OnePlus 10T Review: Crazy-Fast Phone, Charges Even Faster

The OnePlus 10T is one of the stronger competitors in our standard battery life test, as you can see below, but we were also impressed with its real-life performance. Over the a day and a half of heavy use, I have been seeing about seven hours of screen time, which I consider solidly above average. Even if this phone didn't have good battery life, it might have still gotten a pass because it charges so incredibly fast. 

OnePlus 10T Battery Life And Charging

The speed story extends to the way this phone charges: lightning fast. Phones in Asian markets have been pushing charging speeds into the stratosphere for a while now, but this is the first time one of these ultra-fast charging systems has come to the US. As previously mentioned, the OnePlus 10T supports 125W SuperVOOC charging, which leaves the 10 Pro with its measly 65W rate in the dust.


OnePlus claims the 10T can go from 0 to 100% full in just 20 minutes, and that's borne out in my testing. You barely touch the charger to this phone, and it's full. Keep in mind, you have to use the bundled VOOC-compatible charger to reach these blistering speeds, but it's worth it. Hell, we'd even consider buying more of them for $50 a pop. 

When the battery is low, this phone rockets past 100W, filling up faster than we expected even knowing the specs. It's normal for charging speeds to slow as a battery fills, but the 10T maintains around 90W as it approaches 50%. When it's almost full, the rate still exceeds the maximum of phones like the Pixel 6 Pro, which lurches along at 23W. That means no matter what your charge level, a few minutes plugged in is enough that you don't have to worry about the phone dying. When I needed to leave the house, I just plugged in the phone, found my keys, put on my shoes, and came back to a phone that's either full or getting close. It really is a game-changer.


OnePlus says it has bult special algorithms to manage power to ensure the battery remains healthy through all this. It will allegedly maintain 80% of its capacity across 1,600 charge cycles, or about four years of daily use. The custom SuperVOOC hardware also offloads the power control to the plug, which helps keep the phone cooler while charging. That can be great if you're in the middle of a game and need to top-off.

All in, we're sold on high-wattage charging after using this phone. It's actually ridiculous that Samsung's best flagship phones only charge at a maximum of 45W when OnePlus can do this on a $650 phone. Bravo, OnePlus.

OnePlus 10T Review Conclusion: Quick And Dirty

The OnePlus 10T is not the best phone OnePlus has ever made, but it is probably the fastest currently. It has the latest Snapdragon mobile platform on board, ample RAM, and the fastest charging of any device we've tested. The charging alone is enough reason for us to recommend this phone. Although, we strenuously object to the removal of the alert slider.

Find The OnePlus 10T @ Amazon

Overall performance is top-of-the-line here. The 10T starts fast and stays that way even during long gaming sessions, thanks to its new 3D Cooling System and HyperBoost Game Engine—we're a little remiss to throw around superfluous marketing tripe like that, but these features do seem to make a difference. When other phones get uncomfortably toasty and throttle their SoC, the OnePlus 10T keeps on trucking, which could be in-part thanks to Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip as well. Regardless, the 10T proves that OnePlus knows how to design powerful, efficient mobile hardware, even if it misses the mark in other areas.

The software, on the other hand, could use some work. The code merger with Oppo has resulted in a substandard experience with missing features and awkward user interactions. Even though it's based on Android 12, there's virtually no support for Material You theming, and the home screen is a real step back from the one included with OxygenOS 11. We will, however, give OnePlus credit where it's due for its update guarantee. Three OS updates and a further year of security patches is about what we'd expect from a phone in this price range. Given that it's so fast out of the box, we think the 10T will still be more than usable at the end of its update lifespan. 

The base model OnePlus 10T is priced the same as the Google Pixel 6, and again it's a tough sell against that competition. That said, there's an argument to be made for the 10T, if speed in all areas is at the top of your must-haves.

	Excellent battery life Nice OLED display Killer performance Incredibly fast 125W charging	No alert slider Camera performance can be disappointing OxygenOS 12 is a step down from the previous version