Posted on

OnePlus 10T launch event recap: Release date, price, features and more

OnePlus 10T display

Refresh

OnePlus 10T display

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Having reviewed the OnePlus 10T, we’ve added the phone to our rankings of the best Android phones and best gaming phones.

Back view of OnePlus 10T

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

And that, as they say, is that. With OnePlus wrapping up its 10T presentation, you can now find out just what we think of these features in our OnePlus 10T review.

OnePlus 10T pricing

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

Finally, some OnePlus 10T pricing, and it was worth the wait. The OnePlus 10T costs $649, which is $250 cheaper than the OnePlus 10 Pro’s starting price. That gets you the 8GB/128GB version. You can get the phone with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $749.

In Europe, OnePlus 10T pricing starts at €699, with our U.K. friends paying £629.

Europe gets the phone first — the OnePlus 10T goes on sale August 25 there. Preorders in the U.S. don’t start until Sept. 1, with the phone going on sale Sept. 29.

OnePlus 10T

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

OxygenOS 13 is coming to the OnePlus 10 Pro first, interestingly enough. 

OnePlus says it’s working closely with Google — “especially the Android team” — to provide the best experience for OnePlus users. 

OxygenOS 13 and always on displays

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

Some of the highlights for OxygenOS 13 — besides that aquamorphic design — includes a personalized smart launcher, new always-on-displays layouts and spatial audio. A lot of the features also draw on what Google’s adding to Android 13.

OxygenOS is an appropriate name, by the way, because this segment has gone on so long, I feel like all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room.

OxygenOS 13

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

OxygenOS 13 is built on Android 13, by the way, and with that software update not coming until September, I’d imagine that this new version of OxygenOS is coming later, too.

OxygenOS 13 with OnePlus 10T

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

We’re getting a look at OxygenOS 13, with OnePlus’ goals touching on smoothness and consistency of experience. the new OS features an Aquamorphic design, a new visual language which OnePlus says is inspired by nature. From a video that OnePlus aired showcasing OxygenOS 13, I take it to mean that’s a new color scheme with icon shapes that are reminiscent of droplets.

See more

OnePlus 10T design

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

There’s some design talk about the look and feel of the OnePlus 10T, which to my untrained eye, looks a lot like the OnePlus 10 Pro. The phone features a unibody design so that the camera array is a part of the phone, not just a bump jutting out. Your color options are Jade Green and Moonstone Black.

See more

Some behind the scenes details from the OnePlus 10T launch event.

OnePlus 10T cameras

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

OnePlus hasn’t forgotten about the cameras on the 10T, which features a 50MP wide angle camera, augmented by an 8MP ultrawide angle lens with a 120-degree field of view. There’s a 2MP macro sensor on the back of the phone, too.

You won’t see a telephoto lens like you did on the OnePlus 10 Pro apparently.

The camera presentation was very brief, in case you were unclear as to where OnePlus is putting its focus with this phone.

OnePlus 10T screen specs

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

It’s time to talk the display, which is a 6.7-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate can adjust between 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz, though it’s not an LTPO screen so you won’t see the refresh rate scale down like it does on the OnePlus 10 Pro.

OnePlus 10T battery health

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

There’s also a Battery Health Engine on the OnePlus 10T, meant to extend the life of the battery. Among its features is the ability to charge even in extreme cold. OnePlus says the battery is good for 1,600 charging cycles, which should minimize degradation over several years.

OnePlus 10T battery features

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

As OnePlus promised, the 10T will feature 150W charging (at least outside of North America). That should be a new speed record that places the OnePlus 10T among the fastest charging phones.

Specifically, those charging speeds can deliver a full day charge in about 10 minutes, according to the 10T presentation.

OnePlus 10T gaming frame rates

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

There’s a new version of the Hyperboost gaming engine on the OnePlus 10T, with an emphasis on increasing frame stability and touch responsiveness. In an hour-long session of PUBG Mobile, for example, the frame rate only drops slightly.

Meanwhile, a 1000Hz touch response via OnePlus’ LSTouch technology, you’ve got a phone that won’t falter when you’re rapidly tapping the phone’s screen.

See more

Some OnePlus 10T specs that may be relevant to your interests…

OnePlus 10T 16GB RAM

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

Turning to multitasking, we’re keeping more apps open and those apps are taking up more memory. In response, OnePlus is going to make a 16GB RAM option available with the 10T. There’s an Always Alive feature for the phone that works with the 16GB of memory, which can keep nearly three dozen apps running in the background at the same time.

OnePlus 10T coooling system

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

With great performance comes great overheating, and OnePlus says it’s going to fight that with its new 3D Cooling system.

OnePlus says the cooling area is 64% larger than what the OnePlus 10 Pro offered, with the 10T featuring advanced vapor cooling technology. The upshot is that the cooling system in the OnePlus 10T has been optimized to handle heat dissipation quickly. After an hour of gaming, the OnePlus 10T runs several degrees cooler than competing flagship phones.

OnePlus 10T Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

And after a lot of preamble, we’re diving into the OnePlus 10T. Qualcomm’s Chris Patrick is out to discuss the chip maker’s relationship with OnePlus. In the case of the 10T, that means the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1.

The focus of this presentation is on the performance boost the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 provides — 10% CPU boost and 30% faster graphics over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that came out at the start of the year. So we’re really seeing an emphasis on how the 10T will perform.

OnePlus 10T launch event

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

We’re getting a recap of OnePlus’ Burdenless philosophy, which covers the way OnePlus designs and evolves its products. And that leads us into a video on Oxygen OS, which Anderson says will remain the software for OnePlus devices. (There had been some concerns that new owner Oppo was going to impose its software on OnePlus instead.)

See more

Trust the experts.

Christian Anderson of OnePlus

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

Christian Anderson, VP of sales for OnePlus North America, kicks things off with a recap of OnePlus’ year so far. The upshot: The OnePlus 10 Pro has been a very popular device, helping the phone maker’s sales grow. And OnePlus has released a lot of phones in the last seven months.

OnePlus Robin Liu

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

And we’re underway, with OnePlus’ Robin Liu welcoming us to the OnePlus 10T launch event.

See more

A pre-launch event history lesson from OnePlus, courtesy of Kate Kozuch in New York.

OnePlus 9 Pro

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

With the OnePlus 10T launching in less than 10 minutes, we’re going to spend a lot of time talking about the features included with the phone. But let’s spend a moment reflecting on a long-time OnePlus feature you won’t find on the 10T — the phone’s alert slider.

The alert slider has been MIA from cheaper OnePlus phones, but the OnePlus 10T is the first flagship from the company to ship without it. The slider is quite a popular feature with users, setting OnePlus phones apart from their Android counterpart.

The reason for the omission? The big battery, a new antenna, and the fast-charging technology included in the phone took up a lot of room and sacrifices had to be made. So au revoir, alert slider, we’ll think of you every time we go to silence our phone at the movie theater.

OnePlus 10T launch event at Gotham Hall New York

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

My colleague Kate Kozuch is one hand at Gotham Hall where OnePlus is holding its 10T launch event and sends some photos of the atmosphere inside the event. This is OnePlus’ first in-person launch event in two years.

See more

That OnePlus 10T packaging seems a bit bulky.

We’re kidding, we’re kidding…

OnePlus 10T launch event still

(Image credit: OnePlus/YouTube)

The OnePlus 10T event live stream is now live on YouTube (opens in new tab)… sort of. It’s in countdown mode at the moment as we get closer to the 10 a.m. ET kickoff time. But you’ve got a page to bookmark now. We’ve also updated this live blog with an embedded feed.

OnePlus 10T cooling system

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Since OnePlus is anything but reticent when it comes to discussing new phones — including phones whose launch event is less than an hour away still — you can find a lot of detail about the OnePlus 10T, pre-launch. In fact, the launch event page at OnePlus’ website (opens in new tab) touts a smattering of features, many of which we’ve talked about.

But there’s one we haven’t discussed — the phone’s cooling system. On its website, OnePlus touts the 10T’s “3D Cooling System 2.0” and what a bonus it will be for mobile gamers. Keeping phones from overheating certainly would appeal to gamers, as a hotter phone can see performance degradation. That OnePlus would include the cooling system in its promotion efforts suggests that the 10T may be positioned as a gaming phone — or at least a phone built with gamers in mind.

OnePlus 10 Pro event

(Image credit: OnePlus)

We’ve got some last-minute info on the OnePlus 10T, and as you might expect, it comes straight from OnePlus. The company has posted another deep dive about OnePlus 10T specs (opens in new tab), and this time, the focus is on charging speeds.

Specifically, OnePlus says its new phone will support 150W Supervooc Endurance Edition, the company’s fastest charging technology ever. According to OnePlus, the 4,800 mAh battery in the OnePlus 10T can be fully charged in 19 minutes thanks to the 150W charging. (Oh, looks like OnePlus also revealed the 10T’s battery size — and it’s slightly smaller than what the OnePlus 10 Pro offers.)

Of course, in North America, our 110- and 120-volt outlets are no match for 150W Supervooc charging, so the OnePlus 10T will charge at “only” 125W. That means it will take 20 minutes to fully charge the phone, or 1 minute longer than what our European cousins will enjoy.

You’ll get a 150W Supervooc charger and USB cable with your OnePlus 10T purchase, OnePlus says.

OnePlus 10 Pro cameras

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Hasselblad has been a big part of the last couple OnePlus flagship launches, with the Swedish lens specialist fine-tuning the lenses on the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 10, and improving some of the phones’ photo processing. Those specific devices didn’t unseat Apple or Google from the top of the best camera phones list, but they certainly held their own against the top picture takers.

So it’s curious that Hasselblad apparently won’t be involved with the OnePlus 10T, based on OnePlus’ comments to The Verge. “[OnePlus] wanted to offer an ultimate performance flagship smartphone at the device’s chosen price point,” chief designer Hope Liu told The Verge.

That could mean anything, but it sounds like OnePlus is putting a premium on boosting the phone’s performance and is less concerned about the camera. If that is the case, it’s an odd choice, given how important digital photography is to smartphone shoppers.

a photo of the OnePlus 10 Pro

(Image credit: Future)

If the OnePlus 10T launch today seems like the latest in a series of OnePlus phone launches, you aren’t imagining things. There have been a lot of OnePlus handsets rolled out in 2022, as OnePlus has expanded its product portfolio to include budget models as well as flagship challengers.

By my count, we’ve already seen the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, the OnePlus Nord 2T, the OnePlus Nord N20 and if you want to extend the search to other markets than the U.S. and U.K., the OnePlus 10R

Compared to the days when OnePlus was rolling out one, maybe two phones at most, it’s quite a change. And it puts me in mind of an editorial my colleague Jordan Palmer wrote a while back wondering if OnePlus is losing its magic with all these phone releases.

Image of the OnePlus 10T in black and jade green colors

(Image credit: OnePlus)

The big question heading into today’s OnePlus 10T launch is what OnePlus is going to charge for the phone — an especially relevant piece of information in these, our times of rising costs. For the record, the OnePlus 10 Pro debuted with an $899 price tag — less than comparable flagships, but still pretty pricey so far as OnePlus devices go.

The 10T is supposed to have a better chipset in the form of the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, but without the Hasselblad branding for its cameras, it’s possible the 10T could come in at less than the OnePlus 10 Pro. We certainly would hope for a phone that’s no more than the one OnePlus introduced earlier in the year.

Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1

(Image credit: Qualcomm)

Let’s talk about the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 that OnePlus has confirmed will be powering the OnePlus 10T. It’s a step up in performance from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 which you’ll find in the OnePlus 10 Pro, as well as the entire Galaxy S22 lineup. But more importantly, it’s also better at power management than that earlier Qualcomm silicon, not that the long-lasting OnePlus 10 Pro really had a problem with battery life in our testing.

We’ve tested a couple of Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1-powered phones already — the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro and the Zenfone 9. Both got excellent marks for performance, if you’d like an idea of what we’re expecting from the OnePlus 10T.

OnePlus 10 Pro power port

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

One area that’s worth paying attention to during today’s OnePlus 10T launch involves any battery and charging details the phone maker announces for the new device — and not just because that’s info OnePlus hasn’t revealed in advance of the event. OnePlus’ power management features are always of interest.

We’re expecting the OnePlus 10T to retain the 5,000 mAh battery found in the OnePlus 10 Pro — why fix what isn’t broken, after all. On our demanding battery test, the 10 Pro turned in a time of 11 hours, 52 minutes with its adaptive display feature turned on. Adaptive displays can put a hit on battery life, but the OnePlus 10 still earned a spot on the list of best phone battery life that we track.

As for charging speed, remember that the OnePlus 10 Pro used 80W charging, but because that feature didn’t meet U.S. charging standards, users in the States had to make do with a 65W charger. We’re curious to see if that persists with the new phone.

Good morning and welcome to Tom’s Guide’s OnePlus 10T launch live blog. We’ll be bringing you all the last-minute rumors in the run-up to the event, then giving you full details on the phone itself as it’s revealed. So bookmark this page and check back regularly for the latest.

Posted on

Daphne Bramham: Is paying the high price for mega-events worth it?

Share via email

As Vancouver waits to find out how many 2026 World Cup matches it will host, a new study puts the cost of mega-events into perspective.

Article content

There is no doubt that hosting some of the men’s World Cup soccer games in 2026 will provide Vancouver with a spectacle unlike most others we get to experience.

Advertisement 2

Article content

Soccer fans — especially at matches at this level — are a show unto themselves. They will be wearing outrageous costumes, singing songs, waving flags — hopefully without the hooliganism that has attended some other international matches, and without a similar ticketing debacle that recently resulted in fans being pepper-sprayed by Paris police.

Next Thursday, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association will announce whether Vancouver will get three or five of the 60 matches, and which teams will be playing.

But as people breathlessly await the announcement, a study published recently by three University of Lausanne researchers puts into perspective not only B.C.’s $250-million share of the spectacle, but Vancouver’s potential bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Advertisement 3

Article content

Canadian players celebrate after qualifying for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar after beating Jamaica 4-0 in March.
Canadian players celebrate after qualifying for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar after beating Jamaica 4-0 in March. Photo by CARLOS OSORIO /REUTERS

Lead author Martin Mueller and his colleagues looked at the costs and revenues from 14 Summer Olympic Games, 15 Winter Olympics and 14 World Cups held between 1964 and 2018.

With combined costs of more than $120 billion US and combined revenue from broadcast rights, tickets and sponsorships of nearly $70 billion US, the average return on investments was a loss of 38 per cent.

“Are the Olympics and the football World Cup profitable for the IOC and FIFA (who own the rights to these events)? Yes, very much so,” they write.

“Are they profitable for the organizing committees that need to put them on? Sometimes, but not very often. For the host city and government? Hardly ever.”

Here’s how it works:

For World Cup events, all of the revenue goes to FIFA, with the organizing committee bearing most of the operational costs. For the Olympics, revenue goes to both the IOC and the organizing committee (although not necessarily equally), with the costs paid by the organizing committee and the host government.

Advertisement 4

Article content

In economic terms, these events have a structural deficit. That means they are not financial viable without external subsidies. And it means that the problem is systemic, rather than the result of poor decision-making by the hosts.

But the study’s structural deficit figures likely fall far short of the real losses because security expenses and other “indirect costs” were not included in the calculation, even though the study notes that indirect costs typically range from $1 million to $1 billion.

The study defines indirect costs as Olympic villages, media centres, and other “event-induced costs” such as new public transportation, highways, improved power supplies, and so on.

But indirect costs for the Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Games were far higher: the $2.1-billion Canada Line to the airport, the $883-million Convention Centre built for use as the media centre, and the $883-million expedited improvements to Sea-to-Sky Highway.

Advertisement 5

Article content

Based on their findings, the authors urge citizens and politicians to think differently about the “opportunity” being offered to host mega-events.

“They are not offering the rights to a profit-making business deal, but asking for subsidies for a loss-making venture.”

Citing other studies, the Swiss authors note that mega-event proponents often fall prey to “optimism bias”. Others engage in “strategic misrepresentation”.

That misrepresentation is possible because of “a principal-agent situation and information asymmetry, in which the agent (for example the city bidding for a mega-event) knows more about the real costs of a mega-event than the principal (the taxpayers), but communicates a lower cost estimate to make hosting the event more palatable to the public.”

Advertisement 6

Article content

Canadian alpine skier Brodie Seger during training prior to the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
Canadian alpine skier Brodie Seger during training prior to the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Photo by WOLFGANG RATTAY /REUTERS

Studies such as these, along with more media attention paid to the skyrocketing costs of recent mega-events and a growing number of venues that are never used after the events, have caused taxpayers to be less enthusiastic about being hosts, even if politicians aren’t.

In the past eight years, votes in plebiscites and referenda have quashed Olympic bids in Calgary (2018), Rome (2017), Hamburg (2015), and Oslo (2014).

And it is why the IOC has recently been urging frugality by potential host cities. It has also flattened its lengthy and expensive bidding process, with the (perhaps) unintended consequence that the new system is both shorter and less transparent.

As for the 2026 World Cup, Premier John Horgan withdrew Vancouver’s name in 2018 citing FIFA’s demand that the province “write a blank cheque.”

Advertisement 7

Article content

Chicago, Minneapolis and Glendale, Calif. also dropped out that year because of cost concerns and what were described as FIFA’s “heavy-handed demands” that included visa-free entry to FIFA representatives and exemptions from taxes and labour laws.

But three months ago, Vancouver was back in, with Horgan telling reporters that FIFA was no longer “looking for the sea and the sky in their ask from host cities.”

However, turfing the fake grass at B.C. Place — literally putting real stuff over top of the fake — was one of FIFA’s non-negotiable demands, even though the Crown-owned B.C. Pavilion Corp. spent $3.1 million completing the installation of artificial grass earlier this year.

So, good luck snagging a World Cup ticket. But even if you don’t, enjoy the party because you’re going to be paying for it.

dbramham@postmedia.com

Twitter: @bramham_daphne

Advertisement 1

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.