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In terms of design, it’s the same story as OnePlus’ previous flagships. Why change a winning concept too? It is a glass box with arched edges at both the front and rear with a solid aluminum frame that keeps the unit stable. The curved edges make the phone feel less in your hand than it really is and is generally comfortable to hold. There were no major changes compared to last year’s OnePlus phones and if you liked these then you will like the design of the 8 Pro. I was expecting more design changes in the 8 series but it is just for me to like the situation. Hopefully there will be a bit more jogging at the end of the season on the design front this fall or next year.
That being said, there is a slight problem on the back. Namely the camera bump. The camera module protrudes closer than two millimeters at the back and has fairly sharp edges, which becomes more obvious since the rest of the phone has the right smooth and lovely edges. It is not a deciding factor, but it can be a minor annoyance. Especially if you skip the use of projectiles, which causes the phone to wobble slightly if it’s on the back of a table. That said, it is not as bad as it was on the S20 Ultra. In OnePlus 8 Pro, the camera is significantly better positioned and is simply a much smaller problem than the bump on the S20 Ultra.
It’s not as bad as the S20 Ultra, but it’s not the best.
In normal order, the phone is equipped with various buttons and a control. On the left side we have a volume control that allows you to adjust the volume and on the right side there is a power button. Above the power button we find one of the best features of OnePlus phones, namely the slider for the different sound modes. It is still possible to switch between normal sound mode, vibration and silent mode by dragging the slider between the three different modes. We still love the slider and hope that more mobile device manufacturers are disabling the feature. Changing the ring volume with the volume control doesn’t really look like 2020.
If we continue with the external review, we find stereo speakers, USB-C for charging and sound, as well as a massive 6.78-inch screen with a small hole in the upper left corner of the selfie camera. Gone is the mechanical camera like last year’s OnePlus Pro units, which is a bit boring. It was a really cool thing and for people who had no use for the selfie camera, it felt like a pretty nice compromise. However, with OnePlus 8 Pro, we get a few other good things, like a bigger battery and an official IP rating, so it still feels good that the mechanical camera disappeared.
OnePlus 8 Pro, and even regular 8, is equipped with high-end hardware that can handle pretty much anything you want it to do. The phone comes with Snapdragon 865 with 5G X55 modem, 12GB LPDDR5 frame, 256GB UFS 3.0 storage, and 4510mAh battery. The powerful hardware delivers really good benchmark results and the phone scores around 580,000 points in Antutu, 887/3184 in GeekBench 5 and in 3DMark, the score is 7008 with OpenGL ES 3.1 and 6369 points with Vulkan. For comparison, OnePlus 7T with Snapragon 855 Plus got these results: Antutu: 474276, Geekbench: 733/2565, 3dMark: 6110/5432. A real difference, simply.
Even during heavy gaming sessions, the phone maintains relatively low temperatures.
Benchmark tests were conducted multiple times to see if there were differences if the temperature in the 8 Pro affected the result and the 8 Pro delivered consistently high results. To put the result into some kind of useful perspective, you won’t experience any forwarding rate reduction when you call Call of Duty: Mobile or Fortnite on your mobile for long periods.
The screen is, as I said, 6.78 inches and has an aspect ratio of 19.8: 9 and a maximum resolution of 3168 x 1440 pixels. It is the same AMOLED panel as before, but this time it has been adjusted faster with a refresh rate of 120Hz. A higher refresh rate is still the best thing that has happened to the mobile world since sliced bread and offers not only a truly enjoyable experience in regular use, i.e. navigating and navigating the interface, but also when playing. Games with 120Hz support feel significantly more responsive on 8 Pro compared to phones without higher refresh rates and greatly enhance the gaming experience.
Something I had appreciated with the quick panel is a little more choice. It is already possible to choose between 1080p and 1440p and run 120 or 60Hz, but it would have been nice to be able to choose 90Hz to reduce battery consumption and still have a high refresh rate. That said, the battery drain when running at full resolution and 120Hz is remarkable, but thanks to the Snapdragon 865 and large battery, we’ve still been able to use the phone for a day and a half between charges. And it’s still nice.
Speaking of charging, OnePlus 8 Pro has received a supplement that has been highly requested by many. Namely, wireless charging. The reason OnePlus was late on the ball is due to the fact that wireless charging hasn’t been as efficient as wired, but now wireless charging has started to catch up. With the new Warp Charge 30 Wireless you can charge the phone almost as fast as with a normal Warp Charge charger. 0-50 percent takes 30 minutes and for a full battery, the phone needs to be in the charger for about a little over an hour, which can be compared to 0-50 percent in 23 minutes and full in less than an hour with the usual Warp charge.
To achieve that charging speed, you need a dedicated Warp Charge 30 wireless charger that will cost around SEK 800, and it’s certainly a good accessory if you put your gloves on the new flagship. The phone also supports standard QI chargers. The phone also has reverse charge which allows it to charge other wireless devices and the output power is 5W.
In addition to offering a fast, high-resolution experience, the screen offers a generally good screen experience. Whether you’re watching movies, photos, or playing games, you’ll get really good color rendering, contrast, and high brightness of up to 1200nits, allowing you to use your phone outdoors in bright sunlight without a hitch.
A constant criticism of OnePlus devices is that the cameras do not have the same high level as the cameras of the higher models of Huawei and Samsung, but with the 8 Pro the company responds firmly. But unfortunately, it does not reach the high level that the competitors play. The phone is equipped with four sensors, of which the main sensor is 48MP with f / 1.78 and optical and electronic image stabilization, a 3x 8MP telephoto lens with optical image stabilization, a 48MP and f / 2.2 ultravid angle camera, and a 5MP color filter camera. The result is usually really impressive and there is no problem using the material on social media to share with loved ones.
When it comes to the camera app, there are a variety of features that users have access to. Among other things, macro plating that allows you to take detailed close-ups of Lego flowers or figures (Yes, quarantine allows for many interesting photo opportunities) or take really sharp high-resolution view images with the now-wide-angle camera You can take photos with an impressive 48MP. Nightscape mode has been greatly improved and you can easily take photos of elegant views at night. I am really impressed with how good the pictures were on the moon behind the clouds when we tested the unit. Then there is a pet mode that allows in-camera facial recognition to work on animals of different types, which is really good if you’ve had trouble catching your itch in the past.
Even if the camera doesn’t work on top, you still get a result that maintains a relatively uniform level. And in the right hands, the camera is definitely competent enough to deliver high-quality results, whether you’re shooting videos or recordings.
The independent parts of OnePlus 8 Pro are quite impressive in themselves, but without good software everything really fails, which we have seen with other phones from other manufacturers. Fortunately, OnePlus still offers the best Android software on the market by offering an interface that is a good balance between a pure Android experience with easy-to-use features and mod capabilities. The latest version of Oxygen OS 10 is, of course, no exception.
This time, the software is new, among other things, MEMC (Motion Estimation / Motion Compensation), which we have seen previously on televisions like Motion Smoothing. Technology can choose a 24fps video stream and mass add with new images to increase the frame rate to 120fps. This is completely useless when you watch movies and series as it all looks like soap docus but if you watch sports and eSports a lot on the phone it is a very good asset.
Then, a new dark mode was implemented, which is called Dark Theme 2.0. OnePlus has developed this from scratch and universal dark mode should now work with many more applications than before.
In addition to this, there is the possibility to use moving background images, different clocks on the home screen, other animations for the fingerprint reader, as well as the possibility to adjust the notification light on the edges of the screen and a series of other possibilities to put your own brand on the interface. For me, the OnePlus mod options are good enough, but if you want more, there are plenty of home screen apps that you can install.
To summarize, OnePlus has once again delivered a really sharp phone that is absolutely fantastic to use. The camera is the weakest point of the 8 Pro and doesn’t achieve the same results as the S20 Ultra or Huawei P40 Pro, but it still offers a camera experience that many will be happy with. On top of that, the phone offers very good battery life, and wireless fast charging is an incredibly wonderful companion, superior performance with Snapdragon 865, 120Hz panel that is a joy to use and play, as well as an interface that no one else does. in the Android market currently exceeds. It is simply a truly wonderful global experience.
The OnePlus 8 series will be pre-order today at OnePlus.com and will begin shipping on April 21.
In normal order, just type questions in the comment field if you are asked.
