OnePlus 8 Pro: Is it the best Flagship phone?
Introduction
Up to this point, OnePlus has climbed its way up from the high-end price range smartphone to the fully-fledged flagship. The company once referred to as its smartphone the "Flagship Killer", and the OnePlus eight Pro has turn out to be the very aspect that the company firstly aimed to dethrone.
Surely, the smartphone world has been modified over the past few years. There are now so many contenders in the sub-$500 and sub-$400 fee that the company has shifted its focal point to creating a greater prestigious company name. With this iteration, the company has presented itself with an all new all-CAPS "ONEPLUS" typeface and tweaked "1+" logo.
- Body: 165.3 x 74.35 x 8.5 mm; 199g; metal frame; "3D Corning" Gorilla Glass 5 back
- Screen: 6.78" 120Hz Fluid AMOLED display: QHD+ (3168 x 1440 px) ~513 ppi; 1.07 billion colors; 19.8:9 aspect ratio; protected by "3D Corning" Gorilla Glass
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 (Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 Gold & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver) + X55 5G modem; Adreno 650 GPU; X55 5G modem
- Memory: 8GB or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM; 128GB or 256GB non-expandable UFS 3.0 storage
- OS/Software: Oxygen OS 10.5 based on Android 10
- Rear camera: Quad-camera setup; Wide (main): Sony IMX689 48MP sensor, 1.12 µm pixels, OIS, EIS, f/1.78 aperture, all-pixel omnidirectional autofocus; Ultrawide: 48MP IMX586, f/2.2 aperture, 0.8 µm pixels, 119.7-degree field-of-view, Autofocus; Telephoto: 8MP sensor, f/2.44 aperture, 1.0 µm pixels, OIS; Color Filter camera: 5MP sensor with f/2.4 aperture
- Front camera: 16MP Sony IMX471 (same as 7 Pro/7T Pro), fixed focus, 1.0 µm pixels, f/2.45
- Battery: 4510 mAh, Warp Charge 30T, Warp Charge 30 Wireless, reverse wireless charging
- Misc: Dual, stereo speakers; Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1; Dual nanoSIM support; optical in-display fingerprint scanner; physical notification switch;
That high-end display panel is of the 120Hz range - and it is a panel made by Samsung. OnePlus is promising near-perfect coloration accuracy, over 1 billion colors, and the brightest output of any display it has ever put in a smartphone. The smoothness of the still-higher refresh rate display is the company's way of staying ahead of the trends - which should be an advantage in markets like the US where the company has a presence.
There's a new camera system with the notable large Sony IMX 689 sensor at the back of the quad-camera's main lens. The ultrawide camera gets a large sensor as well, however the telephoto camera stays quite much the identical as the OnePlus 7T. OnePlus has a new "Color filter camera" whose long-term usefulness stays to be seen.
Starting at $899, the OnePlus 8 Pro is undoubtedly one of OnePlus’ most expensive devices to date. Adding features such as the class-leading Snapdragon 865 processor with X55 modem, 30W wireless charging, official IP68 certification, and a high-quality 120Hz display only pushed the price tag upward. OnePlus needed to supercharge the OnePlus 8 Pro’s specs to differentiate it from the lower-cost OnePlus 8, and it has done just that.
Certainly, there will be users who are upset that OnePlus has shifted its mantra from “flagship killer” to “fast and smooth.” More importantly, some may miss the days when you could score a high-end OnePlus phone for half the cost of competitors.
If you compare OnePlus’ latest to the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, which starts at $1,199, the OnePlus 8 Pro is a great deal at $300 less. Compared to the S20 Plus, you’re missing an optical telephoto lens and faster reverse wireless charging, but you’re gaining faster wired and wireless charging, different cameras, a notification switch, and some other tidbits.
The LG V60 is another device that’s surprised us this year, and has similar core specs for even less – $800. If you get it with the dual-display, it’s about the same price at $900.
If there’s no way you would consider spending $900 for the OnePlus 8 Pro or $700 for the standard model, the OnePlus 7T is still a fantastic device. That phone offers a great 90Hz OLED display, a versatile camera system and more, and is now on sale for $499. That’s a great deal.
Alternatively, if you live in the right region, the OnePlus Nord is a great pickup. It offers a great 90Hz display and OnePlus’ famous Oxygen OS, and starts at just £379.
The OnePlus 8 is available at T-Mobile, Verizon, Amazon.com, and OnePlus.com, starting at $699. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 8 Pro can be found on Amazon and OnePlus.com starting at $899. If you buy the OnePlus 8 from Verizon, it will contain bands for mmWave 5G, but it will cost $100 more, starting at $799.
