OnePlus has taken aim at the big boys like never before with the OnePlus 7 Pro. Not only is it packed to the gills with the latest and greatest specs, it has also attempted to up its camera game with three - you heard that right, three - cameras in the back.
So, is it a world-beating phone? One worthy of the love it has been gaining from the early reviewers?
Let us dive in to find out:
Hardware:
We have the 12 GB, 256 GB variant that only comes in Nebula Blue and is priced at Rs 57999. It is also available in the 6GB/128 GB storage and 8 GB/128 GB variants priced at Rs 48999 and Rs 53999. The lower-memory variants are available in Mirror Gray or Almond colours too.
Sporting a metal and glass build, the Nebula Blue phone being reviewed has a mattefinish. It looks fabulous as the shades change with light falling on it.
Now, to the first caution. The phone weighs 206 grams, making it heavier than its closest competitors. Taking single-handed selfies can be risky as it is top heavy and lacks the balance. But with regular usage, you’ll get a hang of it. The phone is a bit slippery. Do make use of the transparent protective case provided with the phone.
There is no IP rating for water or dust resistance even though many reviews have shown it to fairly water-proof. OnePlus has claimed that it skipped gaining the IP rating to pass on the savings to customers.
Display:
A much larger 6.67 inch Quad HD+ Fluid AMOLED display greets users. OnePlus has done away with the notch on the costlier model by introducing the pop-up front camera. The display is curved - like on the Samsung Galaxy S10 phones - and it is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. It’s one of the first phones to use a 90 Hz refresh rate display and this makes it very smooth and fluid to use. The media viewing and gaming experiences are both exceptional as a result.
Performance:
Performance-wise it’s one of the best phones out there. On offer is the top-of-range Qualcomm 855 processor, an as-always-buttery-smooth OxygenOS, a faster UFS 3.0 storage (found only on the Samsung Galaxy Fold phones earlier) and 12 GB of RAM. It zips and you have options to restrict or run apps in the background.
The in-screen fingerprint unlock is much faster than on the 6T where it was introduced for the first time. And the face unlock is quick and streamlined too thanks to the presence of the pop-up front camera.
Gaming Mode: To improve the gaming experience, OnePlus says it has brought in a 10-layer liquid cooling system, and a fanatic mode that lets you avoid annoying messages and notifications while gaming. We tried playing the PUBG mobile and Asphalt Legends 9 and the experience was nothing less than spectacular.
Battery: With a 4000 mAh battery, the screen time is good, though not as great as on endurance champs like the Huawei P30. But then there is Warp Charge 3.0 to make up for this. It takes about an hour to go to full charge and about 20 minutes to give you enough battery life for the day.
When it comes to wireless charging, OnePlus continues to insist that it is still not an essential feature and possibly with good reason.
Sound: The audio quality has improved from the 6T with the arrival of Dolby Atmos dual speakers, one at the bottom and the other at the earpiece. The massive display and the improved sound quality all add to the phone’s overall allure. This phone yet again doesn’t have the 3.5 mm earphone jack. Audiophiles might need the all-new Bullet Wireless earphones to make up for this.
Camera: The first thing we look at while buying the smartphones is the camera. The OnePlus 7 Pro is fitted with three rear cameras and a pop-up selfie camera.
The primary camera is a 48-megapixel with f/1.6 aperture and it’s as good as that found on any other premium smartphones with detailed colour saturation. It comes with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and the photos can be clicked in HDR mode.
Next we have a 16-megapixel Ultra Wide Angle Lens with an aperture of f/2.2 to help us capture photos at a wide angle of 117 degrees, which is lesser than Samsung S10 Plus’s 123 degrees and Huawei P30 Pro’s 120 degrees.
The third is the Telephoto lens with optical zoom 3X that helps us get close to the subject without compromising on the clarity of the shot. Only Huawei P30 Pro has a better lens with 5X zoom.
Nightscape mode, which was introduced on the 6T, helps you capture good images under low lights, but we have seen noise in a lot of images. The stability and clarity still need some improvements.
Pro-mode lets you adjust the ISO, white balance, shutter speed to capture photos like a professional and reduce noise.
Front Camera: The pop-up camera has an f/2.0 16-megapixel lens to take wonderful selfies and shoot videos or have a video call. Low-light performance is okay.
The camera retracts itself in fraction of second when it detects freefall, using its highly sensitive accelerometer and gyroscope.
Videos:
The camera allows us to record videos at 4K, 60 frames per second quality, a feature available only on the S10 Plus and not the P30 pro. The only problem in shooting with 4K is it doesn’t get processed on light video editing softwares/applications like Kinemaster.
The front camera can only record in 1080p unlike the S10 Plus’s 4K on the front camera.
Overall the camera is an upgrade from that on the 6T in terms of both the software and hardware. One problem we faced was while taking portrait mode photos, which works only with telephoto lens. This meant we had to go a few steps back to get the subject in the frame.
Should you go ahead and buy?
First read the pros and cons of the phone
Pros:
Cons:
Specifications:
Dimensions: 162.6 x 75.9 x 8.8 mm
Weight: 206 g
SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
Fluid AMOLED Display
Size: 6.67 inches
Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass
90Hz refresh rate
OS: Android 9.0 (Pie); OxygenOS 9
Chipset: Qualcomm SDM855 Snapdragon 855
Ram: 6GB/8GB/12GB LPDDR4X
Storage: 128GB/256GB UFS 3.0 2-LANE
Camera:
48 MP, f/1.6, (wide), OIS
8 MP, f/2.4, 78mm (telephoto), 3x zoom, OIS
16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide)
Video:
2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@480fps, Auto HDR
Audio: Dual stereo speakers, Noise cancellation support, Dolby Atmos®
Unlock Options: In-display Fingerprint, Face Unlock
4000 mAh battery with Warp 30 charger
Verdict:
If you are looking for the perfect screen, realistic gaming experience and a truly zippy phone with a very good camera then look no further. The OnePlus 7 Pro flies and how! However, this is the most expensive device manufactured by OnePlus with a base price of Rs 48,999. If you are cost-conscious, you could check out OnePlus 7 which starts at Rs 32,999.