OnePlus has a new phone, but I can't list a tremendous number of reasons why you should buy it. Though it's named the OnePlus 10T, it's not quite a successor to the OnePlus 10 Pro that debuted a few months ago, which the company says will be seeing a permanent price drop from $899 to $799. Instead, the 10T is even cheaper at $649, omits a few features, and focuses largely on speed and … speed. No, really. Its goal is to get you some of the swiftest performance, internet connectivity, and charging available on an Android phone.  

If those three aspects are the holy trinity of smartphone features for you, then you'll like the OnePlus 10T. But having used it for almost two weeks, it's what this phone is missing that sticks with me, making me feel rather blasé about it. 

The three main hallmarks of this phone are the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor (with 8 gigabytes of RAM), 125-watt wired charging, and a 360-degree antenna. It doesn't sound very exciting, does it? Well, here's what it all means:

This Android phone is among the first in the US to use Qualcomm's slightly newer version of its 2022 flagship chipset. How does it differ from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1? In the OnePlus 10T, it apparently translates to 30 percent better CPU efficiency, 10 percent faster GPU clock speeds, and 30 percent GPU power efficiency. My benchmark tests have it sitting barely higher than the OnePlus 10 Pro, and below the Samsung Galaxy S22 series (both of which use the earlier chip). In reality, that tracks. You're not going to see much of a difference in performance with this processor. Apps launch quickly, and switching between them feels speedy, but it's almost the same experience I've had using other top phones like the Google Pixel 6 or the Galaxy S22.

After a 30-minute match in Apex Legends Mobile (which I'd like to point out I won), the OnePlus 10T barely felt warm. That's likely due to the various cooling methods the phone employs to keep temperatures low as the processor does its heavy lifting. For starters, it has the largest vapor chamber in a OnePlus phone yet. This process evaporates liquid in the chamber into vapor, which then condenses and dissipates heat, thereby reducing the processor's temperature. OnePlus also says it uses 3D graphite and a copper foil to aid this process. The phone remains pretty cool, which means you can play graphically intense games for a longer period of time without having to deal with stutters (which happens when the processor is hot and needs to throttle itself down). 

OnePlus says its HyperBoost Gaming Engine has a few other tricks to make mobile gaming more stable, responsive, and efficient, but honestly, I'd rather have a phone that makes interacting with games easier. The upcoming Asus ROG Phone 6, for example, has software that lets you map touch controls to physical buttons on a controller, which makes it so much easier to play when your fingers don't have to slide across warm glass to find virtual buttons on the screen. The 10T is a good gaming phone, but if you're serious about games, I'd save up for the pricier Asus.  

Next, there's 125-watt wired charging. OnePlus speeds up its phone charging times every year—the OnePlus 10 Pro fully recharges in just 30 minutes, and the 10T cuts this down to 20 (or 19 for the international version which comes with a 150-watt charger). The caveat is you can only access these speeds if you use the (thankfully) included cable and chunky charging brick. Indeed, in my test starting at 2 percent, the OnePlus 10T hit 62 percent in just 11 minutes of charging, and 99 percent after 21 minutes.

I don't think anyone is going to complain about being able to fully recharge a phone in the time it takes to eat breakfast, but you might be worried about the longevity of the 4,800-mAh battery. OnePlus says there are algorithms in place that make sure the phone retains at least 80 percent of its original capacity after 1,600 charge cycles (about four years of use). There are also a few charging management systems that make sure nothing goes wrong when fast-charging, including 13 temperature sensors to monitor the battery's temperature. 

It's hard to test this, so only time will tell. I do like that there's a mode that detects if you're recharging at night, so it won't unnecessarily juice up your phone fast when you're not in a rush. The times I have utilized the speed-charging, the phone only got lukewarm (the power brick retains a lot of the heat). The downside is that all of this comes at the sacrifice of wireless charging. As someone with multiple wireless chargers around the house, I've missed the luxury of just setting my phone on a stand. Finding the power cord in the dark is a pain in the butt. 

Finally, there's Smart Link. This is a 360-degree antenna system (15 to be exact) that OnePlus says will deliver stronger Wi-Fi and cell signals. Unfortunately, there are some caveats here. The OnePlus 10T only supports sub-6 5G on Verizon and T-Mobile. Sorry AT&T subscribers (aka me). I've been stuck on 4G LTE. (This lack of carrier compatibility isn't OnePlus' fault, but it's something to be aware of.) Phones like the Galaxy S22 or Pixel 6 have 5G support across all major US carriers. 

As for Smart Link, I ran a speed test over my Wi-Fi network on the OnePlus 10T and compared the results with a Google Pixel 6 Pro. To my surprise, the latter won, hitting nearly 400 Mbps download and 345 Mbps upload, whereas the 10T ended with 295 Mbps down and 259 Mbps upload. Both are good results, but that's quite a difference, so I'm not sure exactly what benefits Smart Link is providing here. For what it's worth, I still had terrible reception in my local grocery store.

The biggest sacrifice, to any OnePlus fan, will be the removal of the long-standing Alert Slider. It's a mute switch that sits on the side of the phone, much like on the iPhone, that lets you physically switch to Ring, Vibrate, or Mute for alerts. OnePlus says the combination of Smart Link, speedier charging, and a bigger battery took up a lot of space in the device, leading to the decision to cut the feature. However, OnePlus says it plans to “overcome this technical and design challenge” to bring the mute switch back in the future. Yet another reason to skip the 10T. 

The rest of the specs are mostly standard fare for a device at this price. There's Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back, which isn't the most durable glass protection from Corning but still decent. (I quite like the sparkly rear on the Moonstone Black color.) You get a large 6.7-inch AMOLED screen that gets bright in sunny conditions and feels smooth to operate, thanks to the 120-Hz screen refresh rate. (It adjusts to 90 or 60 Hz to conserve battery, but it's not as battery-conserving as an LTPO panel like on the OnePlus 10 Pro.) Speaking of, the battery has generally lasted me a full day on heavy use days with some gaming and photography, and on light days it can take you to the morning of day two on a single charge. 

Annoyingly, this phone has only an IP54 water-resistance rating, which basically protects it from rain but not a dip in the pool. Even the $450 Google Pixel 6A has a better water-resistance rating, so it's silly that this pricier device can't match it.

Then there's the camera system. In 2021, OnePlus launched a big initiative with Hasselblad to improve the cameras in its phones, and this continued with the OnePlus 10 Pro. But the 10T skips all of this, and it shows. The 50-megapixel main camera can take some pretty good shots, even in low light, but my daytime results sometimes had colors that were slightly off (especially the skies), and it tends to oversharpen in high-contrast scenes. It's joined by a forgettable 8-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel macro camera. At least the selfie camera is pretty good.

OnePlus' cameras have always struggled to keep up with its peers, but the Hasselblad partnership was showing some real improvement. If anything, the unique Hasselblad modes and color profiles, like X-Pan, were fun to use and had character. The 10T's camera system can be capable, but it's just a bit dull. 

That brings me to the software. The more I use the OnePlus 10T, the less I like the software. (This might get worse as the company further ingrains itself with Oppo, both of which are a part of BBK Electronics). For me, one of the most annoying parts of the interface is the notification system: There are just no color icons when you look at your notifications, unlike on any other Android phone. This makes it hard to quickly scan the screen and see which app is alerting you. 

There's not much else that stands out, software-wise, which is another issue. I like Pixel phones because there are quite a few genuinely helpful smart features I use day to day, but OnePlus can't compete here. Thankfully, you get a promise of three OS upgrades and four years of security updates. 

The OnePlus 10T goes on sale September 29 but is available for preorder on September 1. OnePlus says there are opportunities to buy it throughout August as part of an early-access sale event, which will include certain promotions. I'm not sure if you should really bite. If I had around $649 to spend on an Android phone, I'd go for the Galaxy S22, Pixel 6, or wait for the upcoming Asus ZenFone 9 ($699) or Pixel 7, all of which are more well-rounded handsets that stand out just a bit more.