Introduction
Up to this point, OnePlus has climbed its way up from the high-end budget phone to the fully-fledged flagship. The brand once called its phone the "Flagship Killer", and the OnePlus 8 Pro has become the very thing that the company initially aimed to dethrone.
Surely, the smartphone landscape has changed over the past several years. There are now so many contenders in the sub-$500 and sub-$400 price that the company has shifted its focus to creating a more prestigious brand name. With this iteration, the company has presented itself with an updated all-CAPS "ONEPLUS" typeface and tweaked "1+" logo.
Now with the OnePlus 8 Pro, the company thinks it has what it takes to compete in the flagship category at the $1000 price mark. Well, technically - the OnePlus 8 Pro starts at $900. The OnePlus 7 Pro was a strong seller, but will OnePlus have just as much success in a higher price bracket?
The 8 Pro has an impressive spec sheet: high end CPU, 10-bit high-end AMOLED screen, Warp Charge 30T, and for the first time from OnePlus: support for wireless charging and even reverse-wireless charging for sharing juice with an accessory or a to give some juice to a friend.
OnePlus 8 Pro specs:
- 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; 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 is of the 120Hz variety - and it's a panel made by Samsung. OnePlus is promising near-perfect color 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 could be an advantage in markets like the US where the company has a presence.
There's a new camera system with the notable larger Sony IMX 689 sensor behind the quad-camera's main lens. The ultrawide camera gets a larger sensor as well, but the telephoto camera remains pretty much the same as the OnePlus 7T. OnePlus has a new "Color filter camera" whose long-term usefulness remains to be seen.
OnePlus has further refined its Android skin, Oxygen OS with new icons, and its revamped its UI's animations for the 120Hz experience. Oxygen OS offers a stock-Android like experience, close to that of a Google Pixel, and OnePlus is known for its speedy turnaround when it comes to firmware updates.
OnePlus is the only high-end Chinese brand available from three of the four major US carriers - and many American consumers might be clueless of the brand's existence in a market where Apple, Samsung, and Google are the most known (and most advertised) brands.
Unboxing
We always praise OnePlus for its packaging. The high-quality cardboard materials, and soft-touch red finish make a very good first impression. Our review unit doesn't have the new all-CAPS name on the side, but it does have the updated "1+" logo.
Taking the lid off the long red box, we're greeted by the OnePlus 8 Pro in Ultramarine Blue with a pre-installed factory screen protector. A notice on the plastic wrapper recommends using official OnePlus screen protectors for best compatibility of the in-display fingerprint scanner.
The cardboard cradle that holds the 8 Pro in place is also a box where the phone's documentation is held, along with a SIM tool, welcome letter, and quick start guide. The words "Never Settle" sit below the smartphone as you unbox it - reminding us of the company's long-time motto. Beneath this phone cradle is an included clear case to show off that deep blue color, and the Warp Charge 30T adapter and cable.
Now that we've seen what's inside the box, head to the next page where we'll spend some time talking about the phone's design, ergonomics, and build quality.
Deepest blue yet
OnePlus has previously offered blue colored smartphones. The 7 Pro's Nebula Blue was matte blue with indigo and black accents, the 7T's Glacier Blue was a little like Nebula Blue, without the black accents and an overall brighter blue color. The 8 Pro's Ultramarine blue is the purest and deepest, 'most cant-take-your-eyes-away' blue that we've ever seen on a smartphone.
We admit, we do miss the gradient color schemes that the 7 Pro and 7T's frames had, the 8 Pro's frame is simply blue all over, with matte, anodized metal finish.
The overall design of the 8 Pro is very similar to the 7 Pro's, it's about the same width, but certainly taller, and OnePlus managed to keep the same thickness, even with the added battery capacity and wireless charging hardware. The 8 Pro measures 165.3 x 74.35 x 8.5 mm. The protruding camera hump is much more apparent than the 7 Pro and 7T, though, due to the larger sensors used in the main and ultrawide cameras.
The corners of the frame and display have slightly smaller radii. Not only this, but the smaller radius of the curve glass on the display and the new ridge at the top of the phone give the OnePlus 8 Pro a less-curvy appearance and a bolder, somewhat boxier feel to it. Holding the phone is more comfortable now that the edges aren't as angular as on the 7 Pro.
The overall layout of the buttons and ports remains the same. On the right side is the power key and a physical alert slider (volume switch) right above it. Here's where we note that OnePlus has been including this hardware feature since the very first OnePlus One. The switch is smaller and feels satisfyingly clicker than ever when switching between silent, vibrate, and ring settings.
On the left side is the volume rocker, and you'll notice this new ridge that divots along the top edge of the phone. While this is a new design feature for OnePlus, its purely aesthetic. The in-call speaker is slit right at the top of the edge-to-edge screen, with a punch-hole cutout housing the 16MP selfie camera.
The dual nanoSIM tray pops out of the bottom of the phone to the left of the USB-C port. The down-firing speaker sees a slight change from speaker holes to dual-slotted speaker ports.
In the hand, the phone feels quite large. It's certainly a hefty piece of technology with a really nice screen-to-body ratio. The hole-punch camera eliminates the need for a pop-up selfie camera. We loved the pop-up on the 7 Pro, so it's a shame to see it go away. Still, the official immersion protection (IP) rating is a welcome addition.
Overall, the design of the OnePlus 8 Pro isn't anything drastically new. Although it's certainly familiar, it is also well refined from last year. The vertically stacked camera setup is now distinctly OnePlus.
The one downside to the design we could think of is the distortion of the display that occurs right at the edges of the curved glass, but it will be up to each person to decide whether its distracting enough to let it bother you.
With that, let's take a closer look at the display and battery life of the OnePlus 8 Pro.
Next-gen Fluid Display
The OnePlus 8 Pro's display makes a jump from the previous generation 90Hz screens to 120Hz, doubling the conventional refresh rate of 60Hz. While the first jump to 90Hz was a notable difference, the jump to 120Hz is a whole different game.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra also has a 120Hz display, but the 120Hz setting works with the 8 Pro's full resolution (the S20 Ultra is limited to FHD+). The 8 Pro has a QHD+ resolution spanning 3168x1440 pixels. OnePlus also claims a maximum brightness of 1,300 nits, which we certainly won't reach in our standardized brightness test, but we'll tweak it a bit to see if we can achieve the advertised number.
In our standardized brightness test - the one that we use to compare displays across devices - the OnePlus 8 Pro maxed out at 538 nits with the manual brightness slider, but when we tested its Automatic brightness in bright daylight, it reached 886 nits.
Not quite the 1,300 it advertised, but there's a reason why - the max brightness AMOLEDs areable to pimp out depends on the size of the test pattern on the screen. Our test pattern (in white) takes up 75% of the screen during measurement and we are consistent from phone to phone. Manufacturers however are free to choose their preferred testing methododlogy and it the case of OnePlus, we were really able to reach up to 1,180 nits, however this was with a much smaller test pattern.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 894 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 888 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 871 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 858 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 820 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 622 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 616 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 596 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 538 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 536 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 511 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 510 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 436 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 436 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 429 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 398 | ∞ | |
OnePlus is also advertising a highly color-accurate display. The screen is also compatible with HDR10+ and can add some saturation and colors to your viewing experience when watching supported apps.
In our tests, the OnePlus 8 Pro's default Vivid setting has slightly cooler whites and based on the DCI-P3 color space. This profile yielded an average deltaE of 3.1 and a maximum deltaE of 5.9. We found the Natural profile to be very color accurate: average deltaE of 2.5 and max deltaE of 4.1 in the sRGB space. Meanwhile, the Advanced DCI-P3 profile had an average detlaE of 2.5 and max of 4.3.
There are two features of the 8 Pro's display: "Vibrant Color effect Pro" and "Motion graphics smoothing". The latter is the first time a phone maker has ever implemented motion smoothing into a smartphone display. This feature will essentially make any 24fps (or above) video playback as if it were of a higher framerate by interpolating additional frames in between the original ones.
The use of motion smoothing is controversial in the film industry since directors and actors argue that watching TV shows or films with this feature alters the intended viewing experience originally envisioned by their creators. Motion smoothing has become a way for TV makers to sell higher refresh-rate TVs, even if the content being viewed on it isn't meant for it.
The actual MEMC feature works as advertised for the most part - it makes content in supported video apps appear smoother than their original frame rates. In practice, however, this isn't consistent. It really depends on whether you're watching cartoons, vlogs, or live-action TV shows with actors in the frame. We personally found it a little distracting when the motion smoothing drifted in and out between scenes.
Battery life
The OnePlus 8 Pro packs a 4,510 mAh battery inside. Considering the phone's larger display, we were hoping for a more significant battery upgrade. We were not, however, disappointed with the battery results.
For our battery tests of the 8 Pro, we have two resulting battery endurance scores. One for the phone's default 120Hz display setting - which, naturally, consumes more battery - and another for the conventional 60Hz setting. So, how did the OnePlus 8 Pro do? Not bad.
With the 120Hz mode, which remains at full resolution, the OnePlus 8 Pro yielded an endurance score of 82h. It managed a call time of 28:35h, and 10:03h of web browsing, which is a respectable time. Meanwhile, video playback was quite good at 14:49h.
Switching to the display's standard 60Hz setting gave us some higher numbers in video and web browsing times. There was a 91h endurance score in this mode, which confirms that you can pull some extra hours from the battery, but at the expense of the phone's most note-worthy feature - the 120Hz display.
This did manage to squeeze over two hours of both web browsing (12:28h) and video playback (16:58h) from the 8 Pro, so there's that.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the OnePlus 8 Pro for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
This does bring us to the point of fast charging. Although this isn't quite the 5,000 mAh battery that we're seeing in flagships from Samsung and LG, the OnePlus 8 Pro's Warp Charge 30T makes up for that. The Warp Charge 30T was able to recharge the OnePlus 8 Pro from 0 to 63% in half an hour.
New to the battery menu is an "Optimized charging" option that can learn your usage patterns and temporarily slow or suspend charging while the 8 Pro is plugged in. If you go to bed at, say 11 PM and plug it in, the phone will suspend charging throughout the night and will finish its charge by the time you normally wake up in the morning.
Optimized charging setting
Since COVID-19 has messed up everyone's normal sleep schedules, we weren't able to test this thoroughly.
OnePlus introduced wireless charging on any of its smartphones and the Warp Charge 30 Wireless charger is a beast.
OnePlus promises a 30-minute charge on the Warp Charge 30 Wireless will yield a 50% charge. We managed just under the promised number at 48%. The second time around, however, the 8 Pro recharged to 51% in the same amount of time.
The charger unit has a fan in it that actively pushed air in from the back of the charger and forces it up along the backside of the phone to keep it cool while Warp charging. The fan tends to be distracting if you're in a quiet room, so OnePlus built-in an option into the UI called "Bed time mode". This silences the fan during bedtime hours you specify at the expense of slower wireless charging.
Bedtime mode
OnePlus was against adding the feature to its devices until it deemed the feature would be worth the added cost. Well... the cost is certainly present because the Warp Charge 30 Wireless charger is sold separately for $69. Is it worth this price? It really depends on whether you think wireless charging should be about speed over convenience.
One complaint about the charger is that the charging cable is permanently tethered on both ends. This means you won't be able to replace a cable if it gets damaged, and you may not be able to feed it through a wiring management setup you may have at a desk or table.
Oxygen OS 10.5
With the 8 Pro, OnePlus made a few minor changes throughout the UI to improve the experience. The most notable changes to Oxygen OS are the new system icons, refined animations to work with the 120Hz display, and new dynamic wallpapers. Otherwise, we can expect software much like we saw on the 7T.
With the new display, Oxygen OS has never been smoother. Each action and tap of the UI is thought out and highly responsive. OnePlus' new Live Wallpapers give a bold welcome animation when you unlock the phone.
OnePlus Switch is the built-in data transfer tool that's compatible with other Android devices through the OnePlus switch app or iOS devices via iCloud login that will pull the data from a backup.
OnePlus Switch
First introduced with the 6T, the in-display scanner is quick and reliable. With the 8 Pro, the scanner sits a bit higher than it was on the 7 and 7T, thus making it easier to reach your thumb to the power key, and then over to the in-display scanner, without having to shift your hand too much.
In addition to fingerprint, you can register your face to unlock the phone, just know it won't be as secure. In any case, it works quickly and reliably.
Face unlock • fingerprint
The lock screen is standard for many Android UIs. Notifications populate here and a couple of shortcuts, each for Google Assistant and the Camera app can be reached by swiping from either the lower left or lower right corners.
Lock screen notification • Quick reply • Unlock PIN
OnePlus is finally going to offer an always-on display option for its Ambient Display clock. It's one of the most requested features by OnePlus' online community. However, the feature isn't quite ready yet, so we've yet to see how it will affect battery draw.
Home screens are slightly tweaked on the 8 Pro. The app icons are round, and some of them are newly redesigned.
By default, the app drawer is accessed by vertically swiping. You can also opt to disable the app drawer, as is more popular with Chinese Android skins. Not much else has changed with the launcher: the main screen is the leftmost one, and to the left of that is your Google Feed... wait a second.
The "Shelf" is gone. It was once located to the left of the home screens and it offered a nifty parking tool that we really liked. It was also the space to organize shortcuts, see frequently used apps, widgets, and the weather. Perhaps it wasn't being used much so OnePlus opted to replace it for the Google Feed.
Home screen • App drawer • Launcher settings • Google Feed
The notification shade is a standard affair. The second pull-down shows a manual brightness slider. Meanwhile, Quick Settings available include a "Reading mode" which reduces colors for a more comfortable reading experience, Reverse charge, Zen Mode, Focus Mode, Screen recorder, and you can add additional ones like Data saver, VPN, Invert colors, Wind down, and Live caption (which is also found in the volume menu).
Notification shade • Quick settings • Edit Quick settings
Customizations throughout the UI are found under the tab in the Settings. Here, you can change the look of the UI, and you can choose a light theme (Illuminating light), dark theme (nuanced dark), or a semi-dark theme (vibrant tints).
Dark mode is technically a theme on Oxygen OS, so there isn't a way to schedule it to come on after dark like some other UI skins. Dark mode isn't to be confused with "Night Mode" which can be scheduled but deals with the screen's blue-light filter.
Customization menu • Light and dark themes • (not to be confused with) Night Mode
Continuing with the customizations menu, here you can also change the wallpaper, the clock style for Ambient Display, the fingerprint unlocking animation, and the color for "Horizon light", which is OnePlus' version of Samsung's "Edge lighting" and shines bars of color along the edges of the screen so you know when a notification arrives.
Customizing: Wallpaper • Clock • Fingerprint unlock animation • Horizon light
You can set an accent color, change the shape of quick setting icons, and set a different icon pack if you wish. Finally, you can set a new font as well. The default is Roboto, but you can also set it to OnePlus' own "Slate" font.
Accent color • Tone • Quick setting shape • Icon pack
New to the OnePlus 8 Pro is Live Caption. This feature was first introduced with Android 10 on the Google Pixel 4 duo and can transcribe any audio into on-screen captions without needing an internet connection. The feature has been making its way to many other smartphone brands with Android 10. It's a helpful feature for deaf or hard of hearing since it can transcribe stories or another kind of media where closed captions are otherwise unavailable. As of this writing, it only supports English.
Live caption
Here are some other notable features that are part of Oxygen OS under the "Utilities" menu in the Settings. The first is called Quick Launch and is accessed through the fingerprint scanner. If you unlock the phone and keep holding your finger, a carousel will pop up. From here you can drag your finger to a set of customizable shortcuts or apps.
Quick launch
Oxygen OS supports dual instances of supported apps in its Parallel Apps feature. You can use it to manage a second account on Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, WeChat, or any other app that many not support multiple logins.
App locker will block selected apps from being used until you enter the phone's passcode or a fingerprint. This isn't to be confused with "Hidden Space", which is a sneaky way of hiding apps in the launcher.
App Locker • Unlock app • Hidden Space
If you play a lot of mobile games, Oxygen OS has its own game-optimizer tool called Game Space. If you want to go all-in on your gaming experience, Fnatic mode will block all notifications, restrict background activity, and even disable the second SIM to make sure that all resources will go to the game.
Game Space • In-game notification settings • Fnatic mode
Synthetic benchmarks
We've high expectations from OnePlus' hardware. In the past, OnePlus has managed to get its smartphones to top the charts among other devices with the same chipset, attributed to its excellent software optimization and use of high-quality storage and RAM components.
The OnePlus 8 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 865. This processor is an Octa-core consisting of 1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 Gold high-performance core, 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold medium-duty cores, and 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver efficiency cores. The 8 Pro comes in 8GB or 12GB versions paired with 128GB and 256GB, respectively, but we are testing the top spec'd one here. OnePlus is using LPDDR5X RAM on both configurations of the 8 Pro.
OnePlus went with UFS 3.0 for the on-board storage. It has snappy read and write speeds, but its no UFS 3.1, which other vendors are now using on new smartphones like the iQOO 3 5G, vivo NEX 5G, and the Redmi K30 Pro. We were a little surprised OnePlus didn't go with the faster storage.
Let's look as some benchmark scores now. Starting with Geekbench 5.1, the 8 Pro performed well in the multi-core test. Scoring just below the iQOO 3 5G. The iPhone 11 Pro Max tops the chart here.
GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
3503 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
3402 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
3374 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
3331 - LG V60 ThinQ 5G (new run)
3289 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
3269 - Huawei P40 Pro
3197 - OnePlus 7T Pro
2803 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
2728 - OnePlus 7 Pro
2721 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
2697
In the single-core, all Snapdragon 865-powered phones scored in the lower 900s, but the iPhone's A13 still leads in single-core performance.
GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
1332 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
928 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
910 - LG V60 ThinQ 5G (new run)
910 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
905 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
904 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
902 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
900 - Huawei P40 Pro
780 - OnePlus 7T Pro
773 - OnePlus 7 Pro
720
There were a few other devices that beat the 8 Pro on the all-around AnTuTu 8 benchmark test. The Xiaomi MI 10 Pro 5G topped the chart, gaining a slightly higher score than the Oppo Find X2 pro. The 8 Pro came scored just behind the iQOO 3 5G.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
595246 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
593717 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
575601 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
573276 - Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
536883 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
528631 - LG V60 ThinQ 5G (new run)
527612 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
514485 - Huawei P40 Pro
496356 - OnePlus 7T Pro
493901
Graphics performance was consistently towards the top of the charts. Unless, of course, it was an onscreen test, which yielded lower scores due to the QHD display. Some of these competitors run FHD+ resolutions.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
120 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
87 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
86 - LG V60 ThinQ 5G (new run)
86 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
86 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
86 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
85 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
85 - OnePlus 7T Pro
80 - Huawei P40 Pro
75 - OnePlus 7 Pro
68
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
75 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
74 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
61 - Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
60 - LG V60 ThinQ 5G (new run)
59 - Huawei P40 Pro
52 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
43 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
43 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
42 - OnePlus 7T Pro
40 - OnePlus 7 Pro
33
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
67 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
51 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
51 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
51 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
51 - LG V60 ThinQ 5G (new run)
51 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
51 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
50 - OnePlus 7T Pro
48 - Huawei P40 Pro
44 - OnePlus 7 Pro
41
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
57 - LG V60 ThinQ 5G (new run)
44 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
43 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
42 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
42 - Huawei P40 Pro
31
25
25
24
24
19
3DMark SSE OpenGL ES 3.1 1440p
Higher is better
- vivo iQOO 3 5G
7261 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
7159 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
7127 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
6713 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
6593 - OnePlus 7T Pro
6238 - Huawei P40 Pro
6062 - OnePlus 7 Pro
5462
3DMark SSE Vulkan 1440p
Higher is better
- vivo iQOO 3 5G
6675 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
6526 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
6425 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
6308 - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
6249 - Huawei P40 Pro
5637 - OnePlus 7T Pro
5514 - OnePlus 7 Pro
4833
The OnePlus 8 Pro is a beastly device for playing games. Under regular use, it rarely gets warm, and the phone never hesitates to do whatever you throw at it. Paired with the 120Hz screen, it's a device that performs effortlessly.
Sensor size boost
You might not be able to tell from the phots, but the new vertically stacked camera array is both longer and wider than the 7/7T Pro, though slightly. What is certainly noticeable the how much more the OnePlus 8 Pro's camera bump protrudes from the back of the phone. This is due to the new main sensor, which is 40% larger than its predecessors.
The OnePlus 8 Pro uses a brand-new Sony IMX689 48MP sensor, which is a significantly larger sensor compared to the IMX586 from the OnePlus 7 and 7T (also on the OnePlus 8) of the same resolution. Where the old sensor had 0.8 µm pixels, the IMX689 has 40% larger 1.12 µm pixels which allow for better low-light performance and should improve allow for better detail. This comes out to 2.24 µm size when you account for 4-to-1 pixel binning. The main camera is also optically stabilized.
Also new to this sensor is something called All Pixel Omni-directional phase detection autofocus. This same sensor and focusing technology can be found in the Oppo Find X2 Pro as well. Where dual-pixel autofocus used all pixels for focusing, it had trouble focusing on horizontal lines due to the arrangement of their photosite split. With Omni-directional focusing, the sensor is sensitive to changes in both horizontal and vertical patterns. What all this means is that we should see some quick and accurate autofocusing. Even with the fancy autofocus setup, there's still a laser autofocus, you know, just in case.
In addition to the large main sensor, there's another not-as-large-but-still-large 48MP sensor behind the ultra-wide angle lens. It's the same IMX586 that was behind the main camera in the OnePlus 7 Pro and the 7T. This f/2.2 aperture lens is a 13mm-equivalent which offers a 119.7-degree field of view. With the larger sensor, we hope to see far better low-light performance and more detailed photos and video from the ultrawide camera. This camera also features autofocus and doubles as a macro camera.
Then there's an 8MP telephoto camera. This one is the one camera located next to the three other vertically stacked cameras. This is the least-updated camera compared to the others. It has the same 8MP sensor as last year and it zooms at 3X with an aperture of f/2.44.
The newest addition to this quad-camera setup is a 5MP "Color Filter" camera. It's for an f/2.4 aperture lens in front of it, and it's certainly a unique camera. It doesn't aid in depth mapping for portrait photos, but instead it has a filter that alters the colors of reality for artistic photography. We don't know if it will get much use over time, but it's certainly, uh, unique.
Not much has changed in the camera UI. The first thing you'll notice when firing up the Camera app is that the settings have been moved to the top right corner of the viewfinder. The app now makes it easier to shoot 48MP images without having to switch to the manual camera. There's a toggle at the top row of icons that you can use to switch between the 12MP or the full resolution 48MP modes. New to the top row are the Macro camera toggle, and a new shortcut for filters, this is where you'll go to activate the Color filter camera as well.
Otherwise, the camera UI is intuitive for the most part. Swiping either direction horizontally changes the modes while swiping up shows you the drawer with all the camera modes available. You can customize which modes you want to keep outside of the drawer.
Camera UI and settings
Pro mode lets you shoot in RAW (12MP), saves two presets, and lets you adjust all the camera settings (ISO, White balance, shutter speed, focus, and exposure compensation). There's also a histogram and horizontal level - both very useful for composing shots and exposure. Shooting in Pro mode only works with the main camera.
Camera Pro mode
Double-pressing the power key fires up the camera app in a pinch. From a deep sleep, this could take as long as three seconds. In most cases, it'll take just under two seconds. Snapping the image is quick and there may be a second delay if you try to immediately view the most recent photo.
Daylight image quality
Shots taken with the OnePlus 8 Pro are generally sharp and well-exposed with plenty of details. Dynamic range is quite good with true-to-life colors, and white balance consistent with the scene.
Camera samples
The IMX689 sensor is among the largest in a smartphone these days. Because of this, you'll notice a pretty drastic bokeh when taking photos of objects closer than about a 3-foot distance. This camera outputs images in 12MP by default but you can certainly shoot photos in the sensor's full resolution.
Tapping on an icon makes switching to the full-resolution mode easy.
Full-resolution samples
When shooting in this mode, you may have to wait a couple more seconds before you can view the image you just took. Anyway, resulting photos are crisp and detailed. Peeping up close to a 1:1 ratio, we can spot some traces of noise in blue skies or in some solid colors, but its nothing distracting. At the same zoom levels, foliage tends to have aberrations with glitchy colors as a result of image processing. You can spot this in some of the distant palm trees.
In some cases, the camera app will suggest that the scene in the viewfinder might capture with better dynamic range in the 12MP pixel-binned mode.
The ultrawide camera takes great shots as well. One complaint we had about the 7 Pro was that the main and ultrawide cameras were not consistent in white balance and exposures. We're happy to see that the IMX586 from the 7 Pro is now behind the ultrawide lens.
Ultrawide camera samples
Ultrawide shots are generally good. We're glad that OnePlus kept the autofocus on this camera, as the ultrawide camera pulls double duty and can shoot close-up macro photos as well. Details shot with the ultrawide are not as sharp as the main camera's, but it does the job well.
Like the main camera, the ultrawide can also be set to shoot in its native 48MP resolution.
Ultrawide full-resolution samples
We notice similar defects in the ultrawide's full-res mode as we did with the main camera's - only these defects are noticeably more apparent with the ultrawide camera. Noise in the sky and solid colors is a bit more apparent when pixel peeping, and image defects around the edges of the field of view are more so apparent.
That's not to say this is a terrible ultrawide camera. We do notice improvements overall with the ultrawide camera compared to the 8 Pro's predecessors. Lens distortion (fish-eye effect) is barely apparent on the 8 Pro. However, if you would rather have this effect, you can disable the "Ultrawide correction" option in the camera settings.
Ultrawide correction: on (default) • off
Come to think of it, those defects that we saw in the towards the edge of the ultrawide camera's field of view appear to be a side-effect of the correction feature. When its disabled, we don't see as much noise and or aberration in the colors here.
Let's move on to the telephoto camera. This is same exact 3X zoom camera that we saw in the OnePlus 7 Pro - down to the aperture and sensor.
Something you should know about the 3X zoom setting is: zoomed photos might come from either of two cameras depending on the amount of light available. The telephoto camera has an aperture of f/2.4, which isn't ideal in lower light conditions.
OnePlus made it so that 3X zoom photos can also be cropped from the main camera sensor. This was a clever way to let you shoot from far away whether you shoot in broad daylight or under more demanding lighting.
3X telephoto samples
For all intents and purposes, the samples above were shot with the actual telephoto camera. We'll see some of the cropped zoom photos in the low-light samples a little later.
Image quality from the telephoto camera was pretty good. Colors and white balance were mostly consistent with the other cameras, but this camera isn't as good at capturing a wide dynamic range. You'll notice that the shaded areas of the scene aren't as exposed as if they were shot with the main cameras.
If you wanted to, you could switch to the cropped sensor zoom by pulling the zoom out slightly to 2.9X.
Next up, we're checking out OnePlus' newest addition to its camera setup. OnePlus calls this its "Color filter camera" and it's a 5MP camera with a photochrome filter over the sensor, so it distorts the colors into something... well... interesting.
Color filter camera samples
These images are certainly unique. However, when shooting around these lush parts of Florida, virtually all the details from the foliage are gone when using this camera. The camera doesn't have any autofocusing either, so other than the occasional artistic shot, we think the average person will use this camera a handful of times and later forget about it.
Lowlight, portraits, selfies, and macro
With the 8 Pro's larger sensor, lowlight performance was quite good. In addition, the ultrawide camera can now be used to shoot Nightscape photos. After all - it is the same sensor from the 7 Pro's main camera.
We didn't have trouble with autofocus at night, and the camera captured the night scenes accurately.
Lowlight
Although there's some detail lost in the shadows, that's how it really is at night. However, parts of the scenes that were somewhat lit managed to maintain details very well. White balance and colors are on par with the white-LED lit neighborhood we shot the samples at.
We really like how the Nightscape shots came out. We see some more details in the shadows, but not too much so that the scene looks artificial. Nightscape managed to add just enough details to the shadows while letting the scene have shadows in the first place.
Nightscape
Details are much sharper, and the overall scene cleans up very well. Again, white balance remains consistent throughout the night scenes and some more of the clouds in the sky can be made out. Nightscape shots require a steadier hand and this mode doesn't tend to play well with moving objects. In this case, you'll see all the palm trees become soft due to their swaying in the breeze.
Even in the shots like the last one above, exposure is even across the scene. Nightscape managed to really smoothen out the brighter areas like just under the path lamp. In this same image, you'll notice some red stains in the clouds on the left. This is probably just some of the red from the gates that leaked into the lens.
Moving on to the ultrawide camera, lowlight performance isn't stellar. Colors and exposure aren't terrible, but details turn to mush. Noise also occurs throughout the scenes.
Ultrawide lowlight
You might be able to get a good Nightscape shot with the ultrawide camera. Just don't go shooting in dark neighborhoods.
Ultrawide Nightscape
Shooting with the ultrawide camera in Nightscape proved to be a little inconsistent. It does save some of the detail, but depending on the scene you are shooting, there's still a lot of noise. We do believe you should be able to catch some cool ultrawide Nightscape shots in a place like New York City with lots of ambient lights.
Remember when we mentioned that the 3X zoom may switch from the telephoto camera to the main sensor? Well, this is where it happens. These images you see here are 3X zoom photos that were cropped out of the main sensor.
Lowlight 3X zoom (crop)
These aren't too bad. Surely it is a crop from the main sensor, but the resulting images are usable. The real telephoto camera would not be able to catch this much light.
There's no dedicated depth sensor, so the OnePlus 8 Pro solely relies on the main sensor to detect depth relative to the subject in a portrait photo. Portraits can be shot from either the telephoto camera or the main one. We prefer the look of the telephoto camera, as photos of people shot from a bit further away tend to be more flattering.
Portraits are shot with the telephoto camera by default.
Portrait via telephoto camera
Portraits shot with the main camera have more flattering skin tones than the telephoto camera.
Portrait via main camera
Subject separation seems to be just as good as the telephoto camera, but mapping depth relative to the subject isn't the phone's forte as you can see in the last portrait shot with the metal rack. Despite this, the portrait effect is quite convincing - smooth and silky bokeh around the subject. Dynamic range is also much better on this camera.
The 16MP selfie camera is the same one we used to see pop up out of the OnePlus 7 Pro. We didn't have any major complaints with this selfie snapper back then, and we don't have much to rap about it now.
Selfies
Even though this is a fixed focus camera, it takes great-looking selfies with excellent dynamic range and just the right amount of sharpness. The camera perfectly captured the essence of quarantine hair and colors, although not as saturated as on the main camera, are pleasant and true to life.
Portrait selfies
Portrait photos are quite good on the selfie camera as well. The subject separation line is quite well hidden, so long as the lighting is soft. You'll notice harder lines and defects in the subject line in the selfies shot at golden hour.
When activating Super Macro mode, the ultrawide camera takes over. The autofocus lets you get close to a subject and capture some deep amount of detail thanks to that large sensor. Come to think of it, this is one of the largest sensors being used to shoot macro photos. It sure beats the 2MP macro camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro.
Macro samples
Macro shots are captured at 12MP and the details captured are unreal. The camera works best when everything in the frame is about the same distance from the camera - this way everything it in focus. Otherwise, you'll see the camera's natural bokeh in the outer parts of the shot.
Video
The OnePlus 8 Pro's video camera can capture up to 4K@60fps and can capture 720p@480fps or 1080p@240fps slow motion. There's a new "4K Cine" video mode, which is basically 4K video cropped at a 21:9 aspect ratio - more ideal to view on the 8 Pro's tall display.
"Super Steady" was also updated and now supports 4K recording thanks to the larger sensor. This mode uses the ultrawide camera to better stabilize video.
We were surprised at how well 4K video at 60fps looked. In fact, the bitrate was more than triple that of 4K@30fps at 160Mbps! We tested this again to make sure and 4K 30 was around 50 Mbps while the 4K 60 video was around 150Mbps. Strange, but not necessarily in a bad way.
4K video looks great with detail and dynamic range. You can certainly pull a frame from the video and post it to social media, passing it off as a still photo.
The 4K Cine video records in either 30fps or 60fps. It's worth noting, however, that shooting in this ultrawide cinema aspect ratio of 21:9 is literally a letterbox crop of 4K video resolution. The output resolution is 3840x1644px.
Regular video looks great. The bitrate comes out to about 20Mbps in 30fps and almost double that in 60fps at 38Mbps.
Here are some Super Steady video samples. Since this is captured with the ultrawide camera, there's some noise throughout the video and details are not as sharp as with the main camera. Stabilization isn't perfectly still - in other words - there's still a vertical motion when walking with the 8 Pro in hand, but it's worth not having the jelly-effect that's normally a side effect of other software-heavy stabilization solutions.
Super Steady 4K
The competition
This is the first time OnePlus has ever made any of its devices this expensive. As such, we'll try to pair it up against other flagships that are near or over a grand. In the US, the only way to purchase the 8 Pro is unlocked from OnePlus (the OnePlus 8 is sold directly from carriers) and that's not a great strategy if it is trying to convince consumers that they should buy OnePlus over Samsung or Apple.
In any case, let's look through alternative devices. Starting with the LG V60, both devices are priced similarly at $899, but the 8 Pro is more equipped with features than the V60. Both are about the same in video quality, but LG's camera experience is certainly more polished and offers far more advanced video and audio controls.
LG V60 ThinQ 5G
The iPhone 11 Pro Max is the largest iPhone that Apple makes and the display on the 8 Pro is superior in almost every way. Of course, iOS is a completely different landscape with similar image quality - though the iPhone doesn't use a high-resolution camera sensor. The iPhone's ultrawide camera doesn't have autofocus either.
Cameras and software aside, it would be difficult to convince an iOS user to switch to a OnePlus device, unless they are already looking outside of the iOS ecosystem from boredom or desire for something more exciting.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
The Galaxy S20+ might be a worthy alternative for the 8 Pro, though it's certainly more expensive. Ironically, Samsung's flagship no longer has a dual-curved display while the 8 Pro has the curviest display yet. Samsung's One UI Android skin can be an acquired taste for some who might prefer a more stock-Android appearance like that of a Google Pixel phone.
Samsung Galaxy S20+
Though they are distant cousins, the Oppo Find X2 Pro and the 8 Pro have similar DNA (the two brands are sister companies, after all). Although its more expensive, the Oppo Find X2 Pro has a stronger emphasis on photography prowess with its periscope telephoto camera. There's also the luxurious Vegan leather option, as well.
If you're in the US, chances are you've never heard of Oppo before - since the company has no presence in the American market.
Oppo Find X2 Pro
Another device you won't find the US, the Huawei P40 Pro is the latest flagship from Huawei, also with an emphasis on photography and imaging. Still cursed with last year's US-Huawei ban, the brand makes a compelling phone that can't be used with Google Services - which could be a deal breaker for many consumers in Western markets.
Huawei P40 Pro
Xiaomi's latest flagship is in a similar situation as the 8 Pro: it has shed away its midrange, high-value image and presents itself as a proper flagship with a flagship price to match. The Mi 10 Pro 5G is certainly well-spec'd on paper and its 108MP camera rivals the 8 Pro's overall camera experience.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
The OnePlus 8 Pro's predecessors are still worthy alternatives to the 8 Pro. Depending on the market, the 5G version of the OnePlus 7T Pro (McLaren Edition @ T-Mobile in the US) is just as expensive as the 8 Pro's entry price, but if you're looking for a much cheaper option, the OnePlus 7 Pro is a great smartphone that's aged very well over the last year.
It can be found around half the price of the 8 Pro, which is a nice trade-off if 5G isn't a priority. The 7 Pro was one of our favorite smartphones of 2019 around the office.
OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren • OnePlus 7 Pro
The verdict
The OnePlus 8 Pro is now a fully featured flagship worth a pretty penny. This is certainly a departure from OnePlus' original image of high-performance for low cost. With every passing iteration, OnePlus continued to build on its previous device's success and even if it did sometimes hype our expectations, it has consistently improved in many areas throughout the years.
The OnePlus 8 Pro is a solid smartphone packed with a well-improved camera and all the top features that you'd expect from a flagship like reverse wireless charging, stereo speakers, and a top-of-the-line display with 120Hz refresh rate. Top performance from the Snapdragon 865 and 5G connectivity are must-haves in this space, but where OnePlus is no longer competing is in the very space it began.
Pros:
- Bright and beautiful smooth display
- Premium design and build quality with IP rating and soft-touch finish
- Great camera all-around
- It has the fastest Snapdragon chipset on board
- Oxygen OS is snappy and gets frequent updates
- Loud stereo speakers
- Warp Wireless charging is super-fast
Cons:
- MEMC Motion smoothing feature is inconsistent
- Warp wireless charger is expensive
- Still no always-on display out of the box
- No expandable memory
- Not available directly from US carriers
- Color filter camera is meh
- Ultrawide camera's low-light performance is not great
OnePlus is a perfect example of the notion: "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," and this is exactly what the company has done with the 8 Pro. It's managed to become the very thing the company initially set out to defeat. It did call its phones "Flagship killers" for a while. These days, there is so much more competition in the category that OnePlus first stated in, that it would rather compete at the flagship level with the big boys.
And they have succeeded in this endeavor. The OnePlus 8 Pro is a high-end smartphone worth considering. The company's attention to detail in software, packaging, and design make their brand worth being a fan of.
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