OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro have been officially unveiled via an international online event today. Being one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2020, the handset features top of the line hardware, including the new Snapdragon 865 flagship processor, a capable camera setup at the back, and wireless charging.
OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro Pricing and availability detail
OnePlus has increased the pricing of the new OnePlus 8 series. The OnePlus 8 starts at $699 for the 8GB RAM and 128GB variant with the 12GB and 256GB model going for $799. As for the OnePlus 8 Pro, it starts at $899 for the 8GB + 128GB model and goes up to $999 for the 12GB + 256GB variant. This will be a significant increase in pricing as compared to its predecessors. But the presence of 5G, premium features such as a MEMC chip, 120Hz display, SD865, and even wireless charging has finally pushed the entire OnePlus 8 series out of the affordable price segment. In the US, the OnePlus 8 series will also be sold by Verizon for the first time. Open sales will kick off in North America from April 29. In Europe, pre-orders kick off today, and open sales start from April 21.
Design and display
The OnePlus 8 series doesn’t offer revolutionary changes in design. Last year, the OnePlus 7T had round-shaped camera housing with a flat display, and the Pro model had a curved screen with a pill-shaped camera. However, this year, both the models feature the same basic design, which includes a curved display and a centrally placed pill-shaped camera. What’s also similar is the punch-hole camera upfront. The company has increased the haze level of the 3D glass at the back to the highest level in the industry. The Matte Frosted glass is smooth to touch, and fingerprint resistant too, and OnePlus says it’s similar to the Silk White finish. We get the iconic alert slider on the right side above the power button, USB-C port at the bottom, but no headphone jack. While the OnePlus 8 is splash resistant, the OnePlus 8 Pro has IP68 certification. The standard OnePlus 8 features a triple camera setup at the back while the OnePlus 8 Pro comes with a quad-camera setup with Laser Autofocus too.
The display is one of the highlights of the new OnePlus 8 lineup. Last year, the OnePlus 7 Pro got A+ from DisplayMate, and unsurprisingly, the new OnePlus 8 series gets the same rating this year too. DisplayMate said that the OnePlus 8 Pro “sets or matches more than 10 Smartphone Display Performance Records in virtually all key categories for the best displays on the market, including color accuracy, image contrast, display brightness, and screen reflection, with four categories marked Visually Indistinguishable from Perfect.” The Pro model arrives with a Samsung-made 6.78-inch Fluid AMOLED display with 2K 3168 x 1440p resolution, 120Hz high screen refresh rate (with 240Hz touch sampling rate), and HDR10+ support. OnePlus 8 Pro also houses a new MEMC chip for upscaling video and gaming to a higher frame rate. The standard OnePlus 8 flaunts a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display with FHD+ 2400 x 1080p resolution, 90Hz screen refresh rate, 1100 nits peak brightness, and HDR10+. Both the phone’s AMOLED panels are rated JNCD 0.4, which means its extremely color accurate.
OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro processor
Both smartphones announced with the Snapdragon 865 flagship processor with Qualcomm’s X55 modem. This means both of them will have support for the new-age 5G network. Under the hood, both the phones should feature 128GB and 256GB UFS 3.0 ROM options. The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro have stereo speakers and Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 support with aptX audio. The phone also features a new haptic vibration 2.0 that’s better than its predecessor. Both phones run Android 10 out of the box, with the latest OxygenOS version and Dark Mode 2.0, which adds support for more apps.
Cameras
The OnePlus 8 Pro has two 48MP cameras plus a telephoto and an assistant module. The main cam uses the 1/1.4"-inch Sony IMX689 sensor with 1.12µm native pixels and 2.24µm binned pixels. It has omni-directional autofocus on all pixels. It can record 4K video at 60fps using the new Single Shot 3-HDR feature, which captures three exposures at once, greatly enhancing the dynamic range. The camera uses a mix of Optical and Electronic image stabilization. The other 48MP camera has a 120° ultrawide lens and also doubles as a macro camera taking snaps at 3cm distance. The third camera is an 8MP telephoto module. The sensor has 1.0µm pixels and sits behind a lens with f/2.44 aperture and OIS. The fourth module is an all-new Color Filter camera, which will help with the rendering of various color effects.
On the other hand, the OnePlus 8’s 48MP primary camera uses an older IMX586 sensor, meaning you lose the omni-directional AF. Also, the pixels are notably smaller at 0.8µm. Pixel binning is still supported, and there’s the OIS+EIS combo to help out. The 16MP ultra-wide camera (116°) gives up the macro duties, which are handled by a dedicated 2MP macro camera instead. There’s no telephoto camera; instead, the 48MP sensor natively supports 2x zoom via crop.
OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro Battery
Both the new OnePlus handsets increase the battery capacity this year. This is a much-needed upgrade given their support for 5G and higher refresh rate displays. The OnePlus 8 has a 4300mAh battery with 30W Warp Charge 30T fast charging. The OnePlus 8 Pro has a 4510mAh battery with 30W fast charging and 30W Warp Charge 30 Wireless. It can go from 3% to 55% in just 30 minutes of wireless charging. The phone will support 3W reverse wireless charging too.