OnePlus 5T vs Galaxy S8

Our Verdict

There’s no doubt that the Galaxy S8 is the superior phone here with a number of features not found on the OnePlus 5T, and despite the difference in RRP you can pick up Samsung’s flagship for under £500 so that somewhat negates the 5T’s advantage. That said, the OnePlus 5T is still cheaper, has dual-cameras and more memory as standard so remains a legitimate option.

Continuing its six-month cycle of new devices, OnePlus has anew flagship phoneat the same price as before, but can it take down the king of the Android world? Here we compare the OnePlus 5T vs Galaxy S8.

Price

Although OnePlus phones have gotten more expensive recently, the firm has done an Apple by introducing a new model at the same price as its predecessor. So the 5T is just£449to buy outright which is extremely reasonable.

Meanwhile, theGalaxy S8is priced at£689– so a whopping £240 more expensive. However, since it’s been out for a while, you can find it at lower prices withAmazon stocking the phone at£485at the time of writing so this closes the gap significantly.

Design and build

The main upgrade for theOnePlus 5Tis a larger screen and a bezel-free design. Understandably following in the footsteps of phones like the Galaxy S8. It also means the fingerprint scanner has been moved to the back.

With a slightly larger screen, the 5T is a bit bigger and heavier than the S8 but not to an extent where it’s a big difference.

Both of these phones are very attractive and you’ll need to choose between the metal of the OnePlus 5T and glass of the Galaxy S8. Normally the former would offer more grip but we find both phones slippery and wanting of a case. Check out round up of the best cases for the OnePlus 5There.

A key difference in this comparison is that the S8 is the only one with waterproofing, an IP68 rating which is the highest you’ll find on a phone. OnePlus can offer the 5T at a lower price by not having such features.

Otherwise the phones are largely the same, with the curved sides on the S8 screen another important difference. They both have USB-C and headphone ports.

Specs and features

There’s no clear winner here on specs as it depends what you want. The 5T offers a larger 6in display with an 18:9 aspect ration and similar Optic AMOLED technology. It has a lower resolution of1080×2160 meaning a pixel density of 401ppi.

Meanwhile the Galaxy S8 offers its stunning Infinity Display that makes it stand out in the smartphone market. It’s got curved edges, eye popping SuperAMOLED tech and a Quad HD+ resolution 1440x2960.

In the UK, these phones have difference processors with a Snapdragon 835 inside the 835 and the Exynos 8895 in the S8. OnePlus wins on memory with 6- or even 8GB of RAM where Samsung offers just 4GB. When it boils down to it, you’re getting top-end performance either way.

Both phones come with 64GB of storage as standard and while the 5T has a 128GB option, it doesn’t have the microSD card slot that the S8 has.

Cameras are a key difference in the spec sheet as the Galaxy S8 just has a single 12Mp camera, albeit a very good one. You might be more tempted by the dual-cameras on the 5T which are 16- and 20Mp with OnePlus touting low-light performance.

As mentioned earlier the fingerprint scanner is on the back for both phones but the Galaxy S8 has some additional features such as wireless charging and a heart rate monitor.