OnePlus 7 Pro: Not a Flagship Killer Anymore

May 19

May 19 OnePlus 7 Pro: Not a Flagship Killer Anymore

OnePlus made a name in the smartphone industry by promoting the original OnePlus One phone as a “Flagship Killer”. This name was given to OnePlus One and its successors because it delivered high end features at a mid range price, meaning it was a threat for flagship phones of more popular brands like Apple or Samsung.

OnePlus has successfully managed to keep their phones’ price at a large distance from the price of other flagships, even with incremental price increase generations by generation. OnePlus has managed to achieve this despite utilising more expensive hardware to meet the high expectations of its smartphone fans.

“OnePlus 7 Pro is a true flagship that attempts to check all the boxes, with almost no compromises other than the lack of wireless charging and IP certification.”

The OnePlus 7 Pro though is a different story. This device is not a flagship killer. The phone’s spec sheet is a huge leap forward compared to the OnePlus 6T or even its successor, the OnePlus 7. Price is at another level as well, starting at 709 Euros in the EU or 669USD in the US. OnePlus 7 Pro is a true flagship that attempts to check all the boxes, with almost no compromises other than the lack of wireless charging and IP certification.

Actually OnePlus is checking more boxings than competition in some important areas. A stunning 6.67-inch Quad HD+ (3120x1440 pixels at 516 ppi) AMOLED display that supports HDR10+ content. What’s most impressive? The display has no notch nor a punch hole and a spectacular 90Hz refresh rate. The latter makes the display being probably the smoothest one in the industry. In fact it is one of the best displays in a smartphone easily comparable even with the one found on the S10 lineup.

“Wait a minute. No notch? No punch hole? Then, where is the front camera? OnePlus…is packed with a 16 MP Pop-Up front camera that slides out of the display each time that you switch to the front camera.”

Wait a minute. No notch? No punch hole? Then, where is the front camera? OnePlus is sharing the technology from the other companies of BBK group and is packed with a 16 MP Pop-Up front camera that slides out of the display each time that you switch to the front camera. OnePlus claims that this mechanism is highly durable that can easily exceed 300,000 uses. It is also using a Smart drop protection feature that makes the pop-up camera to automatically retract if it detects that the device is being dropped.

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In quick, the OP7 Pro is using the latest Snapdragon 855 chip with the Adreno 640 GPU, up to 12GB RAM & up to 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage, a second gen in-display fingerprint sensor, a 4,000mAh battery, an improved vibration motor, an alert slider, dual Stereo Speakers with Dolby Atmos and a dual SIM tray. There will also be a 5G variant. The OnePlus signature alert slider is here. Do not expect a 3.5mm headphone jack though.

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The device looks to be blazing fast and the use of UFS 3.0 storage plays a huge role on this. OnePlus 7 Pro’s Oxygen OS is also one of the best Android customisations in the industry and our favourite one. It was always and apparently remains on of the fastest Android skins. The OnePlus 7 Pro is also one of the first devices that will support the Android Q beta. Quick tip: OnePlus has a built-in screen recording feature; such a small detail, such a nice addition.

We also welcome the use of Dual Stereo speakers, as the lack of it which was one of the most desirable feature of previous OnePlus smartphone owners.

What about the camera though? Camera quality has always been one the pain points for the Chinese manufacturer. This time, OnePlus is really trying hard to make a camera that will stand out and actually be comparable with the cameras of the Galaxy S10, Google Pixel 3, iPhone XS Max and Huawei P30 Pro. Seems like the camera is not the reason that will hold you back from purchasing this year’s OnePlus flagship.

The OnePlus 7 Pro rear camera setup has 3 lenses: a main wide angle 48MP lens with OIS, an ultra wide 16MP lens and a third 8MP 3X telephoto lens with OIS. OnePlus is also hiving an optimised mode for low light and night photography (called Nightscape 2.0) that looks particularly good but not at the extent of the superb Huawei P30 Pro or even the Google Pixel 3. DxO Mark has reclaimed the OnePlus 7 Pro camera the 3rd best in the industry, being only behind the S10 5G and the Huawei P30 Pro.

OnePlus camera has all the modes that you expect: the default auto mode with automatic HDR, a Pro mode, a super slow motion mode, portrait mode on either the front or rear camera and a time-lapse mode. The video quality of the OnePlus 7 Pro looks to be quite impressive delivering really good results but probably not on par with the iPhone XS Max or Galaxy S10.

OnePlus is also having a Zen Mode that locks you out of the device for 20 minutes, a Reading Mode that mimics an E-Ink display and a Gaming Mode that enhances your gaming experience on the device (can’t really stand the lack of it on the iPhone X when we accidentally change an app when using the bottom-centre part of the screen).

We still haven’t tested the device, but the impressive specs, stunning design, blazing fast performance, fantastic display and of course the fact that it’s 300$+ cheaper than a Galaxy S10, a Huawei P30 Pro and and iPhone XS make the OnePlus 7 Pro one of the top devices of 2019.