Daily Authority: 📱 The OnePlus 10T conundrum

🐱 Hey there! We’re finally getting a cat next week. I’m kind of anxious about it all, but at least I have the week off too! Anyway, on to the newsletter!

The OnePlus 10T is here: A throwback to the past?

OnePlus finally launched the OnePlus 10T yesterday, and it’s the first proper T-series phone since 2020’s OnePlus 8T. It’s somehow simultaneously a throwback to early OnePlus phones and a departure from previous devices.

• The new phone is a performance-focused device much like the original, focusing on horsepower and fast charging.
• That means a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset and 150W wired charging.
• The $649 price tag is also cheaper than the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8T were at their respective launches.
• Combine flagship performance with a cheaper price tag and you can see why it brings to mind the OnePlus One.

However, the new phone departs from the established OnePlus formula in a number of ways.

• Perhaps the most notable issue is the lack of an alert slider, which was present since 2015’s OnePlus 2.
• We also get a downgraded camera system compared to the OnePlus 9, with mostly mid-range camera hardware and no Hasselblad branding.
• The OnePlus 10T lacks wireless charging too, which was present on the European and North American OnePlus 9.
• The IP rating situation is also a little confusing, as we outline in our news article.
• Basically, only the North American model gets an IP rating. But it’s still IP54 splash resistance rather than full water resistance.
• All of these tweaks were presumably made to meet the $649 launch price.

Were these downgrades worth it, though? Android Authority colleague Dhruv Bhutani wasn’t too happy with the device in his OnePlus 10T review.

• “The OnePlus 10T is an oddball product whose value depends entirely on how much you value performance in your smartphone,” Dhruv said.
• He added that the original OnePlus was all about performance at an attractive price in the first place.
• Our reviewer also praised the display, battery life, and fast wired charging.
• “Unfortunately, that throwback feel also comes with some of old-school OnePlus’ less desirable traits.”
• Dhruv lamented the sub-par cameras, disappointing and inconsistent IP rating, lack of wireless charging, and “basic” design.
• Needless to say, those who only care about horsepower should give this phone a look.
• In fact, it definitely seems like a gaming phone in all but name. So you might want to look at our list of the best phones for gaming for similar propositions.
• Otherwise, there are more well-rounded alternatives out there.

Roundup

🔕 OnePlus wants to bring back the alert slider on future devices (Android Authority).

🌆 Wallpaper Wednesday: Our weekly roundup of wallpapers from readers and the AA team is here again (Android Authority).

⌚ Fitbit Inspire 3, Sense 2, and Versa 4 leak in official-looking renders (Android Authority).

⚠ North Korea-backed hackers have a clever way to read your Gmail: The malware is installed as a browser extension and has been active for over a year already, targeting organizations working on nuclear weapons and other national security issues (Ars Technica).

📱 OnePlus announces Oxygen OS 13: Everything you need to know, from features to supported devices (Android Authority).

🕵️‍♀️ Kids are back in classrooms, and laptops are still spying on them (Wired).

✈ The best drones of 2022: Our sister website DroneRush has updated its list, and there’s something for everyone here (DroneRush).

🐷 Scientists revived the cells of pigs an hour after death, a potential organ transplant breakthrough (LiveScience).

📧 A college student discovered a bug in Cloudflare email routing that let you read any user’s emails: Cloudflare paid a $6,000 bounty to the Danish student, but says this bug wasn’t exploited (Gizmodo).

🤐 OnePlus may have secretly launched another phone after the OnePlus 10T (Android Authority).

💦 Five reasons to hold on to old silica gel packets: One notable use is to protect old documents like photo albums from humidity and moisture in general (Popular Science).

🎬 “What historical event has not, but should be, made into a movie?” (r/AskReddit).

Thursday Thing: Classic PC software gets an update

Winamp was a wildly popular music player for PCs in the late 90s and early 2000s. Between the variety of skins and visualizers, it really allowed you to make the app your own. Now, the MP3 player software has received its first update in years.

• The team’s post on the Winamp forum (h/t: Engadget) reveals that this is the first update in four years.
• The update sees Winamp transition to a new development platform, opening the door for more features down the line.
• We also get a few tweaks and fixes here, such as improved Windows 11 support, and tweaks for streams and podcasts.
• Amusingly, Winamp now requires a minimum of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to run.
• I remember trying out Winamp on Windows XP back in the day, and friends had it on Windows 98 machines.
• Of course, younger audiences should know that Winamp was designed with local music playback in mind.
• Music streaming in general was technically possible back then, but major streaming services weren’t around and most people had internet connections that were too slow for streaming (if they had an internet connection at all).
• This Winamp release pairs well with Microsoft recently adding CD ripping functionality to Windows 11’s media player.
• Me? I always preferred VLC Media Player.

Have a great day!

Hadlee Simons, Editor