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

In a few days we will see the successor to the OnePlus 7T Pro. Nevertheless, we have taken a closer look at the smartphone for you. It is not that old after all – it was launched in 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 worthwhile to take 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 will also be the case with the OnePlus 7T Pro. We will also answer the question of why the OnePlus 7T Pro is almost outsold by the in-house competition. Exciting? Sure - let's get started.

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 No, they are on a much higher level - except for the sandstone case. According to some reports, the grainy surface is history after just a few weeks of use and the sandstone effect disappears. I am sure that OnePlus can improve this with its successor. To be honest, I liked the protective case made of carbon the best, and I was loyal to it during the test.

Display & Specs

So, enough talk about the exterior - let's take a closer look at the OnePlus 7T Pro. It has a completely edgeless display with 6,67 inches and a resolution of 3.120 × 1.440 pixels (QHD+) at 516 ppi. The processor is now the Snapdragon 855 Plus. In addition, 8 GB of RAM have been included in the package. The internal memory is quite generous at 256 GB. At least I would never fill up such a large internal memory. If you do run out of space, you can unfortunately not increase it using 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 identical. Apart from the internal memory of 128 GB instead of 256 GB in the Pro model, the battery which is 285 mAh smaller (4.085 mAh 7T Pro/3.800 mAh 7T) and minor compromises in the camera, there are no differences. The normal OnePlus 7T is much more handy 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 in the OnePlus 7T Pro.

Depending on the user's preference, the OnePlus 7T uses a notch instead of a retractable camera on the Pro model. With a price difference of around 160 euros (599 euros for the 7T and 759 euros for the 7T Pro), I would rather go for the normal model. To be honest, the small changes in terms of battery, larger internal memory and pop-up camera instead of a notch would not justify the price difference compared to the Pro model. Especially since the 7T Pro is unfortunately much too big for me - although some other testers of the Pro model agreed with me. I've only heard good things about the OnePlus 7T in terms of handiness.

But that doesn't mean that the Pro model is doing so badly compared to the normal model. I think both models are pretty good in terms of price-performance, but in my opinion the "flagship killer" would definitely be the OnePlus 7T. I'm not sure why OnePlus is building up such aggressive competition in-house with the normal 7T. If I had to guess, the sales figures for the 7T were significantly better than those for the Pro model.

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 something about the camera again: In good lighting conditions, it takes really great pictures, but sometimes they're a bit too pale. When it gets darker, the OnePlus 7T Pro also shows its weaknesses. The noise is visible in the resulting photos and the quality of the picture is poorer. Unfortunately, this problem has been going on since my first OnePlus 3 - what a shame!

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 DXOMARK results, here is another addition: According to our colleagues, the OnePlus 7T Pro is placed just behind the 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 - although the pop-up camera pops up every time. Last year I complained about the OnePlus 6T's lack of dual stereo speakers - 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 blurs if you turn it too loud. Nevertheless, I like the volume of the OnePlus speakers - a dream even when making phone 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.

Like its predecessor, there is no wireless charging, but instead there is what is known as "warp charging". The OnePlus 30T Pro was about 7 percent full in just under 70 minutes - after that it charges more slowly to conserve the battery. I easily got through a day with the battery - but if you push the 90Hz too far, there will be a significant reduction in battery life.

Conclusion

With the OnePlus 7T Pro, the company has once again built a well-made, high-performance and – compared to the competition – affordable smartphone. Speaking of competition: this time, the OnePlus 7T is the competition from the company itself. As I already mentioned in detail above, the normal model is much better in terms of price and handiness this year. Unfortunately, the Pro model is simply too big for me to use with one hand. Things like the edgeless display with 90Hz are pleasing, but the normal 7T also has them. The price difference is not worth it 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 safely go for the OnePlus 7T or – if you are looking for a larger smartphone – the 7T Pro, 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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