Today is OnePlus 5T launch day. The $500 phone with high-end specs and a slim bezel design is up for sale on the OnePlus website, where the current ship time is seven days.

The release also makes it the end of the line for the OnePlus 5T's predecessor, the OnePlus 5. Just like with the OnePlus 3 to 3T transition, the release of a new OnePlus phone means the death of the old one. The OnePlus 5 and 5T are pretty similar, as the name would suggest, but the OnePlus 5T has a new front with a taller screen and on-screen buttons, a new rear fingerprint reader, and a new camera setup. It gets a $20 price bump.

If you're in the market for an Android phone and don't want to pay top dollar for a Pixel 2 XL, the OnePlus 5T is a solid choice. It's not just OnePlus' usual high-end specs for a low price; this year, it also has a modern, high-end design that can hold its own with the $800 flagships out there. The 5T is also made of metal, which, along with the Pixel 2, makes it one of the rare flagships that isn't totally made of glass. You do make some tradeoffs: there's no waterproofing, OnePlus' support isn't great, and there's no wireless charging.

OnePlus' shaky support is probably the phone's biggest downside. Today, the company more or less confirmed its shaky support policies will continue in an AMA on its forums . When asked if the OnePlus 5T's upcoming Android 8.0 Oreo upgrade would come with Treble support, the company gave a firm "no."

In Android 8.0, Google's "Project Treble" is an attempt to make Android upgrades easier by modularizing the OS away from the base hardware. Treble standardizes the interface between the OS and the hardware, allowing the OS to be updated without touching the proprietary bits from hardware vendors. With a Treble device, you should be able to download Android from Google's source repository, compile it, and have it run on a Treble device. This is expected to seriously help out the custom ROM community since the standardization would remove a lot of work ROM developers normally have to do.

Treble support is mandatory for devices that ship with Oreo, which is probably why you still don't see devices ship with Oreo. But for upgrading devices like the OnePlus 5T, that support is optional. While some upgrading OEMs are choosing to enable Treble support, OnePlus isn't. Even though the company is shipping a near-flagship product for way below flagship prices, the support is still something that isn't at flagship levels. For a $300 discount, though, dismissing a few flaws is easy.