A continuing drum roll constructed up with a gradual crescendo in our heads the week earlier than the OnePlus 8 arrived.

Was OnePlus about to muck all of it up by charging us an additional £250 for 5G, wiping out the primary enchantment of its nice worth telephones? The crash cymbal simply rang out, and we have now excellent news.

Starting at simply £50 greater than the OnePlus 7T, that OnePlus rep continues to be in-tact. Phew. So how has it managed to suit among the identical core {hardware} utilized in £1000-plus telephones right into a £599 OnePlus 8?

We get a gentle digital camera downgrade this yr, together with a 2MP macro that has no proper to take a seat in a £600 cellphone. But this one’s pretty straightforward to shrug off when the record of 5G complications contains attempting to persuade a military of pork popsicles 5G isn’t going to sauté their brains right into a superb gruel.

OnePlus 7T proprietor? You don’t must improve, however the OnePlus 8 is without doubt one of the most accessible 5G telephones thus far.

Design: Those curves look good in inexperienced

No-one likes a worth hike, however OnePlus has additionally given the OnePlus 8 a little bit of a method improve by the use of an apology.

Unlike the OnePlus 7T, this cellphone has curvy glass on back and front. It means the display borders are a contact smaller. And nothing says “costly cellphone” like curved glass. OK, so a foldable one does. But in the event you’re within the OnePlus 8 you most likely need one thing extra sensible than a £2000 cellphone you would possibly break in two days.

Our specific OnePlus 8 can also be a little bit of a stunner. We have the higher-end model, with 12GB RAM, 256GB storage and OnePlus’s new Glacial Green end. It’s a silky-looking matte glass remedy that shifts between an aquamarine inexperienced and darker blue because it performs with the sunshine forged on the again.

Some light-reactive finishes are simply out to seize as a lot consideration as they will, as shortly as attainable. But this one is a beaut.

Can’t afford the upgraded OnePlus 8? The base mannequin with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage is available in shiny black. It’s not fairly as good as Glacial Green, however black by no means will get previous. And the core expertise of utilizing the cellphone doesn’t change.

The OnePlus 8 is a superb dimension, and feels as well-made as any £1000-plus cellphone. Its curves are out to attraction fingers and it’s not so large you want XL-size palms to grip the factor comfortably. This, alongside the lower cost, is the very best cause to choose the OnePlus 8 over the OnePlus 8 Pro. It simply suits higher.

Its in-screen fingerprint scanner is fast too, and solely appears to fail when your thumb is moist. The OnePlus 8 appears to be like and feels its finest bare, however as ever we advise utilizing the bundled silicone case. It makes the cellphone chunkier and fewer fairly, in trade for much higher grip and a couple of 95% discount within the chance of you dropping it and smashing the glass again inside every week.

Screen: 90Hz OLED nonetheless rocks in 2020

We’ve used the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 professional side-by-side, and whereas there are variations of their display tech throughout the board, dimension is the primary change. An even bigger display is all the time higher for watching motion pictures and video games. It’s so simple as that.

The OnePlus 8 has a 6.55in OLED display with related specs to the OnePlus 7T. This time we get a punch gap as an alternative of a teardrop notch. And because it sits on the nook of the show moderately than the centre of the highest, it’s much less distracting. Its decision is 2280 x 1080 pixels, and its max refresh price is 90Hz. You can now get 120Hz screens, together with the OnePlus 8 Pro’s.

But we don’t assume it’s best to get too hung up on the distinction. We human people are higher at appreciating adjustments than absolutes. So whereas, sure, a 120Hz display scrolls much more smoothy than this one, you might be most definitely upgrading from a 60Hz cellphone. You nonetheless get the fun of seeing Android slide by extra easily than you’ve seen earlier than.

Things like peak brightness are literally simply as necessary, if no more so, out in the true world. The OnePlus 8’s OLED panel may be very vibrant, and has no bother dealing with vibrant, sunny days. It’s only a disgrace the cellphone refuses to make use of its true max brightness within the digital camera app.

Being in a position too see what you’re taking pictures regardless of the lighting situations is one for the very best makes use of for an ultra-bright display.

Still, the OnePlus 8 does help HDR10+, which may even suck up all of the display energy it may well get. The cellphone additionally has glorious color, and you may select how saturated you need it to look. Its default Vivid mode appears to be like nice too.

Software and Performance: A prime Snapdragon is all the time excellent news

OnePlus takes the very best strategy to this type of customisation all through the software program. 95% of individuals will most likely be proud of what’s laid out as commonplace. But for the tweakers and fiddlers, there’s loads to play with just under the floor.

There’s a darkish mode. You can change the type and form of app and drop-down icons. As traditional there are two system font, and the OnePlus 8 even helps you to choose the shade of color accents all through the interface.

After fiddling round for some time, we switched again to the OnePlus 8’s defaults. But what does that present apart from that the design staff is aware of what it’s doing? The OxygenOS software program, primarily based round Android 10, can also be much more secure at launch than most telephones we’ve reviewed lately.

We haven’t stumbled throughout a single main bug but. Performance is great. The OnePlus 8 has a Snapdragon 865 CPU with Qualcomm’s X55 5G modem. You can’t get any higher core {hardware} on the time of the cellphone’s launch. OnePlus advised us the usual 8 makes use of LPDDR4 RAM, the Pro LPDDR5. But in keeping with our testing the RAM is definitely the identical pace, copying information at round 17,000MB/s.

Storage runs at SSD-like speeds too, with reads of 1400MB/s and writes of 450MB/s. There aren’t any hidden downgrades, within the 256GB/12GB OnePlus 8 a minimum of. It’s gaming efficiency we care about most, although, and once more you may’t get a lot better. The OnePlus 8 is the type of cellphone that makes you would like builders would construct even higher-end graphics modes into their video games. Most titles don’t appear to remotely push on the Snapdragon 865’s limits.

Camera: A sneaky downgrade

OnePlus all the time packs nice Qualcomm processors into its telephones. But the digital camera tech? Its historical past right here isn’t fairly so robust.

The OnePlus 8 has three rear cameras, and two of them are good. There’s a 48MP major digital camera and a 16MP ultra-wide, and each use stable Sony sensors. They are the exact same sensors used within the OnePlus 7T, an IMX586 and IMX481. These provide glorious ends in daylight, and except for the odd change in color temperature picture high quality will not be too far off that of the higher-end OnePlus 8 Pro. Until you look very shut, anyway.

The perfect cellphone cameras can render a little bit extra superb element and texture element than the OnePlus 8 even in daylight. You’ll see clearer blades of glass, extra particular person items of gravel in somebody’s driveway, with the Pro model. But earlier than you begin zooming into the pics, there’s not an enormous drop in high quality.

Their wide-angle lenses are the same case. Like the higher wides, you don’t register an enormous drop in picture high quality as quickly as you hit the 0.6x zoom button. Result. Don’t mistake the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro for digital camera equals, although.

The non-Pro mannequin is much less properly outfitted for extra excessive conditions, and even the Pro isn’t precisely a hero at coping with them in comparison with a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra or Huawei P40 Pro. The OnePlus 8 has an excellent evening images mode, one which takes a second or two to create a intelligent composite of frames. But the outcomes are softer than the very best round, and softer than the OnePlus 8 Pro’s photographs.

It’s additionally a lot worse at close-up macro images, one of many OnePlus 8 Pro’s strongest components. The OnePlus 8 has a digital camera devoted to macro taking pictures. You change to it utilizing a button that sits proper on the prime of the digital camera app. However, it has a 2-megapixel sensor, the equal of a toy you would possibly get free in a cereal field. Disclaimer: for these too younger to get that reference, sugary cereal for youths used to return with junk plastic toys within the backside. The 90s have been thrilling years.

The OnePlus 8 additionally has no zoom digital camera. When you utilize the 2x button within the app, it crops into the primary sensor. It’s no match for a correct 3x or 5x zoom, however we nonetheless admire quick access to the crop mode. Would we moderately have the OnePlus 7T’s 12MP zoom digital camera, over a 2MP macro? Yes. And the annual worth enhance does put extra concentrate on what’s arguably a digital camera downgrade.

There are an excellent variety of video options, although. You can shoot at as much as 4K decision, 60 frames per second with stabilisation. And there’s an excellent secure mode, additionally seen within the OnePlus 7T. This makes use of software-stabilisation-optical-stabilisation sandwich, and whereas it may end up in some unusual picture wobble distortion in decrease mild, it’s in any other case very efficient. You simply use it at as much as 4K decision, 30 frames per second too.

We tried the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro 4K video modes side-by-side, and the Pro’s 4K video has considerably extra element, although. The two telephones share the identical selfie digital camera sensor, although, an IMX471. And it’s excellent, with stable pores and skin tone dealing with and glorious element, so long as you maintain it nonetheless sufficient to keep away from a blurred publicity.

Battery Life: B- stamina, A+ pace

We have excellent news and unhealthy information on battery life. The OnePlus 8 has a considerably bigger battery than the OnePlus 7T, with 4300mAh as an alternative of 3800mAh.

The unhealthy information? We’re nonetheless not precisely stunned by its stamina. Take the cellphone out on a vibrant day and the 90Hz display chews by the battery like a 5 year-old left alone with an easter egg.

We’re average to heavy customers on most days, and whereas we have now for essentially the most half made it to mattress time without having a top-up, we’re not often left with a lot cost. However, we have now additionally been spoilt by just a few current 5000mAh telephones which might be a little bit extra geared for longevity than the OnePlus 8. And on our few lighter days, the effectivity of the Snapdragon 865 does shine by.

For instance, as we write this at 14:50pm, the cellphone nonetheless has 72% cost left. We haven’t been open air but and have streamed fewer podcasts than traditional. But this exhibits lighter customers shouldn’t have any points.

The OnePlus 8 additionally has its maker’s famously quick cost tech. It will get you properly over 50% cost in half an hour from flat. This cellphone doesn’t have wi-fi charging, thoughts. For that it’s worthwhile to bump as much as the OnePlus 8 Pro. OnePlus is, as traditional, not a pacesetter on digital camera tech or battery life. But it’s not a humiliation in both space.

OnePlus 8 verdict

You want to understand the price of 5G to “get” the OnePlus 8. It might look like everybody has been blathering on about 5G for ages, however the cellphone {hardware} that makes it attainable continues to be barely out of nappies. And which means it prices a bit to pack in.

However, OnePlus has clearly tried its hardest to maintain that additional value to a minimal. £50 additional for 5G is a little bit of a discount.

In different respects, outdoors a little bit of curved glass right here, a brand new processor there, the OnePlus 8 doesn’t appear an enormous enchancment over the OnePlus 7T. But when 5G telephones present as efficient wallet-drainers as Western Union electronic mail scams, we’re going to chalk this one up as a win.