OnePlus 10T will ditch an iconic series feature

The forthcoming OnePlus 10T release will dispense with one of the series’ most identifiable features, when the mute slider makes way.

The company is set to reveal the phone on August 3 but is drip-feeding some information ahead of the event, as has become custom in recent years.

While the overall design looks quite similar to the existing OnePlus 10 Pro, the ability to silence the handset with a quick flick of the thumb is going away.

OnePlus told The Verge the change is being made to make room for internal design changes, including boosting the charging wattage.

Given the OnePlus 10T is rumoured to include 150W charging a la the OnePlus 10R, it requires a secondary charging pump. That’d be a huge upgrade on the 80W charging available within the 10 Pro.

And, while the slider looks small from the outside of the phone, retaining it would have forced the company to increase the thickness of the OnePlus 10T. The handset is also going to have larger battery capacity and an improved antenna, the company says.

OnePlus chief designer Hope Liu told The Verge in an interview: “While the alert slider appears to be a very small component, it actually has a relatively large impact on the device’s motherboard area — taking up 30 mm².”

She adds: “To ensure the OnePlus 10T delivers in the areas we know our users value most… while retaining the alert slider, we would have had to stack the device’s motherboard, which would have made the device thicker.” Removing the slider was the compromise OnePlus decided to make.”

Elsewhere, images of the phone published to date appear to suggest the company is ditching its hook up with Hasselblad for the camera array. Lui confirmed this decision has been made in order to keep the phone affordable.