OnePlus 6T shrinks the notch for added screen

After months of rumors, speculation and official statements, Chinese phone maker OnePlus finally unveiled its latest flagship -- the OnePlus 6T.

On the surface, the phone looks similar to its OnePlus 6 predecessor, which was only released five months ago in May. But there are important differences.

First, the 6T is the first widely available phone in the US to have an in-screen fingerprint reader. You can scan your fingerprint on the front of the display to unlock your lock screen. Meanwhile the phone retains its thin bezels all around since the sensor is embedded underneath the screen.

Because of the fingerprint-on-display, the 6T is also the first OnePlus phone to abandon the headphone jack.

If you don't already have a pair of wireless headphones, there's a dongle included in the box. OnePlus also sells USB Type-C wired earbuds.

The phone's notch is also smaller. It's now a less obtrusive "teardrop" shape instead of a black tab. If you still hate the notch though, you can blacken the sides for a more traditional look.

Running Google's latest Android 9.0 Pie out of the box, the OnePlus 6T incorporates many of Pie's updates including gesture navigation, adaptive battery and more options to tweak your phone's settings when it's in Do Not Disturb mode.

OnePlus also slightly improved the 6T's camera. Though all hardware specs remain the same, there's a new dedicated Night mode that supposedly captures better low-light pics. OnePlus claims the 6T also handles lighting better for people's portraits.

As a big-screen phone with a 6.41-inch display, the OnePlus 6T goes up against the Pixel 3 XL, Galaxy S9 Plus and iPhone XS Max.

Overall, the OnePlus 6T delivers notable new changes to the OnePlus line, while iterating on the already excellent OnePlus 6. If you're looking for an affordable, top-notch Android, consider the 6T. But if you already have the 6, don't feel the need to update -- especially if you want to hold onto your headphone jack.

Click through for more photos of the OnePlus 6T.