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

Introduction

So, the OnePlus 8 is pretty much a well-defined step up from the 7 Pro, but what does the 7T Pro has to say about that?

In April of 2020, OnePlus started selling its 8, while OnePlus's 7T Pro hit the stores in October 2019.

We've run down the specs, design, price, and much more in this guide to help you choose between the 7T Pro and the 8.

Warning: Please, refrain from purchasing the 7T Pro, as it will end up not getting security updates anymore.

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

 Click here  to check who their rivals are.

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

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Which One Has The Best Performance?

Geekbench 5 scores the 8 17% ahead of its sibling in the multi-core ranking. If you're a heavy gamer, think about this. If not, then it isn't a big deal.  ? 

We can classify the 7T Pro as a lower high-end and the 8 as high-end.

Performance*			vs.
Features	7T Pro	8
SoC	Snapdragon 855+	Snapdragon 865
Graphics	Adreno 640	Adreno 650
Geekbench 5 Score	2698	3165	467
OS	Android 10 and OxygenOS 10	Android 10 and OxygenOS 10
Tek-Score	6.4	7.1	0.8

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13.

Which Phone Has The Best Display?

The 8 is the title-holder here, and the difference is considerable.

Very few rivals share this maximum brightness. Usually, they rarely stay far from 765 nits, but the 7T Pro can only do 22% below that.

Considering the 7T Pro, 80% of its rivals can play HDR content, and 95% have an AMOLED screen and have an Always-On display.

Considering the 8, as a reference, 86% of its rivals can play HDR content and have an Always-On display, and all have an AMOLED screen.

Display Density (DPIs)*			vs.
Features	7T Pro	8
Size	6.6	6.5	-0.1
Screen Type	AMOLED	AMOLED
Resolution (px)	1440x3120	1080x2400	-1900800
Refresh Rate	90hz	90hz	0
Dots per Inch	520.65	404.89	-115.75
Always-On-Display	No	Yes
Notch	No/Clean	Hole
Peak Brightness	600 nits	802 nits	202
HDR	HDR10+	HDR10+
Sub Tek-Score	4.1	8.7	4.7
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 5	Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Tek-Score	5.0	6.7	1.6

*Reference: 100: Sony Xperia 1 II.

Which Phone Has The Best Cameras?

You should get similar performance with these two in the camera domain.

About the 7T Pro: DXOMARK reviewed this camera and gave it 116 points. If you also consider the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, it can go up to 129** points. If you want to know more about it, click here.

Before moving on, you'd probably like to know that all of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 90% feature Optical Image Stabilization. Yet, only 20% of them feature a macro lens.

About the 8: This sensor does deserve a review from DXOMARK's team. Knowing them, it'll get about 111* points. Plus, combining with its wide-angle lens, this score goes up to 122** points.

Finally, all of its rivals can record videos in 4 or 8K and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 93% feature Optical Image Stabilization. Additionally, only 14% of them feature a macro lens.

One can place these two as lower high-end.

*DXOMARK knows how to test these shooters out. Unfortunately, they don't test every smartphone camera out there. So what do I do? I try to do my best by giving a similar score based on hardware specs only (OIS, Sensor size, Aperture, Lenses, HDR, and so on). As of now, you can expect a deviation of up to 2 points.  ? 

**Consider this as an estimative, especially with cameras with less than 40MP and no telephoto lens. They moved to a better camera test protocol, and there aren't enough reviewed cameras to extrapolate a backward-compatible score.

Picture Quality*			vs.
Primary Camera	7T Pro	8
Megapixels	48	48	0
Aperture	1.6	1.8	0.2
Lens	26mm	25mm	-1
Lens Type	Wide-Angle	Wide-Angle
Flash	2	2	0
HDR	Yes	Yes
OIS	Yes	Yes
Video	2160	2160	0
Score	129	122	-7

*Reference: 100: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Extra Camera(s)	7T Pro	8	vs.
Megapixels	8	16	8
Aperture	2.4	2.2	-0.2
Lens	74mm (2.8x zoom)	14mm	-60
Lens Type	Telephoto lens	Ultra-wide-Angle
Megapixels	16	2	-14
Aperture	2.2	2.4	0.2
Lens	13mm	-
Lens Type	Ultra-wide-Angle	Macro
Score	13	11	-2

Selfie Camera	7T Pro	8	vs.
Megapixels	0	16	16
Aperture	2.0	2.0	0.0
Lens	25mm	-

	7T Pro	8	vs.
Tek-Score	7.6	7.2	-0.4

Who has the best frame?

The 8 does win some points here, mainly for its weight and the number of color options. But that doesn't make the 7T Pro that much worse.

The 8 weighs 180 g. (6.35 oz), while its sibling is 26 g. (0.92 oz) heavier. If you're looking for a lightweight device, the "weight to display size" score of the 7T Pro is 3.7, which suggests it's kind of weighty for a 6.6 inches display. The 8, in its turn, has 6.2, which is pretty nice.  ? 

If you want waterproofness on your next device, check out the 9 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy A72.

Looks*			vs.
Body	7T Pro	8
Size	162 x 75 x 8 mm (5.71 x 2.65 x 0.28 in)	160 x 72 x 8 mm (5.64 x 2.54 x 0.28 in)	-5040
Weight	206 g. (7.27 oz)	180 g. (6.35 oz)	-26
Build	Front and back glass	Front and back glass
Colors	Haze Blue and a unique McLaren Edition	Onyx Black, Interstellar Glow, Glacial Green, and Polar Silver
Screen To Body Ratio	88.01%	88.55%	0.54
Disp.Size To Weight Score	3.7	6.2	2.5
Looks	9.1/10	10.0/10	0.8
Waterproof	-	-
Biometrics	Under Display Fingerprint	Under Display Fingerprint
Tek-Score	1.9	2.9	1.0

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

Which has the best battery?

The 7T Pro does have a smaller battery, with 4085 mAh, while the 8 has 4300 mAh. But by GSMArena's standards, both should theoretically get the same battery life.

What's even better, both of them also don't have many rivals at any given price range. Just check out our top 10 list with the best battery life.

And if you'd like to try out reverse wireless charging, that's already a reality on the 9 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S21, for example.

Battery*			vs.
Features	7T Pro	8
Capacity (mAh)	4085	4300	215
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video	84% left	85% left	1
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video	69% left	71% left	2
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video	73% left	74% left	1
Bat. To Phone Size Score  ?	3.4	5.0	1.5
Sub Tek-Score	7.5	7.7	0.1
Fast Charging	30w	30w	0
Wireless Charging	No	No	0
Tek-Score	6.6	6.7	0.1

*Reference: 90: Samsung Galaxy A42.

Which has more storage?

Definitely, the 7T Pro.

OnePlus put 8GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage on the 7T Pro. I should also mention that most rivals have less storage and less RAM. They're closer to 147Gb of storage and 8GB of RAM.

Storage*			vs.
Features	7T Pro	8
RAM (GB)	8GB	8GB	0
Internal (GB)	256GB	128GB	-128
Micro SD	No	No
Tek-Score	8.5	6.0	-2.5

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

Which is the most connectivity-friendly?

I'd go for the 8 if you really value Bluetooth 5.1 and 5G.

If you love good-old wired headphones, you're out of luck because none of them included a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can try an adapter if you want, but the wireless buds are the way to go here. You can also check other devices if you're not really leaning towards any of these. You'd have to pick a smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite.

The 8 runs on (LTE and) 5G networks.

Connectivity			vs.
Features	7T Pro	8
Network	LTE	5G
Bluetooth	5.0	5.1
NFC	Yes	Yes
3.5mm jack	No	No
Tek-Score	3.6	5.1	1.5

Which is more affordable?

Here are their recently updated prices:

Reference: $560

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OnePlus 7T Pro

Reference: $630

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$835.00

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OnePlus 8

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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.

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)

Are you ready for that final score? We're almost there. Just so you have an idea, take a look at where its adversaries average. The 7T Pro class is at 6.8, and the 8 6.9.

Verdict: Does any of them really stand out?

Ah-ha! The 7T Pro won't let it go that easy.

You'll probably love it for its storage, and you know what? Despite being somewhat slower, it isn't slow at all, and you can get by another year without the Always-On display and the newer Bluetooth version, you'll get to keep (or win) a great set of cameras.

What's even better, it's price will always be lower.

You'll have to get familiar with a hefty device. Aside from that, there's not much more for you on the OnePlus 8.

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

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

Relative Score*			vs.
Global Score	7T Pro	8
Gaming Score	7.6	7.2	-0.4
Tek-Score	6.42	6.45	0.03
Your Score

*Reference: 100: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Scroll the sliders down below to get your own personalized score. Let's suppose you value performance and battery life, and you don't really care about anything else. Then, just set the "Performance" and the "Battery" sliders up to 5 (5+5=10), and then the other sliders down to 0. You'll know what's the best phone for you.

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