OnePlus 8T Review: A Fairly Affordable Phone That Won’t Gobble Up Your Fingerprints

An Android phone with premium specs for only $749

Every year at about this time, my family and I hit the road for some camping before the good weather breaks for winter. This trip almost always coincides with a major smartphone release (or many) as OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) rush to get their devices in stores and on the minds of consumers ahead of the holiday season. OnePlus, an Android smartphone brand known for mixing value and quality with its smartphones, uses this window to release its follow-up device to its flagship release from six months prior. This time around OnePlus is releasing the premium spec’d OnePlus 8T for $749, and because our camping trips stop for nobody, I’m reviewing the smartphone from my campsite near the Northern California coast surrounded by redwood trees. Don’t cry for me, I’m doing alright.

The first thing that strikes me when I hold the OnePlus 8T is the aquamarine green color of the rear glass. It reflects a type of three-dimensional noise that plays off direct sunlight in a way that reminds me of late-night static on an old…