OnePlus 10T 5G (UK) 16GB RAM 256GB Storage SIM-Free Smartphone with 150W SUPERVOOC and 50MP Triple Camera System - Jade Green [UK version]

If feeling a bit depressed as I initially was having waded through photography channel reviews of this one, the cameras are improved significantly (though only in some specific situations) with a Gcam (Google Camera) port, thanks to this one using a Snapdragon chipset.

If you want to see the specific Gcam port used, go to Phone Compatibility's Youtube channel, though as he says at the end there are a lot of different ports and xml files to try for this phone, you might find something better.

In his comparison, with Gcam, the photographs are often more detailed, to the point where it's hard to believe it's the same camera, colour vibrancy wise the images are a little flatter (where the OnePlus stock cam software makes images pop a bit more, which is something I dislike, personally, but it's often referred to as Instagram-ready). On the other hand, with Gcam highlights seem to be less blown out in some shots The downside is that with Gcam it takes a lot longer to process/isn't suitable for fast moving subjects where the stock camera app is much better. I think that would get annoying pretty quickly. Also, in low light the stock cam app is much better tuned, takes much better shots.

With video, where the OnePlus 10T does fairly well with the main cam, Gcam gives better exposure and colour but at the expense of very noticeable loss of image stabilisation. I think if you own a stabilisation gimble, you could get some great footage.

A complaint with the selfie cam is it's only 1080, but Gcam gives you 4K 30fps.

If you use Motioncam, you can even get up to 4K 60fps, RAW, which not a lot of phone cameras when you use Motioncam handle well, though I've tended to be disappointed with Motioncam footage even when colour graded, looks a bit dull/lifeless; some people evidentially don't mind that.

Even with occasional interventions using Gcam, it's still not a great camera, the 10T was more obviously aimed at gamers, while the 10 Pro was the way to go if photography was more your thing. In the side-by-side I watched, the 10T cameras were comfortably bettered by a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Still, though not able to resolve the same level of detail, Gcam offers a welcome improvement in some areas (though definitely not night shots or fast moving subjects).

I don't know if there's a risk element to using Gcam ports, for instance I would assume forcing 4K would raise the heat, might shorten the life expectancy of components or just safely thermal throttle to protect itself, I don't know, use at your own risk. I was quite impressed by the side-by-side comparison using and not using Gcam with this one.

Getting back on topic, though cameras might not be the best, decent spec, hot!

I paid £440 for mine on Black Friday 2022 - then I got another £100 for trading in an old and battered older Oneplus model. I get this version has more RAM/storage than mine but I would still have expected the price to have dropped more than this. I'd value security updates more than specs these days...

If it was £280 I'd bite

Any reckon this'd be a decent upgrade over the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite, or should I wait for something coming out soon?

Just a heads up I bought a OnePlus 10 pro for someone and it has a software issue with the microphone basically rendering it a potato for calls... Found no fixes or workarounds that have resolved it and not prepared to roof their phone.

Not sure if this suffers the same but it makes their mic continuously go extremely quiet, can't have a conversation with them at all (edited)