OnePlus announced its latest flagship smartphones in the form of the OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 during a virtual event in mid-April. 

You can read how they compare to each other in our separate feature but here we are focusing on how the top-of-the-range OnePlus 8 Pro compares to 2019's OnePlus 7T Pro. With pricing going up for the 8-series quite considerably, might it be worth hunting out the 2019 flagship instead? 

OnePlus 8 Pro

Design

  • 8 Pro: 165.3 x 74.4 x 8.5mm, 199g
  • 7T Pro: 162.6 × 75.9 × 8.8mm, 206g

The OnePlus 8 Pro follows in the footsteps of the OnePlus 7T Pro in terms of design, but it offers a few differences. 

An extra camera sensor has been added to the left of the vertical camera housing on the rear, the pop up front camera has been replaced with a punch hole camera in the left corner of the display and the matte glass-finished rear is slightly more curved and more matte than 2019's model. The OnePlus 8 Pro is also IP68 water and dust resistant.

The OnePlus 8 Pro is noticeably taller than the OnePlus 7T Pro too. Hold them side by side, and that much is evident. But, while it's definitely taller, OnePlus has actually shaved off some of the width and thickness on the 8 Pro, making it a little easier to grip in the hand than its predecessor. 

Both devices are available in a range of finishes, with blue and black variants. The winner for us though is the new Glacial Green finish on the 8 Pro. It has a lovely frosted look which makes it less likely to attract fingerprints than any of the glossy versions, but that does also mean it's harder to clean.

While we like the new colour and the narrowness of the new model, we do prefer the visual impact offered by the display on the 7T Pro. There's no cutout or notch on it, thanks to that pop-up camera, and that means nothing but screen on the front. 

Display

  • 8 Pro: 6.78-inch, 3168 x 1440 pixels, 19.8:9, 120Hz
  • 7T Pro: 6.67-inch, 3120 x 1440 pixels, 19.5:9, 90Hz

The OnePlus 8 Pro has a very slightly larger display than the OnePlus 7T Pro, which in turn results in a slightly higher resolution, though because of the size difference, the pixel destiny is the same across the two devices at 516ppi.

Both panels are AMOLED for rich and vibrant colours and both have HDR10+ support, but the OnePlus 8 Pro adds a few extra bits of technology compared to the OnePlus 7T Pro in a bid to enhance the viewing experience. 

Along with a 120Hz refresh rate compared to the OnePlus 7T Pro's 90Hz refresh rate, the OnePlus 8 Pro offers HDR Boost and 10-bit colour for better colour accuracy. The 8 Pro also filters out 40 per cent more blue light according to OnePlus, which is said to put less stress on your eyes.

In all truth, both screens are superb. Not only are they bright, sharp and vivid, they also display animations smoothly - even fast animations - thanks to their high refresh rates. Despite the improvements made on the new model - we don't think it should factor into your decision as to whether or not to buy the 8 Pro over the 7T Pro. Which ever one you go for, you're getting one of the best displays ever seen on a smartphone. 

Both the OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 7T Pro have in-display fingerprint sensors. Both are optical, meaning they use cameras underneath the display to read your fingerprint. They're mostly reliable, but are prone to the odd error here and there. 

Camera

  • 8 Pro: Quad rear camera, 16MP front 
  • 7T Pro: Triple rear camera, 16MP front

The OnePlus 8 Pro makes a number of improvements in terms of the camera specifications compared to the OnePlus 7T Pro. And this is where you're going to soo the biggest difference between them. 

There's a 48-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel telephoto camera, 48-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera and a fourth 5-megapixel colour filter camera. The two best cameras: the primary and ultra-wide are generally excellent. Whether you want to take wide, or ultra-wide shots, or even macro shots using Super Macro mode. 

Images are sharp, colourful and just look great.

The OnePlus 7T Pro meanwhile, has a 48-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel telephoto camera and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera. This is similar to the setup on the OnePlus 8, and compared to the 8 Pro, it underwhelms a little. When it first launched it had some issues with HDR processing too. 

Both the OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 7T Pro have a 16-megapixel front camera with fixed focus and 1.0µm pixels.

Hardware and specs

  • 8 Pro: Qualcomm SD865, 8/12GB RAM, 128/256GB storage, 4510mAh
  • 7T Pro: Qualcomm SD855+, 8/12GB RAM, 256GB storage, 4085mAh 

The OnePlus 8 Pro offers the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, coupled with either 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage or 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. 

The OnePlus 7T Pro runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor with 8GB and 12GB RAM options, both of which come with 256GB of storage. 

Like the displays, daily speed and performance is excellent on both phones. They're zippy, fast, smooth and don't have any issues loading even the most graphically intense mobile games. There might be some slight speed improvements on the 8 Pro, but you'll struggle to see them unless you record everything in slow motion and watch it back. 

Aside from the bump in processor and extra internal storage option though, the OnePlus 8 Pro is also 5G enabled, which the OnePlus 7T Pro isn't and it has a larger battery capacity than the OnePlus 7T Pro at 4510mAh compared to 4085mAh. 

That's quite a big difference in battery performance, meaning light users could legitimately get almost two days of usage from the OnePlus 8 Pro, even with the screen maxed to its highest frame rate and resolution. 

Both the OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 7T Pro have Warp Charge 30T, which is designed to give you a day's power in 30 minutes charge. The OnePlus 8 Pro also offers Warp Charge 30 Wireless though, offering 50 per cent charge in just 30 minutes, without any cables.

Conclusion

As you would expect, the OnePlus 8 Pro offers several improvements on the OnePlus 7T Pro. There are camera developments, advancements in display technology, a faster processor, 5G capabilities, a larger battery and the introduction of wireless charging.

The design has also seen some alterations, including waterproofing finally.

There's enough of a boost in features and performance here to make it worth the extra money, but does lead us to think the 8 Pro isn't really the direct replacement for the OnePlus 7T Pro. OnePlus has essentially created a new ultra-premium tier in its lineup, with the regular OnePlus 8 taking over from the OnePlus 7T Pro. 

On paper and in daily use, the OnePlus 8 Pro is clearly the superior device, but you'll pay more for it, and if you're on a budget, the OnePlus 7T Pro is still worth considering, as is the even cheaper OnePlus 7T