OnePlus 7T review

Design

The OnePlus 7T's design is ultimately a refinement of the OnePlus 6's. When it launched, it was the first near-bezel-less display from the smartphone brand that used a notch. With the 7T, OnePlus pushed up the phone's display size to 6.55-inches and has made the notch smaller than ever.

We like that the 7T does not have a curved display; There's still much debate on whether a display with curved edges really adds to functionality or is nothing more than a glorified design feature with no added benefits. In any case, we are enjoying that the OnePlus 7T has a 90Hz display without the curved edges from the 7 Pro, but more on that in the Display section.

Since the OnePlus 6, the company has been using a matte finish on the phones' rear glass panels. The 7T's rear glass has the same premium matte-finish in a new gradient color. You'll notice the differences below, from the OnePlus 6T's Thunder Purple, to the OnePlus 7 Pro's Nebula Blue. The 7T's Glacier Blue doesn't go as dark as Nebula, so it has an overall brighter appearance.

OnePlus 6T • OnePlus 7T • OnePlus 7 Pro

Something totally new for OnePlus is the circular camera island that houses the phone's triple cameras, arranged horizontally. We seem to be at the beginning of a new design trend. While Motorola already uses a circular design for many of its devices' cameras, the Huawei Mate 30 and the vivo NEX3 also use a circular camera island.

The frame itself is made with a polished metal, and it mirrors the gradient on the back as it fades between shades of blue. Since this phone doesn't have curved edges, the frame is meatier, and the phone is easier to hold.

The button placement is nice, as well. The power key and volume rocker are the right distance from the bottom of the phone. As well, we really appreciate the physical notification slider and always find ourselves missing it when we switch away from OnePlus. The brand remains one of the few device makers aside from Apple to bother including one at all. Sometimes, it's the simple things that matter.

There is a new location for the SIM tray on this phone, it was moved from the left side of the phone to the bottom. This has allowed OnePlus to add more oomph to the front-facing speaker and made this guy even louder than the 7 Pro. More on that in the loudspeaker section.

The case included with the 7T is a nice gesture. It's a glossy, transparent TPU case with plenty of corner protection. We imagine it will get scratched up over the course of a couple of months, but it will let you showcase the Glacier Blue or Frosted Silver finishes. OnePlus has refined its design and aesthetics over the years and is worthy of competing with the bigger players - despite not holding an official IP rating.

OnePlus 7T 360-degree view

You can have a look at the OnePlus 7T from all sides using our 360-degree view tool below.