OnePlus 7 Pro vs 8 Pro in 2021: Is It Worth The Upgrade?

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Photo by Christoph from Pixabay

Luis Silva (May 2020, updated: March 2021)

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Introduction

Is it time to upgrade yet? Or are you considering both of them?

In April of 2020, OnePlus launched its 8 Pro. The 7 Pro, however, has seen the light of day in May of 2019.

In this article, we see how the 7 Pro and the 8 Pro compare to each other to help you decide and see which one of these is the right one for you.

If you have the time, click here to skip the spoilers and continue to the full comparison.

You'll rarely (if ever) find these two with the same price tag. Keep this in mind when comparing both of them.

Down below, there's a "Tek-Score" in every analyzed section of these models. We even assessed the worth of all specifications to make it easier for you to perceive the difference between them. You'll also have a global comparison rate if you aren't sure about these two.  ? 

Our Tek-Score is based on a study done by Globalwebindex.com on what buyers are looking for when purchasing a smartphone.

For additional information regarding our smartphone comparisons, check this FAQ.

You'll also see a progress bar underlining some features. It's there for you to better understand how they fare against other smartphones at the same price range.  ? 

If you click here: i , you'll see our list, but basically, we include every smartphone within a 20+20% price range, up and down.

Feel free to click any feature title to check out our corresponding eight top 10 listings for every spending plan.

Price*			vs.
Device	7 Pro	8 Pro
Release Date	2019, May	2020, April	1y.
OS Updates	2 years	2 years	0y.
Security Updates	3 years	3 years	0y.

*Reference: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Performance

The OnePlus 8 Pro is available with the previous generation Snapdragon 865 processor, while the OnePlus 7 Pro brings the Snapdragon 855 processor.

Regarding the graphics chipset, the former features last year's Adreno 650, and the latter has an Adreno 640.

As for performance, Geekbench 5 scores the 8 Pro 22% ahead of its sibling on the multi-core rankings. On a day-to-day basis, it won't be that noticeable.  ? 

By the way, you can define the 7 Pro as a lower high-end and the 8 Pro as high-end.

The 7 Pro carries out Android 9 (Pie) and OxygenOS 10 OS, while the 8 Pro comes with Android 10 and OxygenOS 10.

Performance*			vs.
Features	7 Pro	8 Pro
SoC	Snapdragon 855	Snapdragon 865
Graphics	Adreno 640	Adreno 650
Geekbench 5 Score	2675	3255	580
OS	Android 9 (Pie) and OxygenOS 10	Android 10 and OxygenOS 10
Tek-Score	6.5	7.4	1.0

*Reference: Apple iPhone 12.

Display

The 8 Pro features a 6.7" AMOLED display, while the 7 Pro has a smaller 6.6" AMOLED display. To each, it's own. AMOLED has perfect contrast and viewing angles, but its whites do hurt the battery life.

Do you despise small screens? Then, the 7 Pro is the one. It really is enormous compared to most similarly priced phones.

The 8 Pro adopts a 1440x3168 Quad HD resolution. The 7 Pro features a more modest resolution of 1440x3120 (Quad HD) pixels.

It's better to be safe than sorry, so be aware: These displays share a "Corning Gorilla Glass 5" protection.

To me, the OnePlus 8 Pro has one significant advantage here, which is the Always-On-Display.

If you set these displays for auto-brightness, you can count on the 7 Pro to go up to 616 nits, while the 8 Pro can do 272 nits above that.  ? 

Both phones do support HDR10+ shootings.

If you favor smooth scrolling over battery life, they can go up to 90hz.

If this is something you value, the 7 Pro is getting outperformed here.

Given the 7 Pro, 92% of its rivals can play HDR content and have an AMOLED screen, and 80% of them have an Always-On display. On the contrary, only 20% of them have over 60hz of refresh rate.

Concerning the 8 Pro, 95% of its rivals can play HDR content. Plus, all of them have an AMOLED screen, 90% have an Always-On display, and 86% have Gorilla Glass 6 or better.

Display Density (DPIs)*			vs.
Features	7 Pro	8 Pro
Size	6.6	6.7	0.1
Screen Type	AMOLED	AMOLED
Resolution (px)	1440x3120	1440x3168	69120
Refresh Rate	90hz	90hz	0
Dots per Inch	520.65	519.39	-1.26
Always-On-Display	No	Yes
Notch	No/Clean	Hole
Peak Brightness	616 nits	888 nits	272
HDR	HDR10+	HDR10+
Sub Tek-Score	4.1	9.5	5.4
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 5	Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Tek-Score	5.0	6.9	1.9

*Reference: Sony Xperia 1.

Cameras

Who's gonna win this battle? Together, a whopping 48 MP sensor, an aperture of f/1.6, a 27mm wide-angle lens, two flash LEDs, HDR capabilities, and Optical Image Stabilization makes up the 7 Pro camera set. Adding to that, you'll still get the ability to record videos at up to 2160p.

It also has a secondary 8 MP camera with an aperture of f/2.4 plus a 78mm telephoto lens. And a third 16 MP (f/2.2) with a 13mm ultra-wide-angle lens.

If you take a 48 Megapixels snapshot, you can zoom in on it and do a crop in the middle to get the same shot you'd get on a 12 Megapixels shooter with 2x optical zoom.

There's also a 16 MP pop-up selfie camera with an aperture of f/2.0 and a 25 mm wide-angle lens.

DxOMark tested this camera and gave it a rate of 116. If you also consider the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, the final rate goes up to 130** points. For an in-depth review, click here.

To put things in perspective: all of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 84% of them feature Optical Image Stabilization. Nevertheless, only 20% of them feature a macro lens.

The standard camera on the back of the 8 Pro has a whopping 48 MP sensor and a 25mm, f/1.8 aperture, wide-angle lens. It also has two flash LEDs, HDR capabilities, and Optical Image Stabilization. When it comes to recording videos, it can do 2160p. And guess what? The 8 Pro has three more cameras: an 8 MP (with f/2.4 plus a 74mm telephoto lens), a second 48 MP (f/2.2) with a 14mm ultra-wide-angle lens, and a third 5 MP that works as a depth sensor. That'll be fun to see on a traditional DSLR!

Do you really need a 48 Megapixels camera? Did you know you can zoom in and crop those photos to simulate optical zoom? That's how you can get a sample with 12 Megapixels and 2x optical zoom, just like the 7 Pro.

On the front, there's an f/2.5 16 MP camera and a 1/3" sensor.

DxOMark's gurus gave this shooter a score of 120. Plus, combining with the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, we'll get to the final rate of 133 points. If you want to know more about every tidbit, click here.

Lastly, just so you know, all of its rivals can record videos in 4 or 8K, have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and feature Optical Image Stabilization. That said, none of them feature a macro lens.

By DxO's standards, the 7 Pro is also roughly 19% above other smartphones in its class. But you can pick either one.

One can place the 7 Pro as a lower high-end and the 8 Pro more as a high-end.

Something you will definitely enjoy on these cameras is their 3x optical zoom. It enables you to zoom in on the subject without ruining your photos.

**Please take this with a grain of salt, especially for cameras with no zoom and with less than 40MP. These guys recently updated their test protocol, and I need more reviewed devices to fine-tune older scores.

Picture Quality*			vs.
Primary Camera	7 Pro	8 Pro
Megapixels	48	48	0
Aperture	1.6	1.8	0.2
Lens	27mm	25mm	-2
Lens Type	Wide-Angle	Wide-Angle
Flash	2	2	0
HDR	Yes	Yes
OIS	Yes	Yes
Video	2160	2160	0
Score	130	133	3

*Reference: Huawei Mate 40 Pro.

Extra Camera(s)	7 Pro	8 Pro	vs.
Megapixels	8	8	0
Aperture	2.4	2.4	0.0
Lens	78mm (3x zoom)	74mm (3x zoom)	-4
Lens Type	Telephoto lens	Telephoto lens
Megapixels	16	48	32
Aperture	2.2	2.2	0.0
Lens	13mm	14mm	1
Lens Type	Ultra-wide-Angle	Ultra-wide-Angle
Megapixels	-	5
Aperture	-	2.4
Score	14	13	-1

Selfie Camera	7 Pro	8 Pro	vs.
Megapixels	0	16	16
Aperture	2.0	2.5	0.5
Lens	25mm	-

	7 Pro	8 Pro	vs.
Tek-Score	7.6	7.8	0.2

Body

The 7 Pro is 162 mm (6.38 inches) tall and 75 mm (2.96 inches) wide. The 8 Pro, on the other hand, is 3 mm taller and 1 mm narrower (about 0.12 inches by 0.04 inches).

These two have about the same thickness: 8 mm (0.32 inches).

They both have a beautiful glass body. The 7 Pro is a little bit heavier: About 7 g. (0.25 oz). But because this is a bit relative, the "weight to display size" rate of the 7 Pro is 3.7, meaning it's kind of weighty for its display size. The 8 Pro, on the other hand, has 4.7, so nothing to state here.  ? 

You'll also get some color options here. The OnePlus 8 Pro comes in Glacial Green, Onyx Black, and Ultramarine Blue. The OnePlus 7 Pro, in its turn, comes in Mirror Grey, Nebula Blue, and Almond.

These two share the same size, so you can pick any of them.

Does a fingerprint scanner matter to you? Both devices included it.

The 8 Pro is resistant to water up to 1 to 3 meters. That shouldn't last over half an hour, in standby mode, so no underwater photos.

Looks*			vs.
Body	7 Pro	8 Pro
Size	162 x 75 x 8 mm (5.71 x 2.65 x 0.28 in)	165 x 74 x 8 mm (5.82 x 2.61 x 0.28 in)	480
Weight	206 g. (7.27 oz)	199 g. (7.02 oz)	-7
Build	Front and back glass	Front and back glass
Colors	Mirror Grey, Nebula Blue, and Almond	Glacial Green, Onyx Black, and Ultramarine Blue
Screen To Body Ratio	88.01%	89.35%	1.35
Disp.Size To Weight Score	3.7	4.7	1.0
Looks	9.1/10	9.1/10	0.0
Waterproof	-	IP68
Biometrics	Under Display Fingerprint	Under Display Fingerprint
Tek-Score	1.9	7.1	5.2

*100% = 4+ colors + front and back glass + S2BR: 86+%.

Battery

Looking at these numbers, the OnePlus 8 Pro, with its battery capacity of 4510 mAh, should be a winner, without a doubt. But how would both perform in a real-world scenario? By charging them up and testing them out, this is how the 7 Pro comes out of it:  ? 

• For 1 hour of talking, 1 hour of web browsing, and 1 hour of video playback, you'll still have 83% left.
• If you do 1 hour of talking, 3 hours of web browsing, and 1 hour of video playback, the battery charge will be about 66%.
• By talking for 1 hour, browsing the web for 1 hour, and playing videos for 3 hours, you'll likely end up with 70% of the battery charge.

And this is where the 8 Pro ends at:

• For 1 hour of talking, 1 hour of web browsing, and 1 hour of video playback, you'll be at 83% of the battery charge.
• By talking for 1 hour, browsing the web for 3 hours, and playing videos for 1 hour, the battery charge will be about 67%.
• After 1 hour of talking, 1 hour of web browsing, and 3 hours of video playback, this is where your battery will be: 71%.

I think this isn't surprising at all, but there's no real difference here.

They can both do 30 watts when charging, so there's nothing to see here.

The 8 Pro also supports wireless charging at 30w.

You can also use the 8 Pro reverse wireless charging to charge any Qi-enabled device up to 3w per hour.

Quick charging is reasonably speedy with the 7 Pro's charger. Other devices from this price-range usually sit at nearly 22w.

The 8 Pro's wireless charging is likewise faster than the traditional 5w. That isn't as frequent on its direct rivals.

Battery*			vs.
Features	7 Pro	8 Pro
Capacity (mAh)	4000	4510	510
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video	83% left	83% left	0
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video	66% left	67% left	1
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video	70% left	71% left	1
Bat. To Phone Size Score  ?	3.7	3.5	-0.1
Sub Tek-Score	7.3	7.4	0.1
Fast Charging	30w	30w	0
Wireless Charging	No	30w	30
Reverse Charging	No	3w	3
Tek-Score	6.4	7.5	1.1

*Reference: Samsung Galaxy A31.

Storage

The 7 Pro comes equipped with 128GB of integrated storage and 6GB of RAM. There's no extra storage here, but you wouldn't need that anyway, right?

In its turn, the 8 Pro features 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. Unfortunately, it also lacks a MicroSD card slot, but it won't be an issue for sure. You may already know, but you can get more RAM but less storage by picking any rival at that price range. 9Gb for RAM and 134Gb for storage, on average.

Storage*			vs.
Features	7 Pro	8 Pro
RAM (GB)	6GB	8GB	2
Internal (GB)	128GB	256GB	128
Micro SD	No	No
Tek-Score	6.0	8.5	2.5

*Internal Storage + 256GB Memory Card (Max: 512GB).

Connectivity

Each one has its Bluetooth version: The 7 Pro has 5.0, and the 8 Pro has 5.1. Both phones have NFC.

If you got used to counting on the good-old 3.5mm headphone jack, forget about it. You can buy an adapter, but the wireless buds are your only option. Luckily, you can still get it on other phones if you're willing to forget about them. You can get that with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite.

You can connect the 8 Pro to (LTE and) 5G networks.

Connectivity			vs.
Features	7 Pro	8 Pro
Network	LTE	5G
Bluetooth	5.0	5.1
NFC	Yes	Yes
3.5mm jack	No	No
Tek-Score	4.6	5.1	0.5

Price

The OnePlus 7 Pro offers a lot for the money, and with the right deal, it can be an impressive finding. The OnePlus 8 Pro does feel more pricey, but it doesn't mean it's overpriced.

If you still aren't sure about any of them, let's check how much value you can expect.

Here are the prices that we've come across recently:

I earn a small fee from qualifying purchases. It doesn't affect the price you pay nor my opinions, but it will mean a lot if you click on one of these buttons before purchasing your next phone. You'll be helping to take this to the next level.

Prices on eBay are in $US but Europe-based. You can click to check the prices in your country.

Prices marked with ! are from renewed/refurbished/carrier-locked phones (except eBay prices that, as a last resort, can be from bids or used devices).

How much of a "phone" can your money buy?
That's how much "score" you can get with $100 based on the global score that you'll see in the next section (higher is better).

Have you found better prices elsewhere? The formula is simple: score/price*100.

Value for money	7 Pro	8 Pro	VS
Amazon	-	0.82	-
eBay	1.39	0.88	-0.51
Best Buy	-	-	-
Walmart	1.19	1.01	-0.19

Also, don't forget to check the latest deals from these four stores, and the state of the art on mobile technology, if you don't want to overpay on your next smartphone.

Related articles:

Best smartphone deals

The Best Unbiased Smartphones For All Budgets

Smartphone Specs Statistics: The State Of The Art (Q1 2021)

So, what about that global rate? We'll get there. Just so you have an idea, take a look at where its adversaries average. They're in the ballpark of 6.4 for the 7 Pro and 7.3 for the 8 Pro.

Verdict: What Makes the OnePlus 8 Pro Stand Out?

If you're a performance addict and have a will, you'll most likely find a way. Maybe the long-awaited Always-On display alone would make you choose the 8 Pro or its improved cameras? Perhaps its an increased Bluetooth version?

Either way, I don't think the 8 Pro is a significant improvement over the 7 Pro, but if you're torn between these two, then I'd go for the 8 Pro for its cameras and the future-proof Bluetooth version with its soon-to-be popular LE Audio.

Pros	7 Pro	8 Pro
#1	Performance	Performance
#2	AMOLED	AMOLED
#3	Cameras	Always-On-Display
#4	Fast Charging	Cameras
#5		Battery Life
#6		Fast Charging
#7		Wireless Charging
#8		Storage

Cons	7 Pro	8 Pro
#1	Always-On-Display	MicroSD Slot
#2	Wireless Charging	Weight
#3	MicroSD Slot	3.5mm Jack
#4	Weight	Price
#5	3.5mm Jack
#6	Price

Relative Score*			vs.
Global Score	7 Pro	8 Pro
Gaming Score	7.0	8.1	1.1
Tek-Score	5.97	7.57	1.60

*Reference: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

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