The OnePlus 10T is just over a week from launching in New York on August 3 and new reports have surfaced about the fate of the beloved alert slider. The company confirmed that the next flagship will not get the alert slider. OnePlus has also clarified why this was done.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer confirmed (opens in new tab) to The Verge that the OnePlus 10T is saying goodbye to the alert slider. This was done to make space for other internal hardware components within the premium smartphone. Hope Liu, senior Industrial Director and Chief Designer for Oppo and OnePlus confirmed in the report that the smartphone will come with a few enhancements in the battery and network features. He added that the alert slider took up significant space in the smartphone’s motherboard even though the slider itself was small.
While the company is yet to reveal the device specifications, there are rumours that we may see a 4,800 mAh battery pack with 150W fast charging support. The second new component that enables such high-speed charging is the reason that the smartphone required this sacrifice.
Hope Liu has added that the OnePlus 10T also comes with improvements in the antenna setup. The smartphone will come with at least 15 antennas to improve the signal, especially when held horizontally during gaming sessions.
Another surprising absence from the OnePlus 10T is the Hasselblad branding from the camera island. The chief designer had stated that the company intended to provide users with a premium flagship experience at “the device’s chosen price point”. This could mean that the OnePlus 10T is slated to launch at approximately around Rs 50,000. The smartphone is confirmed to feature a 50MP primary lens with Sony IMX 766 sensors.
Was this sacrifice necessary?
There were previous reports that the OnePlus Nord 2T would be the last in the lineup to receive the alert slider. And it looks to be true in a way. Other reports suggest that the slider might also make its way over to Oppo’s smartphones in the future. Since the Oppo Reno 8 series has already been launched, we could expect to see the feature on the Find series.
But is faster charging a much more useful feature than a switch that instantly toggles between various notification modes? A larger battery with the same 80W fast charging is still a good combination. Anyone who has stayed with OnePlus since the beginning would never complain that charging speeds were ever slow.
As someone who has personally used some of OnePlus’ products, it looks like sacrificing the alert slider was unnecessary.