OnePlus 7 Pro Makes You Wonder Why Other Big Smartphones Have To Be So Expensive

Whenever anyone thinks of smartphones with larger screens, Samsung and Apple’s products come to their mind. However, recently, OnePlus has joined that list by launching a model that is on par with iPhone XS Max and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus but with a way cheaper price tag. For a company that has made a name for itself as a smartphone maker of the mid-range price bracket, you might think this is a risky move.

However, with the OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus declared that it now moves up to a higher-end market, where the dominance of Samsung and Apple is visible.

One of the boxes that phone maker has to tick to prove that its product is a premium one is the look. With the curved glass on the front and back, OnePlus 7 Pro definitely has the look of smartphones with a more expensive price tag.

The Screen Is One Of The Selling Points

OnePlus 7 Pro is a large phone; it has a bigger size than the Galaxy Note 9. So if you are a fan of these kinds of phones, this will be a piece of good news. But if you have never used such a thing, the price of this phone will make it an appealing deal.

OnePlus has gone as far as adding a pop-up selfie camera to its flagship smartphone to further increase the acreage of the display. The bezels are minimal and the screen curves toward to body, making the OnePlus 7 Pro a spitting image of some Galaxy phones.

However, the size of the screen is not a unique feature anymore. What sets them apart is actually what the display can do. And this smartphone from OnePlus has succeeded in this respect.

The first achievement is high resolution, vibrant colors, and brightness. It is OLED, just like any other higher-end smartphones. For those who want to have a more natural color scheme on the smartphone, it allows you to do that too, but the vivid mode works for most people.

The smoothness is also improved with the refresh rate of 90Hz instead of 60Hz. This might sound like a minor feature to care about, but the moment you feel for yourself how fast the phone response to your finger movement, you will appreciate what OnePlus has done to add it to a budget-friendly smartphone.

The OnePlus 7 Pro will adjust its own resolution and refresh rate depending on what kind of apps you are using. Other smartphones come with higher refresh rate but most of them are for gamers, and their makers have to sacrifice a lot to put that feature there.

There is another highlight with the screen, the fingerprint sensor. It might not be a new feature, but since it has a better performance than many other smartphones, including the Galaxy S10 line or OnePlus 6T, it is worth mentioning here.

The Fingerprint Sensor Is Fast

While Samsung opts for the Ultrasonic sensor, OnePlus picks the optical one. This technology has some drawbacks. If your fingers are dirty or wet, it might not be able to read your fingerprint. However, the upside will probably make up for these small setbacks. The sensor on OnePlus 7 Pro is quite large, so you do not have to pay much attention to where to place your finger. Plus, its speed is fast.

If you want to secure the phone using Face Unlock, the OnePlus 7 Pro allows you to do that. Its camera will pop up, scan your face and then hide itself right away. However, this might not be a reliable method to count on.

There is a feature that many mid-range and even high-end smartphones are bad at, which is the cameras.

On the OnePlus 7 Pro, there is a pop-up front camera, a 3x telephoto camera, and a wide-angle camera. Overall, most users are pleased with what the smartphone provides them in terms of photos. What they get with the smartphone is on par with pictures produced by iPhone XS, Galaxy S10, and sometimes, Pixel 3. OnePlus obviously wants to yield images closer to iPhone XS and Galaxy S10 do, but some people might prefer the photogenic pictures of the Pixel 3.

One of the situations that can give this flagship phone form OnePlus some hardship is when the object has too much light on the back. Apart from these special occasions, OnePlus 7 Pro’s cameras are on par with those of more expensive smartphones.

On the video front, its frame rates, resolution, and slow-motion options are what most people could ever want. It outperforms Pixel 3 but is a little lower than that of Samsung and iPhone, but overall, there is nothing to complain here.

For the front camera, what can cause concern is the pop-up mechanism. OnePlus claims that it can hold up to 300,000 uses. It will also auto-retract in case of sudden movements, a drop for example. In normal circumstances, it pops up and retracts quickly.

OnePlus 7 Pro offers you features like a time-lapse mode, a slow-motion video mode, and auto HDR purports, which outruns Pixel smartphones. The Nightscape mode works well for landscapes but is no match for what Pixel 3 and Huawei P30 Pro can do.

So unless you take cameras really seriously, they should not be a deal breaker when you weigh the OnePlus 7 Pro against other options.

Under the hood, the smartphone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, up to 12 GB of RAM, and a maximum of 256 GB of onboard storage.

The whole thing is fueled by a 4,000mAh battery, which enables the phone to last for over a day and even to the second.

OnePlus said that its own charging technology could top up the phone really fast and it is true. However, this means you cannot use the OnePlus 7 pro with any of the existing accessories you may have. And there is no wireless charging here, which is one of this phone’s downers.

The stereo speakers sound fine until you turn it to a super large level when it all gets chippy. There is no headphone jack and adapter so you may have to rely on Bluetooth. However, the wireless connection is decent, so the absence might not be a problem at all.

Performance Is Another Plus

OnePlus keeps its physical ringer switch on this smartphone which consists of ring, vibrate, and silent. You have the choice to customize them too.

The OxygenOS, built on Android 9 Pie, is another highlight. The operating system is filled with helpful features without making the whole thing seems stuffy. OnePlus usually gives its devices updates not long after Google does, a gesture not many other smartphone makers are able to do.

Users are allowed to customize gestures as they want and there are many handy modes to explore. The Reading Mode will turn the phone into an e-reader. And there is a screen recorder that Android does not have.

If you love the way Samsung lets their users put the widgets into a scrolling list, you will be thrilled to know that you can do the same thing on OnePlus 7 Pro too.

OnePlus 7 Pro Does Have Compromises

There are definitely compromises on the OnePlus 7 Pro, but they might not be what you think. Some of its strongest competitors have critical features like the cameras on the Pixel smartphones or iOS on iPhones. But if you do not care much about them, there is no reason not to consider buying a OnePlus 7 Pro.