The leaks were pretty heavy with this announcement, but none the less the official details are here and we have a breakdown on what the latest from OnePlus is set to offer.
Like the past few years, we have initially the OnePlus 8 base model and than the pro version on top. As it has been in the past a few specs/features are missing from the base model when compared to the Pro sibling, but perhaps slight even more so this year.
The OnePlus 8 Pro
Let’s start by talking about the true flagship device. The OnePlus 8 Pro. This is the latest and greatest from the smartphone maker. The base design isn’t radically different from last years OnePlus 7 Pro. We have an aluminium frame with Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back of the phone with a slim nature at 8.5mm thick, but bigger with the added camera bump, which sticks our rather sharply. OnePlus continue to include dual stereo speaker support. The device is officially IP68 rated for water and dust resistance.
The display is a 6.78-inch AMOLED with 3,168 x 1,440 resolution and runs at 120Hz and both high-res and high refresh rate can be run at the same time, albeit taking a chunk out of battery life most likely. The large display has a 19.8:9 ratio, which makes it narrow enough for comfortable grip. The display includes a 3.8mm cut-out for the front facing camera, which means we no longer have a pop-out camera, something most considered a pinnacle feature from last years model that set it apart. The dimensions for the device are 165.3 x 74.35 x 8.5mm and we have a weight of 199g.
Inside the device we have the latest Snapdragon 865 chipset with 8 Octa-core CPU (1 x 2.84 GHz Kryo 585 Gold, 3 x 2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold, and 4 x 1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver) GPU in the chipset is the Adreno 650. The device comes with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM (128GB/256GB storage respectively). This should offer top of the line performance across the market. The OnePlus 8 is also has 5G and uses the X55 5G Modem.
The camera side of things has always been a lacking aspect of the OnePlus lineup. Thankfully this year that has changed. We now have a a pretty decent setup which should provide overall better quality photos.
We have a quad-camera setup which includes a large 1.12 µm main OIS 48MP Sony IMX689 sensor with f/1.78 aperture. The second is the 0.8 µm Sony IMX586 48MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture and ultra-wide 120-degree field of view. The third sensor is the 1.0 µm 8MP telephoto sensor with f/2.44 aperture and OIS. Lastly we have a 5MP sensor used for colour filtering and it has a f/2.4 aperture. The front camera is the same last last year and has a 1.0 µm 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor with fixed focus and f/2.45 aperture lens.
Overall the camera setup is pretty up there this time around. The sensors should offer decent quality photos, assuming the software side of things is taken care of correctly.
The OnePlus 8 Pro now features wireless charging, something that has been wanted for longtime fans of the series, but more importantly OnePlus have done it well by offering 30w charging support with both wired and wireless (wireless charger sold separately). It also supports reverse wireless charging at 3w (so slow). This all goes well with the large 4,510mAh battery included. We have the same in-display optical fingerprint reader. Wi-Fi 6 support, and Bluetooth 5.1, USB Type-C
Now one aspect of the OnePlus 8 Pro that wont read so well. The Price Tag… sadly The 8 Pro takes it up to a new level, and now the device will start at €919; making it the most expensive OnePlus device released. That gets you a 8GB RAM model with 128GB of storage. They are still undercutting competitors, and perhaps focusing more on desired features makes them more appealing to the masses.
The OnePlus 8
The smaller sibling devices features mostly the same design as the Pro version, but does come with some lesser specs and smaller overall design to accommodate the lower price tag as well. It has Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back with aluminium frame. Dimensions are 160.2 x 72.9 x 8 mm and it weighs 180g. The thickness is slightly bigger with the camera bump on the back.
The base model 8 includes a 6.55-inch AMOLED display with 1,080 x 2,400 resolution and 90hz refresh rate. It has the same hole punch as the Pro model at 3.8mm.
The camera side of things are different stepping down to a triple setup on the base 8 model. We have the main 0.8μm Sony IMX586 48MP sensor with OIS and f/1.70 aperture. The second camera is a 16MP Sony sensor with f/2.2 aperture and 116-degree field of view. Lastly we have a 2MP macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture and 1.75 μm pixel.
The internals are same chipset wise. We have the Snapdragon 865 (1 x 2.84 GHz Kryo 585 Gold, 3 x 2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold, and 4 x 1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver). We have the same Adreno 650 GPU as well.
The OnePlus 8 differs in more than one way compared to the Pro model and itself in other regions. It does have IP68 rating, but only for specific markets and networks (so far just T-Mobile and Verizon), so good chance it won’t be rated with support. It also does not include wireless charging. The device has a 4,300mAh battery and still support 30w charging via cable.
Pricing for the OnePlus 8 starts at €719 for the base 8GB/128GB model. This makes it €200 cheaper than the Pro sibling, but features lesser resolution and refresh rate on the display, cheaper camera setup, no wireless charging, IP68 rating missing in most markets. Might not offer enough for consideration, but perhaps OnePlus want more focus on the Premium model.
Both devices are now avaialble for Pre-order with release set for April 21st. Both devices ship with Android 10 along with OxygenOS 10.
