OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro launched with Snapdragon 865, Oxygen OS 10.0, and 30W charging

OnePlus finally broke the cover of their latest 2020 flagship smartphone and is set to battle with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G and Huawei P40 Pro.

Flagship-grade smartphones of 2020 keep on coming since the introduction of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 chipset in late December 2019. Now, BBK Electronics's sub-brand OnePlus is the next in line to launch a new flagship-grade smartphone with the new chipset.

After many leaks and rumours, the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro finally broke the cover. Apart from the latest flagship processor, both phones will run Android 10 with OxygenOS 10.0 out of the box. While it looks pretty similar to their last year's predecessor at first glance, there has been a number of internal changes that are worth mentioning.

Let's start with the vanilla 8. Like the 7, this is a wallet-friendly entry-level variant for anyone who wants to jump into the world of OnePlus and OxygenOS. The 7's notch had been replaced with a punch hole while housing the same 16MP selfie snapper as before. While the screen resolution is still 1080p+, the size has grown to 6.55" with a 20:9 aspect ratio.

Another big change for the 8 is the camera - the 8 now follows the same triple camera setup as the 7T, 7 Pro and the 7T Pro. While the respective main and ultrawide cameras are the same 48MP Sony IMX586 and 16MP 13mm sensor found in both 7 Pro and 7T Pro, the 8 loses out the telephoto sensor in favour of a 2MP macro camera with 1.75µm of pixels.

As for the battery, the 8 has a 4300 mAh capacity with Warp Charge 30T that was first seen in 7T. OnePlus claims that it can charge the phone from 0% to 50% in 22 minutes, a big step up from the 7's 3700mAh battery with a 20W charging rate.

Prices for the 8 has already been disclosed with only two RAM/ROM configurations would be available - $699 for 8GB/128GB and $799 for 12GB/256GB.

If you have a little bit more money to spend, then you might want to consider the beefier OnePlus 8 Pro. On the surface, it didn't really change much from last year's 7 Pro and 7T Pro. While the screen is still QHD+ resolution, the size is now 6.78" and features a 120Hz high refresh rate. That said, there are a number of reasons to get anticipated with the 8 Pro.

The first is an official dust/water resistance rating. Because OnePlus have ditched the motorized pop-up mechanism in favour of a punch hole, this allows the 8 Pro to gain an IP68 rating. While IP rating on a smartphone is nothing new, it is a big welcome to see more brands utilizing such a feature.

Secondly, the battery. While the Warp Charge 30T remains unchanged since last year, the capacity has grown to a solid 4510 mAh. What is unquestionably exciting news is that OnePlus has finally hopped into the wireless charging bandwagon. You can now charge the 8 Pro wirelessly thanks to the Warp Charge 30 Wireless technology with support for 3W reverse wireless charging. OnePlus even offers a proprietary wireless charging dock that gives you 50% power from empty in just half an hour.

Last but not least is the camera. The 8MP telephoto and 16MP selfie camera is nothing to be excited about as they are the same module found in both 7 Pro and 7T Pro. While the ultrawide receives a huge resolution bump at 48MP despite the unchanged 13mm focal length, what is completely different from last year is the main camera. It now features Sony's IMX689 sensor with 1.12µm and omnidirectional PDAF. In actual fact, it is the same sensor found in Oppo's Find X2 Pro. The 8 Pro even has the same Nokia OZO microphone technology as found in the aforementioned Oppo smartphone. This shouldn't really come as a big surprise since both Oppo and OnePlus are operating under the same parent company. Since Vivo is also a sub-brand of BBK Electronics, it would only be a matter of time before they get their hands on Sony's IMX689 sensor.

Prices for the 8 Pro has already been disclosed, also with only two RAM/ROM configurations available just like the vanilla 8 - $899 for 8GB/128GB and $999 for 12GB/256GB.

After a long run of being the flagship killer, OnePlus is now on the same level as other top premium brands. Even though OnePlus had fulfilled its promise of selling the 8 models for under $1000, many people would still associate OnePlus as a flagship killer brand. But with even the most expensive Xiaomi Mi flagship cost exactly the same as the most expensive OnePlus and yet the OnePlus can still fork out much better features and specs, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see if OnePlus can still kill other flagship smartphones despite the steep asking price.

Are you pre-ordering OnePlus's new smartphone or still content with the 7/7T and 7 Pro/7T Pro? Let us know in the comment section down below.

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