Google Assistant lands on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T

After a period of exclusivity to the Pixel and Pixel XL, Google Assistant is now heading to a wide range of Android handsets, and the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T are among the first to get it.

The official OnePlus Twitter account tweeted that Google Assistant is now available on both handsets, so you should be able to launch it just with a long press of the home button. It’s not clear whether it’s arrived on all OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T handsets yet - if you don’t have it yet, you probably will soon.

Assistant is a smart improvement to the existing Google Now and Now on Tap services, which, among other things, lets you control your smart home by speaking to your phone.

Conversational and coming soon

Google Assistant is also designed to be more conversational than previous versions of the AI, making it more intuitive and enjoyable to use.

If you don’t have a OnePlus 3T or 3, don’t worry, because Google Assistant is also heading to other ‘eligible devices’ running Android Marshmallow or Android Nougat.

We’re not sure what classes as an eligible device, but we’d expect to see the update on most remotely high-profile handsets from the last couple of years, so keep an eye out for it on a phone near you.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.