OnePlus 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 8: Is going Pro worth it?

Chinese smartphone manufacturers have been edging their way into the American consumer consciousness over the past few years, from Huawei to Vivo and, more recently, OnePlus. These overseas companies produce smartphones across the price spectrum, and they offer a diverse choice of feature sets. Today, we’ll be comparing two such phones from OnePlus, namely the new OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro.

Which is right for you? Should you go for the biggest, best OnePlus, or save some money? Our guide will help you decide which of these two offerings is right for you as we take an in-depth look at OnePlus’ latest offerings.

Specs

Design, display, and durability

The OnePlus 8 Pro has a display that measures at just about a quarter-inch larger than that of the regular OnePlus 8, so there’s no huge difference there. Coming in at 513 pixels-per-inch, the 8 Pro has about 25% greater resolution than the regular 8, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker in our hands-on experience. The OnePlus 8 Pro also features motion-smoothing that helps create a slightly smoother user experience and sharper images, a feature that, while lacking on the OnePlus 8 regular, causes no glaring deficiencies.

From a design standpoint, the two phones are fairly similar, though the OnePlus 8 is a bit lighter, thinner, and smaller in dimensions than the 8 Pro. The two phones are virtually identical to the naked eye, save for their overall dimensions, and feature the same curved edges and back camera bump.

While both phones have an almost identical design, the OnePlus 8 is notably lacking the IP68 rating of the OnePlus 8 Pro. This means that the 8 is not rated for water and dust resistance and is only splash-proof. That, along with the sharper screen and higher refresh rate, tips the needle for us.

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Performance, battery life, and charging

Both the 8 Pro and the regular 8 feature the same Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm processor and optional 8 or 12GB of RAM. Both devices ran smoothly in our hands-on experience. The OnePlus 8 Pro has a slightly larger battery, offering a 4,510mAh battery compared to the OnePlus 8’s 4,300mAh. The OnePlus 8 Pro also features wireless charging, which the OnePlus 8 does not. As more smartphone users become accustomed to cutting the cord when it comes to charging, the lack of wireless charging is certainly notable.

The OnePlus 8 tries to make up for this with its rapid-charging feature, which sees the phone charge to 50% battery in about 20 minutes. It’s impressive and comes in handy when you’re running low, but we would have liked to see wireless charging, like on its larger sibling.

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Cameras

The camera situation on these devices is interesting and varied. Before declaring a winner, let’s dig in a bit. The OnePlus 8 features a 48MP wide-angle main lens paired with an acceptable, though fairly unremarkable, 16MP ultra-wide lens paired with a 2MP macro lens. It takes good photos, but it’s clear that this wasn’t the focus on this device and was likely an area where OnePlus was able to cut costs.

The OnePlus 8 Pro, on the other hand, comes packed with a 48MP wide-angle lens, 48MP ultra-wide lens, and an 8MP telephoto lens that offers 3x optical zoom. OnePlus tried to add a unique twist to the OnePlus 8 Pro via the inclusion of a Color Filter included in the camera. This basically allows you to take inverted color images, though we aren’t sure what purpose it serves or exactly why it was included. Both phones feature 16MP selfie cameras on the front of the devices, and both feature 4K video recording.

While it’s clear that neither of these camera systems beat the best Android platform cameras on the market, the OnePlus 8 Pro still captures far better images than the OnePlus 8.

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Software and updates

Both the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro run OxygenOS 10.5, which is based on Android 10.0. Their software is identical from the ground up. We go into further detail on the OS itself in our hands-on review of the OnePlus 8 Pro, but we’ve generally found it to be one of our favorite manufacturer skins for Android.

The update situation is similar, and you can expect both phones to get at least two major Android updates. OnePlus is fairly fast where updates are concerned, and you shouldn’t see any huge differences between when each of these phones receives updates. It’s a tie.

Winner: Tie

Special features

Both the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro come ready for the 5G connectivity of tomorrow and can take advantage of the thinly rolled out but exciting 5G of today in many major metro areas. If you’re looking for that something special and you happen to have an affinity for taking strangely colored photos, then the Color Filter feature of the OnePlus 8 Pro will tickle your fancy, but it’s a fairly low bar for “special.”

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Price and availability

The OnePlus 8 Pro costs $1,000 for the 12GB RAM/256GB storage version in our review, or $900 for the 8GB/128GB model. The OnePlus 8 starts at $700 for the 128GB version with 8GB of RAM. Both models can be purchased directly and unlocked from OnePlus. They are also available from Verizon and T-Mobile but will, of course, come locked to their respective carriers.

Overall winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

A “Pro” model is typically titled that for a reason, and OnePlus isn’t about to rewrite that rule. With its higher-end display, actual IP68 certification, wireless charging, far stronger camera, and yes, even its weird Color Filter toy, the OnePlus 8 Pro is simply a stronger smartphone than its cheaper counterpart. While the OnePlus 8 is still a great smartphone, in most situations you should seriously consider forking out for the Pro model.

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