The upcoming OnePlus 10T is missing two big things, here’s why

The OnePlus 10T is launching next week and it’s the brand’s latest flagship smartphone which will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 platform. Ahead of the official unveiling, OnePlus has released a teaser which reveals two things that were missing on the upcoming phone.

According to OnePlus, “one of the biggest advancements” they made is their crater design where the rear glass panel seamlessly merges with its camera system. They have used a heat bending glass technology to give the 10T a smooth curvature into its camera system which supposedly gives a satisfying feel when you run your fingers across the back of the device while transitioning to its camera system. The new phone only comes in two colours – Moonstone Black, which is described as a shoutout to the Sandstone Black users and Jade Green.

First OnePlus flagship to ship without Alert Slider

For loyal OnePlus fans, the OnePlus 10T will not come with the signature Alert Slider. This is a convenient physical switch allowing you to toggle between Silent, Vibrate and Ring instantly. According to OnePlus, the removal of the slider wasn’t a decision made quickly or easily and they are aware of its value and heritage on OnePlus devices.

The smartphone maker explained starting from the OnePlus 3T, the “T” flagship models represent a holistic performance upgrade for users. For the OnePlus 10T, they want to take the concept a step further by providing upgrades beyond speed improvements alone. As a result, they decided that removing the Alert Slider was necessary to free up more space to add meaningful technology to deliver key advancements while maintaining a thin and light form factor. According to OnePlus, keeping the Alert Slider would have reduced the battery capacity to 4,500mAh.

It added that users expect OnePlus devices to have high wattage charging, larger battery capacity and better antenna signal, and it was necessary to free up more space to excel in these three areas. The OnePlus 10T will feature a new antenna system comprising with 15 separate antennas around the body which allows optimal wireless reception while you’re holding it in different orientation.

I don’t know about you but removing the slider is taking away the one thing which makes a phone a OnePlus device. Even when Apple took the “courage” to remove the headphone jack, it still retained the Ring/Silent switch. With phones getting bigger with larger screens and bigger batteries, majority of users wouldn’t mind a little bit of bulk if the phone can provide long battery life.

Although OnePlus and other smartphone makers are still obsessed about extreme fast charging speeds as it looks good on marketing materials, most would agree that power efficiency and long battery life would be more important than charging itself. Fast charging is convenient during emergencies but in most cases, most people would charge it overnight. Having a slightly slower charging rate with smart AI battery management would be better for the battery’s overall lifespan.

No “Hasselblad camera” for the OnePlus 10T?

Another glaring omission is the lack of Hasselblad branding on the new phones. The “Never Settle” smartphone maker had recently teamed up with Swedish camera maker to improve its photography game starting with the OnePlus 9 series and this was continued with the OnePlus 10 Pro.

There are speculations that OnePlus’ collaboration with Hasselblad is over. It is worth pointing out that OnePlus’ sister company Oppo has also released the Find X5 Pro flagship device that comes with Hasselblad co-engineered cameras. We can only hope that OnePlus would retain the 10 Pro’s camera features as much as possible on the new device.

From the way we see it, the omission of Hasselblad is a cost cutting move to reduce the price for the OnePlus 10T. Firstly, the upcoming model isn’t a “Pro” and the recent “T” flagship models are often seen as the update yet cheaper alternative to their initial model. For example, the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro were launched in Malaysia with a starting price of RM2,899 and RM3,699 respectively, while the OnePlus 8T was released six months later with a starting price of RM2,699.

Since the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G was priced at RM4,199, we reckon that the OnePlus 10T should be priced much lower to appeal to the masses which is the same segment as the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. After all, the previous OnePlus 8T was seen as a direct competitor to the Galaxy S20 FE back in 2020. The OnePlus 10T will definitely be priced under RM4,000 and hopefully, the entry-level RAM and storage configuration starts from under RM3,000. Since this is “non-Pro” model, don’t be surprised if it lacks a telephoto camera, higher QuadHD+ display and wireless charging.