OnePlus 5T vs OnePlus 5 vs OnePlus 3T: Is It Worth Upgrading?

Launched earlier this month, the flagship device OnePlus 5T will go on open sale in India from today (28 November) 12 pm onwards through Amazon and OnePlus online store. The major improvements in the OnePlus 5T over its predecessor are - high-resolution 18:9 display, low-light camera performance, and some tweaks in OxygenOS software.  

OnePlus have been launching their new flagship smartphone after every six months. In November 2016, OnePlus 3T was launched after that OnePlus 5 in May 2017 and recently the OnePlus 5T in November 2017.

The company only launches products in the premium smartphone category and according to various reports, OnePlus 5 was the top selling smartphone (above $400) in India with almost 25 per cent market share during Q3 2017.

Now the question arises why OnePlus' customer’s base is increasing rapidly. Well looking at the product portfolio of the company, they always keep on improving their smartphone by upgrading the new edition of OnePlus’ smartphone with latest hardware whether it is the chipset, display or the camera and improved software.

Here’s the comparison between last three devices of the company- OnePlus 5T, 5 and 3T. What is the company offering new with each of their new flagship devices?

OnePlus 5T

OnePlus 5T runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with company’s OxygenOS on top; it will soon be getting Android 8.0 Oreo update. It powered by a 2.45 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor coupled with 6GB/8GB RAM.

The smartphone is available in two RAM and storage configurations of 6GB RAM+64GB storage and 8GB RAM+128GB. There is no MicroSD card slot in the smartphone and storage cannot be expanded.

The major highlight of OnePlus 5T is its 18:9 display, it features a 6.01-inch full HD (2160x1080) AMOLED display with an 18:9 ratio, 2.5D curved glass and Corning Glass 5 for protection.

OnePlus 5T sports a dual camera on the rear with 16-megapixel+20-megapixel sensors and dual LED Flash where first one is a wide-angle camera with f/1.7 and second one is a telephoto lens with f/1.7 aperture. On the front is a 16-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture and Screen Flash. The company has equipped a new 20-megapixel telephoto IMX 376K sensor which excels in low-light photography over its predecessor.

The smartphone is backed by a non-removable 3300mAh battery which supports Dash Charge. The handset has dedicated slots for dual-SIM (nano+nano) configuration. The smartphone also has a rear mounted fingerprint sensor which unlocks it in 0.2 seconds. OnePlus 5T also features facial recognition which the company claims is very reliable and unlocks the phone in 0.4 seconds though it can’t be used for transactions.

Connectivity options of OnePlus 5T includes- Wi-Fi 2x2 MIMO, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm audio-jack, NFC, USB 2.0, Type-C, GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou. The handset measures 156.1 x 75.7 x 7.3mm and weighs 162 grams.

OnePlus 5

Buyers still can buy OnePlus 5 in India if they don’t prefer rear mounted fingerprint sensor, bigger screen and better low-light camera. It is still available at the same price of Rs 32,999 (64GB) and Rs 37,999 (128GB). 

The smartphone is available in two RAM and storage configurations of 6GB RAM+64GB storage and 8GB RAM+128GB. There is no MicroSD card slot in the smartphone and storage cannot be expanded.

The handset runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with company’s OxygenOS on top which is pretty impressive. It powered by 2.45 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and overall performance of the device is good so you don’t need to worry about multitasking.

OnePlus 5 features a 5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080) optic AMOLED display with 2.5D curved glass and Corning Glass Glass 5 for protection on top. OnePlus 5 sports a dual camera on the rear with 16-megapixel+20-megapixel sensors and dual LED Flash where first one is a wide-angle camera with f/1.7 and second one is a telephoto lens with f/2.6 aperture. On the front is a 16-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture and Screen Flash.

The smartphone is backed by a non-removable 3300mAh battery which supports Dash Charge and the phone. The handset has dedicated slots for dual-SIM (nano+nano) configuration. The smartphone also has a front mounted fingerprint sensor which unlocks it in 0.2 seconds.

Connectivity options of OnePlus 5 includes- Wi-Fi 2x2 MIMO, Wi-fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm audio-jack, USB 2.0, Type-C, GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou. OnePlus 5 measures 154.2 x 74.1 x 7.25mm and weighs 153 grams.

OnePlus 3T

OnePlus 3T runs on Android 7.1.1 with company’s OxygenOS on top. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor coupled with 6GB of RAM and two storage options of 64GB and 128GB. The 64GB storage variants come in Gunmetal and Soft Gold shades, the 128GB storage variant is available in Midnight Black shade only.

The smartphone features a 5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080) optic AMOLED display with 2.5D Corning Glass Glass 4 on top. Talking about 3T’s rear camera, it sports a 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture, OIS, EIS and PDAF. On the front is a 16-megapixel selfie camera.

OnePlus 3T is backed by a 3400mAh non-removable battery which also supports Dash Charge.  There is a front-mounted fingerprint sensor on the device which unlocks it in 0.2 seconds.

OnePlus 3T was priced at Rs 29,999 for 64GB variant and Rs 34,999 for 128GB variant. Buyers won’t be able to buy the OnePlus 3T now as the company has discontinued its sale in India.

Connectivity options of OnePlus 3T includes- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, 3.5mm audio-jack, USB 2.0, Type-C, GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou. It measures 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm and weighs 158 grams.

Overall OnePlus 5T is a great phone given its features at this price range. It offers the industry's best processor, smooth Android experience with Oxygen OS, great camera and an immersive display. It satisfies all the needs of a smartphone user and is a complete package. OnePlus 3T user should definitely switch to OnePlus 5T but most of the OnePlus 5 users might skip the OnePlus 5T and wait for OnePlus 6 instead because everything is pretty much the same other than the display and location of fingerprint sensor; the new 20-megapixel sensor is just something for which you don't switch a 6 month old phone.

In the image above, OnePlus 5T excels in indoor lighting conditions; it captures every detail of the object. Camera has definately improved over time in the OnePlus' flagship smartphones.