OnePlus[1] on Thursday launched[2] the new OnePlus 5T[3] at a glitzy event in Brooklyn, New York City. Launched just five months after the OnePlus 5[4], the new OnePlus 5T replaces it at the same prices for the same configurations. Making the OnePlus 5 obsolete so soon is a bold move for this young company, and is certain to annoy people who have recently spent a lot of money on it, especially considering how much hype there was at the time of its launch. We've been able to spend some time with the new OnePlus 5T prior to its launch as well as at the event, and here's what you need to know about the strategy and about the device itself.
The main (and possibly the only) reason for the launch of this phone is that competitors have been quick to adopt 18:9 screens in their 2017 models, and OnePlus would have been left behind. While its hardware is still recent and you get a lot of bang for your buck, the OnePlus 5 would just not have looked appealing on store shelves compared to what everyone else is launching. There is an immediate visceral appeal to phones that look modern, and OnePlus couldn't risk being left behind since it sells only one model at a time.
Rumours of the OnePlus 5T launching with a purported new Snapdragon 836 SoC have turned out to be false, because Qualcomm[5] hasn't released any such thing. The OnePlus 5T uses the same Snapdragon 835 as its predecessor, and this is still the best available hardware, unless you want to design your own silicon like Apple. Unlike the OnePlus 3[6] and...