back to article OnePlus 5T is like the little sister you always feared was the favourite

OnePlus has settled into the groove of releasing two flagships a year, and this Christmas-time 5T reiteration may well piss off the fans who bought the OnePlus 5 released in the summer. It's better all round, sports the 6-inch 18:9 OLED that's a genuine flagship display... and it's the same price as before. So £499 buys you some …

  1. MrBanana

    Fingerprint sensor on the rear

    When driving, accessing my OnePlus 5 with the front mounted fingerprint sensor is easy. On a 5T, with no easy access to a rear mounted sensor, I would have to activate the phone, look at it, swipe up, swipe my unlock code, damn it, look up, swerve around traffic, try to swipe my unlock code again, damn it...

    1. Mark 110

      Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

      You could just set that Smart unlock thingy so it will automatically unlock when its connected to your cars bluetooth?

      1. WonkoTheSane
        Thumb Up

        Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

        It's even possible to make your phone automatically switch to Android Auto (car mode) when it sees the car radio's bluetooth.

        (at least it is on my Nexus 6P)

        1. MrBanana

          Bluetooth?

          ...I don' have no stinkin' bluetooth.

          Biggest technological advance I have over the FM/MW/LW radio + cassette is the 6 CD auto changer that is helpfully hidden in the boot.

          1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

            Re: Bluetooth?

            is the 6 CD auto changer

            Got one of those under the front passenger seat. I also have a hardwired iPod link cable (with my old iPhone 4 on the end of it) that gets used when not listening to radio.

            64GB of prog-rock goodness! Oh my..

        2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

          Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

          bluetooth

          See my comment above.

      2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

        Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

        unlock when its connected to your cars bluetooth

        Not every car has bluetooth.. (I wouldn't expect our 1966 MM to, but our 2007 Honda FR-V doesn't either).

    2. Lee D Silver badge

      Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

      Technically both methods you describe are breaking the law anyway. What makes you think they will design around that?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

        Government says it's handheld mobile phones

        I use a Brodit custom attachment in my cars, and I then make my own actual phone holders to screw to them so they are rigid and held at the right angle. Using Android Auto and OK Google for satnav and the built in BT link to unlock and make calls through the car audio, using a phone is, AFAIK, legal and no more dangerous than operating the heater. (I never dial numbers or send texts, of course.)

        So where is the problem?

    3. Wolfclaw

      Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

      Problem solved in the UK, illegal to touch the phone whilst driving, a good law for any country !

      1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

        Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

        Touching a hands free one is still legal.

        1. Lee D Silver badge

          Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

          "Touching a hands free one is still legal."

          No, it's not "legal". It's merely open to interpretation.

          If you press your phone, a button or anything else to even answer you can be considered "not in control of your vehicle" still, let alone actually talking on it.

        2. roblightbody

          Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

          Thats not correct. HOLDING a Hands free phone is illegal, but touching it is OK, if its in a bracket.

      2. MrBanana

        Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

        I guess it is open to interpretation but https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law says that a mobile phone in a dashboard holder, as I described, is permitted.

        Difficult to see that it is much different to poking at the display of the in-build satnav, or the in-built climate control pannel, or changing the traction control on the fancy screen, or even the simplest of tasks such as pressing the ON button for the heater, radio, lights etc.

        1. Adam 1

          Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

          @MrBanana,

          I find the old school switches/buttons and knobs far better than the same option through the touch screen. Whilst I *can* change radio stations or audio source via the touch screen, I only do that if safely stopped because a touch screen requires you to divert your eyes from the road and physical buttons do not. When I'm driving, I have a job to do and a responsibility to others to do that job competently. That requires full attention and correct body positioning to take evasive action if the need arises. Using a touch device, no matter how well it is otherwise designed, is incongruent with this responsibility. You (general you, not MrBanana specifically) are not so important that your right to fiddle with devices or check messages usurps someone else's right to safety. If you just must check that beep or send that message, then pull over and then knock yourself out.

      3. roblightbody

        Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

        That's actually not true. Its illegal to *hold* the phone. But when mounted in a suitable bracket, touching the screen of the phone is no different to touching the touch screen on a modern car and is allowable within reason. I checked with the police.

    4. DaLo

      Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

      Voice Unlock?

      NFC (on car dock) Unlock?

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Fingerprint sensor on the rear

      I prefer the fingerprint sensor on the rear, it feels far more natural.

  2. Alistair
    Coat

    @ Andrew :

    Yellow leaves ---> Fog

    Perhaps the testing was done during the mid summer 'Smogageddon' period and the QA folks just missed this?

    1. Andrew Orlowski (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: "range"?

      There is no fog in that picture.

  3. Dave 126 Silver badge

    In his preliminary Hands On review of the phone published before the embargo was lifted, Andrew hinted that one should wait for a full review, hunting there was a nasty surprise.. yet I didnt

    1. Andrew Orlowski (Written by Reg staff)

      It truncates Reg comments, just when you least

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        >" a perverse embargo schedule imposed by OnePlus forbids us from telling you more until next week. Bear that in mind as you peruse "Hands On" features; they are withholding some quite interesting information."

        - https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/17/oneplus_5t_out_five_months_after_predecessor/

        Sorry AO, I read that as suggesting there was a fly in the ointment that you weren't yet allowed to disclose.

        1. Andrew Orlowski (Written by Reg staff)

          You read right, Dave. Reviewers have had the device for days, which is plenty of time to find its flaws. We weren't permitted to disclose them until 2pm Monday GMT.

          This is another unusual and suspect practice and it's not something we're comfortable with - as it involves deceiving the readers to some extent. What do you think?

          1. Mark 110

            I think NDAs like that are a bit shit. Who wouldn't. I like oit with movies where theres a valid reason that benefits me. But theres no risk of a spoiler with this.

  4. Bob Ajob

    That Amazon link for the Nokia 8 nearly got me!

    Switched from iPhone to Android a few years ago and never looked back. My wife loves her OnePlus2, I got the original and have been looking forward to an upgrade for a while but the significant jump in prices over time baffles me, original was around £220 and OP2 was just under £300 but this beast is way more.

    I recently got my dad a much cheaper Motorola G5 plus and he's quite happy with that, I had a play and was surprised how snappy and responsive it was for most tasks. To be honest the Nokia 8 you mentioned also seems like a lot of phone for the dosh, I will have to think more carefully before dropping better part of a weeks wages on a gadget I only want I don't really need an upgrade yet!

    1. roblightbody

      Re: That Amazon link for the Nokia 8 nearly got me!

      I bought my OP3 for £330 and absolutely love it. A new OP5T with postage is £470 minimum, the jump in price causes me to nut just dive in and order one, and instead to wait another year.

  5. Tezfair

    still on oneplus one

    Still going strong, fast enough for me, battery still lasts a day. Whilst it may not have the very latest OS version, im still pleased with it. been far more reliable that the Samsung S4 it replaced (had 5 replacement handsets during the 24 months I was on that contract).

    No need to upgrade yet.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: still on oneplus one

      Flashed mine to LineageOS so I'm up-to-date. As you say still going strong and for me the battery lasts the weekend as I don't use it much over the weekend.

    2. detuur

      Re: still on oneplus one

      Also still on OPO, but it's starting to show its age. Stuck on CM13 (jgcaap build) because that's the last version you could get the superior camera blobs to work. Performance is noticeably choppy by now. Battery only lasts a day on moderate use. I'll be switching to something new in 2018, but the OPO got a hell of a run. Hope the replacement is going to survive the regular drops I put my phone through.

    3. Pen-y-gors

      Re: still on oneplus one

      Ditto. No obvious problems, does everything I need, and only half the price of the 5T. I suspect I'll upgrade to the 8T when it comes out, if it's under £300.

  6. JohnFen

    So Close!

    Lack of an SD card slot is a serious minus, but at least it has a headphone jack.

    I've been considering replacing my phone and have been keeping an eye out for what I should replace it with. There isn't much out there these days that really turns my gears, but this one comes closest so far...

    1. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

      Re: So Close!

      I've become addicted to a microSD card. Android has some pretty good apps for offline music, video, maps, mail, translation, Wikis, RAW camera files, and background file backups that are built for a microSD card. It's essentially a laptop computer without an attached keyboard.

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        Re: So Close!

        When phones only had 4 or 8GB of storage, an SD card would be a 'must have' feature. However, in these days of phones with 128GB storage, it isn't as crucial to as many people - their music file sizes haven't grown drastically, nor has the amount of time they spend away from their home server.

        Some apps will by default store to an SD card, but if the card is removed (to pop into another device for a bit), the phone app used, and then the the SD card reinserted, the data on internal storage and SD card isn't always consolidated. In WhatsApp this makes some data permanently unavailable (effectively lost).

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Tim Seventh

          Re: So Close!

          "When phones only had 4 or 8GB of storage, an SD card would be a 'must have' feature. However, in these days of phones with 128GB storage, it isn't as crucial to as many people"

          The SD card surely had its benefit when the phone memory is low (4 or 8 GB), but today it still serves as an alternative to local backups and quick data transfer. Imagine you had a 100+ videos collection at close to 128GB, using cloud backup restore or even phone wire to transfer the data will feel like age. But with an SD card, you can transfer to the SD card while you use your phone and plug it in when it's ready. Of course in reality it will be less than 128GB, but you get the idea.

          "Some apps will by default store to an SD card, but if the card is removed"

          I can't say for sure but I haven't see apps auto move to SD card for some time with newer android, but back in the days of early android it does that for some branded device with low storage. If it does happens now a day, a simple fix is to install the app without the sd card and insert the sd card back later.

          "In WhatsApp this makes some data permanently unavailable"

          You might want to look for the Whatsapp folder and backup everything there. If you done it right, you should now have a backup of a folder called Databases with some whatspp message files, and a backup of a folder called Media with all your whatsapp documents / photos. If you reinstall the WhatsApp app with the whatspp message files in the right location, your messages should return back to the way it was with your 'data' available.

          The SD at most would break the WhatsApp app but not the backups, unless WhatsApp never created a single message backup by itself.

        3. dajames

          Re: So Close!

          When phones only had 4 or 8GB of storage, an SD card would be a 'must have' feature. However, in these days of phones with 128GB storage, it isn't as crucial ...

          Large internal storage capacity is nice to have ... but the great thing about an SD card (formatted as portable storage) is that if/when the phone dies or gets broken you can just pop the SD card and all your most recent downloads and photos (the ones you haven't backed up yet -- you do DO backups, don't you?) are not lost.

  7. Adam 52 Silver badge

    RAM

    Does it really have 6GB / 8GB RAM, or is it like the OnePlus 3 that only makes 3GB available?

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: RAM

      Curious. Your comment caused me to look it up, and yes, the OnePlus 3 only used half its RAM in order to save on battery life - though OnePlus did distribute the kernal files required for modders to roll their ROM.

      I can't find a direct answer to your question, but other reviews have noted that it has a handy feature to stop apps from being backgrounded (handy for stopping streaming apps from losing their buffered content, for example, or for stopping games from returning to their start screens) which does sound like the sort of thing you'd need plenty of RAM for.

  8. This post has been deleted by its author

  9. Sssss

    Ok, but what Sony sensor does it have, and what 4k video modes does it have, and what data rates? This is where Oneplus can really make some easy points. Most phones are really constricted. You can offer the highest data rates, full manual and temporary push auto settings, 4:2:2 10-12 (the best Sony sensors support this bit depth) hdr video and dci-p3 or rec2020 colour support, maybe even 50/60fps 4k or 6k modes. The chipsets usually have limited encoding support, but there is nothing to stop somebody getting a raw sensor frame and compressing it to a professional format (using GPU and other hardware accelerators). Cineform 4:2:2, 4:4:4 codec is now open sourced. All they need to do is put in encoder plug in (and streamlined storage system support, allowing destination and striping between any card, and any storage in any interface, like usb) for users to install encoders. A configurable on screen interface and control wysiwyg editor with USB and bt support would help things, or working opencamera to do these things. This would make nearly every current android phone on the market look dull, except for the Red Hydrogen of course. Just look at the top LG, and realise it could be much better.

  10. Munkstar

    Upgrade

    Will it upgrade to the latest Google sweety software, does it crash regularly like every other Android I’ve owned?

  11. glaringanomaly

    Am I missing something or isn't 18:9 just 2:1 ...?

  12. BazzF

    sigh.. this just means I won't be upgrading my Op5 to the Op6 next year, I'll wait for the inevitable Op6T.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    cusomzsation ...

    "OnePlus made its reputation with a Cyanogen Mod cut of Android offering lots of customisation"

    What about CyanogenMod / LineageOS on it /now/ .... ? or ... /when/ ?

    Seems mod roms offer the best way of dodging all the malware /adware which afflicts the platform ...

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/10/android_at_10_part_one/ "It's like Windows at 20. But slurpier ..."

    1. JohnFen

      Re: cusomzsation ...

      There is no way I would use any smartphone at all if I couldn't replace the ROM. The ROMs that come with these things are pretty much universally untrustworthy, as near as I can tell.

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