There's no reason to spend $1,200 on Samsung's Galaxy S20 Plus when the $900 OnePlus 8 Pro is around

• The $900 OnePlus 8 Pro is our top choice for a high-end Android smartphone so far in 2020.
• The phone has a gorgeous design, an amazing screen, it's fast, powerful, it comes with an unbelievably fast charger. It's equal or better that its competition, like the $1,200 Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, in almost every respect, including price.
• It's also a 5G phone, which adds to the OnePlus 8 Pro's cost. The issue here is that 5G networks are not ready for the mainstream, so you'd be spending money on a feature that you'd barely use, if at all.
• The OnePlus 8 Pro comes highly recommended, but it could be worth waiting at least another year if you want a 5G phone. And, if you want to save money, strongly consider the $500 OnePlus 7 Pro or OnePlus 7T.

OnePlus has built a reputation around its high-end smartphones that easily compete against the iPhones and Galaxy S phones from the big companies, all while costing hundreds less.

As expected, OnePlus has done it again. The OnePlus 8 Pro is a superb, beautiful, and powerful smartphone that costs hundreds less than most of the competition. And, like almost every OnePlus phone before it, the 8 Pro comes highly recommended. But this time, my recommendation comes with significantly more "ifs and buts" than usual.

On one hand, the OnePlus 8 Pro is a fantastic smartphone that's $300 cheaper than the equivalent 5G phone from Samsung, the $1,200 Galaxy S20 Plus.

On the other hand, the OnePlus 8 Pro is $900 — which is expensive and $230 more than the OnePlus 7 Pro from last year. That $900 price tag alone both adds to OnePlus' reputation while simultaneously taking away from it. It's both value-oriented and expensive.

So, what do you get for $900 — the new norm for "value" in high-end Android smartphones in 2020?

OnePlus 8 Pro specs

• Display: 6.7-inch 1440p (2,560 x 1,440) 120Hz AMOLED
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
• Memory & storage: 8GB LPDDR5 RAM & 128GB UFS 3.0 storage; 12GB LPDDR5 RAM & 256GB UFS 3.0 storage
• Rear cameras: 48-megapixel wide, 48-megapixel ultra-wide, 8-megapixel 3x optical zoomed lens
• Selfie camera: 16-megapixel
• Battery: 4,510mAh

Design and display

The OnePlus 8 Pro is a gorgeous smartphone whether it's in or out of a case.

There's nothing that suggests OnePlus compromised on materials, aesthetics, and overall feel of the OnePlus 8 Pro. Clad in metal and frosted glass on the back, the "ultramarine blue" OnePlus 8 Pro review unit I've been using decidedly feels ultra-premium, and that's likely to be case with other color options. Just note that the black version has a glossy glass back, not the frosted texture.

Even if you hide away the OnePlus 8 Pro's design in a case, the curved screen edges, ultra-narrow bezels, and a hole-punch style selfie camera easily makes for one of the best looking smartphones you can buy, alongside phones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup.

The OnePlus 8 Pro's QHD (1440p) AMOLED screen is sharp, bright, colors are rich and vibrant, and the color black is inky, making for a dynamic screen that makes everything look pleasant. That's to be expected in such a high-end smartphone, but the OnePlus 8 Pro differentiates itself with the incredibly smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

The 120Hz refresh rate at QHD resolution means the screen stays sharp while you glide through the Android operating system and apps. It'll look like a massive leap compared to smartphones with standard 60Hz screens, like the iPhone 11 series and most phones from before 2019 and before.

To be sure, such a smooth screen as the OnePlus 8 Pro's purely serves an aesthetic function — there are very few, if any, functional benefits for high refresh rate screens on smartphones. But, it sure makes an impact.

Performance and battery life

The OnePlus 8 Pro is a powerful, fast phone for the enthusiast who doesn't want to wait for things to happen after tapping and swiping on the screen — plain and simple.

But again, all the big Android smartphones of 2020 so far are sporting similar specs, like the Snapdragon 865 mobile chip and a ton of RAM, so stellar performance is a given at this level of the smartphone game. OnePlus' main differentiator here is that it delivers the same performance as its competitors for a lower price tag.

For those who want a number, a standard GeekBench test showed 894 for a single-core score, and 3,322 for a multi-core score. Those are technically slightly better scores than the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, which sports nearly identical specs as the OnePlus 8 Pro. But in real life, there really isn't any perceivable difference between the two. Indeed, that's to say there isn't a perceivably difference in performance between a $900 phone and a $1,200 phone. That's a win for the OnePlus 8 Pro.

Battery life is stellar. I had almost five hours of screen-on time running apps like YouTube, Reddit, and Google News the majority of the time. By the time the OnePlus 8 Pro got to 15%, the phone had gone almost 48 hours without seeing a charger. To be fair, the apps I use aren't super intensive, like a game would be — expect to see shorter battery life for those kinds of power hungry apps.

Cameras

You get three cameras on the OnePlus 8 Pro, including a 48-megapixel standard wide lens, an ultra-wide angle lens, and a 3x optically zoomed lens, which is pretty much standard on high-end smartphone (unless you're Google's Pixel 4 with a dual-lens camera and an $800 price tag).

Overall, pretty much anyone should be quite pleased with the OnePlus 8 Pro's cameras.

Here's a photo from the standard wide lens:

Here's a photo with the ultra-wide lens:

And here's a photo from the 3x zoomed lens:

The OnePlus 8 Pro takes great photos, but it can trip up under certain lighting conditions. Below, it looks like the phone added some kind of Instagram filter, where colors appear faded and washed out:

And, digitally zooming into a subject beyond the 3x optical zoom introduces a hazy look to photos:

Additional features

OnePlus also gets one of the most undervalued parts of a smartphone almost completely right: fingerprint unlocking and facial recognition. Both are incredibly fast and accurate, making for a seamless and frustration-free unlocking experience. It might seem trivial, but it's a massive part of using a smartphone, and it's amazing how often companies get it wrong. The fancy ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S20 series, for example, is an unfortunate and frustrating mess to use.

You might notice that the fingerprint sensor doesn't work very well when your finger is wet (or even damp) or dirty, and even in direct sunlight, but that's when the incredibly fast facial recognition comes in hand. Conversely, you'll find that the facial recognition can be slow when it's darker, and that's when the fingerprint recognition comes in.

OnePlus also has better battery charging than any other smartphone company. The OnePlus 8 Pro comes with OnePlus' Warp Charge 30T charger, which is still among the fastest chargers that comes included with a smartphone.

The OnePlus 8 Pro also ushers in a brand new, long-awaited feature for OnePlus phones: wireless charging. And boy, what a wireless charger. The Warp Charge 30 Wireless Charger makes quick work to fill up the phone's battery at 30W. From 15% to 75%, it only took 37 minutes on the OnePlus wireless charger. From 15% to 100%, it took about an hour. That's incredibly fast for wireless — and even for wired — charging. To note, however, the wireless charger is a $70 optional extra, not an included accessory.

Drawbacks

• The OnePlus 8 Pro is on the larger side, so those who like smaller phones won't be happy here. The OnePlus 8 is smaller (but still quite large with a ), but it's barely the same phone — it doesn't have wireless charging, it has a 90Hz screen, and it has lesser cameras.
• The cameras can misfire from time to time — colors can look washed out or overly saturated.
• The curved screen edges aren't for everyone. They look good, but they actually feel like wasted screen space. This isn't specific against OnePlus phones, as a lot of Android phones employ the curved screen edges.
• The OnePlus 8 Pro is the most expensive OnePlus phone to date, and 5G is largely to blame, as OnePlus CEO Pete Lau previously said. You're basically paying extra for 5G, but 5G is barely available — unless you live in a 5G coverage area, 5G will be a rare network that few people can realistically connect to until carriers flesh out their 5G networks. At the moment, 5G is more of a novelty rather than a functional network.
  • To go even further, one of the only two 5G networks worth connecting to — the super fast high-band mmWave networks — will only be available to Verizon units of the OnePlus 8 Pro. That means you need to buy your OnePlus 8 Pro from Verizon, and you need to be a Verizon customer. AT&T also has a high-band 5G network, but no OnePlus 8 Pro users will be able to connect to it.

Should you buy the OnePlus 8 Pro?

If you're looking for a high-end smartphone in 2020, the OnePlus 8 Pro should be at the very top of your short list. It's the best high-end Android smartphone to date — end of discussion.

The OnePlus 8 Pro is what happens when OnePlus unleashes itself without the limitations of "value." It has all the flagship features that were previously missing in OnePlus phones, like an official water resistance rating and wireless charging, and it just went all out and created an indisputable force of smartphone nature.

With that said, I'd consider waiting another year before buying any 5G smartphone if you care about saving money. 5G technology adds to the cost of smartphones, and 5G just isn't ready for you yet. Indeed, it's entirely possible to buy the OnePlus 8 Pro and never connect to a single 5G network during the year 2020. With that in mind, you'd be paying for 5G technology that you might not get to use, or use extremely rarely. And, if you do connect to a 5G network, you're likely a T-Mobile customer connecting to T-Mobile's low-band network, which frankly doesn't impress and feels just like regular 4G LTE. Other carriers have shorter range 5G networks that are faster, but coverage is unbelievably sparse at the moment.

Whichever way you look at it, you'll be connected to your carrier's 4G LTE network more often than a 5G network, and you'll rarely be using the 5G technology you paid for in the OnePlus 8 Pro. If you'd rather wait for 5G networks to become more mainstream, I'd suggest either waiting before buying a high-end smartphone like the OnePlus 8 Pro. Or, if you need a new phone now, I'd strongly consider the $500 OnePlus 7 Pro or OnePlus 7T.