JUNE 2020 PCWorld 63watts of power that the OnePlus 8 pro is
capable of, but most people should probably
skip it. Not only is it pricey, but the built-in fan
is so loud that OnePlus built a configurable
bedtime mode that limits the charger to 10
watts, so it won’t disturb your sleep.
Helping the speed and power
management is OnePlus’s delightfully minimal
Oxygen OS. The new parts are relatively
slight—most notably dark mode has been
enhanced a bit, and Live Caption makes a
welcome appearance—but as usual, OnePlus’
skin is less about features than functionality.
For example, the system can detect when
you’re less likely to use the screen—when
you’re playing a movie, for instance—and
effectively lower the refresh rate to 60Hz to
preserve battery. Conversely, the touch
sampling rate is bumped to 240Hz when you
are using the screen, so tapping and scrolling
feel even faster than they look.
However, OnePlus is still only promising
bi-monthly Android updates with the 8
Series, a schedule that’s not going to cut it for
a thousand-dollar phone. To be fair, updates
could arrive sooner than that, as OnePlus has
a robust beta program to make sure the final
release is free of bugs. But when Samsung
and Google are pushing out system updates
near the beginning of every month, OnePlus’
update schedule seems stuck in the past.CAMERA: GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
With such a high price tag, the expectations
for the OnePlus 8 Pro are high as well, and no
other component will be more scrutinized
than the camera. On paper, the OnePlus 8
Pro’s camera is top-notch, sporting four lenses
including a novel color filter camera and a
new Sony IMX689 image sensor with a
1/1.43-inch sensor.
In a general sense, the OnePlus 8 Pro
takes great pictures, and anyone who uses
one to snap a landscape or a
portrait in good-enough lighting
will be happy with the results.
However, it still feels like a
generation or two behind the
smartphone leaders. Just like last
year’s 7T Pro was bested by the
iPhone 11 Pro and Galaxy Note
10+, the 8 Pro isn’t quite at the
level of its newest peers when it
comes to processing, particularly
The camera bump on the OnePlus 8 Pro is quite large. with night mode and action shots.