The OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro Review: Becoming The Flagship
by Andrei Frumusanu on June 29, 2020 10:00 AM ESTVideo Recording
Next up, some video sample comparisons between both phone’s different modules and capture modes.
OnePlus 8 Pro
OnePlus 8
Starting off with the colour renditions of the scene, both phones do ok but I feel that there’s something off with the tone curves as things either look a bit too oversaturated or some highlights are being flattened too much? It’s a weird look that more present on the main sensor of the 8 Pro than on its ultra-wide or on the regular 8. Both main camera sensors suffer from lens flaring in the sun, but the 8 Pro here is especially predominant compared to its other two camera modules.
Switching between the modules is fast when zooming in and out – naturally the regular OnePlus 8 doesn’t have a telephoto module so zooming in beyond 2x comes at a great loss of quality as it’s just digitally cropping the frame.
Electronic image stabilisation works great on both phones. Switching over to 60fps recording disables EIS and here we can see the OIS performance of both phones. The OnePlus 8 Pro has a significantly better stabilisation as the OnePlus 8 becomes quite a lot shakier.
OnePlus is still pretty nuts in regards to the video bitrate at 60fps as for a H.264 recording we’re jumping from 50Mbps at 4K30 to a whopping 160Mbps at 4K60, resulting in file sizes exceeding 1GB per minute. The quality is outstanding of course, but it far exceeds what you’d be able to upload and view on any video platform such as YouTube. I wish OnePlus would give the option to scale this down in its camera app as it’s a bit overkill for most use-cases.
OnePlus 8 Pro - 4K30
OnePlus 8 Pro - 4K30 HDR
Dynamic range can be an issue in bright scenarios, and the OnePlus 8 Pro offers HDR recording. This actually means it’s an HDR processed capture in an SDR recording. In the above frame captures between the two phones we see that this gives a significant boost to shadows and the effective dynamic range of the scene. Unfortunately, the phone is only able to record in this mode on its main camera module, and it’s not available on the regular OnePlus 8. I also noticed that the phone has big troubles focusing while in this mode.
Audio recording was recording on both phones, but there was wind noise present in both, but particularly prominent on the regular OnePlus 8.
Overall, I’d say video recording quality and experience on both phones is good, but the OnePlus 8 Pro is the clear winner, with the ultra-wide-angle recording experience in particular being the best.
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Dexter101 - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
I feel like the conclusion leaves out some details on pricing. You can compare the MSRP prices and come to conclusions but in 1 month or so the first big deals will start showing up for Samsung flagships with heavy price drops. You'll be able to get an S20+ for less than 700€ then, while the OnePlus phones stay true to their MSRP pricing year round.Considering the quality control issues, the 200€ you save on the Samsung and the generally less buggy software I would likely go for the S20+, although the Snapdragon in all markets is a good advantage in Europe for Oneplus!
Andrei Frumusanu - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
I compared it at current street prices - the price drops already happened.PeachNCream - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
In order to be a flagship, generally said thing should be able to float on water and support fly the fleet commander's flag. I suppose Anandtech tested both of those requirements in order to verify the accuracy of the claim as such for the OnePlus 8, but publishing the benchmark data and testing methods used would be good journalism. Also, pics of the command center from which fleet operations are coordinated inside of the OnePlus 8 would be a nice addition to this review given the high importance of tossing about the term "flagship" in even opening the article.eastcoast_pete - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
Actually, regarding the ability to float: that is a key problem with many (all?) protective cases! What good does IP68 etc. do me if the damn phone (in its protective case) will still sink to the bottom of whatever body of water one is on or close to? I haven't dropped my phone into the sea yet, but friends of mine have while out fishing. So, any protective cases that will let the $ 1,000 smartphone float?Omair - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
Hi Andrei, The 8 pro actually supports 10W Qi Wireless Charging, not 5W. You can verify it on the Wireless Power Consortium's Website: https://www.wirelesspowerconsortium.com/products/8...Of course, the charger will need to support Qi's Extended Power Profile to get 10W, which most don't (They usually only support 5W Qi, and then Samsung's and Apple's fast charge above that).
But if the charger is advertised as doing 10W on LG, Sony, or Xiaomi phones, it will most likely do 10W on the 8 pro. You can also just check the charger on the WPC's website and see what wattage is listed.
ads295 - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
I think we're well past the point where meaningful differences in computing hardware made much difference, such as the jump Samsung made with the Exynos 7420 in the GS6, or the jump from eMMC to UFS storage. Even for screen resolution for a 5.5-6" display, you can't get much better than 1440p at 90Hz. At this point companies should focus ONLY on the differentiating features, such as putting in a huge battery (path breaking to have a thicker phone that last long), better camera (no one has perfected this yet), better phone protection (less snowflake), and other tiny lil goodies such as an IR port, heart rate sensor, SpO² sensor that actually are different.ads295 - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
But it's as if no one has realised this and people are willing to overpay for LaTeSt CPU BrO and MoAr JiGgAbYtEs and establishing phallic measurements.Alistair - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
They raised the price on the base model from $700-$800 (depending on launch time frame) to $1100 in Canada. Oneplus is dead. Failed company, a huge disappointment. I finally bought an iPhone for the first time, saved a ton of money. How far Android has fallen in the last 5 years in price and quality is sad.alufan - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
Agree Android is in trouble, Google has let it down badly by allowing all these suppliers to make so much bloat on handsets after starting with the very first Android and now on a S20 Ultra which frankly is rubbish compared to my mate 30pro I had before I think my next phone will be an Apple, I use one for work and whilst its frustrating due to the lack of or ease of customisation options fact is it just works on Android I have 2 calenders, 2 Music players, 2 browsers, I could go on I want to uninstall the Samsung browser and bixby etc etc but I cant, its my goddam device i want them off but you cant and if I root it then my bank apps no longer work...great way to keep customers GoogleAlistair - Tuesday, June 30, 2020 - link
What is especially worrying is the price bloat. Snapdragon and various Android phone part suppliers seem to be upping their prices dramatically. A Snapdragon 865 should be a lot cheaper and we're hearing rumors they want to charge even more for next year.