The OnePlus 6T is due to arrive any day now, but the company seems determined to sort out any mysteries before the launch of the phone. It’s already confirmed that the phone is going to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack and sport an in-display fingerprint scanner.
As it turns out, these two changes are related. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau gave an interview to CNET recently where he revealed that the brand decided to drop the headphone jack in order to make room for Screen Unlock, the marketing name for the under-display fingerprint scanner.
OnePlus 6T Screen Unlock
Lau claims this was a difficult decision for the OnePlus team to make. He thinks once folks try out Screen Unlock, they’ll forget about the 3.5mm port. It seems the feature was originally going to make its debut in the OnePlus 5T but wasn’t as mature as it needed to be.
The in-display fingerprint sensor adds about 0.45mm of thickness to the OnePlus 6T. The brand apparently wanted to avoid making the smartphone even thicker by rejecting wireless charging. The technology further generates excessive heat if it’s done fast.
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Lau says he’ll add fast wireless charging to the mix if it’s possible without the extra heat in the future. So that’s one feature to look forward to. Another feature which is definitely not appearing in the OnePlus 6T is IP-rated waterproofing.
The CEO thinks it’s not worth the extra $30 it costs to add advanced water resistance, especially since only a small section of its consumer base will go swimming with their device. The OnePlus 6T won’t be completely devoid of waterproofing though, just that it won’t be on the level of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 or iPhone XS.
In unfortunate news for people hoping to spend less on their next phone, Lau says the in-display fingerprint scanner has bumped up the price of the OnePlus 6T. He wouldn’t say by how much, but it might be in the range of $20 more. The handset may cost $550 (roughly Rs 40537) as a result.