OnePlus 8 Pro review – finally in the big leagues, but at a premium

• OnePlus has finally delivered its most-complete smartphone till date with the OnePlus 8 Pro, but it comes at a premium this time around.
• The OnePlus 8 Pro also delivers some of the most-requested features by OnePlus fans – IP68 rating and wireless charging.
• All in all, you still get great value for money if you want a top-of-the-line smartphone that delivers on all fronts.

The OnePlus 8 Pro is the most well-made and complete smartphone from the company’s stables. It covers almost everything that any OnePlus fan has ever asked for – great display, cameras, wireless charging, IP rating for water resistance and overall, a premium design.

The OnePlus 8 Pro is also the costliest OnePlus smartphone till date. It’s filled to the brim with features that command a premium. It is what you might call a proper flagship phone – no corners have been cut, but the price has seen an increase, too.

Does the OnePlus 8 Pro justify its price? Does OnePlus still deliver the best value for your money when it comes to flagship smartphones? Let’s find out in our OnePlus 8 Pro review.


OnePlus 8 Pro price in India

Before we get started, here’s how much the OnePlus 8 Pro costs in India.


The OnePlus 8 Pro comes in three colour options – onyx black, glacial green and ultramarine blue. It is available for purchase on Amazon.in and the OnePlus online store.

OnePlus 8 Pro design – premium, but predictable

OnePlus has more or less perfected its design language – the display sandwiched between glass, with a back that has a frosted glass. OnePlus has been switching it up when it comes to the camera module design – while the OnePlus 7T had a circular camera module, the 8 Pro has a simpler vertical one.

The glass back design also helps the OnePlus 8 Pro stand out, whilst not attracting fingerprints and dust. It also gives it an understated classiness of sorts. Granted, some might find this a little boring or even predictable, but it works.

This is also the first that a OnePlus smartphone has an official IP rating – the OnePlus 8 Pro is rated IP68, meaning it offers water resistance up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

Another long-time complaint that the OnePlus 8 Pro has addressed is wireless charging – it’s the first smartphone from OnePlus to support this charging method.

On the whole, OnePlus 8 Pro delivers premium design whilst adding two highly requested features.


OnePlus 8 Pro display – as smooth as a smartphone display can get

The OnePlus 8 Pro sports a 6.78-inch Fluid AMOLED display with a Quad HD+ resolution – ticking another box to justify its high price. It also supports 120Hz refresh rate, which helps it deliver a smooth experience when compared to other smartphones with lower refresh rates.

We found the colours reproduction to be punchy, and the blacks were really deep. We put the OnePlus 8 Pro next to the Galaxy S20 Plus and the OnePlus 7T and noticed that it was on par with the Galaxy S20 Plus, which is Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone.

It’s worth noting that at Quad HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, the battery life takes a hit. For regular usage, lowering the resolution to Full HD+ and sticking to 120Hz helped the phone last an entire day.

OnePlus 8 Pro performance and software

The OnePlus 8 Pro runs on OxygenOS, the company’s custom user interface based on Android 10.

It is powered by the latest top-end chipset from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 865. Combined with fast memory and storage, you have a recipe for smooth, hassle-free performance. OnePlus has honed this recipe since its inception, and it’s no different with the OnePlus 8 Pro.

OxygenOS is one of the cleanest and yet feature-rich user interfaces out there. You get most of the bells and whistles without any of the bloatware that plagues some other smartphones.

OnePlus 8 Pro camera performance – better, but there’s room for improvement

Camera performance has been an area of some concern for OnePlus smartphones, but over the years there has been notable improvement. The OnePlus 8 Pro packs four cameras on the back, promising to deliver better performance than before.

We noticed major improvements when it comes to focusing on objects, or how close we could get to them without things getting blurry.

In good lighting conditions, the OnePlus 8 Pro shines. The colours are generally true-to-life, striking a good balance between sharpness and saturation. In indoor conditions, too, the OnePlus 8 Pro usually delivers good photos, but on the rare occasion it can struggle.

The troika of 1x zoom, wide-angle shots and 3x zoom make for a really good experience, too, giving you a new perspective with a single tap.

OnePlus 8 Pro battery life – warp charge and a big battery deliver all-day juice

The OnePlus 8 Pro is powered by a big 4,510mAh battery and supports 30W warp charging. This is the biggest battery so far in a OnePlus smartphone – something that is required because of the bigger display, higher Quad HD+ resolution and the 120Hz refresh rate.

Overall, OnePlus has struck a good balance between smooth performance and battery life. In our testing, the OnePlus 8 Pro usually lasted us an entire day with some juice left, but on some days, it had to be plugged in to the charger before the evening. Again, this depends on your usage, so your mileage may vary.

The phone also comes with a 30W warp charger that promises to charge the OnePlus 8 Pro from 1-50% in 23 minutes. It supports wireless charging as well.

Wrapping up – should you buy the OnePlus 8 Pro?

The OnePlus 8 Pro ticks almost all the boxes if you’re looking for a high-end smartphone. It has a great display, an almost-perfect design, smooth performance and really good cameras. There’s not much else you can ask for in a smartphone.

The one aspect that you still need to consider is the price. This is the costliest OnePlus smartphone so far, and while it delivers almost everything that a 2020 flagship smartphone should, the price bump is worth noting.

If price is not a major concern and you’re looking for a no-compromise smartphone, the OnePlus 8 Pro is a good option. It’s the most complete flagship smartphone from OnePlus so far.

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