OnePlus 6T to ditch 3.5mm jack for in-display fingerprint, bigger battery

The OnePlus 6T is expected to be a major upgrade over the current-generation flagship OnePlus 6, at least in terms of features; it will also drop some to accommodate new upgrades

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus is gearing up to launch the OnePlus 6T sometime in the last quarter of this year. Like every previous launch, the company is divulging details on key features of the upcoming smartphone. The OnePlus 6T is expected to be a major upgrade over the current-generation flagship OnePlus 6, at least in terms of features. And, it will also drop some to accommodate new upgrades.

Speaking of upgrades, the OnePlus 6T would have an in-display fingerprint sensor technology, where the sensor is placed beneath the display panel. This allows a part of the screen to double up as a biometric recognition module for identifying fingerprints for the phone's unlocking mechanism. The in-display fingerprint module will free up the space on the back of the the OnePlus 6T without compromising on the overall design theme. OnePlus’ sister company, Vivo, has been offering this technology in some of its premium models, such as the Vivo X21, Vivo Nex and the Vivo V11 Pro.

The OnePlus 6T is also reported to get a new screen format, with a tiny notch on top. Though the notch area in the OnePlus 6 is among the smallest when compared with other notch screen-based smartphones, it would be trimmed even more and reduced to the a size of a big dot, enough to accommodate just the front camera. The Vivo V11 Pro or the Oppo F9 Pro are two smartphones that currently boast this screen format.

The rear camera module is another area that is expected to get an upgrade, apart from the new screen format and in-display fingerprint sensor. Though there has been no confirmation about the camera configuration, the OnePlus 6T is expected to get a tri-camera module on the back, with a new 3D depth-sensing lens, along with two regular lenses.

To accommodate new upgrades, such as the in-display fingerprint sensor, the company recently confirmed that it would trade off the 3.5mm audio jack in the OnePlus 6T. Looking at the brighter side, the company subtly confirmed that the trade-off would also allow OnePlus to use a battery with a bigger capacity.