OnePlus 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 7T Pro: Has OnePlus one-upped itself?

The OnePlus 8 Pro is here. Announced together with the OnePlus 8 on April 14, it’s the natural successor to last October’s excellent OnePlus 7T Pro. It boasts a larger 6.78-inch screen, a bigger 4,510mAh battery, and the more powerful Snapdragon 865 processor. It also comes with four rear cameras in comparison to the OnePlus 7T Pro’s three, giving photographers a new Color Filter lens in addition to the pre-existing main, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses.

All of this sounds like OnePlus has gone all-out to make its latest premium model the best smartphone it possibly could be. However, the question remains: How exactly does the OnePlus 8 Pro stack up against the OnePlus 7T Pro? Would the 8 Pro be worth buying if you already have the 7T Pro?

Well, we’re going to delve into their specs and compare how each device performs across the main smartphone categories. By looking at their designs, displays, performance, cameras, software, and price, we’ll reveal how exactly each model differs. Hopefully, this will help you decide whether the OnePlus 8 Pro or OnePlus 7T Pro is the best for you.

Specs

Design, display, and durability

Aside from being slightly taller and longer than the OnePlus 7T Pro, the OnePlus 8 Pro sports a similarly curved and attractive design (unlike the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro). Even though both phones are more or less as good looking as each other, the 8 Pro is 1.5mm less wide than its sibling, as well as 7 grams lighter. This may not seem like much on paper, but it makes for a more comfortable device. On top of this, the 8 Pro has a slightly larger screen, coming in at 6.78 inches rather than 6.67 inches. However, the resolution is identical in both cases, at 3,120 x 1,440 pixels, which means that the 7T Pro offers a sharper screen in terms of PPI. Compared to the 8 Pro’s refresh rate of 120Hz, it offers only 90Hz, making the 8 Pro’s visuals smoother and more fluid.

Famously, the 7T Pro (and 7 Pro) came with a pop-up front camera. The 8 Pro ditches this, instead using a hole-punch front-facing camera at the top center of its touchscreen. This may not be as exciting, but it’s arguably more practical. In terms of durability, the 8 Pro has an IP68 rating, indicating that it can withstand immersion in up to 1.5 meters of water for as much as 30 minutes. By contrast, the 7T Pro doesn’t have an official IP rating, although OnePlus says it can resist a small amount of water splash. Based on this, and based on the superior refresh rate and smaller width, we’d say that the 8 Pro just about takes the design prize.

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Performance, battery life, and charging

In terms of performance, both smartphones are fairly evenly matched. The OnePlus 8 Pro boasts the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, while the OnePlus 7T Pro has the slightly less powerful Snapdragon 855+. Still, both models come with 8GB or 12GB of RAM, providing more than enough processing muscle to run the latest apps and video games. With the OnePlus 7T Pro, there’s only the option to have 256GB of internal storage, whereas the 8 Pro offers a version with 128GB of storage. Neither phone has an SD card slot, so you will have to make do with the internal storage on both models, but this should be plenty for the vast majority of users.

When it comes to battery capacity, the OnePlus 8 Pro has an extra 425mAh of juice to consume. To be fair, it needs this for its bigger screen, but it also allows it to outlive the OnePlus 7T Pro by a few hours, depending on how you use it. Both phones enable fast charging at 30W, meaning you don’t have to wait too long for them to come back to life. That said, the OnePlus 8 Pro does feature QI wireless charging, with OnePlus claiming that this can give you a 50% charge in 30 minutes. Because of all these little advantages, we’re giving the 8 Pro a modest but clear win here, based on the slightly faster processor, the extra battery life, and the wireless charging compatibility.

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Cameras

Again, there may not be a huge difference, but the OnePlus 8 Pro has the edge over the OnePlus 7T Pro when it comes to cameras. It comes with a 48MP wide (i.e., regular) lens with an f/1.8 aperture, a 48MP ultra-wide lens with an f/2.2 aperture, and an 8MP telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture. The ultra-wide lens has 4x the megapixels than its counterpart on the OnePlus 7T Pro, but in addition to this, the 8 Pro comes with a fourth rear camera. This is the 5MP Color Filter camera, which quirkily lets you invert the colors of your photos.

Aside from that, both devices have the same 16MP front camera, replete with auto-HDR. They also boast 4K video recording and night mode. However, because of the bigger ultra-wide lens, which will enable much more detail on ultra-wide shots, and because of the Color Filter lens, it’s another small but decisive win for the OnePlus 8 Pro.

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Software and updates

The 8 Pro runs on OnePlus’ own Oxygen 10.5, while the 7T Pro runs on Oxygen 10. Both systems are based on Android 10, and they both offer a more streamlined and straightforward user experience, although in some cases using gestures to navigate can be a bit fiddly. While Oxygen 10.5 makes some changes to dark mode and offers Google One support, both systems are more or less indistinguishable, so we’d have to say that the 8 Pro and 7T Pro score the same as each other in terms of software.

Winner: Tie

Special features

While the 8 Pro supports 5G regardless of which version of the phone you buy, only the pricier OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren supports 5G networks. Other than that, the two smartphones don’t have much in the way of special features that distinguish one from the other. That said, the 7T Pro has the front-facing pop-up camera, while the 8 Pro has a faster 120Hz refresh rate. Apart from that, both have the usual OnePlus software tricks, like a gaming mode and the chilled Zen Mode.

While there aren’t really standout features to be had here, the 120Hz displays and 5G connectivity are big enough to award the OnePlus 8 Pro the prize.

Winner: OnePlus 8 Pro

Price and availability

Because the OnePlus 8 Pro supports 5G, this makes it pricier than the 7T Pro. Its 8GB/128GB version is priced at $900, while the 12GB/256GB version costs $1,000. By contrast, the 7T Pro can now be had for around $610 on Amazon, although this is a discounted price that may not necessarily last. Meanwhile, the McLaren Edition (with 12GB of RAM and 5G support) starts from $900 and is available through T-Mobile. Still, even if the 7T Pro is cheaper, it will be easier to get your hands on an 8 Pro, particularly in the United States.

Overall winner: OnePlus Pro 8

The OnePlus Pro 8 and OnePlus 7T Pro are evenly matched smartphones. However, the enhanced screen on the 8 Pro, with a refresh rate of 120Hz, really does make a noticeable difference to the user experience. So too does the slightly more comfortable dimensions, and not to mention the superior battery life, which should last most people a day or more without forcing a recharge. Plus, there are several slight but welcome improvements, such as wireless charging, an official IP68 rating, and a more powerful camera.

So yes, even though the OnePlus 7T Pro is cheaper, the difference isn’t big enough to change the fact that the OnePlus Pro 8 is the better smartphone.