The recently announced OnePlus 8 helps to build the increasing brand reputation of OnePlus with another well built, stunning looking and well specified smartphone at a reasonable price.
With a premium build of Gorilla Glass front and back, held together by an aluminium frame, it weighs in at 180g and is a slimline 8mm in thickness. It now also has IP68 dust and water certification, unlike the 7.
Larger screen and 90Hz refresh rate
The screen is a 6.55” Fluid AMOLED with an above average 90Hz refresh rate for silky smooth scrolling. This has an improved 88.7% screen to body ratio (due to moving the selfie camera from a central teardrop notch of the 7 to a left mounted pinhole). It has a 1080p resolution and 402ppi density, both the same as its predecessor.
Fastest Snapdragon processor
Inside, the OnePlus 8 is driven by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 865 processor. Not only is it their fastest currently, it also supports 5G, so is future proofed for whenever you decide to upgrade.
It ships with Android 10 And OxygenOS 10.0 and is available with either 8 or 12GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of non-expandable memory. There are stereo speakers and although the phone supports Dolby Atmos, it does not have a headphone jack though.
The fingerprint scanner for security is an under-the-screen one and the handset is powered by a 4300 mAh battery with 30W fast and wireless charging that will go from 1% to 50% in 22 minutes.
Extra ultrawide camera
The rear camera array for the OnePlus 8 has gained another lens, but sadly this is not a telephoto. This triple array is arranged vertically in a black section, centre back and consists of a 48MP f/1.8 wide, 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide and a 2MP f/2.4 macro. There is a dual LED flash and video can be shot at both 2160p (30 or 60 fps) and 1080p (30,60 or 240 fps).
On the front the selfie is a 16MP f/2.0 wide that shoots 1080p video at 30 fps. As mentioned above, this is positioned in pinhole in the top left of the screen.
Similar price to the OnePlus 7Pro
Available in Onyx Black, Glacial Green, Interstellar Glow and Polar Silver it is available now for just over £100 more than the OnePlus 7. So, is the extra £100+ worth it? If you are upgrading from an older OnePlus, I would say yes, as a better and bigger screen, more cameras and bigger battery are all must haves for 2020 phone users.
But if you compare it with last year’s OnePlus 7 Pro, which has a similar price there is not much in it, and if you prefer a better camera and an uninterrupted screen (the selfie camera is in a motorised pop-up module), then the OnePlus 7 Pro might be better for you.
