OnePlus 8T killer feature revealed — this blows away the iPhone 12 Pro

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OnePlus 8T will officially have a 120Hz display

OnePlus 8T render
(Image credit: OnLeaks/Pricebaba)

One of the best features of the OnePlus 8 Pro was its 120Hz refresh-rate display, and now we know that it's coming to the OnePlus 8T. 

Our sibling site TechRadar was told by OnePlus CEO Pete Lau that the 8T will come with a 120Hz display. This isn’t too surprising, as we’d suspected that it would get a bump up from the 90Hz display seen in the OnePlus 8. 

OnePlus has a habit of filtering its Pro phone features down to the T variants of its standard phones. We saw this with the OnePlus 7T, which got a 90Hz display after the OnePlus 7 Pro had such a screen some six months earlier. 

However these are uncertain times, with coronavirus pandemic chaos disrupting supply chains and smartphone release schedules. We’ve seen this with the iPhone 12 that has missed its traditional September reveal window, and is seemingly pushed back into October. And while we’d have expected the iPhone 12 Pro to come with a 120Hz display to keep up with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, recent leaks point to that not being the case.

So for Lau to confirm the OnePlus 8T will indeed have a 120Hz refresh rate is rather appreciated. But Lau also had more to say to TechRadar. 

"In addition to 120Hz, for the first time we used a 2.5D flexible panel on the OnePlus 8T,” Lau said. "Compared to regular panels, the 2.5D flexible screen offers an improved light permeability and can reach a maximum brightness of up to 1100 nits.” 

In simple terms, that should mean the OnePlus 8T will have a brighter 6.55-inch display that will take up most of the phone’s font; TechRadar noted it will have a screen-to-body ratio of 91.9%.

Furthermore, Lau said that the OnePlus 8T’s screen will have the "the highest color accuracy possible across the industry" thanks to running it through some rigorous color calibration. Of course, the proof of that will be shown in the testing the 8T, but OnePlus’ smartphone displays have always tended to be rather impressive. 

With a 120Hz display, the OnePlus 8T could be one of the more affordable phones to have such a high-refresh rate. At $699 the OnePlus 8 wasn't cheap, but it still offered a good clutch of specs for the money. If the OnePlus 8T can come in at the same price with some internal upgrades and 120Hz, then it should have the iPhone 12 worried, especially if Apple can't add a high refresh-rate display into its next phones.  
Based on other leaks, we're expecting the OnePlus 8T to build upon its predecessor's design but come with the Snapdragon 865 Plus chip. And it's likely to have the triple-camera array of the OnePlus 8 but add in a fourth sensor, potentially in the form of a 2MP portrait sensor. We’re hoping the OnePlus 8T improved upon the somewhat middling photography performance of the OnePlus 8 and instead draws from the OnePlus 8 Pro’s stone camera results. 

The OnePlus 8T is expected to be revealed on October 14, so we don’t have long to wait to see what OnePlus has been working on after the excellent OnePlus Nord. 

Roland Moore-Colyer
Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.