❤ OnePlus 10 Pro
OnePlus‘ latest flagship offering is here. After launching in China in 2022, we wondered when the rest of the world would see the new OnePlus flagship. Alas, the OnePlus 10 Pro is now available outside of China, and we are having our rounds with it. It includes the flagship-grade Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, a larger battery, a new selfie camera, and an updated ultrawide camera.
On paper, these updates feel more like they should belong to a vanilla OnePlus 10, with more significant upgrades reserved for the “Pro” model. The recent rumor of a OnePlus 10 “Ultra” to arrive later this year is starting to make more sense – speculatively, of course.
Update, 26 Aug 2022: A OnePlus 10 Pro unit made its way to our HQ and we jumped at the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps left from the review. Those include the loudspeaker test, photo and video samples from the usual locations, and entries in our Photo and Video compare tools. You can find the new additions on the respective pages.
In any case, we hope to see improvements in battery life, and we’re happy to finally see an updated 32 MP selfie camera module. We’re also excited to test out the new 150-degree ultrawide camera, and we wonder if we’ll see improvements in the main camera’s image processing despite the 10 Pro using the exact same main camera as the 9 Pro.
OnePlus 10 Pro specs at a glance:
| NETWORK | Technology | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G |
|---|---|---|
| 2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM model only) | |
| CDMA 800 | ||
| 3G bands | HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 | |
| CDMA2000 1xEV-DO | ||
| 4G bands | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71 – International | |
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 38, 39, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71 – USA | ||
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41 – China, India | ||
| 5G bands | 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 25, 28, 30, 38, 40, 41, 48, 66, 71, 77, 78 SA/NSA – International | |
| 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 25, 28, 30, 38, 41, 66, 71, 77 SA/NSA – USA | ||
| 1, 3, 40, 41, 78, 79 SA/NSA – China | ||
| 1, 3, 5, 8, 28, 40, 41, 78, 79 SA/NSA – India | ||
| Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (4CA) Cat18 1200/200 Mbps, 5G |
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2022, January 11 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Available. Released 2022, January 13 |
| BODY | Dimensions | 163 x 73.9 x 8.6 mm (6.42 x 2.91 x 0.34 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 201 g (7.09 oz) | |
| Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frame | |
| SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| IP68 dust/water resistant – T-Mobile only (not for use underwater, liquid damage is not covered under warranty) |
| DISPLAY | Type | LTPO2 Fluid AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 500 nits (typ), 800 nits (HBM), 1300 nits (peak) |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 6.7 inches, 108.4 cm2 (~90.0% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3216 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~525 ppi density) | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | |
| Always-on display |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android 12, upgradable to Android 13, OxygenOS 13 (International), ColorOS (China) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm) | |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510) | |
| GPU | Adreno 730 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | No |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM | |
| UFS 3.1 |
| MAIN CAMERA | Triple | 48 MP, f/1.8, 23mm (wide), 1/1.43″, 1.12µm, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS 8 MP, f/2.4, 77mm (telephoto), 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3.3x optical zoom 50 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 150˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.76″, 0.64µm |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Hasselblad Color Calibration, Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, Auto HDR, gyro-EIS |
| SELFIE CAMERA | Single | 32 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 1/2.74″, 0.8µm |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Auto-HDR | |
| Video | 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS |
| SOUND | Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 3.5mm jack | No | |
| 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD | |
| Positioning | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS (G1), BDS (B1), GALILEO (E1+E5a) | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.1, OTG |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, color spectrum, barometer |
|---|
| BATTERY | Type | Li-Po 5000 mAh, non-removable |
|---|---|---|
| Charging | 80W wired, PD, 1-100% in 32 min (International) 65W wired, PD, 1-58% in 15 min (North America) 50W wireless Reverse wireless |
| MISC | Colors | Volcanic Black, Emerald Forest, Panda White (Extreme Edition) |
|---|---|---|
| Models | NE2210, NE2211, NE2213, NE2215, NE2217 | |
| Price | $ 459.90 / € 609.00 / £ 527.16 / ₹ 66,999 |
| TESTS | Performance | AnTuTu: 886248 (v9) GeekBench: 3447 (v5.1) GFXBench: 48fps (ES 3.1 onscreen) |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal) | |
| Camera | Photo / Video | |
| Loudspeaker | -25.2 LUFS (Very good) | |
| Battery life |
Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.
The display panel is the same as that of the 9 Pro. It is rated for 1300 nits of peak brightness, and it has HDR10+ support and a variable 120Hz refresh rate that optimizes battery life by switching down to as low as 1Hz. One new tidbit for the 10 Pro is Dual Calibration, which means OnePlus has color-calibrated the panel at both 500 and 100 nits – for more consistent accuracy across brightness levels.
In North America, OnePlus is launching the 10 Pro with a single memory configuration of 8GB + 128GB, though there are plans to bring the 12GB + 256GB variant to the market sometime in the future (India and EU get the 12GB + 256GB at launch). Otherwise, there’s no vanilla 10 variant, and OnePlus has been mum as to why that is. We will reserve all judgments for the end of the review, so let’s dive into OnePlus’ flagship option and find out what makes it stand out.
Unboxing
The OnePlus 10 Pro comes in standard OnePlus packaging affair: a sturdy red box with all the essentials included. Our North American variant didn’t include a protective case (despite there being a space for it in the box), but it did include a USB OTG adapter (USB-A to USB-C) for transferring data from an old device. Recent OnePlus flagships never included this in North America.
The package includes OnePlus stickers, documentation, SIM-eject tool, 65W SuperVOOC charging adapter, and USB-C to C cable.
If you were to pick up the phone in, say, India, you’d get an 80W SuperVOOC fast charger. This charger has a USB-A port instead of USB-C and is thus incapable of supporting USB-Power Delivery standard. This charger can only fast charge OnePlus and Oppo phones, but everything else will get the standard 10W, making it much less useful compared to the 65W model.
Competition
In North America, the OnePlus 10 Pro is positioned at $899, which goes head to head with the Google Pixel 6 Pro, and it sits between two iPhone 13 models, and two Galaxy S22 models. Overseas, OnePlus sees competition from Chinese brands Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Realme.
Google Pixel 6 Pro • Realme GT2 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S22+ 5G • Oppo Find X5 Pro
The Google Pixel 6 Pro features Google’s camera prowess and updates directly from Google. It has the stock Android 12 experience, though Google has had a few software snafus with delayed updates and new bugs that come with each update. Of the two, we think the 6 Pro has a more consistent software experience considering OnePlus’ recent and inconsistent rebranding of OxygenOS.
Realme’s GT2 Pro is identical to the 10 Pro in many ways. It has the same display, same chipset, same battery and 65W charging, but its triple camera setup is different due to the lack of a telephoto camera. Still, if you wanted to save a few bucks, you could get an identical smartphone with even similar software, as Realme UI 3 is derivative of ColorOS – which invaded the real OxygenOS starting with version 12.
Samsung’s Galaxy S22/S22+ feature(s) a more complete and consistent software experience. Both offer capable camera suites and yield great battery life, though the OnePlus 10 Pro will certainly charge faster. If you’re looking for an ecosystem to be a part of on the Android front, Samsung’s is a great choice.
The Oppo Find X5 Pro is similarly equipped with its triple cameras and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. In our first-impressions review, we noted that the Find X5 Pro didn’t feel like much of an upgrade over the Find X3 Pro, which is kind of how we feel about the 10 Pro relative to the 9 Pro. We might even suggest you can save some bucks if you manage to find a 9 Pro at a discount.
Although the Huawei P50 Pro doesn’t include Google services, it does offer a competitive camera suite. If you can also get over the fact that there’s no 5G connectivity and battery life isn’t up to par with competitors, the P50 does have beautiful hardware.
The iPhone 13 Pro is chosen for its camera and video capabilities, as well as its software suite and excellent interoperability with Apple’s ecosystem of products. If you’re coming from an iPhone and looking to switch to Android, OnePlus does offer a way to transfer data in, but only offers the option to transfer from an iCloud account.
OnePlus 9 Pro • Huawei P50 Pro • Apple iPhone 13 Pro
Verdict
So far, the OnePlus flagship had a different launch from previous years. Aside from not launching a vanilla OnePlus 10 model, the brand staggered its Chinese launch from the rest of the world by several weeks. Plus, with recent reports of a OnePlus 10 Ultra coming later this year, perhaps the company is restructuring its brand strategy as it figures out how to cope with its unification of OnePlus and Oppo’s resources.
We (and OnePlus fans alike) have been disappointed by the most recent release of OxygenOS. It feels like OnePlus grasped at a bunch of elements of ColorOS and stuffed them into a package, and pretended that it was still OxygenOS. We’re happy to hear that OnePlus has taken the feedback from its community on this, but users won’t see the brand’s undoing of the ColorOS-ification of OxygenOS until Android 13 comes out in the later part of the year.
The recent rumors of a OnePlus 10 “Ultra” are what gives us hope for the brand in 2022. Otherwise, the OnePlus 10 Pro feels like it could have been the vanilla 10 model. Disappointments aside, we were quite impressed with the thermal handling and the raw performance of the OnePlus 10 Pro. There are enough features to keep semi-serious gamers happy.
But by far the most perplexing aspect of this phone is the camera. While the camera is good in general, we expected some upgrade over the previous year’s model. Except, there’s none to be found here. In fact, the camera system is quite simply worse than the OnePlus 9 Pro due to downgrading of the ultra-wide camera. While the quality difference isn’t massive, it is still objectively and measurably worse and also drops the macro functionality in favor of a frankly pointless fisheye effect.
If you are ready to drop $899 on a OnePlus 10 Pro, you might consider that paying a bit more will get you a more polished and more consistent experience somewhere else, but we would also say that the OnePlus 10 Pro is still worth considering. The 10 Pro is certainly a strong contender, but that might depend on who you ask. If you’re looking to buy into an expansive ecosystem, you might want to look elsewhere. Otherwise, the 10 Pro does have a capable all-around camera with enough features to keep photographers and casual picture-takers happy while also catering to content creators who appreciate a color-accurate display.
Pros
- Distinctive design with premium finish.
- Superb 120Hz LTPO2 AMOLED display with granular HRR control and great color-accuracy.
- Competitive battery life.
- 80W SuperVOOC charging speeds are excellent.
- Excellent sustained performance and thermals.
- Reliably good performance from the primary camera.
Cons
- No formal IP rating outside US.
- OxygenOS 12 no longer has that OnePlus fan-favorite look and feel.
- Ultra wide is not at the level of last year’s model and also lacks AF or Macro.
- Most games limited to 60Hz refresh rate.
- Front camera and telephoto camera only offer 1080p video recording.
- 80W charger shipped globally is not much faster than 65W charger in the US, and it doesn’t support USB-PD for fast charging your other devices.
