OnePlus 7 Pro review
The actual photo quality matches the camera’s spring-loaded sophistication – sometimes. It thrives in well-lit environments, smooths skin way too aggressively in dim lighting, and overall has superior HDR compared to the front camera in other phones in this price range, though the Google Pixel 3 and Huawei P30 Pro took far better selfies in our side-by-side tests.
It’s a step up from the more ghostly, often blown-out selfie photos we got using the OnePlus 6T and its teardrop-shaped front camera, though be aware that the OnePlus 7 Pro’s pop-up camera exhibits some barrel distortion due to its wide field of view. You may have a long face for more than one reason if you hold this handset below your chin.
The OnePlus 7 Pro (see it at OnePlus / See it at OnePlus UK) is pretty much the phone of my dreams. It’s an incredible all-screen phone that doesn’t ruin its edge-to-edge display with a notch or hole punch front-facing camera—opting to move it to a pop-up module instead. Sure, other phones like the Oppo Find X, Nubia X, and Vivo Nex have pulled off the all-screen and pop-up camera move before, but none of them have had the specs or software to match up with the best flagship smartphones currently on the market.
OnePlus is going all out to beat the market of over $1,000 smartphones with the 7 Pro offering an absurd 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage for just $749. Add in a fantastic set of cameras and a day-and-a-half battery life, and this is one of the best value smartphones you can buy right now.
OnePlus 7 Pro – Design and Features
In terms of design, the OnePlus 7 Pro has made quite a leap over its predecessor the OnePlus 6T. Most notably, this new handset now features a larger, completely full-screen 6.67-inch display complete with curved sides mimicking the Samsung Galaxy S10.
Additionally, the new Fluid AMOLED display introduces a resolution bump, going from the OnePlus 6T’s 1,080 x 2,340 panel to a 1,440 x 3,120 screen. That puts it well on par with the even the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and its 1,440 x 3,040 display.
The new display is a sharp deviation from the previous OnePlus 6T, which featured a 6.41-inch screen with a flat face and a tiny dew drop notch to make room for a front-facing camera. On this new smartphone, you won’t find a notch or any hole punch on the front of this phone, it’s a strictly an all-screen phone.
To do this, OnePlus moved the 7 Pro’s front-facing camera to a motorized pop-up node found at the top of the phone. I’m usually not a fan of moving parts in my phone, or any of my electronics, due to their propensity to break down; however, it hasn’t shown any signs of wearing down even after the hundred-plus actuations it has made over the past two weeks.
The front-facing camera module extends and retracts in a mere second and I’m consistently blown away by how quickly it can recognize my face to unlock my device. This pop-up module also employs some clever tricks to ensure it doesn’t break, such as immediately retracting once it senses itself falling.
The fact that OnePlus doesn’t have to squeeze in a camera between the screen and a stack of other components also allows it to utilize a 16MP selfie camera. Unfortunately, the moving camera module also prevents this smartphone from being completely waterproof—it is somewhat splash proof though—so don’t go take a shower with it like the other new smartphones (if that’s something you also do).
Around back, you’ll find the OnePlus 7 Pro’s other three cameras, which include a 48MP main camera, 8MP telephoto, and 16MP ultra-wide.
As with the company’s previous handset, this one also features a glass back with an intricate number of layers to give it a pearlescent, metallic shine, but it sadly doesn’t support wireless charging due to a focus on wired fast charging.
Now, going around the device, you might have noticed it doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor and that’s because it employs an in-display fingerprint sensor. Turning on the lock screen or any apps that require authentication reveals a virtual fingerprint sensor to guide your fingers.
Unfortunately, the in-display fingerprint sensor here—and on all other devices that have featured one so far—is still too inaccurate and can easily be thrown off by a bit of pocket lint or a single raindrop. When it works, the virtual fingerprint sensor is just as quick as the physical sensors found on the Google Pixel 3. However, when I just wanted to consistently use my device on the street, I found myself using Face Unlock since it was just as fast and more reliable.
OnePlus 7 Pro – Performance and Gaming
Equipped with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chip found in any of the modern, flagship Android smartphones, the OnePlus 7 Pro is a nippy performer. OnePlus’ OxygenOS-flavored version of Android 9 Pie runs smoothly on the 7 Pro with any and all apps launching instantly. Thanks to my unit having an absurd 12GB of memory (available only on the highest-end SKU), multi-tasking rarely ever had me waiting for my older apps to reinitialize and remember what I was doing with them before.
What made my experience with the OnePlus 7 Pro especially splendid was the display runs at 90 frames per second by default. This made scrolling and doing practically anything on the phone feel incredibly smooth.
Speaking of the display, the all-screen experience is quite frankly amazing. Wide-screen 21:9 movies nearly fill up the entire screen, reading news stories makes me feel like I’m using a tall Kindle, and games expand across the phone’s whole visual canvas. Better yet, the OnePlus 7 Pro’s dual stereo speakers are the loudest and clearest I’ve heard from any smartphone. And that’s with only one of them being front facing—the bottom speaker is pointed out to the lower right side.
Although it isn’t marketed as a gaming phone like the Asus ROG Phone orRazer Phone 2, the OnePlus 7 Pro has an enhanced gaming mode. You can activate this manually in the phone settings or on a case-by-case basis as you launch games. This mode is designed to block notifications, enhance haptic feedback, and activate a faux-HDR mode with brighter highlights and deeper blacks.
There’s also a deeper Fnatic mode, which will prioritize processing power and networking speeds to whichever game you’re playing.
While these gaming modes sound neat on paper and are more seamlessly integrated—activating on a per-app basis—than on other gaming phones, I didn’t see a remarkable increase in performance.
What was far more impressive was how cool this phone stayed even under heavy tasks that would make other handsets scorching hot. The OnePlus 7 Pro features a “10-layer liquid cooling system,” and as ridiculous as that sounds, it works like a dream.
Even after leaving the phone on showing my route on an hour-long drive while plugged in and charging, it was still cool to the touch once I arrived at my destination. With any other phone, I would usually let it sit for a few minutes before it was safe enough to pick up.
OnePlus 7 Pro – Camera
Coming from a Google Pixel 3, I have some pretty high standards for my mobile photography and the OnePlus 7 Pro left me consistently impressed. Its main 48MP camera resolves stunningly sharp and detailed images. And you can also use it to shoot high-resolution, stabilized 4K video as well.
At first, I didn’t think I would have much use for the 8MP Telephoto or the 16MP ultra-wide cameras, but they certainly come in handy.
The 16MP ultra-wide camera works well for capturing large scenes with a slightly more dramatic fish-bowled effect. Just don’t expect it to work as a real ultra-wide angle and capture the full scale of a building after you’ve walked right up to it.
The 8MP telephoto camera gives you a surprising amount of reach by emulating the 78mm focal length of a full-frame digital camera—and it really does after comparing my photos with another friend who was using a Nikon Z6 with a 75mm lens. Unfortunately, this zoom camera’s 8MP sensor is just too low resolution to render a detailed photo. It’s fun for the novelty and shooting wildlife or far away subjects on a whim, but don’t expect to be a paparazzi photographer with this camera.
Night Mode, Night Sight, or low-light shooting modes have become an increasingly prevalent feature on smartphones. OnePlus’ version is named Nightscape and so far it comes across as the most impressive, but also frustrating, implementation of low-light shooting on phones yet.
Judging by the OnePlus 7 Pro’s Nightscape shots, the smartphone seems to take a genuine long exposure and then balance the exposure to look like a high-dynamic range shot. All you need to look at is the long light trails for proof, whereas the ones captured by the Google Pixel 3 are much shorter.
In this next set of photos, it’s also clear the OnePlus 7 Pro captures a more true-to-life image, whereas the Huawei P30 Pro has some big problems with capturing too much light coming off the billboards as a bloom effect.
Despite how the OnePlus 7 Pro comes out on top of shooting at night or in low-light, in both cases I had to completely stabilize the phone—once bracing the phone against my lap and the other time using a tripod. When shooting in this mode, the handset will take an exposure lasting several seconds, far too long for most people (especially myself) to keep the phone steady enough for a sharp photo.
Considering the OnePlus 7 Pro main camera has built-in optical image stabilization, I hope a future software update will be able to improve Night Mode shooting. Otherwise, be prepared to bring a tripod or some type of stand to prop up the OnePlus 7 Pro during low-light shoots.
OnePlus 7 Pro – Battery Life
At the end of most of my days with the OnePlus 7 Pro, the phone still retained 40% of its remaining battery life, and that was after a full day of heavy usage. My personal usage involves watching an hour of video on my commute to and from work, constant email checking, heavy web browsing, occasional gaming breaks, and shooting a few photos a day.
This is easily a phone that can last you a day and a half, if not more if your usage is lighter than my own.
And even if you happen to drain the OnePlus 7 Pro’s battery completely, getting it back to 50% only takes 20 minutes of charging when using its included Warp Charger brick.
Purchasing Guide
The OnePlus 7 Pro will arrive to purchase from OnePlus' online store on May 17 in three configurations and two colors. Starting at $669, you’ll be able to purchase the OnePlus Pro 7 in Mirror Gray with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Doubling your storage to 256GB nets you a phone in either Mirror Gray or Nebula Blue for $699.
Finally, my review unit equipped with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage comes priced at $749. Comparatively, an equally well equipped iPhone XS Maxwith 256GB of storage, but only 4GB of RAM, would cost you $1,249. Alternatively, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus asks for $799 (or $999 at Amazonwhen unlocked) when equipped with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
- UK readers: See it at OnePlus (UK)
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