The OnePlus 13T is getting a new shortcut key, and we already know how it’ll work

OnePlus is perfectly capable of dreaming up some pretty impressive features — Open Canvas remains my favorite multitasking method on mobile — but that doesn’t mean we haven’t seen the brand pull inspiration from its rivals. After implementing its own take on Apple’s Dynamic Island with OxygenOS 15, the company confirmed it also planned to kill off its Alert Slider in lieu of an Action button-esque shortcut key. With the OnePlus 13T on the horizon, we might not need to wait all that long to see it in action.

OnePlus China president Louis Lee has been on a social media tear lately, using Weibo posts to promote the upcoming OnePlus 13T ahead of its rumored launch this month. In his most recent teaser, Lee confirmed the 13T will not sport the Alert Slider usually seen along the left side of practically every OnePlus flagship. Instead, the company’s next smartphone will feature the shortcut key first unveiled in March, with the regular OnePlus 13 seemingly serving as the final device to keep the old-school slider (via GSMArena).

Obviously, Lee’s Weibo post has been automatically translated to English using Chrome’s built-in translator, but his post still shines some detail on what to expect from the first “small” OnePlus phone in ages:

In addition, the OnePlus 13T has been upgraded with a new shortcut key. In addition to supporting silent/vibration/ringing switching, a new custom function has been added to facilitate everyone to easily switch between options in a series of operations, which is very practical. We have also incorporated a very interesting function into this button, which will be introduced to you in detail later.

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But we’ll have to wait and see

Alongside today’s confirmation is the above render, seemingly delivering our first actual look at the OnePlus 13T. It’s a boxier design than what we saw on the regular OnePlus 13 earlier this year, more in line with the cheaper OnePlus 13R. Lee’s social media post teases a device with a “small straight screen,” so it sounds like the minimal curves seen on the brand’s current flagship won’t make a return on this T-series entry.

Lee’s post really just confirms what we’ve been expecting since last month’s announcement: This is the OnePlus take on Apple’s Action button. It’s capable of mirroring the sound settings of the alert slider it’s replacing, while also adding custom functions. It does sound like OnePlus will allow for more than one action to be assigned to this button, though — a far cry from Apple’s one-and-done method. Lee’s post also ends with a teaser of a mysterious “interesting function” to be detailed at a later date, and frankly, I’m dying to know what that could be.

All told, I can’t say I’m sad to see the Alert Slider getting replaced. Not only have I been asking for more shortcut buttons on Android phones for ages — something that never should’ve went away, if you ask me — but the OnePlus Alert Slider in particular was often pretty annoying. While the iPhone’s mute switch toggled left and right, the OnePlus variant moved up and down, which, in my experience, caused it to occasionally catch on my pocket and unmute the device. Plus, my phone is almost always on silent or vibrate, which meant its intended purpose didn’t do much for me anyway.

A shortcut button like this could make an actual difference in how I use the phone, especially depending on how it syncs with OxygenOS. The latest word on a release window for the OnePlus 13T is “late April,” so hopefully, we won’t have to wait too much longer to learn everything about this new, smaller device. Either way, expect plenty of more social media teases from Lee in the coming weeks.