OnePlus finally unveiled its highly anticipated affordable flagship OnePlus 10T in July. In many ways, the OnePlus 10T is better than the company's top-of-the-line flagship OnePlus 10 Pro. For one, the phone packs the latest Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset with up to 16GB of RAM, a step up from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 inside the Pro model. The OnePlus 10T also boasts a much faster-charging speed at 150W compared to the OnePlus 10 Pro, which tops out at 80W. But at the same time, the OnePlus 10T also misses out on a fan favorite feature that has been part of OnePlus flagships for years.

The new OnePlus 10T doesn't feature an Alert Slider, making it the first OnePlus flagship not to include the dedicated silent/ring switch. Alert Slider was introduced with the OnePlus 2, and it has appeared on all OnePlus flagships launched since then, including the OnePlus 7, OnePlus 8, OnePlus 9 series, and OnePlus 10 Pro. But that tradition seemingly ends with the OnePlus 10T. OnePlus did give their reasoning for removing the Alert Slider, stating that the switch takes up quite a bit more space inside the phone than you would think. In exchange for Alert Slider, the company was able to fit a slightly larger battery. The lack of Alert Slider is unlikely to be a deal breaker for most people, but definitely disappointing news if you're a OnePlus fan. It also begs the question: Why take away something that gives your product its unique identity and personality?

For the uninitiated, Alert Slider is a physical switch located above the power button that lets OnePlus users quickly put the phone to mute, vibrate or ring mode without having to wake up or unlock the phone. On most Android phones switching on mute or vibrate mode usually requires pulling down the notification shade or digging into the phone settings.

Although OnePlus fans might be sad to see the Alert Slider go, the company isn't saying goodbye to the signature toggle permanently. OnePlus says it's not planning to drop Alert Slider from all future OnePlus phones, and that its R&D team is working to "overcome this technical design challenge."

If you're planning to purchase OnePlus' latest affordable flagship, be sure to check out the best OnePlus 10T deals to save money. We have also rounded up the best OnePlus 10T cases.