OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro review: High-end 5G phones compete against Galaxy S20

One plus just announced two new flagships for the year one is the one plus eight. And the other is the more higher and when plus eight pro [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Hey everybody, it's Lynn from CNET I hope you guys are all staying safe and well out there. I know spending time inside could kind of make the days all blend in together. Definitely that's the case for me. So to break a little bit of the monotony, there is some phone news coming out of the industry and that is one plus. Now what's interesting about these phones is that both are 5G and for the first time ever in the US, one plus eight will be available through Verizon. And it's also going to be sold through T Mobile. And of course, you can still get both unlocked from OnePlus and at Amazon. [MUSIC] Let's go over the main differences between the two phones. The OnePlus 8 Pro, like I said before is a more expensive higher end one It has a 120 hertz display, while the OnePlus 8 has a 90 hertz display. The OnePlus 8 Pro also has wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. So, it can charge other accessories. The OnePlus 8 does not. Both phones have a standard and wide angle camera but the one plus eight Pro has four cameras all together including a telephoto and special color filter camera. The one plus eight has neither but it does have a third macro. Camera. Lastly the one plus eight is a tad thinner and lighter and generally smaller than the eight Pro. [SOUND] I really do like the design of the one plus phones this year they do kind of remind me of the Galaxy S 10. That's probably because of. This whole punch camera in the front, in the corner, but in general it looks really sleek and modern. I like the the thin bezels, and the new colours. And I do like that the cameras are vertically stacked. There is a camera bump, it's bigger on the The OnePlus 8 Pro, but it's definitely not as egregious as the one on the Galaxy S20 Ultra for sure. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] One plus eight pros 120 hertz screen is super smooth. I really like the high refresh rate scrolling through webpages and my social media feed. Everything is bouncy and just liquid smooth. Now because last year the one plus seven pro had a 90 hertz screen just like the one plus eight here. And when I looked at it and compared it to a phone with a 60 hertz display, I can really see the difference and I thought the case would be the same here that I could see the difference between the one plus eight. 90 hertz display and the 8 Pro's 120 hertz display. But really side by side, I really couldn't tell a difference. So if you're leaning towards the one plus eight but you're a little worried that you're gonna miss out on the higher refresh rate, I say you don't have to worry about it. Side by side, I really couldn't tell that much difference. Difference. One plus also includes an option to revert the display back to 60 hertz if you want to save on battery life. Keep in mind that the phones don't always keep their higher refresh rate all the time. There are instances like when the screen is static for example, that it will revert to 60 hertz. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] In addition, the one plus eight Pro is finally rated IP six eight so it can be emerged in about three feet of water for at least 30 minutes. The one plus eight isn't though, but it is as protected against water as past models. And last year when I dunk the One plus seven pro in a fish tank for 30 minutes it survived no problem. [MUSIC] Both phones run Android 10 with oxygen OS layered on top I really like one pluses approach to the OS. It's really minimalistic One plus did add some minor customization options that I like you could change the notification icon shapes, for example. There's more opportunities to tweak the colors. And they also expanded on dark theme which everybody loves, but now it could expand to other apps automatically. Both phones have night mode and reading mode to reduce eyestrain. But the one plus eight Pro has an added thing called comfort tone which automatically changes the tint of the screen depending on the ambient light condition. Gents. For me though, I'd rather just schedule this effect in night mode at specific hours. [MUSIC] Both phones have a 48 megapixel main camera. They take beautiful sharp and vibrant shots especially in outdoor lighting and nightscape. Their low light camera setting also works great. As you can see by these photos taken at night, they really brightened up the images that you see here. The one plus a pro also has an eight megapixel telephoto camera. Which is useful for taking portrait shots. As you can see here, I didn't take one of a human but I did take one of this plant and you could see the nice bokeh effect with a blurry background. The camera also has a 30 x digital zoom, but as you can see here like with other phones, the quality of the photo really degrades after 10 X. It also has a color filter camera. Which you can use to tweak your colors and your lighting but personally I didn't get much use out of it. The one plus eight doesn't have a telephoto camera but it still can take portrait shots and it has an additional two megapixel macro zoom. Now on its own it doesn't really work that well. Colors are flat and the quality is muddy. So I suggest using just the regular camera if you wanna take a photo of something up close and using tap to focus. Both phones have OIS and can capture 4k video and as you can see here footage is smooth and steady and objects are in focus Like other premium Android phones out right now the one plus eight and eight pro have a Snapdragon 865 chipset. And when I ran Geekbench five on these phones the results were comparable to the Galaxy S 20 Ultra and the LG V 60. When we ran our battery test for continuous video playback on airplane mode, both phones clocked in about 18 and a half to 19 hours. That's an excellent battery life and we're also going to run streaming video tests. So check back with a written review when those results come in. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] The ONEPLUS 8 starts at 699 for the 128 giga capacity and it comes out April 29. The ONEPLUS 8 PRO starts at $899 for 128 giga and it comes out on April 22. [MUSIC] Given the pricing and what I observed this week, the one plus eight phones are getting up there in pricing. It's crazy to think that the one plus eight the starting model is the same price as an iPhone 11 And the 8 Pro it's still $100 cheaper than its rivals but it's not as much as it was in years past. I also have to consider that both phones pack a lot of features. In addition to 5G, there's the displays with a higher refresh rate. There's an in screen fingerprint reader and the 8 Pro has the wireless charging and reverse wireless This charging. Both phones are excellent Android devices and for me I really like the one plus eight, especially if you're a little bit more cost conscious is still water resistance ish. The software is nearly identical. The battery lasts just as long from what I observed, and you're not missing out much on the 90 hertz display. So those are my thoughts so far. Let me know what you think. And if you plan on getting either of those phones and for more tech videos, check out the rest of CNET's channel. Stay safe, be well and I'll see you guys next time.