The OnePlus 6T has been officially announced yesterday, with the phone being confirmed to be arriving in the U.S. via T-Mobile, but a couple of newly surfaced and crucial details now reveal what that exclusivity will actually entail. According to a recent tweet from Mashable’s Raymond Wong citing OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau, T-Mobile’s variant will not offer support for dual-SIM communications and will be carrier-locked, meaning customers who acquire the phone through the operator won’t be able to use it on other networks.
OnePlus was founded in late 2013 and quickly grew in popularity over the years thanks to the OEM’s dedication to high-end specifications, a near stock Android experience with meaningful extra features and little to no restrictions, all while being priced below most other flagships. Although OnePlus’s previous smartphones have been available in the country unlocked, the launch of the OnePlus 6T marks the first occasion on which the OEM offered one of its smartphone models in the U.S. in collaboration with one of the country’s carriers, which should greatly contribute to the brand’s recognition. However, this exclusive deal doesn’t seem to come without compromises and U.S. customers who might want to use the latest flagship on other networks besides T-Mobile’s one are still left with only one option – buying the unlocked variant outright at the price of $549, $579, or $629, depending on their desired memory configuration.
T-Mobile will only offer the middle variant with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a Midnight Black finish for the price of $579, same as the unlocked model. Having said that, it’s difficult to justify or recommend a full-price purchase from T-Mobile given the restrictions, unless customers choose to trade in their old smartphone with the carrier and acquire the newest OnePlus flagship at a discounted price of $279. Historically, most OnePlus customers have been fans of the brand because of its lack of restrictions, but at the end of the day, T-Mobile customers who haven’t owned any of the OEM’s previous smartphones might not be too bothered by these limitations.