JOIN USOnePlus 8 Series – worthy performers
Killing flagships appears to have become a habit with OnePlus. And this habit has certainly not worn off in the company’s efforts with the 8 Series that was launched recently. The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are the latest offerings and they certainly set a standard.
With the physically smaller one of the two – the OnePlus 8 – the first noticeable aspect is how comfortable it feels to hold.
Though the OnePlus 8 has a 6.55-inch display, the comfort can largely be attributed to the 8 mm ‘thin’ body of the company’s latest release. The previous series’ last release – the OnePlus 7T Pro – is 8.8 mm thick and the reduction in thickness has made a lot of difference. Of course, the 8 handset gets thicker with the supplied clear case on. The 8 Pro is 8.5 mm and the 0.5 mm increase over its smaller sibling is noticeable.
The OnePlus 8 also gets the Gorilla Glass 5, but the back of the handset feels very grippy without the protective case on. With the OnePlus 7 Series, the glass back felt a tad slippery and a protective case was a must. The OnePlus 8’s rear glass panel does not appear to be a fingerprint magnet in the limited time we have had the set with us. It feels great without the case. But safety is paramount when owing a premium set, just in case it pops out of the hand.
However, compared purely in terms of looks, the slightly curved Haze Blue back of the 7T Pro looks more premium than the Onyx Black of the OnePlus 8. The 8 Pro’s Glacial Green is similar to the 7T Pro in terms of texture and looks premium. Again, a case is a must for safety due to the smooth, glassy texture.
The second aspect of the OnePlus 8 is how light it feels, again as compared to the OnePlus 7T Pro. The OnePlus 8 weighs in at 180 grams and the 8 Pro is 199 grams, while the 7T Pro is 206 grams.
In the One Plus 8, the 6.55-inch fluid AMOLED display has a selfie camera on the top left with the earpiece in the traditional place at the top edge. On the right – on the aluminium frame – is the ring/ vibrate/ silent mode switch as well as the power button. On the left side is the volume up/ down rocker. The bottom houses the SIM tray, microphone, speakers and the USB Type-C port. The rear has the three-lens camera setup with the LED flash. The top has just a microphone.
The 8 Pro has a similar layout, but the screen size is 6.78 inches and the rear sports a quad camera setup as compared to the triple camera setup of the OnePlus 8. The OnePlus 8 has 48 MP main, 2 MP macro and 16 MP ultra-wide sensors. The 8 Pro has a 48 MP main, 8 MP telephoto, 48 MP ultra-wide and 5 MP colour filter sensors.
The OnePlus 8 Pro’s camera setup feels a tad clunky, but this is only a quibble.
As for the quality of the camera, there can be no room for doubts. OnePlus has consistently brought out products with great photography hardware and the latest offerings are no different. One interesting feature is the smart pet capture to record the best of our furry friends. Anyone with an eye for photography can do wonders with the camera setup. So, no complaints in this department.
Processing power for both sets is by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, including an X55 5G modem. What use is the 5G modem when the network is not around? Considering people will hold on to a set for 2-3 years, or slightly more, this is a great way of future-proofing. The same goes for Wi-Fi 6.
As far as the performance of the handsets is concerned, everyday tasks are a breeze. The sets performed very well while playing games like Asphalt 9 and with no significant heating of the set.
The 8 Pro has a 120 Hz refresh rate, while the 8 has a maximum of 90 Hz. The higher refresh rate will certainly be of use for tasks like gaming. The display on both phones are of very high quality but the 8 Pro has a higher pixel density (513 vs 402 ppi).
The 8 Pro has IP68 water and dust resistance, while the 8 does not. The battery in the 8 Pro is slightly bigger (4510 vs 4300 mAh) and with normal usage and a bit of YouTube viewing, charge on both sets will easily last the day. Of course, gaming and bright screen settings will take a toll on the charge. What the 8 Pro also gets is the wireless warp charging facility and this is a good feature to have.
The verdict? Any OnePlus set is a good buy. However, between the latest offerings, we recommend the OnePlus 8 because of its compact size as compared to the 8 Pro.