OnePlus 3T to Go on Sale via OnePlus Store in India From Friday

OnePlus has announced that its most recent flagship, OnePlus 3T (Review), will now be available on its own OnePlus Store. The smatphone, which went on sale in India in December, has so far been exclusively available to buy via Amazon India. Now, the device will be available via the company’s own site from Friday, March 10, and the company is throwing in a free Protective Case along with each purchase.

The site lists both the 64GB and 128GB variants of the OnePlus 3T, priced at Rs. 29,999 and Rs. 34,999, respectively. Both Gunmetal and Soft Gold colours are being offered for the 64GB while the 128GB variant only comes in Gunmetal. The site also offer a one year damage protection plan for Rs. 1,899 which will cover accidental damage like drops and cracks as well as complimentary pick up and drop service.

OnePlus had launched in its own online store in India back in October, however, since then, it has only been selling accessories on it. At the time, the company had said it had no plans to sell smartphones via its own site in India - however, it looks like that plan has changed. Notably, OnePlus in most other regions across the world sells its smartphones via its own site - OnePlus.net. India is one of the few countries where the Chinese smartphone maker has a tie-up with a retailer like Amazon.

To recall, the OnePlus 3T features an anodised aluminium metal unibody design with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button. The dual-SIM (Nano-SIM) device sports a 5.5-inch (1080x1920 pixels) Optic AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on top. The handset runs OxygenOS-based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC (with two 1.6GHz Kyro cores and two 2.35GHz Kryo cores) coupled with 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM.

Connectivity options for the OnePlus 3T include 4G LTE (with support for India's LTE bands), Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, USB 2.0 Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, and GPS/ A-GPS. The device packs 3400mAh battery and supports the company's Dash Charge (5V 4A) fast-charging technology. It measures 152.7x74.7x7.35mm and weighs 158 grams.

Separately, OnePlus is also holding a “Best Smartphone Contest” with a Rs. 1 crore cash prize. The details of the contest are mentioned on the company’s Indian website. Those who wish to enter the contest need to accumulate points based on weekly challenges after which a lucky draw will choose winners who will play the final round with Amitabh Bachchan. The actor promoted the contest in an ad that was posted on Wednesday.