We already know that OnePlus will be replacing its trademark Alert Slider with a button akin to Apple’s Action Button. Now we know just how soon that switchover will take place, with OnePlus confirming that the upcoming OnePlus 13T will be the first device to feature the new hardware.
The news comes directly from OnePlus China president Li Jie Louis over on Weibo. Li confirmed that the new “shortcut key” is coming to the OnePlus 13T, and posted a teaser image of the new button in action.
Funnily enough it looks like a button, with a similar size to the iPhone 16’s Action Button and a much smaller footprint than the alert slider.
Apparently the shortcut key will allow users to switch between sound profiles just like the alert slider — with silent, vibration and ringing options on offer. As we’ve heard before, the button will also offer some level of customization — just like the Action Button.
According to Li’s post (via machine translation) this feature has been added “to facilitate everyone to easily switch between options in a series of operations, which is very practical.”
He also promised that “a very interesting function” has been added to the button, which will be revealed later this year. However Li didn’t elaborate on what this might be.
No more curved displays?
Li also confirmed that the 13T will be coming with a "straight screen," meaning we’re not going to see the curved display that has been common on OnePlus flagships for many years. Apparently OnePlus surveyed users with smaller phone screens, and found that they prefer the curve-free design.
They’re certainly not the only ones. The fact that Chinese brands are the only phone makers that still offer curved phone screens should be proof enough of that. Hopefully this means we’ll start to see more flat phone screens from OnePlus in the future.
Though calling the OnePlus 13T a small screen phone is a bit disingenuous. While rumors promise a smaller screen than the 6.82-inch OnePlus 13, it’s still expected to be 6.3-inches in size.
That’s hardly on the same level as the likes of the iPhone 13 mini, which was almost an inch smaller at 5.4 inches. Good thing the OnePlus 13T wasn’t called the 13 mini, as was originally rumored.
We’ll just have to find out later this year, when the OnePlus 13T goes on sale.
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