OnePlus 7T Pro review: The giant with in-house competition

In a few days we will be the successor to the OnePlus 7T Pro see. Nevertheless, we took a closer look at the smartphone for you. It's not that old after all - it was mid-October vorgestellt. Our test.

The rumor mill is currently raging about the upcoming OnePlus 8, which we will see in a few days. Nevertheless, it can be worth taking a closer look at a slightly older smartphone a few months later. After all, not everyone always needs the latest smartphone, and the predecessor is usually cheaper. This is also the case with the OnePlus 7T Pro be. We also clarify the question of why the OnePlus 7T Pro is almost outbid by the in-house competition. Exciting? Sure - let's go.

Packaging, processing & wrapping

When it comes to the packaging, OnePlus is again letting off steam this year – at least with the press test devices. Unlike usual, here were about three protective covers to the endprobeer at it. The box was also quite large and weighed around 2,5 kilograms. So if you lift the cover off, there's a cardboard box to unfold. A OnePlus booklet is hidden under it, in which there are operating instructions and some stickers. Right below you will find the hiding places for the smartphone itself and three protective covers. The latter is not included for private customers. Protective covers can be found on the OnePlus website.

Otherwise, a "Warp Charge" power supply unit and charger are included in the scope of delivery. Of course, there are also little extras such as a SIM needle. In terms of headphones, you will unfortunately be disappointed with OnePlus, the manufacturer does not include them as standard. But you can find headphone bundles here on the OnePlus website. If you want a little more equipment, you can go to OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition grasp. There is also a clear difference in terms of packaging.

OnePlus has again done a very good job of processing this time. That was also the case with my previous OnePlus smartphone, the OnePlus 6T McLarenso. For example, the so-called “notification slider”, with which the smartphone can either be silent, vibrate or loud, sits firmly and looks very well made. In addition, there is also a protective film on the display as standard, which protects the smartphone from scratches or similar damage. I was somewhat bothered by the back, which is really very slippery - be careful without a cover!

As already mentioned above, I can really recommend the covers from OnePlus to you. These don't feel as good as cheap, transparent covers for example from Amazon on. No, they play at a much higher level - except for the sandstone shell. According to some reports, the grainy surface should be history after just a few weeks of use and the sandstone effect should disappear. I'm sure that OnePlus can improve here with the successor. To be honest, I liked that the best Protective case made of carbon, which I then also faithfully loved during the test.

Display & Specs

So, enough talking about the looks - let's look at the OnePlus 7T Pro now a little more detail. You rely on a completely borderless display with 6,67 inches and a resolution of 3.120 × 1.440 pixels (QHD +) at 516 ppi. At the Proprocessor is now based on the Snapdragon 855 Plus. In addition, 8 GB of RAM has been packed into the package. The internal memory is quite generous at 256 GB. At least I would never fill up such a large internal memory. Unfortunately, if you run out of space, you can't increase it with a microSD card, which is a shame.

A big step forward over the previous generation is the 90Hz display with HDR 10+. You probably won't believe me, but scrolling through Instagram feeds or articles from TechnikNews just runs really smoothly. In order to save energy, the 90Hz are not permanently active, but only when required. The change has always worked well and reliably. A video from OnePlus shows the difference quite well (left with 90Hz and right below 90Hz):

 

 

In addition to the super smooth 90Hz display, I also have to add disadvantages here that do not exist with the OnePlus 7T. First of all, I find the display, which is curved very strongly towards the edge, quite a disadvantage. So you actually only hold one display in your hand - so, for me personally, a bit too much rounded. In addition, the display is simply huge and almost impossible to use with one hand. During my test, while I was holding the smartphone at the bottom with my little finger, I couldn't get to the status bar at the top. Changing the grip was really awkward. There are probably no complaints about these points in the OnePlus 7T. That brings us to the point that I already address in the headline:

The OnePlus 7T is the OnePlus 7T Pro's competitor

If you compare the technical data of the two devices, the two flagships are almost on par. Except for the internal memory of 128 GB instead of 256 GB in the Promodel, the 285 mAh smaller battery (4.085 mAh 7T Pro/3.800 mAh 7T) and smaller cuts in the camera, there are no differences. The normal OnePlus 7T with its display diagonal of 6,55 inches and its dimensions of 160,94 × 74,44 × 8,13 mm, instead of 6,67 inches and dimensions of 162,6 × 75,9 × 8,8 mm on the OnePlus 7T Pro, but much handier.

Depending on the user's preference, the OnePlus 7T uses a notch instead of an extendable camera Pro-Model. With a price difference of around 160 euros (599 euros 7T and 759 euros 7T Pro), but I would rather use the normal model. The small changes in terms of battery, larger internal memory and pop-up camera instead of notch would make up the difference in price to the Pro-Model frankly not justify. Especially since the 7T Pro is unfortunately much too big - although some other testers of the Pro- model have agreed. I've only heard good things about the OnePlus 7T when it comes to handiness.

But that doesn't mean at all that Pro-model looks so bad compared to the normal model. I think both models are pretty good value for money, but in my opinion the “flagship killer” would clearly be the OnePlus 7T. I'm not sure why OnePlus is setting up such aggressive competition in-house with the normal 7T. If I had to guess, the sales of the 7T are compared to the Pro-model turned out much better.

Camera: Oh, OnePlus!

At the top of the cameras, OnePlus has never quite made it. But really only barely - that's why the “Oh, OnePlus!” - OnePlus would be so close with its smartphone cameras, unfortunately it keeps screwing up in some lighting situations. As with the predecessor OnePlus 6T I noticed this again with the camera: In good lighting conditions, it shoots really great, but sometimes a bit too pale, pictures. If it gets darker, the OnePlus 7T also shows Pro his weaknesses. The noise can be seen in the result photos and the image quality deteriorates. That ProUnfortunately, the problem has been going on since my first OnePlus 3 - too bad, too bad!

The camera uses a Sony IMX586 sensor, the main lens, the telephoto lens and the ultra wide-angle lens each have a resolution of 48 (f/1.6), 8 (f/2.4) and 16 (f/2.2, 117 degrees) megapixels. 4K video at 30/60 fps is proeasily possible. A front camera with a resolution of 16 megapixels is available for selfies.

If you are interested in the DXOMARK results, here it is added: According to the colleagues, the OnePlus 7T places itself Pro just behind that Huawei P30 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10. But let's take a look at some test photos of me. In the following you will find some unedited original pictures of the smartphone. However, due to the otherwise large file size, some images are compressed (lossless!).

OnePlus 7T Pro: test photos

As you can see in the third picture, a few snapshots fade and could use more color. The night mode didn't really convince me personally, even if it clearly brightened the images. In the photo with the trees, you can see that all the details of the branches have disappeared in night mode - a shame. In better light, the night mode works reliably, as you can see from the last picture. On my photo tour in good daylight, the results look really good.

Battery & more

The fingerprint sensor, which is still in the display and reacts really quickly, has not been mentioned at all. Face Unlock is also possible – with the pop-up camera extending every time. Last year I complained about the lack of dual stereo speakers on the OnePlus 6T - in the OnePlus 7T Pro these have now become a reality. When watching a video, simply turn the smartphone horizontally and off you go - great bass and good mids, even if the sound image blurs if you turn it up too loud. Nevertheless, I like the volume of the speakers on OnePlus - a dream even when making calls with a loud background.

The official IP certification for water resistance is unfortunately still missing, but according to OnePlus the smartphone should be waterproof up to one point. It should survive a fall into a bucket full of water, but water damage is excluded from the guarantee. So better not to test it.

As with the predecessor, there is no wireless charging, but the so-called "Warp Charging" instead. In just under 30 minutes was the OnePlus 7T Pro to about 70 Procent full tank - then it charges more slowly to save the battery. I could easily get through a day with the battery – but if you push the 90Hz too much, there are clear cuts in battery life.

Conclusion

With the OnePlus 7T Pro once again this year a well-made, high-performance and - compared to the competition - cheap smartphone has been built. Speaking of competition: this time there is the OnePlus 7T, of all things, from the company itself. As I have already mentioned in detail above, the normal model is much better this year in terms of price and handiness. I am that ProUnfortunately, the model here is just too big to be able to use it with one hand. Things like the borderless display with 90Hz are pleasing, but there are also the normal 7T. It's not worth the price difference to me.

When it comes to the camera, the current generation continues to show its weaknesses, which will hopefully be resolved with the successor, the OnePlus 8, which will arrive shortly. Wireless charging and IP certification would also be a great extra.

Nevertheless, you can still go to the OnePlus 7T or - if you are looking for a larger smartphone - to the 7T without hesitation Pro grasp, even if the successor is just around the corner. You won't notice the difference in performance anyway, because the 7T is already pretty well equipped and well prepared for the future.

Thanks at this point to OnePlus, who again provided us with a test device this time. This of course does not affect my opinion.

• OnePlus 7T Pro buy directly from OnePlus
• OnePlus 7T Pro Buy at Amazon

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