OnePlus 7 Pro review: Bigger, brighter, better

Highlights

Launched just three months ago, the OnePlus 7 Pro is OnePlus’ flagship offering in this region and it represents a move from the company to present a high-end option that better compares against the offerings from Apple and Samsung.

As such, the phone boasts some impressive specs to justify the higher price. For starters, it comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Processor with an integrated Adreno 640 GPU for faster graphics performance. RAM options start from 6GB and go up to 12GB, so the phone is certainly a speedy contender. The 7 Pro measures just 162.6 x 75.9 x 8.8mm, and weighs just 206g, making it one of the slimmer phones around, but not exactly light. However, its weight can be easily attributed to its huge 6.67-inch curved OLED Quad HD+ display.

Its camera system has been overhauled and the OnePlus 7 Pro has a main 48-megapixel camera with a maximum aperture of f/1.6 and both OIS and EIS built-in. This is backed by an 8-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto lens and a 16-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle 17mm lens that has a field of view of 117^o. The camera allows for 3x optical zoom and features an updated Portrait mode that’s said to ensure facial details are beautifully rendered.

Are there other OnePlus 7 models?

Until recently, only the OnePlus 7 Pro was available in Singapore but it now seems like the distributor has both the OnePlus 7 and the 7 Pro available, along with more configuration choices. Their LazMall store is one of the official channels to purchase OnePlus phones in Singapore.

How similar are the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro models?

The OnePlus 7 model comes with a flat 6.4-inch OLED Full HD+ display instead of the curved OLED Quad HD+ display on the OnePlus 7 Pro. The standard OnePlus 7 also sticks to the usual 60Hz refresh rate instead of the 7 Pro's 90Hz refresh rate display. You do get the same processor and software, although the OnePlus 7 only has a dual-camera system instead of the triple-camera system on the OnePlus 7 Pro.

Even the front camera system is different where OnePlus 7 utilizes a drop-style notch design and doesn't get the pop-up front camera. That also means the Pro edition is able to boast a crazy screen-to-body ratio of 93.22%.

Last but not least, the OnePlus 7 Pro comes with a 4,000mAh battery whereas the 7 only has a 3,700mAh one.

So to summarize, while their drive trains are siimilar, the OnePlus 7 Pro is clearly a more  advanced model that you would better appreciate what the latest incarnation brings to the table. So while the 'budget' flagship OnePlus 7 starts from S$899, the OnePlus 7 Pro with better capabilities and design starts from S$1,199.

Having said that, this is why we're reviewing the more interesting OnePlus 7 Pro edition.

Where does the new OnePlus 7T sit?

The just announced OnePlus 7T has limited availability availability and it's catered for those chasing latest specs at a more palatable price point. In fact, it's a OnePlus 7 successor as it draws in some aspects of the 7 Pro like the better camera system, but forgoes the premium all-screen design. As such, the OnePlus 7 Pro is still their current flagship.

Color and configuration option for the OnePlus 7 Pro?

• 6GB RAM + 128GB internal storage (Mirror Gray colour)
• 8GB RAM + 256GB internal storage (Mirror Gray, Nebula Blue & Almond colour options)
• 12GB RAM + 256GB internal storage (Nebula Blue colour)

Our review unit is the top-spec 12GB RAM unit of the OnePlus 7 Pro.

Design

In terms of engineering, the OnePlus 7 Pro moves to a full-glass design, with a 3D Corning Gorilla Glass back to go with the 3D Corning Gorilla Glass display that covers the front. This gives the phone a very interesting gradient effect, with a nice play of deep blue and light blue depending on how the light hits it, much like what the 6T’s Thunder Purple did. 

The 7 Pro looks fairly similar to the 6T, with the exception of the extra camera on the rear. It also maintains the slider from previous OnePlus phones that lets you easily switch between silent mode, loud mode, and vibration-only mode. As expected, it the in-display fingerprint-scanner first introduced on the 6T is a mainstay, so you can use both face recognition and fingerprint identification to unlock your phone (though we highly suggest only using the latter as it's more secure than the Face Unlock option). 

It's worth noting that the 7 Pro is among the first devices to have implemented UFS 3.0 (Universal Flat Storage). This lowers power consumption and makes flash storage more reliable over a wider range of temperatures. So, you get incredibly high transfer speeds of up to 23.2Gbps (11.6Gbps in two lanes), which bodes well for video capture at 4K and even 8K. In fact, the 7 Pro even has a liquid cooling system, with ten cooling layers strategically placed throughout your phone to keep it running optimally.

What are the storage options available for the OnePlus 7 Pro? 128GB and 256GB options. It  doesn't come with a microSD card slot, so choose your preferred option wisely as there's no way to increase the storage.

Like the 6T before it (and most modern phones today), the 7 Pro does away with the traditional 3.5 mm audio jack in favour of a USB-C connector.

Finally, it's worth noting that the 7 Pro doesn't come with an official IP-rating. OnePlus says that the IP testing was omitted so as to save you money, but it's worth noting that the warranty (like most other smartphones) doesn't cover water damage so you probably shouldn't submerge it or take it into the shower area.

Display

The 6.67-inch Fluid AMOLED display runs nicely over the sides and has the effect of visually slimming the phone so there’s a nice optical balance between metal and glass. Not having a camera notch means this is truly an all-screen display, and the 90Hz refresh rate meant that both games and videos ran extremely smoothly.

The screen is a very respectable QHD+ resolution (3,120 x 1,440 pixels) that comes up to 516ppi (pixels per inch), has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and has a 100,000:1 contrast ratio. The display is also officially certified for HDR playback with Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video thanks to its use of HDR10 and HDR10+ technology. 

The 7 Pro actually offers quite a comprehensive set of screen calibration options, with AMOLED Wide Gamut, sRGB, and Display P3 profiles available under the advanced settings. With AMOLED Wide Gamut profile, in particular, we found images displayed were punchier, with greater contrast observed.  There’s just a touch too much magenta to be accurate, but in terms of details and dynamic range displayed, it was easily on par with the Huawei P30 Pro.

The display is also where you’ll be placing your finger to unlock the phone, as the 7 Pro has shifted to an in-display sensor. This is fairly sensitive, and OnePlus has upgraded their Screen Unlock technology so your phone is ready to go in 0.21 seconds.

It's also worth noting that the 7 Pro has implemented a new version of night mode - Night Mode 2.0. This automatically filters out blue light and optimizes the brightness level, so it's less tiring to be looking at the screen for long hours.

So where did the front camera go? The OnePlus 7 Pro uses a pop-up camera, which raises and retracts fairly smoothly, taking just under a second to do so, thus enabling the phone to boast of an excellent screen-to-body ratio of 93.22 per cent.

Audio

As mentioned earlier, the 7 Pro does away with the traditional 3.5 mm audio jack in favour of a USB-C connector. However, one thing that will probably irritate is the fact it doesn't come bundled with a pair of USB-C in-ear headphones nor even a converter for 3.5mm wired headsets. Instead, the phone offers support for Bluetooth 5.0, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, AAC, so you'll have a quality audio experience wirelessly when paired with a suitable pair of wireless headphones that also support these standards.

If you want to listen out loud, the 7 Pro also has dual stereo speakers thanks to an added speaker just above the edge of the display. We're glad OnePlus is taking feedback seriously as it definitely improves entertainment matters. As a result of the upgrade, the OnePlus 7 Pro is now certified to support Dolby Atmos content, which means movies and games should sound much better than what you’d get with the 6T and its single speaker, depending on what you’re watching.

In our testing, we thought the phone's stereo speakers did well at all volumes, with little distortion and good purity in the mids. We didn’t quite get the Dolby Atmos immersion promised, but then that’s quite a tall ask from something as small as a smartphone. Good stereo sound is a better gauge, and we’re happy to say the 7 Pro delivers on this front.

As mentioned earlier, you don't get headphones of any sort thrown in with the phone, so you'll either have to get a set of USB-C headphones, use wireless ones or get a USB Type-C to 3.5mm convert to continue using your trusty wired headset. The converter really ought to have been bundled in for a thousand-dollar phone.

Software

The 7 Pro runs OxygenOS over Android 9.0 Pie, and this tries to stick to the stock Android experience as much as possible. Much like what you'd find on the 6T, you'll again get Quick Launch, which gives you the option to access apps directly from the lock screen.

There's also the screen-off gestures, which you can use to directly activate the camera just by drawing a "0". That's actually quite handy because it saves you from having to tap to wake the screen, then drag up the camera icon to get to the camera interface. Many of the features are accessed by swiping from corners, just like the hidden drawer option you see above. That lets you hide apps away so you keep them private.

New, is what OnePlus calls "Zen" mode. This basically shuts you out from your phone for a full 20 minutes. No notifications will pop up, and you won't be able to use apps other than the default camera app. You will be able to take and make calls though, so you won't be completely cut off. I suppose you could call it a way to get yourself to go cold turkey in stages if you find you're hooked on to a particular app, or maybe just to have a proper conversation over dinner.

How’s the camera? 

As highlighted in our our intro, the OnePlus 7 Pro gains a massive camera system update over last year's underwhelming camera on the OnePlus 6T. This time it has a triple rear-camera system as follows:-

• 48-megapixel camera with a maximum aperture of f/1.6 and both OIS and EIS built-in
• 8-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto lens that allows for 3x optical zoom
• 16-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle 17mm lens that has a field of view of 117^o

It also features an updated Portrait mode for improved selfies. Overall, it's much more versatile compared to the 6T as you get a dedicated ultra-wide angle camera which brings more into the frame, as you can see from the two images below. 

Being able to go that bit wider certainly is useful in situations when you can’t physically move back any further. It’s good that the overall color balance and exposure doesn’t differ significantly when moving to the ultra-wide angle camera, but this does suffer the usual loss of sharpness in the corners. Notice how the quality of images differ from the center compared to the edges when shooting on the ultra-wide camera:-

We’d say that images captured with the main camera in good light have good sharpness and detail. Colours are generally true-to-life too, as you can see from the mural captured below. 

Night shots don’t quite have the impressive expanded dynamic range of the current top Huawei and Google phones, but the camera does manage to keep noise levels down significantly. This lets you get an image that’s quite pleasing overall, if you don’t go into the details.

Now, let's look at the selfie camera. We tested this both indoors and out, and it seems the 7 Pro's selfie camera tries to apply a bokeh effect to images. That reduces the detail on the edges around your actual face somewhat, but if you're not too particular, the main part of the picture is resolved with good detail outdoors.  

Move indoors with lower light levels, and the camera still does a good job with exposure. However it's obvious that a fair bit of detail is lost to noise reduction.

Overall, we’d say the camera system is a big upgrade over the one on the 6T. It doesn’t take the P30 Pro’s crown, but it’s right up there with many of the top 2019 smartphones we’ve tested so far.

Benchmark performance

To recap, the OnePlus 7 Pro boasts a flagship class processor in the form of the Qualcomm SnapDragon 855 processor and while it's not the speedier 855 Plus model used in the recently launched OnePlus 7T (which doesn't displace the OnePlus 7 Pro as the top model), the regular Snapdragon 855 is more than adequate considering how fast the OnePlus 7 Pro performed in our tests against several similarly specced competitors. 

RAM options go from from 6GB, 8GB and all the way up to 12GB, while storage options are either 128GB or 256GB. Our test unit of the OnePlus 7 Pro is the  top SKU, 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, which would certainly place it well against other flagship competitors.

Because most of the benchmarks have been updated since we last tested the 6T last year, we've only included the results for it where those scores are still valid. More importantly, how does it stack up to others in the market? We line up the best options to go head on with the top-end OnePlus 7 Pro model.

JetStream 2

JetStream 2 measures the browsing performance of a device when processing JavaScript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance, but rewards browsers that start quickly, execute code well, and run smoothly. It runs a total of 64 sub-tests for multiple iterations, with each benchmark weighed equally, taking the geometric mean to compute the overall score.

This is a somewhat new benchmark for us, so we’re still building up our database of scores. As you can see here though, the OnePlus 7 Pro absolutely bests the competition with a score of 66.441. That's some 20 points ahead of the nearest competition (the Galaxy Note10), and much higher than the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom, even though they both use the same Snapdragon 855 processor. 

Antutu

AnTuTu is an all-in-one benchmark that tests CPU, GPU, memory, and storage. The CPU benchmark evaluates both integer and floating-point performance, the GPU tests assess 2D and 3D performance, the memory test measures available memory bandwidth and latency, and the storage tests gauge the read and write speeds of a device's flash memory. 

The 7 Pro scores well on this benchmark thanks to its newer Snapdragon 855 processor, coming in with a score of 371,087 compared to the P30 Pro’s score of 287,994. It seems the only other phone that comes close is Oppo's Reno 10X Zoom at 366,214, which also uses the Snapdragon 855 processor. 

Geekbench CPU

Geekbench CPU is a cross-platform processor benchmark that tests both single-core and multi-core performance with workloads that simulate real-world usage. Geekbench 4 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 4000 (which is the score of an Intel Core i7-6600U CPU processor).

Snapdragon 855 seems to have improved its performance under Geekbench immensely, as the 7 Pro and the Reno 10x Zoom outperform the Huawei and Samsung offerings with a score of 11,221 for multi-core performance and 3,499 for single-core.

3DMark Sling Shot Extreme

3DMark Sling Shot is an advanced 3D graphics benchmark that tests the full range of OpenGL ES 3.1 and ES 3.0 API features including multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. The test also includes impressive volumetric lighting and post-processing effects.

On this, the 7 Pro leads the pack again, with a score of 6,039. It's about 500 points higher than the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom despite having the same Adreno 640 GPU, perhaps reflecting the difference in RAM. It does seem the Snapdragon 855 is continuing to lead the pack at this point, as even Samsung's Exynos 9825 has yet to best it.

Battery life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

•    Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%

•    Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on

•    Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

Rated at 4,000mAh, the 7 Pro has the largest battery from OnePlus as yet, and this definitely contributed to it lasting 13 hours and 49 minutes in our video looping test. This beats the Google Pixel 3 XL, but falls below the Huawei P30 Pro. Wireless charging still eludes OnePlus phones, but the speed of Warp Charge 30 makes up for it somewhat. This wired fast charge feature gets the 7 Pro up to about 65% after just 30 minutes of charge and back to 100% in just over an hour (64 minutes). 

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an alternative Android flagship phone that has the performance to match the competition and even exceed it, the OnePlus 7 Pro is certainly worth a look for those looking for a speedy sidekick.

At a list price of S$1,399 on Lazada, you get the top of the line model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage that performs on-par if not better than other recently released flagship smartphones. For a good balance of RAM and storage to boot, the S$1,299 model nets you 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Lastly, for those looking to nab the most affordable OnePlus 7 Pro SKU, that would be the S$1,199 model with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage.  All versions come with 1 year local warranty when purchased through their official LazMall store or other authorized outlets.

As good as the phone is, at these prices, it's no longer a 'budget flagship' device, but you're getting a real flagship product with good design. It may not compete well on value or differentiating features, but what you will get is a no-nonsense product that will appeal to many enthusiasts. Thankfully, actual retail prices are much less than the list prices and you can get the OnePlus 7 Pro from just under S$1,000.

In summary, that's a speedy smartphone with a gorgeous full-screen 6.67-inch display running OnePlus’ latest operating system, that also has punchy audio that's great for videos and games. Camera performance isn’t the best we’ve seen, but it’s certainly good enough for most people. And you'll get great good battery life with fast charging to keep you going through the day.

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