OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro - Should you upgrade

OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro Review: A Decent Upgrade at a Premium Price

When it comes to upgrading your phone, there are many factors to consider, from camera quality to processor speed. But what if you've got a good top-end phone from last year, like the OnePlus 7 Pro or one of Samsung's Galaxy phones? Do you really need to upgrade to the latest and greatest model? In this article, we'll take a closer look at the new OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, and determine whether they're worth the premium price.

The camera quality on both phones is very good. The cameras on the 8 Pro are indeed better than those on the standard 8, with a three times telephoto mode camera that's sure to impress. However, we found that the colors and exposure were slightly better on the standard 8, but only when zoomed in on screen. This may seem like a small thing, but it can make a big difference in terms of overall image quality. The cameras on both phones are capable of taking great shots, especially with features like Night Mode and Nightscape mode.

But if photography is absolutely critical for you, and you want to shoot 8K video or have more advanced camera features, then the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra may be a better option. This phone has a much bigger lossless zoom mode, as well as the ability to shoot 8K video at 30fps. However, it comes at a much higher price point than the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro.

One of the biggest upgrades on both phones is the display. The screens are smooth and responsive, with no lag or stuttering when scrolling or navigating around the phone. This is thanks to the new AMOLED displays that both phones feature. But what's also worth noting is that these phones don't really notice a huge difference in terms of processor power. Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 865 processor is very powerful, but it's not like it's going to make a huge difference if you've got an older phone from last year.

Games will still run smoothly on both phones, and photo editing or video streaming won't be affected by the processor speed. If you're planning on playing demanding games, however, you may notice that the 8 Pro does a bit better than the standard 8. But overall, these processors are more than capable of handling most tasks.

Another notable feature on both phones is their support for 5G connectivity. This is a big deal, especially if you're living in an area that doesn't yet have 5G coverage. The 8 and 8 Pro come with 5G capabilities, but it's worth noting that this may not be as useful if you don't live in a 5G supported area. In fact, it might not be worth the extra cost until such time.

Finally, there are some other features that both phones share, including in-screen fingerprint scanning, fast charging over USB-C, and support for wireless charging on the 8 Pro. The batteries on both phones should hold out for about a full day of general use, as should most top-end smartphones.

So, is it worth upgrading to one of these phones? If you've got an older device from last year or two, then the answer is probably yes. But if you've already got a good top-end phone that's still meeting your needs, then there may not be enough reason to upgrade. The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are both very capable phones, but they're not necessarily worth the premium price.

That being said, between the two options, our money would probably go on the standard 8. You get all of the same features as the 8 Pro, including a smooth screen, some important camera upgrades, and support for 5G. And at this price point, it's actually undercutting the 8 Pro, making it a more affordable option.

In conclusion, both the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are solid choices if you're in the market for a new phone. But before you make a decision, consider whether there are any specific features that are must-haves for you. If not, then one of these phones might be worth considering.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enshould you upgrade to the brand-new one plus 8 and the 1 plus 8 pro well that is what I am going to try and answer today so yes oneplus has taken the wraps off his brand new flagships for 2020 they are packed with some amazing bits of tech but are they really worth spending your money on if you've got one of the earlier generation of oneplus phones or indeed any other phone and you'll just may be tempted by this shiny new light blue design well on paper these phones do pack quite a punch they've got the latest Qualcomm processors various camera upgrades and of course they come packing 5g that's pretty much in line with everything we would expect from a flagship phone launching in 2020 so let's start with the look of these things and physically there hasn't really been any real change in the past couple of generations here we've got the eight standard one plus eight and here's the 70 Pro from last year and apart from the actual shade of blue they're using these phones are basically identical now that's not necessarily a bad thing they're decent looking phones but if you are wanting to upgrade and get a brand new fresh design then this probably isn't going to excite you all that much size-wise the eight pro has swollen a little bit to incorporate these six point seven eight inch display so that size does beat the six point I think six seven inches of the 70 pro last year but it's not quite pushing things for the six point nine inches of Samsung's Galaxy S twenty ultra the standard one plus eight pro comes in at six point five five inches so it is a little bit smaller than the pro version now I've been using both for about a week now and even the biggest size I don't find too difficult to use one-handed and I don't exactly have these massive shovel hands they're reasonably small and these things are comfortable enough to use speaking of the screens though the oneplus 8 has a ninety Hertz refresh rate which makes scrolling around the interface look buttery smooth the a pro does up that to a hundred and twenty Hertz and now some of you more dedicated gamers might notice that difference in the screen refresh rate to be honest when we've used these both for just everyday tasks side by side it's very difficult to tell any kind of difference you're still getting a very very smooth experience on either phone the older generation in 70 and 70 Pro also had 90 hits display so there's no real reason to upgrade here and screen resolution hasn't really changed here either the 8 Pro has 513 pixels per inch which is about the same as the 516 pixels per inch of last year 70 Pro that is not a difference that you will ever be able to notice no matter how close you hold your phone to your face okay so let's talk cameras the standard 1 + 8 has got three rear cameras it's got its standard zoo it's got a wide-angle mode and it's also got a 2 megapixel macro mode which allows for slightly closer focusing on those small objects now we're not testing we haven't really loved the macro mode because you can get really good results from the standard camera just by zooming in on screen yes it reduces the quality slightly but actually we found that the colors and the exposure is a little bit better the wide and the super wide angle cameras take great shots though as does of course the cameras on the 8 Pro which also has a three times tele photo mode camera so that's the main upgrade in the cameras between the eight and the 8 pro camera quality overall is very good but if photography is absolutely critical for you and you might want to consider going for something as galaxy s 20 ultra which has a much bigger lossless zoom mode as well as 8k video although of course there is are features that you are paying for as that phone does come at a much higher cost both oneplus models do have a nightscape mode for brighter shots when the light really drops but I found that in my testing the iPhone 11 pro's night mode can take superior shots in the dark although again that that phone is more expensive so that's a trade-off you're gonna have to think about all the recent oneplus models can shoot 4k video and they've all got 16 megapixel front-facing selfie cameras so there's no reason to upgrade their d8 series packs Qualcomm's latest snapdragon 865 process now the 7t last year had the 855 plus processor which was already an absolute powerhouse so I really don't think you're gonna notice much of a processor upgrade in these new models games of course play very smoothly navigating around the phone is free of any kind of lag and these things really won't bat an eye of photo editing or video streaming if you've got a top phone from last year whether it's their 70 pro or maybe a Samsung Galaxy S 10 that really this processor power is not going to be a good reason to upgrade if you've got a much older phone like a galaxy s6 or a much older one plus phone you will notice that power certainly if you plan on playing a lot of very demanding games both the 8 and the 8 Pro come with 5g connectivity because of course it's 2020 and no phone maker is going to launch a flagship phone in 2020 without 5g that would just be dumb are you listening Apple dumb 5g could be a real reason to upgrade here particularly if you're using an older phone which doesn't have 5g and you really want to experience those blazing fast speeds obviously though that's only worth it if you're in a 5g supported area and you're already on a phone plan which supports 5g if you live in a small town which maybe isn't gonna get 5g for some time it's really not worth spending that money on the phone now because it could be a long time before you actually see that benefit instead I'd recommend waiting till the end of the year see what the phone company's plans are for bringing 5g to where you are and then looking at upgrading your phone a lot of the other features remain the same on these phones there's in screen fingerprint scanning fast charging over USB see although the new 1+8 pro does support wireless charging which could appeal the batteries on both of them should hold out for about a full day of general use as should any top-end phone right now and there's still no support for micro SD cards to expand the built-in storage all of which brings me to my final conclusion about whether you should actually upgrade well the answer is fairly straightforward if you've got a good top-end phone from last year like a 70 pro or at one of the Galaxy phones then you are not going to benefit enough from the upgrade to the processor or to the camera here to really notice a difference and to justify that money the only caveat being is if you are really that desperate to get five g and if five g is already very common in your area however if you are using a much older device and you are really tempted by some of the new features like the smoother display the camera upgrades and whatnot then these are very good phones to consider now while oneplus isn't hitting its affordable price point but it became known for in its early days they are still undercutting some of the other phones particularly the s20 ultra or the iPhone 11 pro so they're definitely not qualifying as affordable but they are more affordable than others if that makes sense but between the eight and the a pro my money would probably go on the standard eight you still get features like the smooth screen you get some of the important camera updates and of course you get that five G but it comes at a price which is undercutting the a pro making it a little easier on the wallet but let me know what you think of these two phones by hitting the comment box below and make sure to LIKE and subscribe for a lot more from CNET'sshould you upgrade to the brand-new one plus 8 and the 1 plus 8 pro well that is what I am going to try and answer today so yes oneplus has taken the wraps off his brand new flagships for 2020 they are packed with some amazing bits of tech but are they really worth spending your money on if you've got one of the earlier generation of oneplus phones or indeed any other phone and you'll just may be tempted by this shiny new light blue design well on paper these phones do pack quite a punch they've got the latest Qualcomm processors various camera upgrades and of course they come packing 5g that's pretty much in line with everything we would expect from a flagship phone launching in 2020 so let's start with the look of these things and physically there hasn't really been any real change in the past couple of generations here we've got the eight standard one plus eight and here's the 70 Pro from last year and apart from the actual shade of blue they're using these phones are basically identical now that's not necessarily a bad thing they're decent looking phones but if you are wanting to upgrade and get a brand new fresh design then this probably isn't going to excite you all that much size-wise the eight pro has swollen a little bit to incorporate these six point seven eight inch display so that size does beat the six point I think six seven inches of the 70 pro last year but it's not quite pushing things for the six point nine inches of Samsung's Galaxy S twenty ultra the standard one plus eight pro comes in at six point five five inches so it is a little bit smaller than the pro version now I've been using both for about a week now and even the biggest size I don't find too difficult to use one-handed and I don't exactly have these massive shovel hands they're reasonably small and these things are comfortable enough to use speaking of the screens though the oneplus 8 has a ninety Hertz refresh rate which makes scrolling around the interface look buttery smooth the a pro does up that to a hundred and twenty Hertz and now some of you more dedicated gamers might notice that difference in the screen refresh rate to be honest when we've used these both for just everyday tasks side by side it's very difficult to tell any kind of difference you're still getting a very very smooth experience on either phone the older generation in 70 and 70 Pro also had 90 hits display so there's no real reason to upgrade here and screen resolution hasn't really changed here either the 8 Pro has 513 pixels per inch which is about the same as the 516 pixels per inch of last year 70 Pro that is not a difference that you will ever be able to notice no matter how close you hold your phone to your face okay so let's talk cameras the standard 1 + 8 has got three rear cameras it's got its standard zoo it's got a wide-angle mode and it's also got a 2 megapixel macro mode which allows for slightly closer focusing on those small objects now we're not testing we haven't really loved the macro mode because you can get really good results from the standard camera just by zooming in on screen yes it reduces the quality slightly but actually we found that the colors and the exposure is a little bit better the wide and the super wide angle cameras take great shots though as does of course the cameras on the 8 Pro which also has a three times tele photo mode camera so that's the main upgrade in the cameras between the eight and the 8 pro camera quality overall is very good but if photography is absolutely critical for you and you might want to consider going for something as galaxy s 20 ultra which has a much bigger lossless zoom mode as well as 8k video although of course there is are features that you are paying for as that phone does come at a much higher cost both oneplus models do have a nightscape mode for brighter shots when the light really drops but I found that in my testing the iPhone 11 pro's night mode can take superior shots in the dark although again that that phone is more expensive so that's a trade-off you're gonna have to think about all the recent oneplus models can shoot 4k video and they've all got 16 megapixel front-facing selfie cameras so there's no reason to upgrade their d8 series packs Qualcomm's latest snapdragon 865 process now the 7t last year had the 855 plus processor which was already an absolute powerhouse so I really don't think you're gonna notice much of a processor upgrade in these new models games of course play very smoothly navigating around the phone is free of any kind of lag and these things really won't bat an eye of photo editing or video streaming if you've got a top phone from last year whether it's their 70 pro or maybe a Samsung Galaxy S 10 that really this processor power is not going to be a good reason to upgrade if you've got a much older phone like a galaxy s6 or a much older one plus phone you will notice that power certainly if you plan on playing a lot of very demanding games both the 8 and the 8 Pro come with 5g connectivity because of course it's 2020 and no phone maker is going to launch a flagship phone in 2020 without 5g that would just be dumb are you listening Apple dumb 5g could be a real reason to upgrade here particularly if you're using an older phone which doesn't have 5g and you really want to experience those blazing fast speeds obviously though that's only worth it if you're in a 5g supported area and you're already on a phone plan which supports 5g if you live in a small town which maybe isn't gonna get 5g for some time it's really not worth spending that money on the phone now because it could be a long time before you actually see that benefit instead I'd recommend waiting till the end of the year see what the phone company's plans are for bringing 5g to where you are and then looking at upgrading your phone a lot of the other features remain the same on these phones there's in screen fingerprint scanning fast charging over USB see although the new 1+8 pro does support wireless charging which could appeal the batteries on both of them should hold out for about a full day of general use as should any top-end phone right now and there's still no support for micro SD cards to expand the built-in storage all of which brings me to my final conclusion about whether you should actually upgrade well the answer is fairly straightforward if you've got a good top-end phone from last year like a 70 pro or at one of the Galaxy phones then you are not going to benefit enough from the upgrade to the processor or to the camera here to really notice a difference and to justify that money the only caveat being is if you are really that desperate to get five g and if five g is already very common in your area however if you are using a much older device and you are really tempted by some of the new features like the smoother display the camera upgrades and whatnot then these are very good phones to consider now while oneplus isn't hitting its affordable price point but it became known for in its early days they are still undercutting some of the other phones particularly the s20 ultra or the iPhone 11 pro so they're definitely not qualifying as affordable but they are more affordable than others if that makes sense but between the eight and the a pro my money would probably go on the standard eight you still get features like the smooth screen you get some of the important camera updates and of course you get that five G but it comes at a price which is undercutting the a pro making it a little easier on the wallet but let me know what you think of these two phones by hitting the comment box below and make sure to LIKE and subscribe for a lot more from CNET's\n"