Everything you need to know…
As a smartphone building company, OnePlus has always amazed me with its innovative products one after the other in a reasonable price range. The launch of its new flagship first time in ‘Pro’ variant is no different. With the launch of its OnePlus 7 Pro, this time also the company has surpassed all its predecessor with a wide margin in terms of innovative technology in the form of pop-up selfie camera, absent of notch, elegant design, fabulous 90Hz bigger display, eye-whelming triple camera array.
The company has still not incorporated wireless technology and water-resistant feature into its flagship arsenal yet. I was wondering, will OnePlus manage to win over Samsung and Apple customers over, even with these shortcomings? We have done the detailed OnePlus 7 Pro review for the flagship and the results are as follows:
Unboxing
Included
Warp Charge 30 (30W) charging brick
Red OnePlus USB-A to USB-C cable
Clear protective case
Lacking
3.5mm to USB-C headphone jack
A pair of earbuds
The Oneplus 7 Pro’s box is designed in the same manner as we have seen under OnePlus 6T. The box has a nice premium-feeling matte finish with the large, embossed, reflective “7 Pro”. A white box with a red band around it.
The color red, which has been adapted by OnePlus for its branding, it feels like, it is splashed everywhere.
Inside the box is a red cardboard casing which includes a clear protective theme cover for the phone along with a small red cardboard casing. The smaller box has an insert with a letter from Pete Lau, the OnePlus CEO.
It also includes a pair of OnePlus “Never Settle” stickers, quick start guide, other reading materials, and SIM ejector tool. Every material was precisely chosen, and the rich-red theme definitely feels high-end.
Inside the box is USB type-C charging cable which like its predecessor is also dressed in the color red.
The OnePlus 7 Pro comes with the company’s new Warp Charge 30 charger. It doesn’t charge quite as rapidly as Huawei’s 40W SuperCharger, but it does get close. Warp charger is the real deal which debuted with OnePlus 6T Mclaren Edition.
It is upgraded and rebranded successor to Dash Charge. It can charge the device up to 50% in just 20 min. OnePlus says its charger keeps the phone from getting too hot by converting the voltage to 5V at 6A in the charger itself, instead of handling the conversion on the device.
When you plug the phone in you’ll see a special animation. The adapter supports quicker charging speeds (30W vs 20W) and is compatible with an older 20W adapter.
And lastly the phone, it comes wrapped in a frosted material plastic with the words “Never Settle” covering the front.
Specs
Unlike other smartphones, the 7 Pro is a spec monster. It is a more powerful, advanced and feature-rich phone till now. The 7 Pro is the first device that is packed with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 along with Adreno 640 GPU and is blazingly quick.
In addition, it comes with 12GB of DDR 4 RAM with 256GB storage, 4000 mAh Battery, Triple camera (48MP,8 MP, 16 MP),6.67 inch OLED display with the 90Hz refresh rate. It also has a liquid cooling system in the chipset which keeps the GPU and CPU cool at all times.
All this is run on OnePlus’ OxygenOS 9.0. which in some ways, even better than stock Android.
All these specs certainly make OnePlus 7 Pro the most responsive, snappy, fluid phone company has ever made.
| Body: | Metal Chassis with Dual-Gorilla Glass 5 panes ; Colour: Mirror Gray/Aurora Blue/Almond/ |
| Screen: | 6.67″ Fluid AMOLED display, 90Hz refresh rate, 3120x1440px resolution (516 ppi); 19.5:9 aspect ratio; sRGB + DCI-P3 support |
| Chipset: | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, octa-core CPU (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 485); Adreno 640 GPU |
| Memory: | 6GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB storage, 8GB / 12GB LPDDR4X RAM with 256GB 2-lane UFS 3.0 storage, non-expandable |
| OS: | Oxygen OS based on Android 9 Pie |
| Cameras: | Main – 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.6 aperture, OIS, PDAF and LaserAF; Telephoto – 8MP with f/2.4 aperture, OIS and 3X zoom; Ultra-wide – 16MP camera with f/2.2 aperture and 117-degree field-of-view; Dual LED Flash; Video recording: 2160p @ 60 fps, 1080p @ 240 fps, 720p @ 480 fps |
| Selfie cam: | 16MP Motorized Pop-up fixed focus with f/2.0 aperture; 1080p @ 30fps |
| Battery: | 4,000 mAh; Warp Charge 30W proprietary standard |
| Connectivity: | Dual SIM; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Dual band GPS; Bluetooth 5.0 + LE; NFC; USB-Type C; Audio via USB-C |
| Misc: | In-display optical fingerprint sensor; dual stereo loudspeakers; X-axis Haptic Vibration. |
It is the first device from the company that has truly entered the hyper-premium space.
Design
Curved display edges
Pop-up camera
Stereo speakers
Gorilla Glass 5
No notch
Since the last five years, OnePlus has been upgrading the designs of its phone twice a year and it seems like the company has matured enough to be a fully realized flagship maker. After taking the critical inputs from its fans across the globe through its community program, the company has designed this elegant masterpiece. Designwise the phone has everything anyone wants from a smartphone in 2019.
OnePlus 7 Pro is a pretty big step up from any other OnePlus phone previously made. The company has designed a completely new chassis for the 7 Pro.
As evident from this and its previous phones, OnePlus is preferring the curved edges, bezel-less display and bigger screens in smartphones as it’s designed gradients.
This phone is huge and its all screen. It has continuous glass curves with immersive 6.67 inches Fluid AMOLED display with 561ppi that’s great for consuming media. It’s hard not to like holding this big phone, even if it does take two hands to operate it comfortably.
However it has a really nice aluminum frame around and soft touch, translucent frosted glass back. The front and rear panels are made of Gorilla Glass 5. The presence of film underneath the glass makes it look gorgeous when you hold it up to the light. It Feels sturdy, well-built and rock-solid in hands. It has very high-class materials all around.
The 7 Pro is marginally wider, noticeably longer, slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessors like the OnePlus 5T and 6T McLaren Edition.
The presence of speakerphone slit and pop-up motorized selfie camera on top of the device and the absence of notch gave OnePlus designers enough space to make this phone nearly-bezel-less. The bezels are so thin all the way around that it feels like it is all display phone.
The display is curved along the two longest edges. These edges feel thin when you hold it. The phone has a nearly edge-to-edge display. The 7 Pro has an impressive 88.6% screen-to-body ratio.
The triple cameras array is vertically arranged across the back with a slight bump. The “1+” logos and LED flash is placed below the array, behind the glass.
There are two Dolby atoms certified stereo speakers on this device, one grille on the bottom and other embedded in the top bezel. Speakers are ok and are much bigger and better than the older ones but do get a little bit chippy at max volume.
The bottom of the device also houses a USB-C 3.0 port, in-call microphone, and maiden dual SIM tray viewed is double-sided, the nanoSIM holder on either side. On the right side of the device, you’ll find the power button and classic physical volume switches. Apart from Apple only OnePlus provide this unique and useful easy-to-blindly-access psychical alert slider.
On the left side of the panel, you’ll find the volume rockers. All the keys on the panel are firm and tactile.
The hidden selfie camera in pop-up mechanism in the top of the device is a new addition to the OnePlus device. It pops up when you open the camera app (or any other app that fires up the selfie camera). The process is quite silent and fast and can be used for face unlock also. It’s rated for 300,000 uses.
OnePlus claims that it takes 0.53 seconds for the camera to emerge from the housing and 0.65 seconds to recognize your face for unlocking the device. We found the mechanism is exceptionally fast and accurate.
OnePlus provide the facility of quick retraction of the camera if it detects it’s in freefall state just like the involuntary closure of eyelid in human. If you force the camera in, it retracts the rest of the way in and warns you not to push it in.
Oneplus does not provide the 3D face unlock so for security purposes it is advised to use the in-display fingerprint reader.
The in-display fingerprint sensor is way faster and reliable than last year Oneplus 6T. It is also faster than galaxy s10 ultrasonic sensor. Oneplus has optical sensor but a bigger and responsive. The sensor comes with some good and smooth animation which you can scroll. It’s fast and super easy to use.
OnePlus 7 Pro comes in three different colors, Glossy Mirror Gray, matte finish Nebula Blue and Almond with a golden frame. The choice of color is dependent on storage and RAM combination.
The colors are classy, subtle and stunning that change in different lighting conditions. Even the frame’s color fades in different lighting condition.
The only thing that is lacking with this new flagship is the absence of a 3.5 mm headphone jack, wireless charging, water-resistant IP- certification and Micro-SD card expansion.
Overall in the design department, the company has done exceptionally well. The build quality is pretty good. No issue that the premium is written all over the phone.
Display
6.67” 3120×1440 Fluid Amoled
19.5:9 Aspect Ratio,516ppi
93% Screen to Body Ratio
3D Corning Gorilla Glass
HDR10+
90Hz Refresh Rate
The thing that you are going to notice every day is its screen. It is the area where OnePlus has stunned the world the most. The 7 Pro has a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED QHD+ panel that operates natively at 3,120 x 1,440. The display is mesmerizing and impressed us with its clarity and color quotient.
It is the first all-screen phone without notch or punch. It is super tall with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The 7 pro is really a large phone. What’s special about this display is that it is not only edged but curved just like Galaxy Phone and just like galaxy phone it looks great.
The screen is really bright, has vibrant colors and gives a lot of color option for recalibrating colors. OnePlus 7 Pro’s display stands out for its color-accuracy and pleasantness. Colors are bright and vivid but not overly saturated. The display on the OnePlus 7 Pro is one of the best smartphone displays I’ve ever used.
Just when you thought that it’s enough, OnePlus hits you with 90Hz refresh rate instead of 60Hz, which is better than most of the gaming monitors. In other words, it is a kind of a killer feature which instantly separates it from every other phone.
This screen looks great and it has a kind of feature you can’t get even on the most expensive devices.DisplayMate has given it an A+ rating which is the highest score awarded to the company.
OnePlus 7 Pro is the first device whose display can constantly run at 90 Hz unlike gaming phone Razer Phone 2 that has a variable refresh rate that only switches to a higher refresh rate in games. It provides seamless, smooth transitions while playing games or watching movies.
It makes everything from scrolling to animations look much smoother. It’s extremely hard to go back to 60Hz after experiencing the OnePlus 7 Pro at 90Hz – every phone should have this. The screen can very easily spoil you and somehow everything else feels a little stuttery.
This panel is also HDR10 and HDR+ compatible, meaning it can properly display content with more color and contrast information between pure black and pure white.
Camera
Triple-camera setup
Primary: 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor (12Mp output size), a 26mm- equivalent lens with f/1.6 aperture and OIS
Ultra-wide: 16MP sensor, 17mm-equivalent lens with f/2.2 aperture
Telephoto: 8MegaPixel sensor, 78mm-equivalent lens with f/2.4 aperture and OIS
Selfie Camera : Motorised 16MP fixed focus with f/2.0 aperture; 1080p @ 30fps
Laser/PDAF autofocus
Dual-LED flash
4K/60fps video (4K/30fps at default settings)
Color of the images is really outstanding, especially those clicked in outdoor and in sunny conditions, where white balance remains neutral with strong saturation which delivers vibrant and bold hues that really pop.
The balance between texture and noise is pretty well-controlled, despite a lower effective resolution compared to other recent devices, the OnePlus 7 Pro’s images are packed with plenty of details.
There is some loss of texture in low light conditions, and noise starts to become noticeable in dark parts of the image, but even so, the results remain among some of the best we’ve observed.
For zoom shots, the OnePlus 7 Pro’s 3x telelens ensures excellent results at close range, and although at medium range noise is a little more prevalent and color slightly more desaturated than in standard shots, in spite of this the level of detail is very good. Image quality deteriorates quickly at long zoom distances, though.
The selfie cam physically slides out of the device. Containing a 16-megapixel f/2.0 camera, the pop-up unit is both ultra-durable and surprisingly smart to alleviate concerns people might have about introducing the moving system into a smartphone.
The pop-up camera is rated for 300,000 slides, meaning you could activate it over 150 times every single day for about 5.5 years without it wearing out. Images are sharp and have great color reproduction, and the lens is wide enough to fit a lot of people in the frame.
The triple-camera solution offers great versatility for photographers, it’s great to see such options included. Image quality is remarkable for the main and telephoto cameras in almost all categories.
But if OnePlus wants to compete head-to-head with the other flagships on the market it really needs to make low-light performance better.
Battery
4,000mAh
Warp Charge 30 (30-Watt, 5V/6A)
No wireless charging
In the battery department, OnePlus has made an upgrade. OnePlus 7 Pro is now packed with 4000 mAh battery instead of 3700 mAh as in OnePlus 6T. In this device, there’s a larger display with higher resolution and a 50% higher refresh rate. The 90Hz refresh rate significantly drops the screen-on time.
We got about 6.5 hours of screen-on time which is not so great. On a regular day, where you don’t play games and shoot videos it lasts more than a full day. Knowing the cause the OnePlus provided the adjustable refresh rate as per your convenience.
However, if you reduce the resolution and refresh rate of the display, you can achieve a much better battery life.OnePlus is working on the software update for dynamic refresh rate and hopefully, it will be provided in the next update.
OnePlus comes with warp charge technology. The 30w warp charger can charge 50% in just 20 min which is 34% faster than the one in 6T. Warp Charge is better than Qualcomm Quick Charge as it does not heat the device up.
It still produces waste heat, but most of it is emitted from the charger instead. Unfortunately, OnePlus 7 Pro does not support wireless charging.
Though wireless charging hasn’t completely taken off in many markets, it would have been nice to see this “flagship” feature included especially since the company increased the phone’s price by a substantial amount.
Software
OxygenOS 9.5
Android 9 Pie
Software is one of the strongest areas of OnePlus. The company does a good job of working with their community to make their operating system the best it can be. This device runs on OxygenOS 9.5 based on Android 9 Pie which is the latest in the market.
OxygenOS is clean, lightweight, smooth, and has a minimalistic flat design. It boots quickly.OnePlus 7 Pro has got a good amount of customizations and tweaks to take advantage of to make sure user experiences fit their preferences.
Some of them are new reading mode, which makes the display black and white while reading, and make you consume more media. The Extended Screenshot tool with more scrolling screen.The built-in automatic free-fall detection for protecting its pop-up motorized selfie camera.
OxygenOS 9.5 also incorporates a quasi-LED notification light which they call it horizon line, whereby the edges of the screen light up when the device receives a notification.
Unlike other OEMs OnePlus seek constant feedback from their community and on popular demand, there are some new additions to the user interface. For instance, the new built-in screen recorder that sits in the control panel. Gamers are going to love this feature as they can now record their gameplay without any third-party app.
This is not the only good news that the gamers are going to get. This time OnePlus has refined their Gaming Mode by partnering with the professional esports organization Fnatic.
In this new Fnatic gaming mode, all the cores dedicatedly focus on gaming, reduces the lag by shutting down all the other background activities that create network interference. OnePlus 7 Pro is also equipped with new DND mode that blocks every pop-up that might spoil your gameplay.
Unlike other OEMs, Oneplus has added a maiden feature to its device call Zen Mode. Entering this mode restricts your phone usage for 20 minutes – no texts, no checking the news and no social media whatsoever.
However, you can still make and receive emergency calls and take photos, but the point is to give yourself a 20-minute digital break. Even if you restart the phone, it will remain locked until the 20 minutes have fully elapsed. Community feedback directly inspired this feature. It is like Google’s Digital Wellbeing initiative.
OnePlus has introduced Night Mode 2.0 that filters out the blue light that keeps you awake at night.
OnePlus 7 pro comes with pre-installed Netflix along with the core set of applications, and you can only disable it rather than uninstalling it, which is disappointing.OnePlus has certified the 7 Pro with Widevine DRM L1, which allows it to stream DRM protected content in HD.
Lastly, OnePlus is known for quickly updating its devices to the latest versions of Android. The company promises two years of update and three years of security patches with regular bug fixes. If you get this device can feel confident your phone will be supported for a long time.
Performance
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Octa-core
Adreno 640 GPU
8GB or 12GB of RAM
128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.0 Storage
No expandable storage
OnePlus 7 is blazingly fast. With top-notch specs fitted into it, one can expect no less. The phone has the latest Snapdragon 855 chipset with 12GB of LPDDR4X and UFS 3.0 storage. The combination of the monstrous hardware and brilliant software makes performance on the OnePlus 7 Pro great.
The device is very well optimized and keeps key data in the memory so that the apps are launched swiftly. The OnePlus has provided a 10-layer liquid cooling system that prevents the phone from getting too hot.
OnePlus 7 Pro is the world’s first smartphone that comes with UFS 3.0 storage, as a result, it has faster read and writes speed.
In benchmarks, the OnePlus 7 Pro has performed well.
| Benchmarks | Score | |
| AnTuTU | 361038 | |
| 3DMark | OpenGL | 5412 |
| Vulcan | 4814 | |
| Geekbench | Single-core | 3411 |
| Multi-core | 10628 |
Overall the performance is pretty rock solid and the device is very fluid without any lag. You will certainly love this spec beast in this price range.
Verdict
OnePlus 7 pro brings a lot of new things to the table. The display is top-notch with a 90 Hz refresh rate and way better in daylight compared to its predecessors along with dual stereo speakers making the gaming and general experience a smooth delight.
Although it has become a bit more expensive compared to previous price segment, it is still the best option in this range. The only downer is the camera in low light.
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