faster than the OnePlus 3 when we look at all the benchmarks. You will not notice this in practice, but this is no problem since the OnePlus 3 was not sluggish to begin with. The OnePlus 3T also executes inputs very quickly and no modern app can really stress it.

We can sometimes see significant advantages over the OnePlus 3 in the synthetic benchmarks, but sometimes almost none. Our test model even falls behind the OnePlus 3 in BaseMark OS II, PCMark, and 3DMark Sling Shot. The OnePlus 3T is faster in AnTuTu v6 and Geekbench 4 and even beats the Apple iPhone 7 in the former.

AnTuTu v6 - Total Score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	159866 Points
Apple iPhone 7	142532 Points -11%
HTC 10	131866 Points -18%
Huawei P9	95743 Points -40%
OnePlus 3	142090 Points -11%
Samsung Galaxy S7	127902 Points -20%

Geekbench 4.0
64 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	1881 Points
Apple iPhone 7	3490 Points +86%
Huawei P9	1755 Points -7%
OnePlus 3	1754 Points -7%
64 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	4236 Points
Apple iPhone 7	5585 Points +32%
Huawei P9	4904 Points +16%
OnePlus 3	4097 Points -3%

3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	30810 Points
Apple iPhone 7	37676 Points +22%
HTC 10	27176 Points -12%
Huawei P9	19854 Points -36%
OnePlus 3	30241 Points -2%
Samsung Galaxy S7	29015 Points -6%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	34494 Points
Apple iPhone 7	63974 Points +85%
HTC 10	30061 Points -13%
Huawei P9	21577 Points -37%
OnePlus 3	34023 Points -1%
Samsung Galaxy S7	33348 Points -3%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	22426 Points
Apple iPhone 7	15450 Points -31%
HTC 10	20344 Points -9%
Huawei P9	15517 Points -31%
OnePlus 3	21771 Points -3%
Samsung Galaxy S7	19944 Points -11%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	2577 Points
Apple iPhone 7	2964 Points +15%
HTC 10	3157 Points +23%
Huawei P9	1237 Points -52%
OnePlus 3	3424 Points +33%
Samsung Galaxy S7	2715 Points +5%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Graphics (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	3310 Points
Apple iPhone 7	4057 Points +23%
HTC 10	4581 Points +38%
Huawei P9	1080 Points -67%
OnePlus 3	4633 Points +40%
Samsung Galaxy S7	3018 Points -9%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Physics (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	1452 Points
Apple iPhone 7	1525 Points +5%
HTC 10	1512 Points +4%
Huawei P9	2510 Points +73%
OnePlus 3	1789 Points +23%
Samsung Galaxy S7	2010 Points +38%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	2221 Points
HTC 10	2495 Points +12%
Huawei P9	974 Points -56%
OnePlus 3	2571 Points +16%
Samsung Galaxy S7	2170 Points -2%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Graphics (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	2418 Points
HTC 10	2889 Points +19%
Huawei P9	829 Points -66%
OnePlus 3	2864 Points +18%
Samsung Galaxy S7	2216 Points -8%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Physics (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	1728 Points
HTC 10	1688 Points -2%
Huawei P9	2503 Points +45%
OnePlus 3	1892 Points +9%
Samsung Galaxy S7	2022 Points +17%

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	59 fps
Apple iPhone 7	57.7 fps -2%
HTC 10	43 fps -27%
Huawei P9	43 fps -27%
OnePlus 3	60 fps +2%
Samsung Galaxy S7	53 fps -10%
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	91 fps
Apple iPhone 7	110.3 fps +21%
HTC 10	73 fps -20%
Huawei P9	40 fps -56%
OnePlus 3	89 fps -2%
Samsung Galaxy S7	84 fps -8%

GFXBench 3.0
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	45 fps
Apple iPhone 7	58.5 fps +30%
HTC 10	24 fps -47%
Huawei P9	19 fps -58%
OnePlus 3	46 fps +2%
Samsung Galaxy S7	27 fps -40%
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	46 fps
Apple iPhone 7	60.7 fps +32%
HTC 10	39 fps -15%
Huawei P9	18 fps -61%
OnePlus 3	47 fps +2%
Samsung Galaxy S7	40 fps -13%

GFXBench 3.1
on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	32 fps
Apple iPhone 7	59.4 fps +86%
HTC 10	14 fps -56%
Huawei P9	11 fps -66%
OnePlus 3	30 fps -6%
Samsung Galaxy S7	15 fps -53%
1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	32 fps
Apple iPhone 7	42.2 fps +32%
HTC 10	24 fps -25%
Huawei P9	10 fps -69%
OnePlus 3	31 fps -3%
Samsung Galaxy S7	28 fps -12%

PCMark for Android - Work performance score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	5664 Points
HTC 10	5809 Points +3%
Huawei P9	7058 Points +25%
OnePlus 3	7101 Points +25%
Samsung Galaxy S7	4826 Points -15%

BaseMark OS II
Overall (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	2218 Points
Apple iPhone 7	2999 Points +35%
HTC 10	2193 Points -1%
Huawei P9	2025 Points -9%
OnePlus 3	2496 Points +13%
Samsung Galaxy S7	1987 Points -10%
System (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	3130 Points
Apple iPhone 7	6097 Points +95%
HTC 10	2806 Points -10%
Huawei P9	3930 Points +26%
OnePlus 3	3537 Points +13%
Samsung Galaxy S7	4217 Points +35%
Memory (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	1954 Points
Apple iPhone 7	1257 Points -36%
HTC 10	1772 Points -9%
Huawei P9	2627 Points +34%
OnePlus 3	2052 Points +5%
Samsung Galaxy S7	2244 Points +15%
Graphics (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	4444 Points
Apple iPhone 7	6896 Points +55%
HTC 10	5009 Points +13%
Huawei P9	1583 Points -64%
OnePlus 3	4813 Points +8%
Samsung Galaxy S7	1723 Points -61%
Web (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	891 Points
Apple iPhone 7	1531 Points +72%
HTC 10	928 Points +4%
Huawei P9	1029 Points +15%
OnePlus 3	1112 Points +25%
Samsung Galaxy S7	957 Points +7%

Legend

OnePlus 3T Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro, Qualcomm Adreno 530, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash

Apple iPhone 7 Apple A10 Fusion, Apple A10 Fusion GPU / PowerVR, 128 GB NVMe

HTC 10 Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996, Qualcomm Adreno 530, 32 GB eMMC Flash

Huawei P9 HiSilicon Kirin 955, ARM Mali-T880 MP4, 32 GB eMMC Flash

OnePlus 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996, Qualcomm Adreno 530, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash

Samsung Galaxy S7 Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa, ARM Mali-T880 MP12, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash

Unlike the synthetic benchmarks, the browser benchmarks show only one winner in the duel of the siblings, and it is the OnePlus 3T. The Snapdragon 821 processor can manage a small lead compared to the OnePlus 3 in all tests. Only the Huawei P9 and the Apple iPhone 7 in particular are even a little faster.

Octane V2 | Mozilla Kraken 1.1 | WebXPRT 2015 | JetStream 1.1

Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	9798 Points
Apple iPhone 7	24875 Points +154%
HTC 10	8905 Points -9%
Huawei P9	11783 Points +20%
OnePlus 3	9155 Points -7%
Samsung Galaxy S7	13161 Points +34%

Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	2719 ms *
Apple iPhone 7	1113 ms * +59%
HTC 10	3146 ms * -16%
Huawei P9	2923 ms * -8%
OnePlus 3	2921 ms * -7%
Samsung Galaxy S7	2562 ms * +6%

WebXPRT 2015 - Overall (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	135 Points
Apple iPhone 7	202 Points +50%
HTC 10	108 Points -20%
Huawei P9	128 Points -5%
OnePlus 3	122 Points -10%
Samsung Galaxy S7	166 Points +23%

JetStream 1.1 - Total Score (sort by value)
OnePlus 3T	54.5 Points
Apple iPhone 7	165.9 Points +204%
HTC 10	52.1 Points -4%
Huawei P9	68.4 Points +26%
OnePlus 3	54.4 Points 0%
Samsung Galaxy S7	74 Points +36%

* ... smaller is better

Thanks to its fast UFS 2.0 storage, which manages similar performance figures compared to modern SSDs, the OnePlus 3T reaches very fast transfer rates in the read and write tests. It is even slightly faster than the OnePlus 3. Both models are pretty much on par with the Samsung Galaxy S7, which also uses UFS storage.

The OnePlus 3T does not have a microSD-slot, so you cannot expand the internal storage capacity, which is either 64 or 128 GB.

	OnePlus 3T	HTC 10	Huawei P9	OnePlus 3	Samsung Galaxy S7
AndroBench 3-5		-56%	-49%	-19%	-28%
Sequential Read 256KB	436.4	275.1 -37%	281.3 -36%	408.7 -6%	483.8 11%
Sequential Write 256KB	165.3	115.6 -30%	72.2 -56%	153.3 -7%	145.7 -12%
Random Read 4KB	123.6	29.92 -76%	39 -68%	137.6 11%	85.9 -31%
Random Write 4KB	74.4	15.89 -79%	47.45 -36%	18.23 -75%	16.01 -78%
Sequential Read 256KB SDCard		83.3	55		72.3
Sequential Write 256KB SDCard		65.4	24.83		53.6

Games

Thanks to its powerful SoC, the OnePlus 3T can handle all Android games smoothly. Our gaming benchmarks also show that it is one of the fastest smartphones you can currently get. While “Asphalt 8: Airborne” is limited to 30 frames per second, even though more would be possible, “Dead Trigger 2” runs with an impressive 59 FPS. The only minor point of criticism: You can quickly cover the speaker when you hold the smartphone in landscape mode.

Asphalt 8: Airborne
	Settings	Value
	high	30 fps
	very low	30 fps

Dead Trigger 2
	Settings	Value
	high	59 fps

... in comparison

Emissions

Temperature

At up to 39.4 °C (~103 °F), the OnePlus 3T stays slightly cooler than the OnePlus 3, where we measured up to 42.1 °C (~108 °F). Both values are uncritical. The hot spot is once again around the earpiece, so you will get a warm ear when you make calls. This can happen when you have played for a while and then accept/make a call.

We cannot determine throttling under maximum load. The frame rates of the OnePlus 3T are steady, even after 30 runs if the GFXBench T-Rex benchmarks.

Max. Load

Idle


36.9 °C 98 F	33.7 °C 93 F	32.9 °C 91 F
39.4 °C 103 F	33.9 °C 93 F	32.5 °C 91 F
39.2 °C 103 F	34.2 °C 94 F	32.2 °C 90 F

Maximum: 39.4 °C = 103 F
Average: 35 °C = 95 F


34.7 °C 94 F	35.8 °C 96 F	37.5 °C 100 F
34.7 °C 94 F	36 °C 97 F	36.7 °C 98 F
34.6 °C 94 F	36.2 °C 97 F	37.4 °C 99 F

Maximum: 37.5 °C = 100 F
Average: 36 °C = 97 F

Power Supply (max.) 33.8 °C = 93 F | Room Temperature 22.1 °C = 72 F | Voltcraft IR-350

(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 35 °C / 95 F, compared to the average of 32.8 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 39.4 °C / 103 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.2 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 37.5 °C / 100 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.8 °C / 84 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.

Speakers

The mono speaker of the OnePlus 3T can get quite loud at up to 84.4 dB(A), but does not provide a very good sound quality – so there is no change compared to the OnePlus 3. There is too much emphasis on the high tones, while bass is not available at all and mids are pretty sparse as well when you increase the volume.

The 3.5 mm headset jack at the bottom of the OnePlus 3T delivers a much better sound quality. You will have to use your own headphones though, because there are none in the box.

OnePlus 3T audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.3 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 24.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (7.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.6% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 7.1% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (2.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 33% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 59% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 53% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 40% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

OnePlus 3 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (88.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 30.9% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (11.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.2% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 5.6% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (3.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (21.8% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 39% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 53% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 58% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 35% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Apple iPhone 7 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 21.8% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 5.9% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (8.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 33% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 59% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 53% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 40% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Frequency Comparison (Checkboxes select/deselectable!)

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The OnePlus 3T consumes slightly more power than the OnePlus 3, but it is still pretty efficient. However, the Apple iPhone 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 are more power efficient than the two smartphones.

Fortunately, one big advantage of the OnePlus 3 has not been waived by the OnePlus 3T. The new model also supports quick-charge and uses a so called dash power adapter that provides 4 amps. As with the previous model, a complete charge took around 70 minutes.

Power Consumption

Off / Standby	0.12 / 0.28 Watt
Idle	0.61 / 1.77 / 1.81 Watt
Load	6.67 / 10.98 Watt


Key: min: , med: , max: Metrahit Energy Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

	OnePlus 3T 3400 mAh	Apple iPhone 7 1960 mAh	HTC 10 3000 mAh	Huawei P9 3000 mAh	OnePlus 3 3000 mAh	Samsung Galaxy S7 3000 mAh
Power Consumption		28%	0%	3%	15%	26%
Idle Minimum *	0.61	0.54 11%	0.68 -11%	0.77 -26%	0.57 7%	0.68 -11%
Idle Average *	1.77	1.51 15%	1.49 16%	2.36 -33%	1.24 30%	1.02 42%
Idle Maximum *	1.81	1.54 15%	1.91 -6%	2.37 -31%	1.36 25%	1.14 37%
Load Average *	6.67	3.75 44%	7.4 -11%	3.09 54%	5.92 11%	4.73 29%
Load Maximum *	10.98	5.01 54%	9.71 12%	5.35 51%	10.53 4%	7.16 35%

* ... smaller is better

Battery Runtime

Despite the increased capacity of 3400 mAh (previously 3000 mAh), the runtimes of the lithium-ion battery cannot really convince us. All the results are above average, including a WLAN runtime of 8 hours and 14 minutes, and do not cause any criticism. It should easily last a full business day.

However, we still have to criticize the OnePlus 3T for the WLAN runtime, because the OnePlus 3 managed almost 6 hours more. We suspect that the big difference is related to OxygenOS. The OnePlus 3 had problems with the runtimes in the beginning as well, but they were much better after an OxygenOS update – from 6.5 hours to more than 14 hours. As of this writing, the OnePlus 3T uses the latest version of OxygenOS (3.5.3). We repeated the tests with a second test model to exclude a hardware error – but the result was the same.

Except for the WLAN benchmark, the OnePlus 3T is basically as enduring as the OnePlus 3, which is bad news for the competition. Only the Samsung Galaxy S7 can compete with the battery performance of the OnePlus 3T, while both the HTC 10 and the Apple iPhone 7 clearly fall behind.

Battery Runtime

Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)		23h 43min
WiFi Websurfing		8h 14min
Big Buck Bunny H.264 1080p		13h 30min
Load (maximum brightness)		4h 42min

	OnePlus 3T 3400 mAh	Apple iPhone 7 1960 mAh	HTC 10 3000 mAh	Huawei P9 3000 mAh	OnePlus 3 3000 mAh	Samsung Galaxy S7 3000 mAh
Battery Runtime		-9%	-19%	-9%	16%	4%
Reader / Idle	1423	1770 24%	1273 -11%	1514 6%	1338 -6%	1810 27%
H.264	810	722 -11%	648 -20%	568 -30%	847 5%	892 10%
WiFi v1.3	494	517 5%	413 -16%	569 15%	840 70%	456 -8%
Load	282	126 -55%	203 -28%	206 -27%	268 -5%	242 -14%

Pros

+ high-quality chassis

+ high-end performance without throttling

+ good camera

+ fast storage

+ fast WLAN

+ dual-SIM

+ notification lever

+ USB Type-C

+ up to 128 GB internal storage

+ decent voice quality with noise suppression

+ good display

+ Quick-Charge

+ long battery runtimes

Cons

- only LTE Cat. 6

- different frequencies depending on the region

- no storage expansion

- no FM radio

- webcam not as sharp as before

- no Infrared

- speakers with some static

- no headphones in the box

Verdict

In review: OnePlus 3T. Test model courtesy of OnePlus Germany.

The OnePlus 3T is a worthy successor to the OnePlus 3. However, the task has not been too challenging for the manufacturer because the previous model was already one of the best high-end Android smartphones. The changes for the OnePlus 3T are also pretty small, so this is still the case here.

Update successful: The OnePlus 3T is just a small update of the OnePlus 3 and is therefore one of the best high-end smartphones, just like the old one was.

If you already own the OnePlus 3, you do not need the OnePlus 3T, but all others can get it. Buyers will probably like that there is finally a 128 GB version of the smartphone. It is only 40 Euros (~$42) more expensive than the 64 GB version in the online shop of the manufacturer, so it is really interesting due to the missing microSD-card reader. The slightly faster SoC is a nice addition, but the difference is rather small in practice due to similar temperatures.

OnePlus has equipped the new 3T with a larger battery, but it is still pretty much on par with the OnePlus 3 due to the higher power consumption. We do not want to read too much into the slip up in the WLAN test, because the previous model had the same problem at first, which was fixed by an OxygenOS update. An update to Android 7 is announced for December.

OnePlus 3T - 2016-12-12 12/12/2016 v6 ^(old)
Manuel Masiero

Chassis

89%

Keyboard

70 / 75 → 93%

Pointing Device

97%

Connectivity

48 / 60 → 80%

Weight

92%

Battery

92%

Display

83%

Games Performance

64 / 63 → 100%

Application Performance

63 / 70 → 90%

Temperature

90%

Noise

100%

Audio

53 / 91 → 58%

Camera

77%

Average

78%

88%

Smartphone - Weighted Average

Price comparison

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Editor of the original article: Manuel Masiero - Senior Tech Writer - 288 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2012

My fascination for computers started with the C64. Since then, I’ve put everything that comes my way in terms of hardware through its paces. From the C64 to the Amiga 500 and the first PC with an 8088 CPU, my list of projects has grown increasingly longer. For more than 20 years now I have also turned my hobby into my profession and have been active in the mobile section of Notebookcheck since 2021. Before that, I worked as a hardware editor for IDG Media (tecChannel.de) and VNU Business Publications (PC professional), among others.

Translator: Andreas Osthoff - Managing Editor Business Laptops - 1690 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013

I grew up with modern consumer electronics and my first computer was a Commodore C64, which encouraged my interest in building my own systems. I started working as a review editor for Notebookcheck during my dual studies at Siemens. Currently, I am mainly responsible for dealing with business laptops and mobile workstations. It’s a great experience to be able to review the latest devices and technologies and then compare them with each other.

contact me via: LinkedIn

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > OnePlus 3T Smartphone Review

Manuel Masiero, 2016-12-16 (Update: 2024-08-15)

OnePlus 3T Smartphone Review

Case

Size Comparison

Connectivity

Software

Communication and GPS

Telephone Functions and Voice Quality

Cameras

Accessories and Warranty

Input Devices & Handling

Display

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

Display Response Times

Performance

Games

Emissions

Temperature

Speakers

OnePlus 3T audio analysis

OnePlus 3 audio analysis

Apple iPhone 7 audio analysis

Energy Management

Power Consumption

Battery Runtime

Pros

Cons

Verdict

Price comparison