Specs Comparison: OnePlus 5 vs OnePlus 3T

OnePlus has just unveiled its fifth and latest flagship phone. With the OnePlus 3T already on a big discount, is the OnePlus 5 a great upgrade or worth the wait and additional cost? Here’s a comparison to help you out.

OnePlus 5 advantages:

• Newer processor
• Better GPU
• Faster storage and memory
• Dual rear camera
• More LTE bands
• Bluetooth 5.0

OnePlus 3T advantages:

• Same display
• Optical image stabilization
• Slightly larger battery
• Cheaper at launch

Upgrading from last year’s flagship to the latest one means you’re getting the most powerful processing power available, as well as bigger memory, and faster storage to keep up with the silicon’s speed. With the OnePlus 5, you’re getting all that – Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, and up to 128GB UFS 2.1 Dual Lane.

Aside from the phone’s processing prowess, the OnePlus 5 joins the dual camera trend with its 16MP + 20MP telephoto lens combo. This allows the phone to have 2x optical zoom just like the iPhone 7 Plus. But, you’re trading the helpful optical image stabilization (OIS) that the OnePlus 3T already has. To compensate, the latest primary optic has an f/1.7 aperture and electronic image stabilization (EIS).

There’s no significant upgrade in the display department though, it’s still a 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED. Yet, it’s now protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and has some neat software tweaks for reading and color calibration.

One of the issues we had with the OnePlus 3T is the lack of LTE band support. It’s pretty limited, especially if you’re to use it in the Philippines. OnePlus 5 fixes that with its slew of network bands and carrier aggregation making it a true world phone. You also get faster Wi-Fi speeds and Bluetooth 5.0.

In the end, the OnePlus 5 is still a notable upgrade from its predecessor. It’s got the latest specs to battle many expensive smartphones in the market but compared to the OnePlus 3T, it got a price hike at launch. Starting price is now at USD479PHP 28,110INR 40,595EUR 456CNY 3,486 for the 6GB+64GB variant.

If you’re looking for a new smartphone that has all the bells and whistles, we’d definitely suggest the OnePlus 5. But, if you’re coming from a last year’s flagship, especially a OnePlus 3T, you could still hold on to it.