OnePlus 3T is a better version of the best sleeper Android phone of the year
If you know startup phone maker OnePlus, you know all about how it doesn't follow the rulebook.
From the company's invite-to-buy OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 to this year's premium OnePlus 3 to the company's VR "launches," the company walks to the beat of its own drum, not the industry's.
Which is why the company's doing something it's never done before: replacing its flagship OnePlus 3 barely half a year later with the even better OnePlus 3T.
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I asked OnePlus's head of marketing Kyle Kiang what the "T" in 3T stands for. His answer: Some people use "S" (a clear reference to Apple) and OnePlus decided to use "T" -- just because it's one letter after S. It's one plus. You get it?
Physically, the 3T looks identical to the 3. The metal design is the same sleek unibody slab with 5.5-inch 1080p display, USB-C port, fingerprint sensor and 16-megapixel camera on the back.
The regular silver's been replaced with a darker gunmetal and you can still get the phone in gold, of course.
The real changes are inside. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip's been replaced with the new and faster Snapdragon 821 chip (and it's clocked higher than the 821 in Google's new Pixels) with 6GB of RAM. The 3T still comes standard with 64GB of internal storage (there's still no microSD card slot), but now there's also a 128GB storage option.
Another improvement is the bigger battery -- a 3,400 mAh versus 3,000 mAh that should last up to 13 percent longer according to the company. The phone still supports OnePlus's proprietary Dash charging technology for fast charging from 0 percent to about 60 percent in 30 minutes.
The front-facing selfie camera's also been updated from 8 megapixels to 16 megapixels. Who doesn't want sharper selfies? The back camera is still 16 megapixels, but the lens is now protected with a sapphire crystal layer for greater scratch-resistance.
The 3T sticks to OxygenOS, its own customizable version of what is essentially stock Android Marshmallow. No update to Android 7.0 Nougat, but OnePlus says it'll come by the end of the year. And when Nougat does arrive, it'll be released simultaneously for the OnePlus 3.
I've always liked OxygenOS because it's flexible. Though it's mainly a stock Android experience, OnePlus includes some features like the Shelf and some useful gestures for shortcuts, which you can choose to keep or turn off.
On the 3T, there are a few new gestures like a three-finger swipe down on the screen to take a screenshot, flipping the screen upside down to silence (but not cancel) an incoming phone call, and an gesture (to be determined) for taking an expanded screenshot of, say, a long website.
Furthermore, there's a redesigned file manager and an "app locker" that lets you protect an app with a password, PIN or fingerprint (just like the HTC 10's Boost+ app).
For the higher-res selfie camera, faster processor and new software features, OnePlus is charging a little more. Whereas the OnePlus 3 was priced at $399.99, the OnePlus 3T will cost $439.99 for 64GB and $479.99 for 128GB. In the U.S., it'll be sold directly from OnePlus on Nov. 22 and on Nov. 28 in Europe.
When I pressed Kiang about the higher pricing and whether or not it would turn off OnePlus fans, he was confident it wouldn't. And when I asked about why the company's launching a revamped version of its phone so soon, he said the company doesn't need to follow traditional launch cycles. "We're focused on building the best product possible."
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
