Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA surprisingly good find!
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2019
Advertising:
The description mentioned that there would be no visible scratches from within 12" away, and I can safely say that is a true statement. The phone was, indeed, T-Mobile branded when I received it as stated. Overall, the phone is as advertised.
Shipping & Item condition:
Arrived on time in a nice box (not OnePlus branded, however). Packaging was adequate to prevent damaging. Unfortunately it did not come with an official Oneplus Dash Charger. I simply received an Amazon charger that wasn't even USB-C. Thankfully I already had one on the way, so it was a non-issue for me, but something you should be prepared to purchase.
Price:
$346.95 - At the time I purchaced this (August 2019), this was about the best bang for your buck you could get in an Android phone. Oneplus was selling the 6T on their website still for about $600 new. I suspect this price to continue to drop once the 8 and 8 Pro are announced/Released. The 7T was already released, but unfortately not being sold in the US.
Build Quality/Durability:
This was my major concern with buying an Amazon renewed phone. I was very worried that I'd see scratches, have software issues, poor battery, or some other unknown problem. Thankfully, it didn't have a single scratch on it and looked/performed as a brand new phone. The battery health was over 90%. Simply put, I was very surprised to get what seems like a brand new phone for so cheap.
Performance:
I did a ton of research before purchasing a new phone. I previously had a Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, and that thing was super sluggish and terribly slow after 5 years of use. I learned that Oneplus phones don't typically slow down as much as Samsungs, or other brands, and I really liked Oxygen OS. It seems very snappy and quick to load apps. The in-display fingerprint sensor can be hit or miss at times, but I seem to average an 80% success rate when I try to unlock my phone. I know the newer 7 Pro has an even better fingerprint sensor, but in my book the difference is negligible when considering the price of the Pro. I never liked playing games on my Samsung because of how sluggish everything was, but I've been finding myself playing more on this one. It's very quick and doesn't seem to overheat like my last phone.
Design/Features:
- I really like OxygenOS. It is quick, clean, and simple. I did not like, however, that it was T-Mobile branded. A quick youtube search led me to a video that helped me quickly (and I'm talking only 30mins here) convert it to the international unlocked version. Now I don't have to worry about delayed OS updates or lack of support from T-Mobile. I would recommend installing an App called Oxygen Updater, as it seems the international version won't automatically push updates to your phone. You would have to seek them out and manually install them. The App does that for you and works very well.
- The teardrop notch is hardly noticeable. Almost all apps and games will simply reduce the screen size, so it looks like a black bar instead of a notch. I feel like this is a better solution than the pop-up camera on the 7 Pro. Moving parts on a cell phone simply don't give me confidence.
- Honestly, my favorite feature is a dedicated slider for the ring-modes. Slide up once for vibrate mode, once again for silent, and all the way down for ring. It doesn't mess with the alarm volume, which is nice, and I now no longer need to go into the settings to change my modes.
- I do not like, however, that there is no longer a dedicated notification LED. I've gotten used to it, however, as there is a setting to flash the screen briefly when there is a new notification. It's just not as ideal, IMO.
Overall:
I can't say enough how happy I am that I was able to get a practically brand new phone for so cheap. Yes, you'll have to spend a little more for an official charger, case, etc., but you'd likely be buying many of those things anyway, right? If not, you're in even better shape. Amazon renewed products also have a 90-day return window, which is a nice piece of mind. Overall I can safely say that I'm happy with this purchase and would definitely consider Amazon renewed products again in the future.