One Plus 8Pro Review
One Plus 8Pro Review
You’ve also got stereo speakers in this device, with the earpiece in the front acting as the second speaker. On the bottom, you’ll find a USB-C port, speaker, and SIM card tray, which does not support microSD cards. On the left, you’ll find the volume rocker, and on the right, you’ll find the power button and signature OnePlus notification slider.
The stereo speakers get fairly loud and don’t sound distorted at high volumes. They tend to lack low-end punch, but that is common for smartphones.
I’m personally a fan of this design. I like narrower phones, and this iteration feels like it cleans up all the things a lot of people didn’t like about the OnePlus 7 Pro. Palm rejection still seems to be an issue here though, and I often found the phone scrolling up or down just because my finger was lightly touching the edge display while holding it.
There are subtle differences that make the OnePlus 8 series feel more refined and modern than the 7T Pro.
OnePlus has finally added IP68 water and dust resistance, long after its competitors did. You’ll pay for the upgrade, though, as the company inferred the certification added roughly a decent amount of cash per unit. The smaller OnePlus 8 has an IP68 certification, but only if you buy it through carriers. It doesn’t have one if you buy it through OnePlus itself. We reached out for comment and got this response.
The OnePlus 8 in our wireless provider channels have an IP rating due to their guidelines and preference. However, all OnePlus 8 Series phones globally are tested thoroughly for everyday water resistance even if they don’t have an official rating.
The OnePlus 8 Pro is
the company’s most “pro” device yet. It delivers on features and specs that can
finally trade punches against the best from Samsung and others. Normally,
you’re forced to compromise a bit when you buy a OnePlus device in exchange for
cost. With the 8 Pro, OnePlus has flipped the script and gone all-in on
features — even if it increased the price to true flagship levels.
Read more: OnePlus 8
and OnePlus 8 Pro specs explained
Alongside the expected
Snapdragon 865 processor, you get either 8 or 12GB of RAM and fast UFS 3.0 storage. The
high-end specs in this device lead to very good performance, essentially
matching the Oppo Find X2 Pro in benchmarks.
The only performance
issue I noticed while using the device was jitter in multitasking. Everything
else about the phone feels fluid, but switching between apps is a bit choppy. I
hope this is addressed in a future
update.
And of course, both
the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro have 5G, thanks to the X55 modem paired with
the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The unlocked models will come with low-band and
mid-band 5G support, but you’ll have to buy a special model if you want mm Wave.
Verizon is currently the only carrier in the US to offer mm Wave, though, and
it’s only selling the One Plus 8, not the Pro. The mm Wave One Plus 8 will also
cost you an additional $100 at Verizon.
The One Plus 8 Pro is
the company's most 'pro' device yet.
I have low-band 5G at
my apartment through Google Fi, and speeds are fine, but nothing to write home
about. The point of low-band 5G is really to reduce the load on 4G networks,
which should give more consistent service.
While I don’t
recommend demanding 5G on your next phone, most devices running the Qualcomm
865 will feature it, since the chipset requires the X55 modem. This pricey chip
combo is another factor that adds to the 8 series’ higher price tag.
The OnePlus 8 Pro ships with a fairly large cell, only bested by a couple of devices such as the LG V60, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, and Asus ROG Phone II. In my testing, that battery put in work, and I got about a day and a half’s use from the device. I typically unplugged it at 10am and didn’t see it die until 6pm the next day. I did a test for a full day on WiFi and a full day on data, since being stuck inside is likely impacting my numbers. On data, the phone got slightly less battery life, dying in about 1.25 days versus 1.5 days.
This is great for a OnePlus phone, since the OnePlus 7T had fairly weak battery life. It’s nice to see a OnePlus device prioritize battery life.
For clarity, I tested the OnePlus 8 Pro in its stock configuration, which was set to 120Hz Full HD+ mode. Again, you can force 120Hz Quad HD+ mode, but I like to review phones how they come out of the box.
OnePlus includes its OnePlus 30T charger in the box, which the company says will charge the phone to 50% in 23 minutes. This is one of the fastest charging options you’ll find in the US. Phones such as the Huawei P40 Pro, Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, and Oppo Find X2 Pro best the OnePlus at 40W, 50W, and 65W, respectively, though these phones aren’t sold in the U.S.
OnePlus also made the wireless charging experience on the OnePlus 8 Pro far better than almost any other device you’ll find in the West. The new Warp Charge 30 Wireless charger ($69.95) can charge the OnePlus 8 Pro t0 50% in 30 minutes, says the company. In our testing the device exceeded that, charging to 58% in 30 minutes. To do this, OnePlus had to stick a fairly large fan on the back of the charger. It is certainly audible in a quiet room if you’re listening for it, but it’s quite soft. OnePlus included a bedtime mode that will drop the wattage from the charger to allow the fan to turn off.
30W is wildly fast for wireless charging (at least in the US).
Reverse wireless charging is also available, though it is quite slow. At 3W, it’s one of the slowest options out there, and would only really be useful for charging things like true wireless Bluetooth earbuds, which Samsung, not OnePlus, currently sells. For context, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus can reverse wireless charge at 9W.
OnePlus added a new camera to the 8 Pro called the Color Filter camera. This is a 5MP shooter that uses a special filter to allow the phone to see different spectrums of light. From my testing, I noticed that it can differentiate between materials. For example, the lens caps of my lenses are plastic while the body is metal, and the 8 Pro’s camera separated them into black and sepia components. Meanwhile, my hand is turned white.
From the other examples above, you can see that the plastic on the speaker turned black while the mesh turned sepia. Meanwhile, the wood on the table and floor turned white.
I’ve reached out to OnePlus for clarity on what exactly is happening here, and received this response:
Right now our three cameras have covered most of the focal lengths used by users on a daily basis, so we hope to explore more possibilities for mobile phone photography.
Inspired by the unique color tones used by professional photographers, OnePlus innovatively uses a filter lens on the fourth camera, which processes light differently to generate a surreal image with a unique color tone.
The customized filter transforms the light passing through to an unusual and unique spectrum for the sensor to collect. And the data collected is then processed to generate images that appear rather surreal.
While this feature is interesting, to say the least, it perplexes me that OnePlus would add custom hardware for a single filter, which surely increased the overall cost of the device. I’m going to try to learn more about this filter in the days after launch, so stay tuned for more information.
My colleague Robert Triggs wrote more about this filter here if you’re interested.
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.
The OnePlus 8 will be 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.
Read next: Full details on the OnePlus 8 Pro’s price and availability
OnePlus 8 Pro Killer flagship
OnePlus is all grown up. With the OnePlus 8 Pro, you get an unabashed flagship, with all the bells and whistles. Powerful specs, an amazing display, fast wireless charging, and water resistance make the OnePlus 8 Pro a great alternative to the Galaxy S20 Plus, and it's up to $300 cheaper.
OnePlus 8 Snapdragon 865 on the cheap
The OnePlus 8 sticks to the formula that has made OnePlus so successful. It gets you the latest processing package, a versatile camera, and a beautiful display, running the smooth Oxygen OS. You miss out on wireless charging and the official IP rating, but for what it offers the OnePlus 8 is an attractive deal.
We’re still in the process of reviewing the OnePlus 8, but until then, check out the video above which covers both devices.
What do you think of the OnePlus 8 Pro? Are the upgrades worth the price shift?
Comments
Post a Comment