OnePlus 5T

• s
• sorry oneplus
• TSR
• 18 Jan 2018

Can we really trust OnePlus?
Authored by: Benoit Pepicq
11 hours ago

Like many other smartphone manufacturers, OnePlus has recently hit the headlines and not come out looking so good. The popular Chinese brand has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar several times now and still enjoys record sales. But could this be the last straw?

What are the qualities of a good manufacturer? That's a big question. For a long time I thought OnePlus was one of the best. It offers a software interface that is relatively close to stock, technically and graphically, something that I really appreciate (more due to habit than technological interest, I'll admit). The fast charging system (Dash Charge) lives up to its reputation, the battery fills up at phenomenal speed. Prices remain attractive, a real bargain if you consider the quality of the components. But that's not enough.
OnePlus could push consumer goodwill to its breaking point

Despite the above qualities, OnePlus disappoints. It does not disappoint in itself, of course, but the relationship between the business and its users is deteriorating. Even long term fans who started with the OnePlus One may have to reconsider their loyalty.

Regular readers may already know what the Chinese manufacturer has gotten into in recent months. Do you remember the broken promise to carry Nougat on the OnePlus 2? Or the OnePlus 5 screen, which is mounted upside down, causing the so-called "Jelly Effect". OnePlus addressed the complaints of its userbase arrogantly, by deciding that this was not a problem...

OnePlus is also a repeat offender when it comes to cheating on benchmarks. Here again, its defense is quite incredible. OnePlus claims that optimizing the device to have better scores on benchmarks doesn't count as cheating.
AndroidPIT oneplus history 0061
A history of OnePlus' 'flagship killers' / © AndroidPIT

The situation has been getting worse lately. We previously covered how users discovered covert data harvesting apps on OnePlus phones. Following this, it's understandable for OnePlus owners to be rather wary when it comes to their data. Recently, OnePlus was embroiled in yet another user data transfer affair that didn't turn out to be much, but was muddied by the company's confusing communication.

This story is pretty strange. It all started when a OnePlus forum user expressed the existence of a com.oneplus.clipboard process that was trying to get access after the update to an Oreo beta last December. This process connected to an IP address belonging to Alibaba, a company whose name is not necessarily well known in the US and Europe, but which is a real giant in China. OnePlus explained that it is a function for the Chinese market (for HydrogenOS, the Chinese variant of OxygenOS), and that the data transferred via this process, i.e. the data from the clipboard, was not stored on the servers.

Further investigation revealed that the clipboard data is not transmitted, only that a connection is established when the clipboard content changes. According to the HydrogenOS changelog, this process aims to anticipate the user's next action in order to optimize the rendering (for example, when you copy a URL, the system understands that you are going to visit a site).

Fine, but why didn't OnePlus explain it from the beginning instead of creating so many doubts? Without going into a conspiracy theory, this makes it look like they have something to hide. Not communicating clearly doesn't help.
AndroidPIT oneplus 5t sandstone front
A good smartphone but not without flaws. / © AndroidPIT

At the beginning of this week, another earthquake rocked the OnePlusosphere. This time the trouble was monetary: at the end of last year, users had seen money disappear from their account after making purchases on the OnePlus site. Some only realized the problem after their credit card company contacted them to warn them of a fraudulent transaction on their account. OnePlus has an ongoing investigation into this, and have temporarily suspended credit card payments on their platform. We still don't know who is responsible for the theft.
Opinion by Benoit Pepicq
OnePlus needs to improve communication with its community
What do you think?


So, OnePlus finds themselves buried under an avalanche of outrage. Users are starting to feel that they are being treated as nothing more than cash cows by the company, which seems to be doing nothing to change its ways and apparently has more and more difficulty communicating to the public. Of course, OnePlus claims that the community is at the center of its strategy, but needs to pay more than just lip service to this.
In defense of OnePlus

The older ones of you have known the pre-internet era, when information took a long time to arrive. Today, in less than 5 minutes, information can travel around the world, with the risk of being distorted. Sometimes the information is not even well-founded. It is in this context that the concept of fake news, the nemesis of journalists, appeared. If the information arrives faster, the reactions also happen faster. Thus, with the influence of social networks, we can quickly fall into emotion, even panic, without this being really founded.

Thus, when there seems to be a problem, we must not rush to condemn it blindly. We could see this from the story of the clipboard and Alibaba. OnePlus was being pilloried while there was no actual evidence of any real sharing of our data with the Chinese company.
AndroidPIT oneplus 5t 2953
OnePlus 5T is one of the few smartphones to use a facial recognition reader. / © AndroidPIT

The speed at which a scandal can spread quickly exposes the manufacturer's dirty laundry out for all to see. It's not just with OnePlus. We've seen it recently with Apple under fire for planned obsolescence, or Samsung, accused of exploiting minors as laborers. This raises another question: if we give up OnePlus, to whom should we turn? The competition is unlikely to do any better. Samsung didn't exactly demonstrate impeccable professionalism in the explosive story of the Galaxy Note 7.
A way out?

However, I still can't completely excuse OnePlus. For a company that is committed to transparency, it should work on its communication and image. It makes bad decisions, its communication leaves something to be desired and it packs its phones with the big guns without bringing real added value (the OnePlus 5T does not really make full use of its 6 GB of RAM).

The question arises: are we being taken for fools? Weighing everything I like about OnePlus phones against the company's scandals, the scales are starting to tip and I confess that I don't know what to think. Can OnePlus redeem itself?

What do you think of OnePlus? Does the company deserve another chance?

• Reply

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• AnonD-731459
• GLK
• 17 Jan 2018

OnePlus5T_User, 17 Jan 2018If u r not gonna change ur phone for next 2-3 years then go... moreyes the option i have is ONEPLUS 5 for 128 gb which cheaper for $160 dollars . than oneplus 5T 64 gb variant.

• Reply

• O
• OnePlus5T_User
• D0e
• 17 Jan 2018

AnonD-731459, 17 Jan 2018HI im about to buy a Oneplus 5 with a 128 GB variant howeve... moreIf u r not gonna change ur phone for next 2-3 years then go for 128GB

• Reply

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• OnePlus5T_User
• D0e
• 17 Jan 2018

Anonymous, 17 Jan 2018What about camera photo quality?For which you have not said... moreCamera quality: 7/10 not as good as iphone but pretty good for that range mobile.

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• AnonD-731459
• GLK
• 17 Jan 2018

HI im about to buy a Oneplus 5 with a 128 GB variant however theres other offer Oneplus 5t i will just add another $160 for oneplus 5T 64 GB variant?. which one should i pick?. i have to decide until next 2 days

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• tTd
• 17 Jan 2018

OnePlus5T_User, 17 Jan 2018Guys, I've been using op5T from last 2 months. My 2 cents ... moreWhat about camera photo quality?For which you have not said anything. Pl.reply.
Thanks in advance.

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• OnePlus5T_User
• D0e
• 17 Jan 2018

Guys,
I've been using op5T from last 2 months. My 2 cents on this phone:

Built quality: 9/10
Sound: 10/10 loud and crystal clear, although no stereo
Display: 10/10 nice and full screen, although no QHD
Connectivity: 9/10
Battery: 9/10 You need to tweak some of the things to get maximum uptime.
Features: 9/10 Slider button is very useful, I bet. Face unlock work perfectly, Fingerprint sensor is well placed and gives perfect response.
Dash charging: 20/10 this is the superb thing this phone has. It charges 100% in less than an hour.
Gaming performance: I am no gamer so cannot comment on that but it has 6/8 gb, I guess it wud be enuf for good performance.

My take: Nokia is known for sturdy built quality, iPhone for camera & style, Samsung for features, Lenovo for features. This phone has pretty best parts of all these phones. Just go for it :)

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• vI1
• 17 Jan 2018

AnonD-550433, 17 Jan 2018I am in the same dillema as you are. The thing is that op5t... moreCool

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• AnonD-550433
• JEE
• 17 Jan 2018

Anonymous, 17 Jan 2018Oneplus 5t or s8?I am in the same dillema as you are. The thing is that op5t is 90 euro only cheaper than s8 in my country. Each phone has its ups and downs. I heard the camera on op5t is quite bad comparing to other brands flagships ( which cost almost the same). Also i read on oneplus forums that the latest updates made the phones battery drain fast. Op is worth only for software ( except camera software which sucks) and if tge software is not flawless then its not worth it. However the design of op is better than s8 in my oppinion.

• Reply

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• Anonymous
• 3Sm
• 17 Jan 2018

Oneplus 5t or s8?

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• tTd
• 17 Jan 2018

AnonD-728356, 17 Jan 2018it seems that Oneplus 5T are discussed a lot on internet, t... moreSee the price difference also . Galaxy s8 and iphone cost more than 1.5 times than 5T

• Reply

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• AnonD-728356
• f}f
• 17 Jan 2018

it seems that Oneplus 5T are discussed a lot on internet, to be honest, i think it is not as beautiful as Samsung S8 and iphone X

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• AnonD-560578
• Y21
• 16 Jan 2018

Anonymous, 15 Jan 2018Hi i am currently deciding wether to buy the iphone 7 plus ... moreI would say the camera quality is more than approved for social media. The video stabilization is impressive, and I've seen reviews saying it produced "more natural colors" than competitors'. I would recommend the OP5T if it works with your carrier.

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• AnonD-696124
• ix9
• 16 Jan 2018

Neha, 13 Jan 2018So sad... My one plus 5t dash charger charges phone upto 7... moreDam, my OP5T charges at least 2% every minute it passes untill hitting the 80% mark.
It's blazing fast

• Reply

• n
• no one
• t7X
• 16 Jan 2018

Neha, 13 Jan 2018So sad... My one plus 5t dash charger charges phone upto 7... morethey said day's worth not 100%. Don't complain about something they didn't even say.
60% in 30-60 minutes, I hoped people would learn how to listen at some point to details, but no just complain about things that others didn't even say now don't you?

• Reply

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• LittleMasterGogo
• XM7
• 16 Jan 2018

Worst Chinese mobile I ever seen. Nothing is good rather than its look. Best mobiles are available in market with same price in this segment.

• Reply

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• Noneed
• vGr
• 16 Jan 2018

Anonymous, 11 Jan 201818 9 screen some people says it fragile. Can someone told m... moreNot that fragile it just when watching videos the ratio changes to the 4:3ratio and hence has less screen ,not annoying or anything

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• d$U
• 16 Jan 2018

Anonymous, 15 Jan 2018Hi i am currently deciding wether to buy the iphone 7 plus ... moreOwning this phone it is, sleek, fast and no match for an iPhone, you are saving a good £300 off the bat for a better-designed phone. It has one of the fastest fingerprint sensors on the market. It has a great camera, one to rival any specifically designed camera-phone, the processor is one of the best on the market again, running faster than most other phones on the market. It has got a stupid amount of RAM at 8Gb or 6Gb which is not necessarily required but is very useful for running memory intensive programs etc. Great speakers although not something that it prides itself on. I had a OnePlus 1 and that lasted me years, no problems, no issues nothing, no slowing down, only change was battery life but that will occur on all phones due to battery degradation by recharging. I strongly recommend OnePlus over Apple any day due to their higher quality builds and phones that last longer, using better components and costing a lot less.

• Reply

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• LIRKER
• KZK
• 16 Jan 2018

Anonymous, 15 Jan 2018Hi i am currently deciding wether to buy the iphone 7 plus ... more5T for long-term usage bcuz Apple really underclocked their older phones than their 8 series, that's what my uncle told me which he used iPhone 7 Plus. But for camera, iP7+ has more better camera than 5T. But since you concerned both at the same time, I think iP7+ is better for you, while the underclocking issues is not much give bad things, just slow down the phones but not affect the performance at all.

• Reply

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• AnonD-731026
• mP2
• 15 Jan 2018

I was an owner of Oneplus One until several days ago. Was really happy with it for 3 years, was still working very good (except for its battery life). I bought the Huawei P10 plus from a store, it was a really good phone, but the one-button-home-and-back function really annoyed me and i didn't want to use the onscreen navigation buttons because it occupied 10-15% of the screen. Plus the writing was lagging (not a lot, but because i was used to really fast typing from Oneplus One, it was noticeable). So i took it back and bought Oneplus 5t 128gb online. This phone is great (ok, i am little biased because i already had a Oneplus).The speed of everything (typing, changing apps, browsing) is unbeatable. The bigger screen is what you need to use onscreen navigation buttons and scrolling apps like FB and Instagram. The nice functions of Oneplus are there (double tap to wake screen, double tap to change to previous app, customizable colors for notifications etc) and you can have finger unlock and face unlock active at the same time. Is not a great looking phone like Huawei P10 plus, but it is light and slim and with the official sandstone case, it looks very nice. The camera is not great (a lot better than Oneplus one, but a lot worse than Huawei's Leica). Battery life is great and lasts easily for more than a day, but at 3.300 it will deteriorate in 2-3 years and it will need charging at around 22:00-2300, like my old Oneplus One. Overall, a great buy, i can recommend to anyone who needs a phone more for browsing, playing games, whatsapp etc and takes 1-2 photos per day and 1 video per 3 days. If you need a phone with great camera for professional work or for Instagram etc, this phone is not for you.

• Reply