COVID 19 pandemic has pushed all the major smartphone launch events indefinitely. Amidst this situation, OnePlus decided to launch the OnePlus 8 series in an online-only launch event. Like the previous generations, OnePlus has offered two smartphones, the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro and both the smartphones come with 5G support.
OnePlus 8 Pro
Let's start with the interesting smartphone of the two, OnePlus 8 Pro. With OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus decided to ditch the flagship killer tag in the favor of proper flagship. OnePlus 8 Pro is made up of a beautiful glass sandwich design with a soft-touch finish to its back. The smartphone is equipped with a 6.78" QHD+ AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate to provide an ultra-smooth touch experience. OnePlus also bumped the touch sampling to 240 Hz to enhance the touch experience. Since the display tech here is AMOLED, OnePlus incorporated an optical in-display fingerprint sensor in both the models. The device scored an impressive A+ score in DisplayMate's display quality test and can go up to 1300 nits of peak brightness.
OnePlus 8 Pro is powered by Qualcomm's latest flagship Snapdragon 865 processor. In the GPU department, the smartphone is backed by Adreno 650 GPU which can handle all the AAA titles at max settings with ease. OnePlus 8 Pro's major improvement comes in the camera department. OnePlus 8 Pro comes with the quad-camera setup with the primary camera being a 48 MP custom Sony IMX 689 sensor with f/1.7 aperture which is optically stabilized. The second camera is a 48 MP Sony IMX 586 Ultrawide sensor with 120 degrees FOV. The third camera is a 3X telephoto lens with support for up to 30X zoom. The final camera is a 5 MP color filter to provide filter effects to the photos. The front camera is a 16 MP Sony IMX 471 sensor and it is housed in a tiny punch hole.
On the battery front, OnePlus 8 Pro is fueled with a 4500 mAh battery and comes with wrap charge 30T to top the smartphone at a faster rate. Finally, OnePlus decided to include wireless charging in OnePlus 8 Pro and the smartphone can charge at 30W wirelessly with their proprietary charger which is sold separately. Coming to miscellaneous features, the OnePlus 8 Pro comes with stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, improved haptic feedback motor and an official IP 68 rating. Enough of OnePlus 8 Pro, let's address the regular OnePlus 8 now.
OnePlus 8
OnePlus 8 is designed similar to its elder sibling but the display is toned down to 6.55" FHD+ AMOLED display with 90 Hz refresh rate. OnePlus 8 shares the same processor with its elder sibling but the similarities end here. OnePlus 8 is equipped with a triple camera setup to the back. The primary camera is a 48 MP Sony IMX 586 sensor which is similar to that of the OnePlus 7T and it is optically stabilized. The second camera is a 16 MP Ultra-wide lens with 116 degrees FOV. The third camera is a 2 MP macro sensor, which is a downgrade from its predecessor. OnePlus 8 is fueled by a 4300 mAh battery and comes with wrap charge 30T support and the charger is included in the box. While coming to omissions, OnePlus 8 also misses out the official IP rating and wireless charging support.
Configuration and pricing
OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro comes with 8 GB or 12 GB ram with 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage with no room for expansion. OnePlus 8 is priced at Rs.44,999 for the base variant and Rs.49,999 for the 12 GB variant and it is available in Glacial Green, Interstellar Glow, and Onyx Black colors. In addition to this, OnePlus launched an India specific 6GB ram with 128 GB storage variant which is exclusively available at Amazon in Glacial Green color option at Rs.41,999. OnePlus 8 Pro is priced at Rs.54,999 for the 8 GB variant and costs Rs.59,999 for the 12 GB variant with Glacial Green, Onyx Black, and Ultramarine Blue color options. OnePlus 8 series is available in both offline and online markets once the lockdown is officially lifted in India. OnePlus just nailed the pricing in India perfectly, that too the India pricing of OnePlus 8 Pro is just icing on the cake. With the OnePlus 8 series, the brand had made a bold statement that they have moved from the flagship killer category to the actual flagship. Just stay tuned, we will come up with the full review once we get the smartphone for the review.