OnePlus announced via its official Twitter account that the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T now have the Google Assistant onboard. A few weeks ago it was reported that an OTA update brought the virtual assistant onboard the OnePlus smartphones, but now the Chinese company confirms the majority of OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T users should see the Assistant on their respective models.
Once updated, users will be able to bring up the personal helper by long-pressing on their phone’s home button or by saying “OK Google” to their device. Earlier this month, Google started rolling out the previously Pixel-exclusive Google Assistant to all Android devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or Android 7.0 Nougat. Google’s AI-driven virtual companion is also available through the company’s Allo messaging platform, but also on Android Wear 2.0, Google Home and Android TV.
The Google Assistant was unveiled at Google I/O 2016, as an improved version of Google Now. The major difference between the two is that the Google Assistant takes advantage of a friendlier, more conversational interface. While the Assistant performs most of the same tasks as Google Now including web searching, scheduling events and pulling up information from your private Google accounts, it offers up the information in a more conversational and accessible format. And now the conversational assistant has landed on OnePlus’ 2016 flagship line.
The OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T are two popular devices from the budget flagship category. The phones feature premium metal designs and take advantage of superior specs, but come with affordable price tags that won’t burn through your savings. The OnePlus 3T is the Chinese company’s latest handset and while the phone might look the same as the OnePlus 3 on the outside, it does bring some improvements to the table. The OnePlus 3T swaps out the Snapdragon 820 for the newer Snapdragon 821 and bundles a more advanced 16-megapixel camera. It also has a larger battery pack and a new 128GB storage option. Recently OnePlus announced a limited edition midnight black version of the OnePlus 3T, so the company is trying to keep customers interest up. And with the Google Assistant onboard the OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3 alike, are bound to get even more appealing.