OnePlus 7T vs OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 6T: All the major differences

by Georgi Zarkov / Sep 26, 2019, 10:42 AM

OnePlus 7T vs OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 6T: All the major differences

OnePlus 7T, the “toc” of OnePlus’s tic-toc release schedule is now official. As with every new smartphone release, one question immediately rises: how better is it than the old one? Unlike the OnePlus 7, which mostly flew under the radar due to its similarity with the 6T, this time, the OnePlus 7T is taking center stage and with good reason. Despite coming just a few months after the OnePlus 7, the 7T is bringing more upgrades than what some manufacturers offer year-to-year.

As usual, leaks have spoiled the surprise but there are still some improvements we’re just hearing about today and the ones we already knew about are totally worth mentioning once more. There are changes pretty much across the board, inside and out, so let’s get right to it!

A new camera and a new display: the type of upgrades we like to see

Smartphone manufacturers these days seem to be inspired by those boards kids use to learn geometrical shapes for the design of their camera modules and OnePlus opted to go for the circle this time around. The new camera bump that’s on the back of the OnePlus 7T is the biggest we’ve ever seen on a OnePlus smartphone and the message is clear: OnePlus is getting serious about cameras, which has traditionally been one of the few weaknesses of its devices. There’s a good reason for the size increase too, the 7T receives an ultra-wide camera to go with the regular and telephoto ones, a significant upgrade compared to the OnePlus 7.

At the front, we get a slightly taller 20:9 AMOLED 6.5-inch display (previous was 19.5:9) that now has a 90Hz refresh rate just like the OnePlus 7 Pro. Those that prefer flat displays can finally enjoy the smoothness that comes with the higher refresh rate.

Now it’s time to take a look at the main specs of the three devices.

OnePlus 7T vs OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 6T

Display

Display size

6.5 inches

6.4 inches

Resolution

1080 x 2400 pixels

1080 x 2340 pixels

Aspect Ratio

20:9

19.5:9

Pixel density

402 ppi

Technology

Super AMOLED

AMOLED

Screen-to-body ratio

86.43 %

85.63 %

85.77 %

Camera

Rear

Triple camera

Dual camera

Main camera

48 megapixels

16 megapixels

Hardware Features

Optical image stabilization, Phase detection autofocus

Specifications

Aperture size: F1.6; Focal length: 26 mm; Sensor size: 1/2"; Pixel size: 0.8 μm

Aperture size: F1.7; Sensor size: 1/2"; Pixel size: 0.8 μm

Aperture size: F1.7; Focal length: 25 mm; Sensor size: 1/2.6"; Pixel size: 1.22 μm

Second camera

12 megapixels

5 megapixels

20 megapixels

Hardware Features

Telephoto, Phase detection autofocus

Depth information

Phase detection autofocus

Specifications

Optical zoom: 2x; Aperture size: F2.2; Focal Length: 51 mm; Pixel size: 1 μm

Aperture size: F2.4; Pixel size: 1.12 μm

Aperture size: F1.7; Focal Length: 25 mm; Sensor size: 1/2.8"; Pixel size: 1 μm

Third camera

16 megapixels

Hardware Features

Ultra-wide, Autofocus

Specifications

Aperture size: F2.2; Focal Length: 17 mm

Video recording

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (240 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (960 fps)

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (240 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (480 fps)

Features

High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Time-lapse video, Digital image stabilization

Time-lapse video, Digital image stabilization, Video calling, Video sharing

Digital image stabilization, Video calling, Video sharing

Front

16 megapixels

Video capture

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ SM8150-AC

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SDM845

Processor

Octa-core, 2960 MHz, Kryo 485, 64-bit, 7 nm

Octa-core, 2840 MHz, Kryo 485, 64-bit, 7 nm

Octa-core, 2800 MHz, Kryo 385, 64-bit, 10 nm

GPU

Adreno 640

Adreno 630

RAM

8 GB LPDDR4

6 GB LPDDR4

8 GB LPDDR4

OS

Android (10), OxygenOS UI

Android (10, 9.0 Pie), OxygenOS UI

Android (9.0 Pie)

Battery

Capacity

3800 mAh

3700 mAh

Charging

OnePlus Warp Charge

Fast charging

OnePlus Dash Charge

As expected, the new OnePlus 7T is getting Qualcomm's upgraded Snapdragon 855+ chipset, which comes with about 15% performance boost to the CPU and about 30% to the GPU, so top performance as always. There's also a 2GB bump in the RAM of the base model, now coming with 8GB. But let's talk about some of the improvements OnePlus announced that can't be seen in the table above.

Camera improvements coming to the OnePlus 7T

The camera department is where the most interesting additions are coming. Here's a quick list:

Improved portrait mode that can now be used with either the main or the telephoto cameras.
New Macro mode for close-up images of objects as near as one inch away from the camera.
New Nightscape mode for night cityscapes that uses the UltraWide camera.
Super stable video stabilization.
Video recording using the UltraWide camera.

How these changes will translate in practice we'll see in the next few days as we put the OnePlus 7T through some more in-depth testing.

And some minor changes

There are also a few quality of life improvements that will make using the OnePlus 7T even more enjoyable than its predecessors:

New haptic motor that's stronger than the one found on the OnePlus 7, although not quite as big as the one on the Pro version of the phone.
Improved optical in-display fingerprint reader.
Improved battery that allows Warp Charge 30T capable of charging the phone from 0 to 50% in 20 minutes and to 100% in an hour.

Of course, at launch the OnePlus 7T will be running Android 10, but the 7 and the 6T should quickly catch up via updates. OnePlus has also implemented some new features in its OxygenOS such as customizable Zen Mode.

OnePlus 7T vs OnePlus 6T price comparison

The OnePlus 7 wasn't officially released in the States so we'll ignore it for a bit. However, OnePlus is selling the OnePlus 6T as a more budget-friendly option with a price slightly lower than its original one. The 7T starts at $599 while the 6T is now $499. While the higher refresh rate of the display and the extra camera might not be worth the upgrade from the OnePlus 7, compared to the 6T the 7T is a significant change when you add the Snapdragon 855+ to the list. Once again, with the annual T model, OnePlus is bringing the heat to the market with top specs and a very competitive price tag. We're very excited about the OnePlus 7T as you can see from our hands-on video and we can't wait to see how the company will one-up itself in a few months when the OnePlus 8 is due.