OnePlus has finally announced its flagship OnePlus 7 Pro smartphone during an event in New York. The phone is the higher-end version of the standard OnePlus 7 which builds on top of last year’s successful OnePlus 7. With the OnePlus 7 Pro, the company is taking plenty of chances and introducing a radically different smartphone that it will pit against the very best of the best on the market.
One of the most striking new features on the OnePlus 7 Pro, right off the bat, is the screen. OnePlus has opted for a 6.67-inch AMOLED display that offers curved sides and virtually inexistent bezels. There’s an impressive 93.22-percent screen-to-body ratio, no notch or other screen-related intrusions, and the border that does exist around the display seems to be uniform, giving the device a premium fit and finish.
Things don’t stop there in regards to the screen, however. Not only is it the first OnePlus smartphone to offer a 3120×1440 Quad HD+ display, but it’s also one of the first smartphones ever to sport a 90 Hz refresh rate. With a refresh rate higher than the industry standard of 60 Hz, you’ll get much smoother animations and a more fluid experience using the device. I’ll be heading over to the testing area to see how well the feature works while I’m at the event so I’ll report back to let you know if it’s actually worth it.
Another big new feature with the OnePlus 7 Pro is its cameras. For the first time in a OnePlus phone, the 7 Pro comes with three rear cameras. There’s a main 48MP shooter with an f/1.6 aperture, a secondary 8MP f/2.4 lens, and a wide-angle 16MP f/2.2 lens. OnePlus has struggled in the camera department for years, so it should be interesting to see how each lens performs.
According to OnePlus, the OnePlus 7 Pro captures more light and sharpness than any other OnePlus camera setup. The 8MP telephoto camera also comes with 3x optical zoom, while the 16MP wide-angle lens is capable of capturing 117-degree photos. For processing photos, OnePlus is using its new Ultrashot HDR algorithm to produce a more natural image that feels true to life. It sounds like Google’s own HDR+ image processing, but it’s unclear if it’ll work as well as something like a Pixel 3.
Of course, the OnePlus 7 Pro also comes with portrait mode that now offers better focus modes. And if you care, the OnePlus 7 Pro achieved a DxoMark score of 111.
Adding onto the interesting factors of the OnePlus 7 Pro’s camera setup, the selfie lens doesn’t stay in a solid state. Instead, it lives in a motorized component that springs to life when you activate the camera inside an app. It weighs in at 16MP with an f/2.0 aperture. We’ve seen motorized selfie cameras on past devices, but this will be the first time US customers have really gotten a chance to see how well such a component will stand up to everyday use.
Of course, OnePlus says the camera is durable, enough for over 300,000 opens and closes. But the truth will prevail once customers get their hands on the device, after which anything could happen.
Elsewhere, the OnePlus 7 Pro offers a pretty standard yet still impressive spec sheet. It boasts a Snapdragon 855 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and a pretty massive 4,000mAh battery with Warp Charging. You also get OnePlus’ in-display fingerprint reader that’s now more responsive and secure, Face Unlock, and stereo speakers.
For software, OnePlus uses its OxygenOS based on Android 9 Pie. New with the OnePlus 7 Pro are a few features such as Zen Mode (basically Google’s Digital Wellbeing but more aggressive), new navigation gestures, and a native screen recorder.
As far as pricing, this will be the most expensive OnePlus smartphone to date, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be crazy. The OnePlus 7 Pro starts at $669 for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It’ll go up to $749 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
The OnePlus 7 Pro will go on sale May 17th. It’s available today at T-Mobile’s pop up event in Times Square, NYC.
