The OnePlus 8T Pro 5G is officially not happening
OnePlus 8 Pro
The OnePlus 8 Pro 5G will obviously stick around
Although the co-founding skipper of the 2013-established outfit often likes to play games, cryptically alluding to things that may or may not take place in the lead-up to a big product launch event, Lau's statement regarding the existence of a OnePlus 8T Pro 5G variant is crystal clear, leaving no room for interpretation whatsoever.
"There is no 8T Pro this year", according to the machine-translated Weibo text, as the company's plan for the 8 Pro 5G was "defined in a direction where there is no room for upgrade." Naturally, that means the 6.78-inch powerhouse will continue to be sold after the commercial release of the OnePlus 8T 5G next month, but because that 6.55-inch model already looks so amazing on paper, we fully expect the unlocked OnePlus 8 Pro to get a permanent discount in the near future.
Leaked OnePlus 8T renders
Originally priced at $900 and up, the 120Hz flagship is currently available for around $900 in its 12GB RAM/256GB ROM configuration, while the entry-level 8/128 gig version would cost $799... if it were actually in stock anywhere in the US.
It's safe to assume these marked-down price tags will stick after the October 14 announcement of the significantly more affordable OnePlus 8T. There's even a chance the 8 Pro will be further discounted to undercut as many iPhone 12 5G models as possible, at least on or around Black Friday. Or perhaps on Prime Day, as both the 8 and 8 Pro are officially available on Amazon.
The OnePlus 8T 5G should be impressive enough
While it's safe to expect the 48 + 8 + 48 + 5MP rear-facing camera system of the 8 Pro will remain unrivaled after the 8T comes out, the two devices are guaranteed to share at least one state-of-the-art technology.
As confirmed by the company itself, the OnePlus 8T 5G will borrow the super-advanced 120Hz display refresh rate capabilities from the 8 Pro 5G to deliver the "same seamless and smooth experience." Then again, the 8T screen is both smaller and slightly less sharp than that of the 8 Pro, according to a number of trustworthy leakers, at 6.55 inches and a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, so you might notice a tiny difference in the overall quality of the content viewing experience.
Incredibly enough, the 8T is also confirmed to support substantially faster charging speeds than both the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, upgrading the Warp Charge ceiling from 30 to a whopping 65 watts. Oh, and the battery itself is tipped to be roughly as hefty as the one powering the larger 8 Pro 5G handset, at around 4,500mAh capacity.
Meanwhile, the cameras should be better than what the OnePlus 8 5G has going for it, including a 48MP primary snapper, 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 5MP macro shooter, and 2MP depth sensor on the back, as well as a 32MP selfie cam most likely borrowed from the Nord mid-ranger.
That's a pretty remarkable spec sheet for a handset expected to cost $650 or $700 stateside in its entry-level variant with 8 gigs of memory and 128 gigs of internal storage space, as well as no more than $800 when packing a 12GB RAM count and 256GB local digital hoarding room.
Keep in mind that the OnePlus 8T 5G is unlikely to fly solo to that aforementioned virtual announcement event on October 14, as teased by Pete Lau, who says there are some surprises in the pipeline "worth looking forward to." These could include at least one new member of the affordable Nord smartphone family, as well as the company's rookie smartwatch effort and an even cheaper version of its AirPods-rivaling true wireless earbuds.
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