OnePlus 8 pro, the disappointing great smartphone.

OnePlus 8 pro is an amazing flagship smartphone, from OnePlus, but a great disappointment to their loyal (community) customer base. Never settle is the OnePlus motto – it appears they’ve finally settled.

So, if you’re a newbie to the OnePlus lineup of smartphones, here’s what you need to know. Since inception, the smartphones were intended to kill flagships by having similar features but at reasonable prices. But, the low prices came at the cost of lower-end processors, lack of wireless charging and an alright camera.

Fast forward to 2020, the phone manufacturer has released OnePlus 8 pro as their initial release of the year. In all honesty, like a smartphone, it has great features such that MKBHD, one of the biggest YouTube tech reviewers, dubbed it ‘finally a flagship in his review.

MKBHD Review of the OnePlus 8 pro

OnePlus 8 pro, features a 16 MP selfie camera, quad rear cameras with a 48 MP main shooter, 8/12 GB RAM, Snapdragon 865 processor, 6.7 inches 1440*3168 pixel AMOLED display. The phone doesn’t have 8K but 4K is ready to go. Although, not the right time to jump on the connectivity technology as at now – 5G connectivity is enabled. Overall, it’s an amazing phone, but a disappointment as the price is way off the usual OnePlus price point.

The price is $1000

Whether you like it or not, OnePlus 8 pro will cost you $1,000. This is quite a surprise move coming from a company that had good intentions initially. Why have they become greedy? Tech is expensive and that’s it! OnePlus has not changed or become greedy at all, it’s just that people want more. And more comes at a flagship price.

Features that make a flagship

The phone can be made cheaper by stripping away features that make it a flagship. For starters, Qi wireless charging. Let’s face it, when a device has wireless charging, it’s a known fact that it is going to be expensive. To add on, the wireless charging on the OnePlus 8 pro is the fastest on the market, currently.

Another feature guilty of making the phone expensive is the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Placing a fingerprint sensor underneath the screen is amazing but expensive. The sensor is not the fastest in the world but it works. Which is a good thing?

The 120Hz display is definitely a flagship feature. Surely, a modern display of 120Hz is currently exclusive to AMOLED and that’s what you get. The refresh rate doesn’t work in phone apps such as games, but it works in most system apps.

The processor in the phone is Snapdragon 865, let that sink in for a bit. This simply means that you’re not getting old factory reject processors like in previous OnePlus models. Back then, Linus Tech Tips did a video tour of the OnePlus factory and it was mentioned why their line of phones is cheap. Reject processors, but not in those words, were part of the reasons. After buying, one is guaranteed of the solid performance of the best chipset on the market.

Reasons not to buy the OnePlus 8 pro

Too expensive for the usual

It’s expensive! If not careful, high prices will be the downfall of OnePlus phones in the future – if they continue with them. People are prone to buying expensive products from Apple, Huawei and Samsung. LG and Motorola have struggled to compete and are almost out of business in the smartphone market. Oppo will take OnePlus’ place in the future.

Pure Samsung clone

The cool pop up selfie camera is no longer there! A cutout whole punch selfie is its replacement, just like on Samsung. Guess what? It also comes with a curved display. It definitely looks like a Samsung, no doubt about it. This is more reason why some tech bloggers have dubbed it the “Samsung killer”. Luckily, it hasn’t made it on our list of smartphones to avoid in 2020.

Intense Manipulative Marketing

The phone has rolled out with intense manipulative marketing behind it. Take a look at the high number of tech YouTubers giving it too much praise. It’s a great phone, no denying, but the hype behind it is beyond normal.

Conclusion

My final thought about this is that: OnePlus has betrayed its customers. They’ve become that which they owed to destroy. This has left them vulnerable to competition, especially that Motorola is releasing something similar — not only that, Xiaomi is busy innovating with crazy designs that might just be the new normal. Check out what OnePlus has to say about their new smartphone on their website.