OnePlus 8 series: Everything you need to know

The OnePlus 8 series has just been launched, and among other things, we’re seeing a 120Hz refresh rate display for the first time from the company, along with another first: wireless charging. Overall, we’re seeing some pretty serious specs with the latest “flagship killer” from the company.

There are 2 variants available within the series: the range-topping OnePlus 8 Pro and the standard OnePlus 8. Both models are will be made available in select markets soon.

Pricing and availability

Purchases of any phones in the OnePlus 8 series will also come with 3 months of a free trial with Google One for cloud storage for select markets. For the OnePlus 8 Pro, there are 3 colours to pick from: Glacier Green, Onyx Black, and Ultramarine Blue. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 8 will arrive with in Glacier Green, Onyx Black, and a new Interstellar Glow.

As for pricing, the OnePlus 8 Pro will retail for RM3,699 for the variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage; the top-spec model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is priced at RM4,099. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 8 starts at RM2,899 for 8GB RAM + 128GB of storage, and RM3,299 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

OnePlus 8 – 8GB RAM, 128GB storage – RM2,899
OnePlus 8 – 12GB RAM, 256GB storage – RM3,299
OnePlus 8 Pro – 8GB RAM, 128GB storage – RM3,699
OnePlus 8 Pro – 12GB RAM, 256GB storage – RM4,099

Sales will begin in North American markets on the 29th of April 2020. Pre-orders in select European markets will start from the 14th of April 2020, with official availability to begin there on the 21st of April 2020.

In Malaysia, pre-orders start on the 24th of April 2020, with shipping to begin on the 5th of May 2020. Pre-order customers will get a freebies including a 2-year warranty, 1-year screen crack protection, and a limited gift pack.

OnePlus 8 Pro specs

As expected, the OnePlus 8 Pro features a 120Hz refresh rate display, with a 6.78″ AMOLED display pushing a QHD+ resolution of 3168×1440. You also get HDR10+ support, and OnePlus says that their latest flagship has the highest colour accuracy ever seen in any of the company’s phones. Something else that OnePlus is boasting is MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) technology, which converts low frame rate videos to higher frame rates.

We’re also seeing Qualcomm’s latest and greatest chipset, the Snapdragon 865, powering the device, along with the X55 modem for 5G support. This is mated to options of up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS3.0 storage.

This year, OnePlus has ditched the pop-up selfie camera from the OnePlus 7 Pro and 7T Pro, and moved towards a hole-punch cutout display. Much like many of the smartphones of 2020, the 16MP front-facing camera will sit within that cutout. You have a quad-camera setup on the back: an 8MP telephoto camera with up to 30X digital zoom, a 48MP ultra-wide angle, a 48MP wide angle shooter, and a colour filter camera.

Additionally, we’re also seeing wireless charging, along with IP68 water resistance, on a OnePlus phone for the first time. OnePlus’ new, proprietary Warp Charge 30 Wireless charging standard will charge the OnePlus 8 Pro’s 4,510mAh battery at 30W, the same peak speed that the (wired) Warp Charge 30T charges at.

OnePlus says that its new wireless standard will charge the OnePlus 8 Pro up to 50% in 30 minutes, with estimates for (wired) Warp Charge 30T at 50% in 23 minutes. And like many other flagships today, the OnePlus 8 Pro will support reverse charging for compatible devices.

OnePlus 8 specs

The OnePlus 8 is supposedly OnePlus’ response to feedback, with users asking for a more compact device. This “compact” form factor means a 6.55″ 20:9 Full HD+ AMOLED with a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels and a toned down refresh rate of 90Hz. Still, the OnePlus 8 is still a flagship-class, in many ways.

It’s powered by the Snapdragon 865, while there are options of up to 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage and up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Just like the OnePlus 8 Pro, the more affordable variant in the series also gets 5G support via the X55 chip.

Meanwhile, you get a smaller 4,300mAh battery, with OnePlus’ proprietary Warp 30T supported. The company claims that this will charge the device from 0–60% in half an hour; there is still no wireless charging for the standard OnePlus 8.

As for photography, the OnePlus 8 has a more restrained triple camera setup on the rear of the device. A 16MP ultra-wide shooter, a 48MP main camera with OIS, and a macro lens make up the triple camera setup, while there is a 16MP camera sitting within the same hole-punch cutout as the Pro model.

Both models will be shipped with OxygenOS layered over Android 10, and as mentioned, both devices will feature WiFi 6 and 5G support. While a “budget” OnePlus model has also been rumoured, there was no mention of it during the launch livestream. For more information, click here.

Editor’s note: This article has been amended to include details on local pricing.