The OnePlus 8 phones have been rendered and shown off several times already. As early as October last year, we saw images of a phone with a punch-hole display. A OnePlus phone was sighted in the wild and illustration of the Pro soon surfaced. We were told it would come with quad rear cams. Image renders and a 360-degree video of the OnePlus 8 Lite also appeared. Already confirmed is the 120Hz OLED screen technology (120Hz Fluid Display) that offers the 120Hz screen refresh rate.
No doubt new OnePlus phones will be coming. Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr, was caught holding a mysterious OnePlus phone. We’re just curious if all OnePlus variants will really come with 5G support and if it will be a Verizon or Amazon exclusive.
Sometime in April, OnePlus will reveal two Android phones–the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. The two follow last year’s OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. Both will be equipped with 5G connectivity so we can add them to our shortlist of 5G phones.
Expect the two to arrive with a newer design. The screen is improved with the 120Hz Fluid Display tech. The batteries and camera systems will also be improved.
The latest image renders and video have been shared by Jermaine Smit (Concept Creator). They look believable and most likely, the final design will look like these.
The OnePlus 8 Pro is expected to come with a 6.5-inch Fluid AMOLED display, ToF camera, 120 Hz refresh rate, 1440 x 3120-pixel resolution, HDR10+ DCI-P3, 88.3% screen-to-body ratio, 128GB or 256GB onboard storage, and a 32MP selfie camera under a punch-hole. The phone will run on Adreno 650 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, and 8GB or 12GB of RAM.
The eagerly-anticipated OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are right around the corner now. After more than a few setbacks and uncertainties, OnePlus finally seems to have settled on announcement dates for the phones. You can tune in for the global event live stream on YouTube on April 14 at 3PM UTC. As per a new official Weibo post, the OnePlus 8 generation will make a debut in its home country on April 16. Understandably, with another live online event. This one scheduled for 7PM local time.
As for the OnePlus 8 Lite, which we now know could come under the OnePlus Z moniker, it is still expected a bit later than its flagship siblings. We can’t really speculate on what other potential devices OnePlus intends to show at its Chinese event either. We do, however, have teasers, suggesting the global April 14 event will see the OnePlus TV 55 Q1 Pro’s international market release.
Both the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro have been frequenting the rumor mill for quite some time now.
Official renders are already available and so are specs. The vanilla OnePlus 8 is expected to feature a 6.55-inch, FullHD+ Fluid AMOLED display, with a 90Hz refresh rate.
The OnePlus 8 Pro will bump that refresh rate up to 120Hz on a 6.78-inch QHD+ panel, as a headlining feature. As per the latest insider scoop on the camera department, the OnePlus 8 Pro will use the Sony IMX689 48MP, f/1.78 sensor for its main snapper, just like the Oppo Find X2 Pro. Alongside it will be Sony IMX586, 48MP f/2.2 ultrawide unit and an 8MP f/2.44 telephoto camera.
On the flip side, both phones are expected to pack the same flagship Snapdragon 865 chipset, complete with 5G connectivity. 8GB RAM plus 128GB storage and 12GB RAM with 256GB storage are the likely memory tiers.
The two phones are expected to stick to OnePlus 30W Warp Charge tech on 4,300 mAh and 4,510 mAh batteries, respectively. The Pro could also feature wireless and reverse wireless charging, although, rumors have been a mixed bag on that front. Same goes for official IP68 ingress protection rating.
With OnePlus moving to a two smartphone approach this year and delivering a Pro flagship with a bunch of the company and market firsts it was super easy to overlook the way more conservative OnePlus 7. The fact that it didn’t make it to all markets didn’t help either, but there’s no denying that this is the phone that much better reflects the company’s values. While the 7 Pro aims to beat competitors on features rather than, the regular 7 offers the no-nonsense aggressive pricing approach that made OnePlus what it is today.
Following the sharp increase in smartphone prices for tha past few years, a new “mainstream flagship” segment was born and quite a few companies are looking to take a piece of it. Phones with flagship chipsets that deliver the same core experience, while maintaining a far more reasonable price tag.
The questions then is, if the OnePlus 7 makes the right compromises to make the budget. Let’s have a look at its specs first.
OnePlus 7
Body: 157.7 x 74.8 x 8.2 mm, 182 grams, Gorilla Glass 6 front and Gorilla Glass 5 back, metal side frame.
Front camera: 16MP, f/2.0; 1/3.1″, 1.0µm; 1080p@30fps video recording.
Battery: 3,700 mAh, 20W fast charging.
Misc: Alert slider, stereo loudspeakers, NFC, under-display fingerprint reader, UFS 3.0 storage, USB-C 3.1 connector, available in Mirror Gray and Red.
Crucially, the OnePlus 7 costs the same as the OnePlus 6T did back when it launched. The initial look may lead you to believe that it doesn’t change that much either and the fact that OnePlus opted to retain the 6T as its affordable alternative points towards the same thing. Yet, a closer inspection reveals that upgrades go beyond a simple chipset switch.
Key improvements include a brighter screen, stereo loudspeakers and an upgraded in-display fingerprint reader. Plus you get the same main camera as the OnePlus 7 Pro and while you’ll be missing on the wide angle and telephoto action, this is the one used for a majority of your photos anyway.
We’ll now set to check if those upgrades are enough to keep the package relevant in 2019, or if OnePlus held back too much. Let’s have a look inside the box first.
Unboxing the OnePlus 7
The phone comes in a standard OnePlus package with the usual user manuals, a 20W fast charging brick, USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and data transfer and a transparent silicone case to keep the 7 safe until you get a better one, because chances are few will be happy with this one.
Unfortunately, the OnePlus 7 sticks to the company’s usual tradition of coming without a pair of headphones. Worse yet, unlike the 6T’s, this one has no USB-C to 3.5mm dongle either. If you want to use your 3.5mm headphones you’ll have to get one separately.
Design and build
The OnePlus 7 looks almost identical to its predecessor, the 6T. In fact, the only notable change are the color options. Now the phone comes in Mirror Gray and Red while last year’s model had a Mirror Black and Midnight Black from the start. The Mirror Gray option comes very close to the Xiaomi Mi 9’s Piano Black and there’s no matte glass option as it’s reserved for the OnePlus 7 Pro.
Compared to the 6T, the 7 is just 0.2mm taller and 3g lighter so even some cases from the 6T will fit on the 7, depending on how elastic they are.
So we are still getting the glass sandwich design (Gorilla Glass 6 on the front, 5 on the back) with a curved back and slightly rounded front glass to the sides. It’s smooth along the whole frame, which is made of aluminum, and button positioning is identical as well. We’ve got the volume rocker on the left, power button on the right and the iconic alert slider right above it.
The USB-C connector is at the bottom along with the main microphone and one of the two grilles. Only one of those is for a loudspeaker, though, the other likely holds the primary microphone.
The SIM card tray can be found close the volume key and when you pull it out, you will see red sealing against water and dust. Like all OnePlus phones, the 7 doesn’t have an official ingress protection rating, and while the company says it will survive an accidental splash or dip, you’ll be taking the full risk if it doesn’t.
Going to the front, we are greeted with nicely slim bezels, although their lack of symmetry might put you off. The top bezel isn’t as thin as the side ones and the chin is beefier than all the rest.
The notch is one of the least obtrusive ones we’ve dealt with although it’s still an unsightly cutout that will bother some. For day to day operations, however, it very rarely gets in the way. Then again the missing LED notification light is a hard pill to swallow in yet another generation of OnePlus phones.
The OnePlus 7 is a big phone and pretty slippery at that. It’s not quite as huge as the 7 Pro, but still there’s a limited number of operations you can do with one hand.
Our Mirror Gray phone attracted a lot of fingerprints, which are easy to spot in almost any lighting. Moreover, the camera bump is sticking out a bit more than we would like and it feels strangely sharp in a way. If you let the phone lie flat on its back, it would start to wobble when using the touchscreen.
On the upside the OnePlus 7 is solidly put together – it’s in no way feeling inferior to the more expensive 7 Pro.
Notched Optic AMOLED screen
On paper the OnePlus 7‘s screen is identical to one on last year’s 6T. It has an identical waterdrop-styled notch, measures 6.41″ in diagonal and has FHD+ (2340 x 1080px) resolution in 19.5:9 aspect ratio.
Our lab tests did show one difference, even if that has to do with the controller rather than the panel itself. The 6T and the 7 both have similar maximum brightness – 453 vs 443 nits, respectively. But while the 6T doesn’t offer an additional boost in brightness when the ambient sensor detects bright sunlight, the 7 can actually go up to 642 cd/m2 for short periods of time. It’s a nice feature to have and a very useful one too.
Display test
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
OnePlus 7 Pro
0
436
∞
OnePlus 7 Pro (Max Auto)
0
616
∞
OnePlus 7
0
443
∞
OnePlus 7 (Max Auto)
0
642
∞
Samsung Galaxy S10
0
396
∞
Samsung Galaxy S10 (Max Auto)
0
820
∞
Xiaomi Mi 9
0
428
∞
Xiaomi Mi 9 (Max Auto)
0
620
∞
Black Shark 2
0
428
∞
Huawei P30
0
449
∞
Huawei P30 (Max Auto)
0
635
∞
Asus Zenfone 6 ZS630KL
0.353
424
1201
Asus Zenfone 6 ZS630KL (Max Auto)
0.399
455
1140
Color accuracy is also something the 7 should be proud of. The standard Vivid mode returned an average dE2000 of just 3.2, which isn’t too shabby. Whites err on the blue-ish side.
Switching over to the Natural mode, the display impressed us with an average dE2000 of 1.1and a maximum deviation of 2.8. So if color accuracy is of great importance, we suggest sticking to the Natural mode.
There’s also an advanced mode that lets you choose between AMOLED Wide Gamut, sRGB or DCI-P3 color spaces with manual control over color temperature.
Battery life
The OnePlus 6T already had great battery life but the OnePlus 7 was able to build on that by adding a respectable amount of minutes in the screen on tests. A 3,700 mAh unit may be only average by current standards, but it’s all about real life performance and the OnePlus 7 really delivers there. We were pretty impressed by the web browsing and video playback times, but the standby draw was very low too.
It all adds up to a total score of 102h easily overtaking some high-end flagships. Interestingly, though, it’s still not enough to dethrone the Asus Zenfone 6 in this price segment, which scored a whopping 112h.
Aside from the great battery life, the OnePlus 7 also has a fast battery charging using the proprietary OnePlus wall charger and USB-A to USB-C cable capping at 20W. A 30-minute charging session got us from a dead battery to 55% – just like last year’s OnePlus 6T. The 20W charging standard is no longer the fastest around, but it’s still up there, particularly in this price segment.
Loudspeaker
OnePlus has finally added a second speaker to its phones, although it’s the more space-efficient hybrid systems, where the earpiece doubles as one and you get a downwards-facing second speaker. Still the different direction along with the fact that the dedicated loudspeaker is somewhat more powerful makes them sound roughly equal.
They deliver very good loudness and reasonably rich sound although vocals get lost with some tracks. Still, as far as smartphone speakers go the OnePlus 7 has it better than most.
Speakerphone test
Voice, dB
Pink noise/ Music, dB
Ringing phone, dB
Overall score
OnePlus 7
68.1
73.1
82.2
Very Good
OnePlus 6T
67.2
72.5
84.5
Very Good
Black Shark 2
67.7
73.6
82.9
Very Good
Sony Xperia 1
69.8
74.5
81.0
Very Good
Xiaomi Mi 9
70.1
74.2
81.6
Very Good
Asus Zenfone 6
77.0
75.9
81.2
Excellent
Samsung Galaxy S10
82.2
74.9
85.5
Excellent
OnePlus 7 Pro
79.6
77.7
87.2
Excellent
Audio quality
An important thing to mention before we begin here is that the OnePlus 7 doesn’t ship with a USB-C to 3.5mm audio adapter in the box. So to complete the test we used a passive adapter we had laying around. This means the results are only going to be representative if you also purchase a passive adapter – an active adapter or headphones with built-in DAC would yield a different result. With that out of the way let’s see how the OnePlus 7 did.
The phone posted perfect scores for clarity with an active external amplifier and was very close to perfect with headphones too. The only reading to be damaged was stereo crosstalk and that too took a far smaller hit compared to most phones out there.
Volume levels on the OnePlus 7 weren’t quite so impressive – with the phone being below average in both parts of the test. This might prove problematic if you need to drive high-impedance headphones to high loudness, or not matter at all if that’s not your use case.
Test
Frequency response
Noise level
Dynamic range
THD
IMD + Noise
Stereo crosstalk
OnePlus 7
+0.03, -0.01
-91.0
91.9
0.0016
0.0085
-91.5
OnePlus 7 (headphones)
+0.10, -0.06
-90.5
91.4
0.0023
0.094
-70.6
Asus Zenfone 6
+0.03, -0.01
-85.8
86.8
0.0012
0.014
-76.2
Asus Zenfone 6 (headphones)
+0.05, -0.01
-81.1
82.7
0.0068
0.059
-52.0
OnePlus 7 Pro
+0.03, -0.01
-93.0
92.6
0.0023
0.021
-89.6
OnePlus 7 Pro (headphones)
+0.10, -0.05
-92.0
91.4
0.0034
0.106
-74.8
Xiaomi Mi 9
+0.02, -0.01
-93.9
93.1
0.0015
0.0066
-91.9
Xiaomi Mi 9 (headphones)
+0.05, -0.04
-92.6
93.5
0.0026
0.072
-58.7
OxygenOS based on Android 9.0 Pie
The OxygenOS is designed to look like stock Android distribution with just a couple of custom features to add to the overall experience. OnePlus has made a couple of other under-the-hood changes over the years and has made this one of the better performing platforms on the market, even if in typical Chinese maker fashion it’s a bit more aggressive with handling background tasks.
A large part of what makes OxygenOS feel so fast is the absence of certain animations that you otherwise have to wait for while navigating the UI.
Another big advantage of OnePlus phones over the rest is the especially strong modding community, if we can call it that. There are tons of supported third-party ROMs and mods for OnePlus handsets and the best part is that the OEM doesn’t care if your phone is rooted or with a different ROM. This won’t void your warranty and thus attracts plenty of Android enthusiasts year after year.
But when it comes to features, the OxygenOS is closer to stock Android than other OEM’s iterations like One UI from Samsung or Huawei’s EMUI. Some may call it “barebones” and they might be right.
The added features include screen-off gestures like launching the flashlight or the camera by drawing a letter on a locked screen, OnePlus‘ unique gesture-based navigation and the alert slider, but little else.
We found that the gesture for the flashlight works a lot better than on the last year’s OnePlus 6T. There were no accidental triggers and the gesture worked almost every time. The alert slider options haven’t changed, however. There are two modes – Vibration and Silent. The names of the modes are pretty much self-explanatory.
Kudos to OnePlus for offering three navigation options. You can either go with the good old software buttons or choose the new gestures from Google or OnePlus.
The first of the gesture options is the well-known pill navigation that you find on almost all stock Android phones. Then there’s OnePlus‘ take, where swipe from the center-bottom brings you back to the home screen, swiping from the bottom near the left or right edge works as a back button while swipe and hold opens up the recent apps. A quick side-swipe from the bottom-center to the right will quickly switch between your previous and current app. It takes a little time getting used to but also works very well.
For another year, OnePlus refuses to introduce a proper always-on screen feature. In its place, the OnePlus 7 offers Ambient display. It will light up when you receive a notification, tap it once or twice or when you move it ever so slightly. Either of those will trigger the ambient display showing the clock, notifications and the fingerprint reader area.
And while we are on the fingerprint scanner topic, we must say that the upgrade is more than welcome. OnePlus says the 7 and the 7 Pro are equipped with the latest generation optic in-display fingerprint readers, which are bigger in size too and you can tell.
The scanner works incredibly fast in all conditions and it’s hands-down one of the fastest under-screen implementations we’ve ever tried. It may struggle with dusty or sweaty fingers, but the face unlock is particularly fast alternative and can serve as a reliable backup. Perhaps the fact that there’s no unlocking animation adds to the overall sense of speediness.
There’s also this thing called Quick Launch. You can launch an app or an action of your choice by just holding down the fingerprint area once the phone unlocks and a couple of shortcuts pop up.
Going through the general settings menu shows the usual options. The Display sub-menu offers the usual settings like night mode, reading mode (black and white scheme for more comfortable reading), hiding the notch option and customization of the status bar.
The Battery section offers all the usual Android Pie settings like Battery optimization and the Adaptive battery feature. And, of course, all the information regarding battery usage you’d want.
The Utilities sub-menu is where you will find some useful features that may apply to your use case, including gaming mode. It’s been a growing trend these days with gaming modes that aim to improve the phone’s performance during gameplay and also let in fewer distractions while gaming. You can set up how your notifications appear and how to answer the phone – via the loudspeakers or the earpiece.
OnePlus has been marketing one particular gaming feature called Fnatic mode. It takes the DND mode to another level allowing notifications only for low battery, alarms and timers. Calls and other notifications won’t go through and interestingly, missed calls may not be recorded in the call logs.
The system also prioritizes the game over other apps running in the background to improve performance while the Network enhancement will disable your second SIM slot to minimize interference and latency, which are essential for competitive online gaming.
The cool thing about the Gaming mode is that you can set it to run automatically on other apps as well, like in YouTube or Netflix so you can watch your shows and videos uninterrupted.
Performance
The OnePlus 7 packs the top of the line Snapdragon 855 chipset – the latest and greatest from Qualcomm. We’ve seen how the SoC performs in other phones as the OnePlus 7 wasn’t the first one to get it. The 7nm chip holds an octa-core CPU with a 1+3+4 core configuration – 1×2.84 GHz Kryo 485, 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 485 and 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 485. And an Adreno 640 GPU to take care of graphically-intensive tasks.
The handset ships with either 6GB or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM paired with 128GB or 256GB internal storage, respectively. What’s interesting here is that just like its Pro sibling, the OnePlus 7 boasts the newest UFS 3.0 flash storage. Loading times are significantly reduced, read and write speeds are twice as fast compared to the previous generation UFS 2.1.
A 48MP main camera with a 5MP depth sensor
The 5MP secondary unit on the OnePlus 7 may sound like a downgrade when you compare it to the 20MP unit on the previous two OnePlus models but in reality they are both limited to depth sensing functionality so it hardly makes much difference. Sadly, there are no ultra wide-angle or telephoto lenses here either as those are reserved for the 7 Pro.
You do get the same main sensor as the more premium phone though – 48MP, 1/2″-type with 0.8µm pixels and OIS. The only difference is in the aperture size – f/1.7 compared to the f/1.6 on the 7 Pro.
On the front, we’ve got the familiar 16MP unit with f/2.0 aperture and 1.0µm pixels – the same unit in the OnePlus 6T and the 7 Pro.
Camera UI
The camera menu is pretty straightforward. Swiping left and right cycles the camera modes and an upwards swipe brings out the additional modes like the Pro mode, Time-lapse, Panorama and Slow motion. There’s also the settings menu where you can rearange the camera modes and select which is the default one.
The settings menu also gives you control over the video and photo resolutions and the rest of the usual features. Oh and to shoot in 48MP mode, you have to go in the Pro mode and select the 48MP JPG icon on the top of the viewfinder, near the notch. Not that you’d want to do that very often as shooting in their native resolution isn’t what Quad-Bayer sensors are all about.
Daylight samples
The 7 is capable of taking great photos with wide dynamic range, a good amount of detail, no noise and we didn’t notice any sharpening artifacts along the edges of the buildings, for example. Contrast is nice as it makes the colors pop out more.
As we already said, we expect little difference compared with the 7 Pro since they both share the same 48MP primary sensor, but we did find a slight difference in color rendering. The 7 tends to take pictures with a bit colder white balance while the 7 Pro’s photos are somewhat warmer. That aside, the too snappers perform identically in good light.
We did an impromptu shootout with Zenfone 6, which is one of the OnePlus 7‘s direct rivals and also shares its 48MP camera sensor. The two were very close with the OnePlus 7 having a slight edge in resolved detail and contrast.
Low-light samples
The OnePlus 7 has a slightly slower lens than the 7 Pro, which makes a slight difference when the light start to fade, but you’d have to be looking really closely to spot it. In fact the slight differences in color rendering are more notable than the minimal edge in resolved detail of the 7 Pro. Interestingly enough this time the OnePlus 7 is the one to produce the warmer tones.
Neither is particularly great when it comes to resolved detail, but the OnePlus 7 is actually coming off better here as it’s the much more affordable phone and as such carries far lower expectations.
On the upside the noise is kept at reasonable levels and the dynamic range is excellent – in most cases, neon signs and other sources of light remain well-preserved.
Turning on Night mode improves the photos significantly, helping the OnePlus 7 achieve much better exposure, significantly improving the detail levels, while also restoring the punchiness of the colors.
With the launch of the 7 Pro this year, this takes off some of the pressure for the OP7 to punch above its class. Still, we’re happy to say that it offers excellent image quality considering its price range in a wide range of scenarios.
Portraits
Portraits are plenty good with natural skin tones and plenty of detail. The OnePlus 7 also simulates the bokeh effect quite well and has one of the best edge detection algorithms we’ve seen. Even with a more complex background, the phone did pretty well.
In fact, to our surprise, the OnePlus 7 often makes better portraits because it uses the main camera while the 7 Pro allows you to shoot only with the telephoto lens. In most situations, the telephoto gives you a better perspective but if there’s not enough light the tiny sensor of the telephoto camera means things go South really fast. Also, there’s a bit more detail coming from the main 48MP sensor so there’s that.
We hope the 7 Pro receives an update allowing you to shoot with the main camera when needed, so it gets the best of both worlds.
Selfies
Disappointingly the front camera lacks autofocus, but at least its sweet spot is set so it works at a comfortable arm’s length. You don’t have to go to the extreme to get the sharpest possible selfie. Pictures offer good colors and dynamic range as long as the portrait mode isn’t active. As with most selfie cams, image-stacking is disabled while taking portrait photos and results are mediocre at best.
Video recording
The OnePlus 7 supports 4K recording at 30fps and 60fps while 1080p videos can go up to 240fps for slow motion purposes or you can also switch to 720p@480fps for taking slo-mos further.
The quality of the videos is decent – colors are accurate if slightly dull, contrast is good and there’s no noticeable noise. Dynamic range is also more than satisfactory with just a little loss of detail in the dark parts of the scene. Still, it appears to be a bit soft compared to most of its rivals. Overall it’s competitive but needs a bit more detail to be considered as one of the best in its class.
And here are two videos shot in 1080p and 2160p at 30 fps to see how the EIS works. It is doing a great job really and on most occasions, it will totally be worth the slight reduction in viewing angle.
Again, you can head to our video compare tool to best see how the OnePlus 7 stack up against the competition.
Competition
The OnePlus 7 may have thought it would have it easy, leaving the 7 Pro to fight with the big guys, while it faces far inferior competition with its lower price tag. Yet, its relatively late arrival meant some of the H1 flagships already got their first price cuts, while those from value-oriented brands have managed to expand their market presence.
One of the most obvious alternatives to the OnePlus 7 is the newly released Asus Zenfone 6. It has that top-notch chipset, while costing a lot less than most of its rivals, including the OnePlus 7. It has the same primary camera, but also an ultrawide module and produces the best selfies in the class thanks to its clever flip-camera mechanism. It also has a stock-looking Android just like the OxygenOS, leaving OLED panel as the OnePlus 7‘s only advantage. Then again the Zenfone doesn’t have a notch, so even that isn’t exactly clear-cut.
Then there’s the Huawei P30, which has fallen down in price to below what the OnePlus 7 charges. With the Chinese giant’s issues with the US authorities seemingly on the way to being resolved, the P30 seems like a huge upgrade in terms of camera, while offering an audio jack and a memory card slot (sort of). The OLED screen on the P30 is smaller though and the Kirin 980 is a step behind the Snapdragon 855 in the GPU department. And then there’s the choice between the feature-rich but somewhat less streamlined EMUI and the stock looks of the OnePlus 7 UI.
Another affordable Snapdragon 855-powered solution would be the Mi 9. It brings a triple rear cam with ultrawide, regular and telephoto modules, an OLED screen of very similar size to the OnePlus 7‘s at the very tempting €400 price point.
The verdict
So the OnePlus 7 faces some properly tough competition and at a lower price to boot. It’s not without it chances though, with it being the only one to offer the particular combination of stock-feeling Android, OLED screen, amazing UD fingerprint scanner and UFS 3.0 storage. The mod-friendly approach of the maker could also win a few fans over.
OnePlus 7‘s camera is one of the better in the price range, but sadly with virtually all of its competitors offering at least one of the extra focal lengths (ultra wide or telephoto) it really lacks in versatility.
Stereo loudspeakers make for an even stronger case, although two of the three nearest rivals come with a dedicated audio jack and memory expansion. But there’s no escaping the fact that all of a sudden, the OnePlus phone lost at its own game – being able to match the performance of rivals while undercutting their prices.
It appears then that unless OnePlus considers a prompt price cut, its market success might be very reliant on the loyalty of its fan base and the number of people looking for the exact feature set we listed above.
Pros
Great OLED screen
Top notch under-display fingerprint performance
Decently sounding stereo speakers with very good loudness
Excellent battery life
Excellent main camera
Bloat-free, stock-looking and snappy Android experience utilizing the rare UFS 3.0 storage
20W charging speed is better than most in the class
If you’ve finally tired of watching the selfie camera on your brand new OnePlus 7 Pro pop up and down again, you’ll be pleased to note that there are a ton of ways that you can personalize and change the handset to your taste. Whether it’s enabling the system-wide dark theme, altering the temperature of the display, setting up Zen Mode or even changing the resolution of the Fluid AMOLED display, check out our list of essential tips and tricks for the OnePlus 7 Pro (and OnePlus 7) after the break.
Oneplus 7 Pro Unboxing
Oneplus 7 Pro Review
Dark Mode
If the shiny whiteness of OxygenOS is too bright for you, why not switch over to using the built-in, system-wide dark mode on your new phone. Besides being easier on the eyes, Dark Mode also helps with battery life on AMOLED displays.
Open Settings
Navigate to Display Settings
Scroll down to Theme and select Dark
Zen Mode
If you are spending too much time on your phone and desperately need a time out, activating Zen Mode will disable everything on your phone apart from phone calls, emergency calls, and the camera app for 20-minutes. You can chill out and regain some semblance of equilibrium without a smartphone display in your face, at least for a short time. Word of warning: Once Zen Mode is activated, it can’t be stopped.
Pull down your notification shade to open up Quick Settings
Click Edit and scroll down until you see the Zen Mode tile
Tap-and-hold the Zen Mode tile to drag it to your Quick Settings panel
Exit the editing mode
Pull down the notification shade to access Quick Settings again
Tap on the Zen Mode tile
Tap Let’s Go
Press Start to confirm Zen Mode activation
Display Temperature
Some of us prefer saturated colors, others a more natural hue. Whatever your preference, you can choose between the display showing warmer or coolers in a matter of seconds.
Open Settings
Select Display Settings
Tap on Screen Calibration
Choose between Vivid and Natural or click on Advanced for more options, including the ability to manually adjustthe temperature slider
Display Resolution
The OnePlus 7 Pro is the first OnePlus smartphone to launch boasting a better than Full HD+ display thanks to its QHD+ resolution. If you are trying to make the most of your battery life, switching down to FHD+ resolution can result in slightly improved usage. You can also select the Auto Switch option that will automatically change the phone’s resolution as required.
Open Settings
Scroll down to Display Settings
Tap on Resolution
Choose between Auto Switch, QHD+ or FHD+ Resolution
Accent Color
The standard theme is perfectly fine, but you can add a touch of personality to proceedings by changing the Accent color on your brand new handset, without needing to install a third-party launcher.
Open Settings
Scroll down to Accent Color
Select one of the stock colors or click on the palette icon to create your perfect shade
Customize the Alert Slider
OnePlus is known for including an Alert Slider on its handsets, allowing you to switch between Silent, Vibrate, and Sound On modes without needing to unlock the phone. The Alert Slider can also mute the sound from content that is playing.
Open Settings
Select Buttons & Gestures
Tap on Alert Slider
Tap on Silent
Choose whether the Alert Slider controls media volume
DC Dimming
DC Dimming is a new method of adjusting the screen brightness by changing the circuit power of the display, reducing flickers at low brightness levels and increasing power efficiency slightly.
Open Settings
Scroll down and select Utilities
Tap on OnePlus Laboratory
Select DC Dimming and tap the Activate toggle
Navigation Bar
Everyone has their personal preferences when it comes to navigating their smartphone, whether it’s by way of the on-screen buttons, gestures, or somewhere in-between. You’ve got the whole gamut of options available to you on your new OnePlus 7 or 7 Pro.
Open Settings
Tap on Buttons & Gestures
Select Navigation Bar & Gestures
Toggle between Back, Home, and Recents, Swiping up on the Home Button or using Gestures entirely
Battery Saver
As good as the battery life is on the OnePlus 7 Pro with its 4,000mAh battery, sometimes you need a little bit more, which means you’ll be looking to toggle the Battery Saver option.
Open Settings
Select Battery
Tap on Battery Saver
Toggle Battery Saver on
Customize Gaming Mode
When you are in the middle of an intense gaming session, the last thing you need is the display suddenly dimming or being interrupted by a flood of notifications. Gaming mode brings the ability to route calls directly to the loudspeaker, block notifications, disable notifications for third-party apps, disable automatic brightness, as well as enhancing haptic feedback for supported games. You’ll need to activate Gaming Mode to turn on Fnatic Mode.
Open Settings
Select Utilities
Tap on Gaming Mode
Toggle the appropriate options
Fnatic Mode
If Gaming Mode isn’t quite robust enough for your needs, Fnatic Mode (not a typo) will ensure that you get the absolute best gaming experience possible by blocking all notifications and calls, focusing performance on gameplay, and prioritizing the primary SIM card to achieve low-latency, and disabling the secondary SIM.
Pull down the Quick Settings panel
Activate Gaming Mode
From the resulting pop-up, toggle Fnatic Mode on or off
Click OK
Icon Pack
We all have our personal preferences when it comes to app icons; some of us prefer square icons, while others prefer round ones. It’s easy enough to change the icon pack on the phone by choosing one of the stock options or your favorite third-party design from the Play Store.
Long-press an empty area on the Home Screen
Select Home Settings
Click on Icon Pack
Choose between the default OnePlus icon theme, Square, Circle, or a Third-party design
Display Refresh Rate
The OnePlus 7 Pro features a Fluid AMOLED display that offers the choice between a 90Hz and a 60Hz refresh rate. Toggling the 90Hz refresh rate will result in a smooth viewing experience with slightly increased battery usage.
Open Settings
Tap on Display
Select Screen Refresh Rate
Toggle the 60Hz or 90Hz options
Customize status bar
The status bar can get a little crowded at times, but you can make it a little roomier by customizing how the battery percentage is displayed. You can choose whether to show a battery bar or circle to reflect battery life, or you can hide the icon. You can also choose to disable the battery percentage, thereby removing an additional element from the status bar. You can also choose to show the network speed and the format that the time is displayed.
Open Settings
Select Display
Scroll down and tap on Status Bar
Toggle the Battery Style to choose the style of the battery icon or to hide it
Toggle the Battery Percentage on or off
Choose to display the Network Speed
Choose your preferred TimeFormat
Change Fingerprint animation
If the fingerprint animation doesn’t quite suit your preferences, you’ll be glad to find out that there are a couple of different animations to choose between. You’ll need to have previously enrolled your fingerprint before you can change the effect.
Open Settings
Tap on Security & Privacy
Select Fingerprint
Enter your Pin Code/Pattern/Password
Tap on Fingerprint Animation Effect
Choose between Cosmo, Ripple, Stripe or No Animation
When it comes to offering consumers the most bang for the buck, the OnePlus 6T has proven itself in being untouchable. Few are the phones as compelling as the 6T, which blends high-end specs and excellent performance with affordable cost. Well, that’s until now with the release of the Honor View 20! Huawei’s sub-brand has taken nearly everything found with flagship Huawei smartphones and put it in a phone with a refreshingly new design slapped with an aggressive price point – a formula to give the OnePlus 6T a run for its money. Knowing all of that, who’s going to come out on top?
Design
Put them side by side, and we’d bet that most people would take fancy in the Honor View 20’s design. That’s attributed primarily to the gleaming V-shaped effect on the back of the phone courtesy of the nanolithography technique that Honor has employed, resulting in a hypnotic, irresistible look. The OnePlus 6T continues to feel like a premium smartphone, but its glass-meets-metal construction doesn’t have nearly the same level of pop and style that accompanies the Honor View 20.
Supplementing that too is how the Honor View 20 manages to package in a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and an IR blaster. Yes, the OnePlus 6T’s in-screen fingerprint sensor is neat and forward thinking, but we don’t mind having the finger print sensor on the rear of the Honor View 20. We’ll happily trade that for a headphone jack any day of the week, seeing that it’s still a valuable thing to have in a smartphone for many people!
Front View
6.2 x 2.94 x 0.32 inches
157.5 x 74.8 x 8.2 mm
6.53 oz (185 g) OnePlus 6T
6.18 x 2.97 x 0.32 inches
156.9 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm
6.35 oz (180 g) Honor View20
Side View
6.2 x 2.94 x 0.32 inches
157.5 x 74.8 x 8.2 mm
6.53 oz (185 g) OnePlus 6T
6.18 x 2.97 x 0.32 inches
156.9 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm
6.35 oz (180 g) Honor View20
Display
Most people would agree that the two phones have gorgeous, high-resolution displays that command attention. It’s a 6.4-inch 1080 x 2340 AMOLED display for the OnePlus 6T, while the Honor View 20 sizes up nicely with its 6.4-inch 1080 x 2310 IPS LCD panel.
An aspect we have to consider is how both phones attempt to achieve that all-screen look. We’re basically faced with the OnePlus 6T’s teardrop notch and the Honor View 20’s hole-punch display cutout. In all honesty, there isn’t as much of a disparity here – so we’re content with their respective implementations. We’ll gladly take either over the traditional notches we’ve been getting for the last year.
Display measurements and quality
Interface and functionality
Right away, there’s a clear and defined philosophy with each of the two interfaces. On one hand, we absolutely adore the simplicity and cleanliness of OxygenOS with the OnePlus 6T. It’s no wonder why so many people rave about OnePlus’ interface, since it doesn’t attempt to inundate or overwhelm users with an abundance of redundant features. Power users will still appreciate the experience here, seeing that the core Android features are at their disposal – like side-by-side multitasking.
The OnePlus 6T comes with the familiar OnePlus OxygenOS interface
Magic UI 2.0.1 on the Honor View20
On the flip side, the Honor View 20’s Magic UI doesn’t look as polished on the surface, but it certainly makes it up with its enhanced extended desktop experience. You can attach the phone to an external display, connect a mouse and keyboard, and convert it to a desktop PC of sorts with this mode. Not everyone may end up using this feature, but it’s nonetheless useful and adds to the overall experience. At the core, though, we’ll still give it to the OnePlus 6T for presenting us with the more favorable day-to-day experience.
Processor and Performance
Battling it out for supremacy, the OnePlus 6T is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, while the Honor View 20 leverages the Kirin 980 chipset. Even though the synthetic benchmarks nearly have the two smartphones matching one another, the OnePlus 6T continues to exhibit the more fluid responses with navigation. We can easily notice how instantaneous it is with its actions, like scrolling, which we feel weighs more in the greater scheme of things than those traditional synthetic tests.
Neither phone offers expandable storage, but you can sleep knowing that they’re offered with generous capacities. Starting off with 128GB of storage, there’s also the option of having 256GB of storage as well if you’re the kind to be liberal when it comes to snapping photos, downloading movies, and recording video in 4K resolution.
Performance benchmarks
Camera
Now this is where things really get juicy, given how these two cameras are highly respected. On the OnePlus 6T you have a dual camera on the back: a 16-megapixel main shooter with an f/1.7 lens, a 25mm focal distance and optical image stabilization (OIS), as well as a secondary, 20-megapixel camera used to acquire depth information for bokeh effects. The Honor View 20 features a 48MP 1/2-inch Sony IMX586 stacked CMOS image sensor, with a nearby 3D camera that emits infrared light to measure the distance from the phone to the subject – enabling it to deliver the same portrait and aperture effects found on other dual-camera phones. However, the View20 does not have optical image stabilization. Additionally, both phones are well equipped in the selfie camera department, seeing that the OnePlus 6T sizes up with a 16MP snapper, while the Honor View 20 ups it to a 25MP camera.
Image Quality
For this comparison, we captured samples using the 12MP stills option and AI camera mode set to on with the Honor View 20. As for the OnePlus 6T, the only option we enabled was Auto HDR mode. Under ideal lighting conditions, it’s sometimes difficult to gauge who’s delivering the better shots. At times, one seems to offer better dynamic range, but then in another scene, it’s the other way around. Details capture, too, is for the most part identical between the two.
If you love taking selfies, you won’t be disappointed by either phone because they capture a ton of fine details. We’re talking about skin imperfections, like wrinkles, that are clearly defined with the two. However, we do notice that even with the Auto HDR more set to on with the OnePlus 6T, it tends to be more under exposed. It’s not terrible and doesn’t diminish the overall quality, but the Honor View 20 does a better job of evenly exposing the entire shot.
OnePlus 6T vs Honor View 20
Things become more interesting under low light, which tends to be the main differentiator with most phones. Under the automatic settings, they both do a pretty decent job of minimizing noise – with the slight edge going to the Honor View 20 because shadows are boosted a smidgen more to draw out details. Even though they both have their respective night modes, the Honor View 20 yet again shows its superiority in brightening up the scenery.
Video Quality
Recording video at 4K UHD resolution at 30 FPS, both handle ideal lighting conditions by delivering punchy colors and strong details. The only noticeable difference between the two is in how the OnePlus 6T’s stabilization pales in comparison to the Honor View 20’s EIS. Besides that, the two seem to offer tight exposure adjustment and auto-focus.
Neither are particularly great under extreme low-light situations, given how noisy looking their footages appear. It’s quite distracting, especially when details become muddy. However, the Honor View 20 seems to have a very subtle advantage with exposure. It’s just barely brighter than the OnePlus 6T, but that’s the only defining quality we can pick up from comparing the two.
OnePlus 6T vs Honor View 20
Multimedia
Watching video is a treat on both smartphones, more so when there are no distracting notches to deal with. Their respective implementations allow video to be viewed without any major obstructions, so to that end, we’re happy that clips can be enjoyed using the full real estate.
Adding to its multimedia package, we absolutely appreciate how the Honor View 20 features a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The convenience of being able to plug in a pair of headphones is invaluable, whereas with the OnePlus 6T, it of course requires the aid of an adapter. Furthermore, the IR blaster of the Honor View 20 doubles the phone as a universal remote – allowing us to quickly control a myriad of home entertainment gadgets.
Call Quality
For the most part, conducting phone conversations won’t be an issue with either smartphone. They’re ideal for casual conversations, exhibiting clear voices and very little distortion in the process.
Battery life
It’s a longevity battle between the OnePlus 6T and Honor Views 20, which respectively feature battery cells of 3700 mAh and 4000 mAh. In our experience, the Honor View 20 seems to have a little bit more juice in the tank by the day’s end. Both are more than adequate in getting us through a full day’s worth of normal usage, but like we said, there’s just still more leftover charge with the Honor View 20.
Over on the recharging side, it’s the OnePlus 6T that effortlessly beats the Honor View 20 with its speedy clocked time of 85 minutes – versus the longer 120 minutes required by the Honor View 20 to be completely full.
Battery recharge
Conclusion
Before we wrap things up, it’s worth noting that the Honor View 20 isn’t commercially available for purchase in the US – so the OnePlus 6T definitely has an advantage in this area by being readily accessible to US consumers. You also get proper 4G LTE support in the US thanks in part to LTE Advanced connectivity with a Category 16 LTE modem on the OnePlus 6T. All in all, it simply means that you won’t have as much of a problem using the OnePlus 6T on your carrier here in the US.
Now comes the defining quality of both devices: the price. The edge still goes to the OnePlus 6T with its starting price of $550 in the US or 550 euro in Europe, but the price gap is next to negligible. Currently, the Honor View 20 can be had for about 570 euro in European markets where it’s being sold. While our sentiments about the OnePlus 6T don’t change at all, being one of the best bang for the buck smartphone deals around, there are still compelling reasons for the Honor View 20. You’re paying only a bit more for the convenience of a 3.5mm headphone jack and an IR blaster, longer battery life, an extended desktop experience mode, slightly better performing cameras, and the more attractive design.
All of those things do add up in giving the Honor View 20 an equally compelling package. The OnePlus 6T, on the other hand, is still the better pick if you prefer a cleaner, smoother software experience out of the box.
Are you noticing a drop in battery life on your OnePlus 3T after you installed more and more apps? Here’s how you can fix this battery life problem.
TIP #1: GET RID OF SOME POWER HUNGRY APPS
So, here’s what I did. Initially I checked the apps that were draining out the battery by going to Settings > Battery. If the Android OS & Android System are the main culprits in eating up the battery life, then you are lucky because we found a solution and for that, you can directly skip to Tip #2.
But, if that is isn’t the scenario, you can try uninstalling the apps which are draining out more juice, or you can try the lite version, if available.
Say, for example, if Facebook is the main culprit, you can install the FB Lite version. Another culprit might be one of the video players and their brightness settings.
I know, I know, replacing main apps with their lite versions or uninstalling them isn’t a convenient solution but if battery drain is too big a problem for you then you might have to bite the bullet here.
TIP #2: RESET SETTINGS
Assuming that the Android OS and Android system are the main culprits in the battery drain, it’s likely due to the backup that the device is trying to do on the Google servers. These backups keep your device CPU on throughout the process and therefore your phone is never idle which results in substantial battery drain.
So, to make things right, the next thing that needs to be done is to turn off the Backup & Reset option in the Settings.
When enabled, this setting backs up all the device data and app data periodically into your configured account.
This data may be anything like the Wi-Fi passwords, call history, photos, text messages, app settings & files, etc. So if you are ready to barter this with the battery life, turning it off will be the right thing to do.
You could still schedule a day where you leave your phone to charge overnight and enable the backup at that time. So basically there’s a bit of manual work to be done from your side here. Slightly inconvenient and might help with the battery drain issue.
TIP #3: GOOGLE PLAY SERVICES
Having done that, now it’s time to give the Google Play services a fresh start. All you need to do now is head over to Settings > Apps and tap on Google Play Services.
Once in, tap on Storage > Manage space and then tap on Clear All Data.
Doing this won’t harm any of the settings or related Google data on your OnePlus 3/3T and to be frank, you won’t even know what happened!
The data that you have deleted will be rebuilt automatically as you operate Google Play and other Google related apps.
OnePlus: How to fix a OnePlus 3T that keeps restarting
Not often do we see a OnePlus 3T that keeps restarting itself. However, if you have one, here’s something you can do to fix it yourself.
There are several different ways to fix the OnePlus 3T keeps restarting itself, and we’ll explain some of them below. The main recommendation would be to find a technician to check out the phone and to see what’s wrong with it.
It’s also suggested to see if your OnePlus 3T is still under warranty. If this is the case, you can send in your OnePlus 3T that keeps restarting and save yourself some money from paying someone to fix it. But if you don’t have anyone near by to look at the device, try some of these solutions below.
It’s common for the OnePlus 3 to crash and restart when a new app has been downloaded from the Google Play Store. You may want to read reviews of app before you download them to make sure nothing is wrong with that app that could damage your smartphone. Below are two solutions to fix a OnePlus 3T that keeps restarting.
1. The Android operating system causes the OnePlus 3T to keep restarting
A common reason that the OnePlus 3T keeps restarting or rebooting itself is because of the new firmware update has been installed. It’s suggested to perform a factory reset on OnePlus 3T. This is a manual on how to factory reset the OnePlus 3T.
Prior to doing a factory reset on OnePlus 3T to help fix the resetting problem on the smartphone, it’s suggested to backup all data, pictures, contacts and other files in case something goes wrong during the backup process. In addition, when you do a OnePlus 3T factory reset; it’ll delete everything on your phone and make it seem like you just took it out of the box for the first time.
2. An application is responsible for the sudden reboots
Another solution would be to get your smartphone into Safe Mode, this will allow you to see which of the installed apps no longer work or if the OnePlus 3T keeps restarting.
First turn off your smartphone. Then keep the power on/off button pressed to reboot the smartphone. When the screen is turns on and shows the OnePlus logo, press the volume button. Hold on to this button onto you see the sim-pin is queried. At the bottom left you should now find a field with “Safe Mode“.
After you follow the instructions from above, you’ll be able to fix the OnePlus 3T that keeps restarting itself and causing your problems.
OnePlus: What are the common issues with OnePlus 3T
If you own a OnePlus 3T, you’ll know that the Oreo update brought about a plethora of problems that somehow makes you wonder: does it need a replacement?
There are some problems that don’t have a workaround available. If the issue is software-based, the only option is to wait for an update to fix it, but if the problem is hardware related, the only choice here is to pick up a replacement. Some of these issues are listed below:
Camera settings not being saved: Some users have found that after changing some settings in the camera app, these changes revert to default the next time the app is opened. Not surprisingly, people would rather have the settings that have been made to be saved.
Random reboots: A lot of OnePlus 3T owners have complained about the device randomly rebooting. You can check if a rogue app is the cause for concern by booting into Safe Mode, but this is otherwise something that will likely only be addressed in a future software update.
Chromecast mirroring not working: While users are able to cast apps like Netflix and Spotify, complete device mirroring doesn’t work.
Touchscreen latency issues: An issue that has been noticed by many has to do with touchscreen latency. OnePlus has acknowledged the problem, and a fix will be made available in an upcoming software update.
Yellow or blue tint and spots on the display: A few users have noticed a yellow or blue tint on the display, with there being some bright spots on the screen as well. In this case, the only option will be to pick up a replacement.
Headphone microphone issues: A lot of users have noticed that the mic that is built-in to their headset tends to mute randomly during a call. This seems to mostly happen when the display turns off while the headphones are plugged in.
OnePlus: How to troubleshoot connectivity issues with OnePlus 3T
Have you encountered a WiFi problem with your OnePlus 3T? How about bluetooth or LTE? Here’s some ways you can troubleshoot these problems. Read on.
Connectivity issues are quite common when getting a new device, and below are the general steps you can follow when facing problems with connecting to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth issues seem to especially prevalent with the OnePlus 3.
Potential solutions:
Wi-Fi Issues
Turn off the router that you’re using and the phone, and wait for a while before turning them back on.
Go to the Wi-Fi settings on the device and forget the preferred network, before entering the details again from scratch.
Check the level of activity on your current channel with the Wi-Fi Analyzer application. If necessary, simply switch to a different channel.
Disable Power Saving Mode through Settings.
Find the MAC address for the phone by going into Settings – About Phone and ensure it is recognized by your router.
Bluetooth Issues
Make sure that no power saving mode is enabled.
Start by turning the Bluetooth on your device off and back on again.
If the problem continues, clear the cache for Bluetooth by going to the Bluetooth Settings.
Restart the phone after clearing the data and cache.
If the Bluetooth device saves multiple profiles, you might have reached the limit for the number of profiles it can save. Delete old and unused profiles, and try setting up the connection once again from scratch.
Have you had issues with your OnePlus’s version of Android? Wouldn’t it work just fine just like your other smartphones before? Here’s the most common ones and their fixes.
Games are not working with just mobile data
Some users have found that apps and games that require an internet connection don’t seem to work when the device switches to mobile data, but work as expected when connected to Wi-Fi.
Potential solution:
The issue seems to be related to the APN settings. Go to Settings – More Networks – Mobile Networks – Access Point Names, tap on the APN for your network, and then change the APN Protocol to IPv4 or IPv4/IPv6. In a lot of cases, these setting is preset to IPv6 only, which results in issues when certain apps and games attempt to connect to mobile data.
Performance lags and stutters
A few users have faced some performance issues with their device, including random but repeated reboots and instances of stutter or lag. Some users have also seen rapid battery drain even when the phone isn’t in use.
Potential solution:
Download the Greenify app from the Google Play Store. Here, you can see a list of applications that are active on waking the phone, and you can then change the settings for these apps, which should help with reduce any slowdowns.
A rogue app could be the cause for any performance issues. Boot the device into Safe Mode (you can find the instructions on how to do so below) and see if the problem persists. If not, an application is the issue. You can then either delete the last few apps you have may have installed before the problem started, or perform a factory reset and start over, even though that is recommended only as a worst-case scenario, since you will lose all your data.
Adaptive brightness not working consistently
Some people have found that the adaptive brightness doesn’t work as well as expected.
Potential solution:
This is a software issue, and a fix was rolled out with the official update to version 4.5.3. However, some users have found this issue to still persist, and hopefully, a more permanent solution will be available soon. Until then, you can download and use the Lux Auto Brightness app that is available on the Google Play Store, which is one of the best tools around to get better control over the adaptive brightness feature.