OnePlus 5T Won't Work With Verizon, Sprint; OnePlus 5 To Be Discontinued

The OnePlus 5T will be available in the United States and other markets worldwide starting today. However, it looks like the new Android smartphone won’t be compatible with Verizon and Sprint in the U.S.

The new OnePlus 5T is compatible with some of Verizon and Sprint’s LTE bands, but the device isn’t approved by those carriers, as pointed out by Phone Arena. This means that even though the handset itself is compatible or supports those carrier’s frequencies, it still needs approval from those carriers in order to work.

“Even if our device supports some or all of the required frequencies for this carrier, it will still not be able to connect unless the device is approved for this network,” a OnePlus support staff member explained in the OnePlus forums.

All of OnePlus’s smartphones are sold online unlocked in the U.S., meaning that the OnePlus 5T will fully work with AT&T (including Cricket Wireless) and T-Mobile (including MetroPCS). U.S. Cellular, iWireless, CSpire, ClearTalk, Mosaic Telecom, Next-Tech Wireless, Nortex (SkyFy and Redzone Wireless are also fully supported by the OnePlus 5T.

So why is OnePlus not supported by Verizon and Sprint? The simplest explanation here is that the Chinese phone maker is not interested in building devices that work for both of these networks. OnePlus would have to pull in more resources just to build devices that support Verizon and Sprint’s CDMA standard.

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said that the verification process for Verizon is also difficult to pass and OnePlus doesn’t have the bandwidth for the carrier. If OnePlus decided to support Verizon and T-Mobile, the company would be forced to raise the prices of its phones, which is something the company isn’t keen on doing, according to CNET.

Although OnePlus seems to be pushing away from two of the most popular networks in the U.S., Lau understands the importance of U.S. carriers. He hopes that the popularity of OnePlus would someday convince these carriers to seek them out. When asked if OnePlus is interested in a partnership with carriers in the future, Lau said that “it’s not out of the question.”

The OnePlus 5T has received mostly positive reviews from critics. The biggest change in the OnePlus 5T is that it comes with a 6-inch AMOLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It’s the first OnePlus smartphone to feature very thin bezels which is seen as a huge step up from the OnePlus 5. Speaking of the OnePlus 5, OnePlus has confirmed that it will be discontinuing the handset once stock runs out. This is part of the company’s plan to make sure that the OnePlus 5T will be its only handset that will compete with other current flagship smartphones.

“As a brand we want to make sure there is one device which is the latest, and the previous devices are usually sold out once the new product launches,” OnePlus India’s general manager Vikas Aggarwal told The Indian Express. “As a company which focuses on premium segment, we need to make sure our phones compete with the current available flagships in the market. The OnePlus 5T will do just that.”