OnePlus 8 Pro review: unbeatably good

The OnePlus 8 Pro is the latest coup from the Chinese company from Shenzhen. A little over a month ago it was presented - at TechnikNews so also tested right away. I can anticipate one thing: It was a really exciting test. Read it.

With the OnePlus 8 Pro has finally made a big leap forward compared to its predecessor. There is now for the first time Wireless Charging for mobile phone, 5G and finally a more compact design. In addition, there are other major improvements that have not really been advertised. Smartphones are usually boring these days – the OnePlus 8 Pro but is really worth mentioning. How so? So let's take a closer look at the flagship.

Compact in design, good workmanship

Once you've unboxed the smartphone itself, a plastic case, the Warp Charger and a USB-C cable, you can actually get started. Thankfully, OnePlus also gave me the new one Warp Charge Wireless included. We'll come back to this later, however. The case mentioned above doesn't necessarily feel valuable, but does its job well, namely to protect the cell phone from dents and scratches. An included sandstone case would have been awesome when I think back to the OnePlus One, which had the sandstone directly on the back. I thought that was really cool. If you need such a cover, you can use the OnePlus website reorder.

In terms of design, they did more right this time than they did with the OnePlus 7T Pro. You can finally use it with one hand again (at least I can) and it doesn't feel so clunky anymore. In addition, the pop-up camera has been removed, which has been replaced by a "hole punch" in the top left of the display. In my opinion the best solution - a notch and all other fantasies of fold-out cameras are tinkering. You can't complain about the workmanship either, everything is tight and the buttons have a good pressure point. Only the case is a bit too loose at the edges for me, so that you don't always hit the buttons right away, but sometimes slip a bit.

Better than a pop-up camera or a notch: the “hole punch”. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

With the OnePlus 8 Pro a new vibration motor has also been installed, which finally gives good, haptic feedback. It clatters a bit, but is no longer extremely loud, as was often the case in the past.

OxygenOS and performance: lightning fast

Also with the OnePlus 8 Pro once again a smartphone is delivered, which can probably be assigned as the currently fastest Android smartphone. Although OxygenOS is not a stock Android, it has been polished with useful and useful functions. For the first time, there is now a menu item "Customization" in the settings, where the entire software design can be adjusted at a glance. By the way, there is also the dark mode (under "Tint" > "Dark"), which I was looking for a long time at the beginning.

The 12 GB of working memory is also noticeable in the fluidity of the system - almost all apps of a day remain in the working memory and do not have to be reloaded when opened. This year, the display also makes a significant contribution to performance - with the OnePlus 8 Pro upgraded from 90Hz to 120Hz. I've never noticed the difference as clearly as I do now. At the Proprocessor is based on the Snapdragon 865, which also supports 5G. An Adreno 650 is installed as the graphics unit.

With the OnePlus 8 Pro you can see through everything

You can certainly remember the numerous videos that made the OnePlus 8 Pro went viral with its infrared camera sensor. Some have claimed the smartphone is the ultimate nude scanner and X-Ray is now obsolete. That's rubbish. With the OnePlus 8 Pro You can neither see through people nor read unopened letters (which is also a punishable offense) or see through walls. The feature is hidden under the name "Photochrome" in the filters in the camera, but is now being gradually deactivated again due to the panic of some people.

No, the OnePlus 8 Pro is not a body scanner, but sees through infrared-permeable objects. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

It works by remote control or looking through some objects, but only if they have an infrared transparent housing. This is of course the case with many remote controls, which is why it works particularly well there. The 1st generation Apple TV also had such a permeable housing, which is why it worked there too. So do not panic, the feature does not break into your privacy and cannot screen you. You don't have to walk through your apartment either, there won't be many objects that you can x-ray.

Camera: Finally on par with the competition

With the camera, it almost seems like OnePlus listened to me and numerous other reviews. In many tests it was written that the camera has simply not been on par with the competition for generations. I also had it with mine Review of the OnePlus 7T Pro Angelsprochen. For some subjects at night and during the day, the OnePlus 8 Pro the Huawei P40 Pro quite clearly outdone. you don't believe me? see for yourself

By the way, this time the camera uses a Sony IMX689 sensor together with three lenses. They each come with 48 MP (main camera with f/1.78), 8 MP (telephoto lens with f/2.44) and 48 MP (ultra wide-angle lens with an aperture of f/2.2 and a viewing angle of 120 degrees). In addition, there is the aboveprochene color filter lens, which has a resolution of 5 MP and an aperture of f/2,4. You can take selfies with the 16 MP front camera with an aperture of f/2,45. Videos are available at 1080P/4K/4K Cine with 30 or 60FPS. 4K Cine is the cinema standard and offers a 21:9 aspect ratio for wider viewing. Slow motion is possible up to 480FPS at 720P.

The camera has improved noticeably. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

Also comes with the OnePlus 8 Pro optical and electronic image stabilization is used, which you can sometimes hear rattling and rattling. Not annoying, but you can hear it in very quiet environments. But I don't know how to implement silent image stabilization either, since a motor has to be used here.

OnePlus 8 Pro: test photos

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!).

As you can see from the pictures, OnePlus has it ProThe problem with the noise at night was solved perfectly - you can't see anything of it anymore. The 30x zoom, on which you can see fewer details (color and sharpness) than with the competition, needs improvement. But compared to the Huawei P40 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S20+ delivers us the OnePlus 8 Pro the most natural, lifelike photo:

Battery: wirelessly almost as fast as charging it with a cable

With the OnePlus 8 Pro brings wireless charging with you for the first time. No ordinary wireless charging with 10 watts, but directly with 30 watts. That is prowith these sizes you already reduce a lot of power loss and waste heat, but still only charge ten minutes longer than with the Warp Charge cable. From 0 to 100, the 4510 mAh battery needs around 1 hour and 11 minutes with the Warp Charge cable and around 1 hour and 21 minutes with the wireless charger.

A wireless charger with a fan. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

Apropos heat: the Warp Charger has a fan on the back, otherwise everything would get too warm. However, I would not put this next to my desk, as it sounds like a permanently running hair dryer in the next room. However, in the settings under "Battery" there is the item "Bedtime mode", in which the power of the wireless charger is reduced (probably to 10 watts?) and the fan no longer has to run. Then you could use a normal 10-watt charger.

The built-in 120Hz display, together with 12 GB of RAM, also uses the battery - that's what the OnePlus 8 does Pro clearly noticeable. It's been a long time since I've had to charge a smartphone so often - with intensive use even twice a day with a maximum SOT (Screen On Time) of around 3,5 hours. If it weren't for the fast warp charge here, charging would have really got on my nerves. So it remains a point of criticism, but it is manageable. To save battery, you can of course switch back to 60Hz with FHD+ resolution in the settings instead of 120Hz with QHD+. In my test, however, I wanted to get the most out of the device and therefore constantly tested with the latter setting.

5G in Austria with the OnePlus 8 Pro: Currently none

In cooperation with the mobile operator "Three“ I have the opportunity to test the 5G network in this country. In my tests, of course, the OnePlus 8 Pro there, which, however, did not want to use 5G. The network coverage was definitely there (with the Huawei P40 Pro 5G) compared, the OnePlus 8 Pro However, it did not find its way into the 5G network. When I asked Drei, they knew nothing about any Proproblems, but OnePlus was able to help me and gave me the following feedback:

Currently, customers using OnePlus 8 series will not be able to use 5G services from Drei in Austria however, we are constantly working to make sure more people can enjoy 5G experience.

So if you're looking at the OnePlus 8 Pro So if you only want to get a 5G test in Austria, you have to be patient and better wait for the successor. There are also a few other difficulties at the moment – ​​for example, you can only put the 5G SIM in the first SIM slot at the moment. A few more software updates and fine-tuning by OnePlus are needed to make it work smoothly.

Conclusion: unbeatably good

The headline would be the OnePlus 8 Pro I think best describes it. Of course there is enough competition in this price range, but none that offers exactly this package at this price. Insanely smooth performance, great workmanship, a naked scanner - of course not 😉 - and a great camera. The fast charging with Warp Charge is also really pleasant and fun. You can give the OnePlus 8 Pro really watching it every 30 seconds Procent more charged.

I was bothered by the comparatively short battery life, which was due to my setting of 120Hz and QHD + resolution. But if you want to have exactly this fluid experience, you have to make compromises here. I also cannot understand the fact that the Google Assistant is started by default when the power button is pressed for a long time and that you cannot restart the smartphone directly from the factory. I have no idea why you want to make switching off and restarting so complicated - you have to set the button in the settings under "Buttons & Gestures"> "Hold the on / off button" to "On / Off menu" instead of the voice assistant .

Otherwise, OnePlus is doing everything right with its latest flagship and, given the now finally powerful camera, can place itself at the top. Sure - the price of 999 euros is no longer a “flagship killer” like it used to be (the OnePlus 3 cost 399 euros), but unfortunately a normal price for high-end devices in 2020. But now high-end devices are also installed -Components and is at the top.

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