8 things the $550 OnePlus 6T doesn't have compared to phones that cost hundreds more

High-end smartphones from big companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, and LG have official water-resistance rating, usually indicated by the "IPXX" spec you'll often see on a spec sheet.

The OnePlus 6T doesn't have an official IPXX water resistance rating, but the company is confident that it can withstand light splashes like rain.

The OnePlus 6T has a 1080p resolution display while most other top-end smartphones have a sharper 1440p resolution.

With that said, I never missed the technically sharper displays from $750+ phones while using the OnePlus 6T. In fact, I never noticed that it wasn't technically as sharp as others I've used. Some high-end phone even set the resolution to 1080p by default, despite the fact that the displays are capable of displaying a 1440p resolution.

This was perhaps the most noticeable thing about the OnePlus 6T compared to the high-end competition. It has a single loudspeaker, whereas most of the Android phones I've used in 2018 have stereo speakers. It does make a difference while watching videos, but it's not a deal-breaker.

The OnePlus 6T has a dual-lens camera system, but the secondary lens is dedicated to enhancing the background blur for portrait mode shots. It doesn't do anything else.

Other top smartphones with multiple-lens camera systems include dedicated optical zoom lenses, like the new iPhones, Samsung's Galaxy S9 Plus, and LG's V40. The LG V40 even has a third lens for ultra-wide angle shots.

Some smartphone makers like LG and Google have added second selfie cameras to their smartphones. The LG V40 and Google Pixel 3 XL both have a secondary selfie camera for ultra-wide angle selfies, which is actually a meaningful feature to capture more friends or scenery in your selfies.

The OnePlus 6T comes with a standard single-lens selfie camera.

One of the big features that smartphone makers like Google and Apple touted during their smartphone announcement events was adjustable background blur in portrait mode shots, either during or after taking a photo. Samsung and LG phones can do this, too.

There's no adjustable background blur on the OnePlus 6T either during or after taking a photo.

via Gfycat

OnePlus is the latest smartphone maker to drop the headphone jack. That leaves Samsung and LG as the remaining holdouts for the trusty old headphone jack.

• Anecdotally, the OnePlus 6T has one of the best battery lives in any smartphone I've used in 2018.
• The OnePlus 6T runs a clean and simple version of Android that gets updates faster than most Android devices, save for Google's own Pixel smartphones.
• The OnePlus 6T has a gorgeous design that easily contends with those from smartphones that cost $300+ more.
• The OnePlus 6T runs on the same specs as top Android phones that cost $750 or more. Sometimes, it even exceeds those specs, and its performance is unrivaled.
• The OnePlus 6T has a fantastic camera.
• The water-drop-style notch on the OnePlus 6T is the smallest and most tasteful there is compared to the larger rectangular notch designs on other smartphones.
• The OnePlus 6T has a switch for silencing notifications, much like the iPhone's switch. OnePlus phones are the only Android phones to come with such a switch.
• The fastest fast-charger.

Personally, I'd rather keep $250+ of my own hard-earned money than the features I listed above. But it's up to you if you think some or all of the features above are worth an extra $250 or more.

I should note that T-Mobile is only selling the $580 OnePlus 6T when it's fully released on November 1, which comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The base $550 model available from OnePlus' site has 6GB of RAM and the same storage.