OnePlus 3T 'Midnight Black' edition unboxing and hands-on first look
Black is the new trendy color for smartphones and OnePlus, a company that focuses all its effort on the great value-for-money OnePlus 3T phone, has introduced a stylish, Midnight Black edition. This is the same OnePlus 3T from before, just with a different paint job and it looks gorgeous. It has a matte finish, features a 5.5-inch display and runs on the Snapdragon 821 system chip. It also has a very clean and easy to use skin on top of Android 7.1.1 Nougat. Keep in mind that the OnePlus 3T Midnight Black is a limited edition device that already appears as sold out in some markets, so if you want one, you might want to go to the OnePlus store and get one while it's still available.
It also comes in a brand new box with a beautiful black finish outside and it's all red on the inside.
Naturally, we were curious to find out what's inside before starting up the phone, so we wasted no time and went straight to the OnePlus 3T Midnight Black edition unboxing. Here is what is in the box:
The limited edition OnePlus 3T Midnight Black is gorgeous
OnePlus 3T phone itself- Dash Charge wall charger
- Red OnePlus USB-C cable with support for Dash Charge
- Silicone case
- $5 OnePlus gift card
- SIM ejector
- User manual
The phone itself is no different than earlier OnePlus 3 and 3T devices: it is the slight evolution of color, however, that makes it stand out and gives it character. The phone ships with Android 6 Marshmallow out of the box, but the moment you start it you get a notification that the Android 7.1.1 Nougat update is ready to download and install, and after a few minutes of download and installation, we had our black 3T run a contemporary Android build.
Here is a quick run-down of the specs of the OnePlus 3T:
| OnePlus 3T Midnight Black | |
| Platform | Android 7.1.1 Nougat |
| Dimensions | 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35 mm 158 g |
| Display | 5.5" Super AMOLED 1080 x 1920 pixel (Full HD) |
| SoC RAM | Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 6 GB RAM |
| Cameras | 16MP f/2.0 main camera w/ 4K video 16MP front camera |
| Storage | 128 GB no microSD card slot |
| Battery | 3,400 mAh with Dash Charge |
| Special features | USB-C |
Our hands-on impressions with this midnight black OnePlus are very positive: the matte finish feels very nice in the hand and is well balanced, slightly heavier towards the top (but it is very slippery). It comes with a pre-applied plastic screen film that scratches very easily, so we do recommend getting a real glass screen protector. You can get those at the OnePlus 3T official store for around $20.
In terms of performance, the OnePlus 3T runs very zippy and in many places animations are lacking or are very quick, so the phone definitely feels fast, but not necessarily smooth or fluid in a way an iPhone or Google Pixel does.
At $480, the OnePlus 3T is nearly half the price of flagship phablets from Samsung and Apple
The 16-megapixel camera on the OnePlus 3T is definitely among the better ones and it can compete with even much more expensive flagships. Stabilization in video also seems to be one area that OnePlus is improving slowly, but steadily with software updates.Overall, for its full retail price of $480, the 128GB Midnigh Black OnePlus 3T is a great value for the money. In the United States, it's still not officially sold on the major carriers, but you can easily use it on AT&T and T-Mobile.
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