UPDATE 10/24: Sources tell us that the OnePlus 6T phone passed Verizon's certification labs, meaning the unlocked device will be the first OnePlus phone to run on the US's largest wireless carrier.

Original Story:

Take this with a grain of salt, but according to multiple different industry sources I've talked to recently, the upcoming OnePlus 6T may be the first OnePlus phone to work on the Verizon network.

Cult smartphone maker OnePlus gets great reviews, but it hasn't broken into the US mainstream yet because of a lack of carrier relationships. We've already heard that the company is working to try to get the phone sold by T-Mobile, which would be a match made in heaven, brand-wise. Getting into T-Mobile stores, with monthly payment plans, would finally expose OnePlus to the vast majority of Americans who buy their phones through their carriers.

But OnePlus will still sell a model of its phone direct, carrier-free, and unlocked, and making that phone work on Verizon would give the company much greater flexibility. Until now, OnePlus phones have only run on the AT&T and T-Mobile networks.

Is It Certified?

Verizon couldn't accept many unlocked phones for years because it used the 2G CDMA radio system, which doesn't work with most unlocked devices. But the company has started accepting LTE-only phones such as the Asus ZenFone V, which don't have CDMA. The OnePlus 6T would probably be an LTE-only phone on Verizon. Verizon's LTE coverage now exceeds its old CDMA coverage, and its LTE voice quality is much better than CDMA voice quality, so nothing's really lost.

My sources say that the 6T will have LTE Band 13, which is critical for good Verizon compatibility. The question is whether the phone will be properly certified; from what I hear, Verizon's labs are still working on this.

Twice now, we've seen manufacturers claim that their phones were Verizon-compatible, only to have them run into configuration roadblocks. Both the HTC One A9 and the ZTE Axon 7 were initially Verizon compatible on paper, but HTC withdrew support for Verizon's network, and the ZTE phone became wildly unreliable when Verizon pushed various software updates through its system.

The upcoming OnePlus 6T, launching on Oct. 30, will have a bunch of changes from the existing OnePlus 6. OnePlus is getting rid of the headphone jack, and including an under-display fingerprint sensor. Rumors say the phone's price may be getting a hike, too. If you're curious about more OnePlus 6T features, 9to5Google has a perfectly good rumor roundup.

In the US, wider carrier availability will probably be the most meaningful change for this phone. OnePlus products generally get good reviews, but with 85-88 percent of US phones sold on carrier shelves, it has to get carrier promotion to become a major player. If the T-Mobile deal goes through, that'll really help.

But there's also a growing lack of high-quality, mid-priced phone options at Verizon as flagship phones get more and more expensive. The LG G7 and iPhone XR are both about $750, and the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Google Pixel 3 are $799. Other flagships are even more expensive. Then there's a big gap in current models before dropping to the $480 Moto Z3. If OnePlus manages to fit neatly in there, it'll be a great option for Verizon users looking for a replacement phone.

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