Friends+Design
- Gorgeous, premium design - the OnePlus 8 uses a glass back and an aluminium frame - the "interstellar glow" shimmers and shifts colours between gold, pink and blue depending on the lighting and is accented by a subtle gold reflective metal frame
- On the front is a beautiful edge-to-edge display and a hole-punch selfie camera
- OnePlus’s handy alert slider is still here, which enables you to quickly switch between silent, vibrate and sound-on modes
- The in-display fingerprint reader is quite accurate and works quickly
- The OnePlus 8 is easier to handle with one hand, due to its tall aspect ratio
- The OnePlus 8 feel relatively lighter and well balanced at just 180g
Display
- A gorgeous 6.55-inch, FHD+ screen, motion is smooth, colours are vibrant, and the resolution is sufficiently high
- 90 Hz refresh rate means smooth scrolling in apps, and better graphical fluidity in games, which provides an overall premium experience
Software
- OxygenOS continues to be one of the most thoughtfully-designed, clean (stock-like) UIs for Android with a host of additional customisation
Performance
- Blistering performance from the Qualcomm's top-of-the-line Snapdragon 865 chipset - with its 90Hz display, highly-optimised OxygenOS software, and plenty of under-the-hood tweaks, the OnePlus 8 feels crazy fast
Camera
- Good triple rear camera setup - a 48MP primary sensor, a 16MP ultra-wide and a 2MP macro camera
- During the day, main camera captures good detail, colours are really punchy and vibrant, the dynamic range is impressive and white balance appears to be accurate
- The ultra-wide unit also performs well and adds a fun new perspective - it produces softer images compared to the main cam but it retains the excellent dynamic range
- Low-light photos are decent and the Night mode further helps in improving the image quality - it reduces the noise, brings even more detail out of the shadows and highlights - it's also probably the fastest night mode in any phone
- The portrait mode is pretty good - the faux bokeh effect seems pretty well-executed, it delivers a good amount of detail, the images look generally sharp, colours pop while retaining pretty natural and accurate skin tone
- The selfie camera is very good as well, producing sharp, colourful pictures - the selfie portrait mode looks just as good as with the main camera, the edge detection is surprisingly accurate
- Good video recording - video looks nice colour-wise, and offers wide dynamic range, good contrast and no noise - the Super Stable video mode gives you gimbal-like stabilisation
- The macro camera is a gimmick at best - this cheaper sensor is nowhere near the excellent macro capabilities demonstrated by the ultra-wide sensor of last year
- The lack of a telephoto camera is disappointing - the crop zoom isn't nearly as good as the proper 2x telephoto, the images lack detail, are soft, fuzzy and noisy
- Overall, while the cameras on the OnePlus 8 are pretty good, there are no major improvements compared to the cameras of last year's OnePlus 7T - instead, the camera on this phone feels like a downgrade without the telephoto lens and the 2MP macro doesn't add any real value
Audio
- Excellent stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, providing richer, deeper sound
Battery
- Very good battery life with the 4300 mAh battery - it will comfortably last a full day and a half on a single charge with moderate use
- Excellent fast charging - the Warp Charge 30T can fully top up the phone in just under an hour
Verdict
- The OnePlus 8 sticks to the formula that has made OnePlus so successful - it gets you the latest processing package, a versatile camera, and a beautiful display, running the smooth Oxygen OS and is still a great value for money option
