What you need to know
- During a press event on April 14, OnePlus unveiled its latest smartphones.
- The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are the company's big flagships for 2020.
- Prices start at $699 for the OnePlus 8 and $899 for the 8 Pro.
OnePlus is one of those companies that's a lot of fun to follow, because year after year, it kicks out some of the best Android phones on the market. On April 14 during a livestreamed launch event, OnePlus officially unveiled its two latest smartphone offerings for 2020 — the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro.
Starting first with the OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus is being quite boastful with the color choices. Along with a fairly standard Onyx Black, there's also Ultramarine Blue and Glacial Green. All of them look fantastic and continue OnePlus's tradition of offering some of the best colors in the business. And, to keep the phone looking great throughout all conditions, there's finally an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
As for the display, the rumors were true. The OnePlus 8 Pro steps up to an impressive 120Hz AMOLED display with a massive 6.78-inch screen size. The 7 Pro and 7T's 90Hz AMOLED panels already look fantastic, so stepping up to even more smoothness with 120Hz is a great treat. As if that wasn't enough, there's also 240Hz touch sampling for even more buttery animations and touch responsiveness.
Switching to the camera, the OnePlus 8 Pro is equipped with a 48MP primary camera, 48MP ultra-wide camera, 3X telephoto camera, and a color filter sensor — making it the first OnePlus phone with four rear cameras. In addition to impressive still photos, OnePlus is also touting video capabilities. There's a hybrid stabilization system that uses OIS and EIS, three microphones for high-quality audio, and audio zoom that increases the audio of the subject you're focusing on.
All OnePlus phones make a big bet on specs, and that's no different with the OnePlus 8 Pro. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and features UFS 3.0 storage. The 4,510 mAh battery should allow for ample endurance, and when it comes time to charge up, you get 30W recharge times both wired and wirelessly. Yep, for the first time ever, we have a OnePlus phone with wireless charging 🙌. You will need OnePlus's proprietary wireless charger in order to get those 30W wireless charging speeds, but if you don't feel like buying another accessory, you can use the 8 Pro with any Qi charger and get more traditional charge times.
On the software side of things, OnePlus partnered with Google to offer a three-month trial of Google One, Live Caption support, and Stadia compatibility.
The OnePlus 8 Pro is the flagship device for OnePlus this year, but it's not the only phone in the lineup. Joining it is the regular OnePlus 8, which looks to be a more direct successor to the OnePlus 7T.
Design-wise, the OnePlus 8 looks a lot like the 8 Pro. The most notable difference is that it's more compact, featuring a smaller 6.55-inch display. That may still sound big on paper, but with a similar width to the iPhone 11 Pro, the in-hand feel should be quite comfortable. On the technical side of things, the display has a Full HD+ resolution of 2400 x 1080, is an AMOLED panel, and has HDR support.
As for colors, you still get Onyx Black and Glacial Green from the OnePlus 8 Pro. Exclusive to the OnePlus 8 is Interstellar Glow, which showcases a multitude of colors depending on how the light hits it.
Other specs for the OnePlus 8 include triple rear cameras (48MP primary, 16MP ultra-wide, and a macro camera), Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 256GB of UFS 2.0 storage, a 4,300 mAh battery, and Warp Charge 30T for 30W wired charging. Unfortunately, there's no wireless charging here.
Also, with 5G being a big trend in the tech space, OnePlus is offering 5G connectivity for both the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. For the first time ever, OnePlus is partnering with Verizon to launch the OnePlus 8 on the network (not the 8 Pro). This benefits OnePlus which needs more carrier deals, and Verizon which needs more affordable options for 5G devices.
Let's wrap all of this up with pricing. The OnePlus 8 starts at $699 for the model with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage, with the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage model going for $799. The OnePlus 8 Pro has the same different RAM and storage configs, going for $899 and $999, respectively.
Sales begin April 29 on OnePlus's website, with availability for other channels being announced "soon."
