(eccentric electronic music)
- Here's the OnePlus 8,
the OnePlus device for people
who want this year's model,
but maybe aren't into
some of the wackier ideas
that OnePlus is experimenting
with its Pro models.
It starts at $699, which is
$200 less than the Pro device
that Dieter's taking a
look at in his review,
but all of the OnePlus
essentials are still here.
It's still got a great screen.
It's still got great battery life.
It's fast charging, it's still fast,
and it's take on Android is
still just as clean as ever.
And you're getting a screen
with a 90 hertz refresh rate,
which is honestly, still so good
that I wish it was a
standard-issue feature
for most modern flagships.
Now, if you think that sounds
like a fairly traditional OnePlus device,
then you're not wrong,
but the difference this
year is that with the 8 Pro,
OnePlus has finally addressed
some of those issues
that OnePlus fans have been
asking about for years.
It's a device that really
makes a serious attempt
to break the OnePlus mold.
The OnePlus 8 hasn't quite
made that same attempt,
but it's still a good
phone at a good price,
which really begs the question,
is a good OnePlus device
that doesn't break the mold worth it?
Or do you need to spend
the extra money on the Pro?
(calming ambient music)
But the OnePlus 8 is a
solidly-specced device.
It's powered by a Snapdragon 865,
starts with eight gigabytes of RAM
and 128 gigabytes of storage,
but I've been using a model
with 12 gigabytes of RAM
and 256 gigabytes of storage.
There's 5G onboard, Wi-Fi
6, all that good stuff,
and that's a lot of spec for $699.
Especially compared to,
oh, I don't know, the,
pretty much identically
priced entry-level iPhone 11.
So essentially, you're getting
most of the internal specs
of the OnePlus 8 Pro in the OnePlus 8.
The exception that OnePlus
is keen to emphasize
is that the Pro is using LPDDR5 RAM,
while the 8 is using LPDDR4X,
but I struggled to notice the difference
in real-world usage.
I mean, the two phones even look
damn near identical from the front
because they both have
that same hole-punch,
selfie cutout at the
top left of the screen.
Yes, the 8 screen is
ever so slightly smaller
at 6.55 inches, compared to
the 6.78 inches on the Pro,
but the two phones are
basically the same width,
so they don't really feel
any different to hold.
I mean, seriously, when I was
taking comparison photographs,
I occasionally forgot which one was which.
I will say that the 8
screen seems to curve
ever so slightly less around
the sides of the device,
which is maybe why I didn't experience
the accidental touch issues
that Dieter had with the Pro,
but honestly, it's really subtle,
and you have to really be looking for it
to actually notice it.
All of which is to say,
the OnePlus 8 is not a device to get
if you're after a smaller phone.
Personally, I'd love to
see OnePlus experiment
with a smaller device,
but hey, maybe that's just me.
Of course, the screens
aren't actually identical.
With the 8, you're getting
a 1080p, 90 hertz display,
with a peak brightness of 1100 nits.
Meanwhile, the 8 Pro goes
up to 1440p, 120 hertz,
and 1300 nits peak brightness.
But please, don't let
this numbers-to-numbers
spec comparison lead you to believe
that the 8 has a bad screen.
It doesn't, it's great,
it's bright, it's vibrant,
and it's yet more evidence that
OnePlus really, really knows
how to put the right display on a phone.
Even compared to the 8 Pro,
the 8's display still feels smooth.
It took me sitting with
both phones side-by-side
to spot the difference, and even then,
it wasn't a night and day comparison.
The phone feels nice and snappy to use.
Apps open quickly, games run well.
You're getting a flagship
Android experience here.
Oh, and OxygenOS is just
as out of the way as ever,
which is exactly what I want
out of a manufacturer's operating system.
I'm looking at you, LG.
(calming music)
So I've been scurrying around
the issue for a little while,
but what are the differences between the 8
and the 8 Pro that actually matter?
Well, to my mind, there
are three main differences
that you need to worry about,
person who watches YouTube
reviews of OnePlus phones.
Namely, IP ratings, wireless
charging and cameras.
So let's just come out and say it.
The OnePlus 8 doesn't
do wireless charging.
It doesn't do the fancy
30 watt wireless charging,
the OnePlus 8 Pro,
and it doesn't do the more basic
five watt wireless charging
that basically every other flagship device
does at this point.
You already know if it's
a feature you want or not,
so I'm not gonna labor the point too much
other than to say that it's
still a bit of a bummer.
It also doesn't have
an official IP rating,
which wouldn't be surprising
coming from OnePlus,
apart from the fact, the
company has finally relented
and actually added one to the 8 Pro.
And yeah, the company claims
that it'll still survive being used
in the rain and whatever, but come on.
And also, finally, the camera's different.
So let's dig in.
There's good news and there's bad news
contained within this triple-camera array,
which consists of a 48
megapixel main camera,
a 16 megapixel ultra-wide camera,
and a two megapixel macro camera.
The good news is there's
no gimmick lens here.
The bad news is you don't get a zoom lens.
The macro lens is tricky,
and you also don't get a main sensor
that's quite as good as the 8 Pro.
It's still 48 megapixels,
which yeah, is the same,
but long story short,
it's an older sensor,
and it's just, well, see for yourself.
In bright conditions, I
think it holds up well
against both the OnePlus
8 Pro and the Pixel 3
I happen to have for comparison's sake.
If you check out these shots I took
during my government sanctioned
walk around the block,
I'll be well-pressed to tell a difference
between the 8 and the 8 Pro,
and the Pixel 3's images
have a slightly softer look in comparison.
Look at this picture of a
car and you'll see the hedge
behind it tints slightly yellower
on the 8 compared to the
Pro, but look, it's minor.
It's after the sun goes down
that things start to go badly for the 8.
Things are just a lot brighter
and clearer on the Pro.
Faces can look a little
smooth, weird and brightened,
especially at night.
Oh, and here's some selfie shots,
and OnePlus uses the same
16 megapixel selfie sensor
between the 8 and the Pro,
so they're aren't many differences there,
but there definitely seems to be
some kind of skin brightening going on
compared to my Pixel 3,
especially considering it's managed
to correctly expose the sky behind me.
Obviously, you don't get
a zoom lens with the 8,
but you do get a macro lens and,
(groans)
I don't really know how useful it is.
Look, I'm not gonna deny that
under the right circumstances,
you can get a little bit more detail
with the 8 than the Pro.
I took these two shots
from the same distance away
with both phones with their
macros modes turned on
and let them do their thing,
and sure enough, you can
see a little bit more detail
in the shot from the 8,
but other times, I straight
up got a better macro shot
out of the 8 Pro, even though
it doesn't have a macro lens,
like with this horse
head on a Venetian mask,
which I just couldn't
get the 8 to focus on
no matter how hard I tried.
Or if you're more of a video person,
then you can see for
yourself what it looks like.
This is from the 16 megapixel
front-facing camera.
So the easy answer is that
if you want the better camera setup,
you gotta go Pro, especially
if you want a zoom lens
and better low-light performance.
But the much harder question to answer
is how well the modestly priced OnePlus 8
competes against similarly priced rivals.
And let's not forget,
these include the entry-level iPhone 11,
and honestly, I just don't
think the 8 quite nails it.
I can't really complain about
the battery life in OnePlus 8.
It's got a 4300 milliamp hour battery,
and I haven't even been able to come close
to running it down with a full day of use.
Although, you can't charge it wirelessly,
it supports Warp Charge 30T,
which can charge your
phone in around an hour.
So this is a nice phone,
but you already knew that.
It's a OnePlus phone, at this point,
there's just certain things
you can kinda take for granted.
It's got a great screen,
it's wicked fast, it's solidly built.
It's camera can stand
to be a little better,
and for reasons that seem
to apply only to OnePlus,
it doesn't support wireless
charging or have an IP rating.
So yeah, the OnePlus 8
doesn't really break the mold,
but I don't think that
makes it a bad phone.
It just makes it a little
predictable at this point,
but that makes for a hard choice.
Do you go for the
predictable OnePlus phone,
or do you spend $200 more for a device
that definitely overcomes some
of these long-standing issues?
You'll have to watch Dieter's
review of the OnePlus 8 Pro
for a complete look at that device's
strengths and weaknesses.
But a lot of the choice
comes down to this,
is a $200 price premium worth it
for wireless charging and IP rating
and a slightly better camera?
Because if it's not, then the
OnePlus 8 is a great phone.
All right guys, thank you so
much for watching this review
in these super weird times,
and I truly hope you are
staying as safe and well
as you can be at the moment.
And check out the super janky camera setup
that we've had to use
as Alix has directed me
remotely (laughs) from zoom.
Anyway, thank you so much guys,
and check out theverge.com
for the full review of the OnePlus 8
and OnePlus 8 Pro, see ya.
