Sections
- Page 1 OnePlus 3T Review
- Page 2 Software and performance Review
- Page 3 Camera, battery life & verdict Review
- Page 4 Battery life and verdict Review
OnePlus 3T – Battery life and charging
OnePlus has upgraded the battery to 3,400mAh over the 3,000mAh in the OnePlus 3. That’s a 13% increase. This goes some way to alleviating some of my complaints about the OnePlus 3, which could sometimes struggle to make it to the end of the day.
For me, the OnePlus 3T could make it a day even under more intense usage. On a typical day I’d get to bed and there would be anywhere between 20-30% remaining. The fact that the display isn’t Quad HD no doubt helps with its battery performance. An hour of Netflix streaming with the display set to 60% brightness also only saw a drop of 9%, which is very good. Half an hour of Asphalt 8 took the battery down 7%.
OnePlus has its own quick charging technology, which it calls Dash Charge. This is dependent on using the supplied OnePlus Dash Charge USB wall adaptor and OnePlus USB-C cable. The reason for this is because all of the temperature regulation happens in the adaptor itself, meaning only thermal regulated current reaches the phone, so it shouldn’t overheat or have to throttle its charging. This also means that if you’re using the OnePlus 3T while it charges, the charge rate won’t need to slow down.
Dash Charge means that you don’t strictly have to leave the OnePlus 3T plugged in overnight if there’s a reasonable amount of charge remaining. Instead, I would sometimes leave it disconnected overnight, wake up, quickly plug it in for half an hour while I got ready and then there would be enough juice to get me through the day.
Topping up the power quickly becomes an option. The only annoyance is that charging through a non-Dash charger can be a little slow, so if you can, carry the Dash charger with you.
Should I buy the OnePlus 3T?
The cynical among us would say the OnePlus 3T merely corrects the shortcomings of the original OnePlus 3, and gives OnePlus a reason to hike the price up again. But the hardware improvements do go some way to justifying the OnePlus 3T’s creation and, in fairness, the OnePlus 3 was an already excellent template to build upon.
The OnePlus 3T remains the best Android phone you can buy in its price category with fantastic performance, great build quality and an improved battery life, but now that it’s edged towards £400 and beyond, it’s not quite as big a bargain as its predecessor.
Verdict
The OnePlus 3T is again the best Android smartphone you can buy for the money.
How we test phones
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Performance 9
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Camera 8
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Design 9
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Battery Life 8
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Value 9
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Software 9
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Calls & Sound 8
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Screen Quality 8
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.