The OnePlus 3T is finally here and the upgrades over the OnePlus 3 show that it has the Google Pixel XL firmly in its sights. Though there is a huge difference in the price with the OnePlus 3T coming at at $479 (approx. Rs 32,000) for 128 GB storage option and Pixel XL (32 GB) comes in at $869 (Rs 67,000 in India), they share a lot of specifications. The main aim of this comparison is to find out whether OnePlus 3 can outgun Google’s Pixel XL coming in at almost half the price.
Design and Display
In terms of the design, OnePlus 3T is identical to OnePlus 3 and comes with a metallic uni-body design which clearly indicates how fast the company is growing. The phone is much thinner due to which we have a not so appealing camera hump. Upfront, there is a 5.5 inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) Optic-AMOLED display which is extremely vibrant and pleasing to eyes. However, it does struggle in terms of brightness. There is also an alert slider on the left hand side with three modes – Silent, Priority and Normal.
On the other hand, Google Pixel XL comes with a unique design combination of full metal uni-body with a glass plate at the back surrounding the fingerprint scanner and camera. There is no camera hump as well on the Pixel XL. Regarding the display, Pixel XL comes with a 5.5 inch AMOLED Display with Quad HD resolution. 
In terms of the design, we would pick Pixel XL mainly because it doesn’t come with the camera bump and also comes with a higher Resolution display.
Processor and Memory
Underneath the hood, both the devices share the same processor. OnePlus 3T comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor clocked at 2.35 GHz coupled with Adreno 530 GPU and 6 GB of RAM. It comes with two options 64 GB and 128 GB internal storage which is non-expandable. On the other hand, Pixel XL also comes with Snapdragon 821 processor clocked at 2.15 GHz combined with Adreno 530 GPU and 4GB RAM for multi-tasking. It comes with two storage options – 32 GB and 128 GB. OnePlus 3T still comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box and Google Pixel XL, as we know, comes with Android 7.1 Nougat with guaranteed future Android updates. Google has also integrated Google Assistant in Pixel XL which can come in really handy and is a lot more functional and easy to access than Google Now.
Camera
Now for the camera, OnePlus 3T features a 16 Megapixel rear-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture, OIS, and LED flash. The rear camera lens also comes with Sapphire glass protection. Further, the front camera witnessed a huge upgrade from 8 megapixels on OnePlus 3 to 16 megapixels in OnePlus 3T.
On the other hand, Google Pixel XL features a 12.3 MP rear facing camera with 1.55 micron pixels size and f/2.0 aperture. At the front there is an 8 megapixel shooter with f/2.4 aperture. Google boasted that both Pixel and Pixel XL received a DxO Mark rating of 89 which is highest in any smartphone up till now. Check out the camera samples here.
Well, in terms of camera performance, Google Pixel XL’s primary camera will be a better choice. The front camera, however, needs to be tested for OnePlus 3T while Google Pixel XL’s front camera is a solid selfie camera.
Battery and Connectivity
With the OnePlus 3T, both the smartphones go head to head in terms of battery as well. While Pixel XL comes with a 3450 mAh battery, OnePlus 3T comes with a 3400 mAh battery. Battery life on both the smartphones will be similar even though OnePlus 3T comes with a 1080p display because OnePlus 3T’s processor is clocked at 2.35 GHz and Google Pixel XL’s processor is clocked at 2.15 GHz.
Connectivity options include, built in WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC and USB Type-C for charging and data transferring. Note that OnePlus 3T’s Dash charging technology is much faster than Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. Speaker output on the both the smartphones is average and both the smartphones feature a fairly quick fingerprint scanner.
Wrapping up
Now for the verdict. Google Pixel XL is touted to be the best Android smartphone from critics around the world. But, it comes with a condition of no focus on ‘Value for Money’. If Value for Money comes into consideration then OnePlus 3T surely wins here. Don’t get us wrong, even if we don’t consider the price, OnePlus 3T is one of the strongest Android competitors to Pixel XL. All in all, if we had an option to choose, we would go for OnePlus 3T for its sheer value for money and equally high performance. However, the new OnePlus 3T is not yet available so we ask you wait just for a bit before you opt for Google Pixel XL.