News: Everything You Need to Know About the OnePlus 7 Pro

The OnePlus 7 Pro is definitely a beast on paper. With a specs page that ticks virtually every box and a price point that undercuts the competition by hundreds of dollars, it's hard to overlook this phone. But before you get too excited, know that OnePlus has repeatedly shown to be misleading with their official specs.

All of that aside, this is still a great phone. OnePlus created a new pro version for its line of flagships this year, which is a bit different from its regular launches. Instead of the usual compromises to save money, the OnePlus 7 Pro is a behemoth, a phone that's not only great price-wise but arguably one of the best devices on the market, period.

The announcement event, which was on May 14, was an important one for OnePlus following the release of the OnePlus 6T on a US carrier for the first time. For people who only buy phones from their carrier, this will be their first time seeing a OnePlus upgrade cycle. If the changes were too small or the price too high, customers could leave to the more prominent OEMs, but with a worthy successor, OnePlus may now have fans for life, slowly raising its market share in stateside.

Jump to a section: Standout Features | Dates | Storage | Price | Body | Basics | Software | Skin | Display | Performance | Battery | Front Camera | Rear Camera | Audio | Media Formats | Sensors | Connectivity | Security

Standout Features

The 7 Pro is the phone every OnePlus fan has wanted, with a 1440p curved display, 90 Hz refresh rate, an A+ DisplayMate rating, stereo speakers, triple cameras, no notch, 4,000 mAh battery, and much more. It's a minimal compromise OnePlus phone, the likes of which we haven't seen since the OnePlus One.

Important Dates

The OnePlus 7 Pro was announced at a multi-country launch event on May 14. Fans in Bangalore, London, New York, and Beijing were able to attend their respective event and get first access to the new phones, which also included the OnePlus 7, a direct followup of the OnePlus 6T, which won't be released until June and only in Europe.

Customers in New York can purchase the phone early starting May 14 at the T-Mobile Signature Store. T-Mobile is the only US partner for the OnePlus 7 Pro. On May 15, users at the other T-Mobile Signature Stores (located in Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, and Santa Monica) can pick up the OnePlus 7 Pro as well. For the general public, OnePlus 7 Pro can be purchased starting May 17 on OnePlus' website, on T-Mobile's website at 6 a.m. Eastern time, and at T-Mobile stores.

• Release date: May 17, 2019
• Preorder date: N/A
• Announcement date: May 14, 2019

Storage Capacity

The OnePlus 7 Pro comes in two storage options, 128 GB and 256 GB. While phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 offer 512 GB and 1 TB of storage, what differentiates the OnePlus models is the use of UFS 3.0.

Universal Flash Storage is a specification for the internal storage used on smartphones which dictates how fast data is written and read. UFS 3.0 is the latest version, offering speeds 2.4 times faster than the previous version. While Samsung reserved this specification for the $1,980 Galaxy Fold, OnePlus is offering this storage on all models at a fraction of the cost.

• Storage available: 128 GB, 256 GB (both with UFS 3.0)
• Expandable storage: no

Price for Everything

In previous years, we've seen a pattern for OnePlus where news publications speculate a price increase from its predecessor. Fans get mad at the price increase and hold their breath for the official announcement. OnePlus reveals a price which, while higher, is still hundreds of dollars cheaper than the average flagship phone. And OnePlus sells more units than the previous year.

This year should be no different, as OnePlus is selling the OnePlus 7 Pro starting at $669. That price tag is for the 128 GB model with 6 GB of random access memory. There's also a 256 GB model with 8 GB of RAM for $699, as well as a 256 GB model with 12 GB of RAM for $749.

• Don't Miss: OnePlus 7 Pro with INSANE Specs Same Price as the XR or S10e

For reference of how excellent this price is, for the same cost as the Samsung Galaxy S10e, you can get the 7 Pro model with 256 GB (the same amount of storage as the S10e) and 12 GB of RAM (double the RAM of S10e), not to mention the 7 Pro is a much better phone than the S10e.

• Price: $669 (128 GB w/6 GB RAM), $699 (256 GB w/8 GB RAM), $749 (256 GB w/12 GB RAM)
• Manufacturer protection: Screen Protection Plan - $39.00 (6 months), $70.00 (12 months), Accidental Damage Protection Plan - $89.00 (12 months), $155.00 (24 months), Extended Warranty - $46.00 (12 months), OnePlus Protection Plus Plan - $189.00 (24 months)
• Accessories: $34.95 (Bumper Case), $99.00 (Bullets Wireless 2 Black), $34.95 (Protective Case), $62.90 (Travel Bundle), $54.90 (Warp Charge 30 Power Bundle), $79.85 (Lifestyle Bundle), and $119.80 (Premium Bundle)

Body

Like the OnePlus 6T, the OnePlus 7 Pro follows a trending design language for flagship smartphones where both the front and back cover are glass. However, the rear glass cover is only for aesthetics, as once again, OnePlus didn't include wireless charging.

The frame is aluminum, giving it a lightweight feel and strong protection against drops and the elements. Regarding colors, the OnePlus 7 Pro comes with three colors: Nebula Blue, Mirror Grey, and Almond.

• Frame: glass (back and front), aluminum (midframe)
• Finish: nebula blue, mirror grey, almond

Basics

OnePlus and T-Mobile leverages their new partnership to make the number three wireless carrier in the US the exclusive home of the OnePlus 7 Pro. The only other place you can purchase this phone is on the OnePlus website, which is the GSM unlocked version that would work on AT&T as well, and it's also certified to work on Verizon Wireless.

Ideally, for those who enjoy rooting, the OnePlus website is the place the go for all variants, as T-Mobile once again requires you to fully pay off the phone to unlock the bootloader. Even if you decide to pay it off early, you still have to wait 40 days after your purchase to get the token needed to unlock the bootloader. And as rooters know, without an unlocked bootloader, rooting is a no-go.

While OnePlus did show us that the 7 Pro can survive a drop in a bucket of water, it doesn't recommend you try it. OnePlus did this to show their phone's water resistance despite not paying for an official IP rating. OnePlus has stated, for a company trying to minimize cost, adding this certification would only add to the price, leading to more expensive OnePlus phones.

• Height: 6.4 inches
• Width: 2.99 inches
• Depth: 0.35 inches
• Weight: 7.27 oz
• Dust/water resistance: no official rating
• Supported carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless
• Infrared blaster: no

The operating temperatures are exactly what we'd expect for any smartphone, with the same ranges as other popular models like the Galaxy S10 and iPhone XS. However, we don't currently know the temperature ranges for when the phone is turned off, nor do we know what level of humidity and altitude the devices can withstand.

• Operating temp: 32°F –95°F
• Non-operating temp: Unknown
• Relative humidity: Unknown
• Operating altitude: Unknown

Software

The OnePlus 7 Pro runs the latest version of Android, Pie (9.0). Because of this, users can take advantage of the new gesture controls created by Google. Unlike the OnePlus implementation, the back button remains, making the transition from buttons to gestures a bit easier.

Also, Android Pie heavily focuses on privacy. Users are better protected against malicious apps thanks to Google now blocking them from accessing your camera or microphone in the background. There's also Private DNS which lets you change the DNS server for both Wi-Fi and mobile data.

Android Pie didn't seem like a massive change on the surface thanks to minimal design changes, but it brought over 40 changes to the operating system. And thanks to OnePlus' improvements to software upgrades, expect Android 10 by the end of the year as well.

Additionally, for users who don't mind bugs, OnePlus and Google have also opened up the Android Q Beta program to the OnePlus 7 Pro. With this program, you can try out Android 10 months before its actual release. A lot of features don't work right now, so test at your discretion.

• Version: Android 9 Pie

Skin

The OnePlus 7 Pro runs the latest version of Oxygen OS. This is one of the lighter skins, keeping most elements of stock Android with a few customizations enhancement. It's a big upgrade from previous versions of the skin. OnePlus has brought over 500 enhancement ranging from improved performance to improved features, and the version running on OnePlus 7 Pro is even better with a built-in screen recorder and 90 Hz app support.

• Version: Oxygen OS 9.5

Display

The 7 Pro has a screen OnePlus fans have been screaming for over the years, a 6.64-inch Super Optic AMOLED display. For the first time, OnePlus has included a non-1080p display, opting for a higher resolution at 3120 x 1440. You read that right, OnePlus finally has a 1440p display. And this display is so good, that DisplayMate gave it an A+ Display Rating, the highest offered to a smartphone. That puts it in the same category as Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Apple iPhone XS Max, and Google Pixel 3 XL.

There is no notch on the 7 Pro. Instead, OnePlus decided to use a pop-up mechanism from the frame to house the front-facing camera. Similar to Samsung's devices, the panel is curved to give the appearance of continuing forever.

With systems-on-chips (SoCs) becoming more powerful, it has become unnecessary to limit frame rates to 60 Hz. Thanks to phones like the Razer Phone, several big mobile developers have added an unlocked frame rate allowing a game to produce as many frames as the GPU can render. OnePlus 7 Pro joins the small list of phones which can take advantage of it.

Known as Fluid AMOLED, the 7 Pro has a refresh rate of 90 Hz. It's the first phone to include a 90 Hz refresh rate at 90 Hz at a 3120 x 1440 resolution with this type of panel. Only the ASUS ROG Phone has a higher refresh rate, but it has a resolution of 1080p. This is a variable refresh rate, which means apps that don't benefit from a higher refresh rate would render at 60 Hz. Specifically, watching videos, using the camera, and making phone calls. For all other apps, the phone will use 90 Hz. Oxygen OS also includes a feature to help apps run at a higher refresh rate for smoother scrolling and better gaming.

The display is also HDR10+ certified, which means it supports dynamic metadata for HDR content. With dynamic metadata, each frame is optimized for HDR content to deliver better overall picture quality. OnePlus also optimized the apps of Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video to deliver HDR10+ content to users on the 7 Pro, giving thousands of hours of content to enjoy. Protecting this impressive display is 3D Gorilla Glass.

• Screen size: 6.67 inches
• Screen resolution: 3120 x 1440
• Total pixels: 4,492,800 pixels
• Pixel density: 516 ppi
• Screen type: Fluid AMOLED (curved)
• HDR: HDR10/10+
• Notch: no
• Screen-to-body ratio: 93.22% (OnePlus 7 Pro)
• Aspect ratio: 19.5:9 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
• Minimum brightness: 2 nits
• Maximum brightness: 800 nits
• Refresh rate: 90 Hz (90 Hz for touch-sensing)
• Color temp: 7,407 K
• Color gamut: 111% DCI-P3 and 140% sRGB / Rec.709

Performance

The OnePlus 7 Pro both use the Snapdragon 855, the latest and greatest SoC from Qualcomm. It's the first by Qualcomm to use the 7nm TSMC process making it much more power efficient than its predecessor.

Qualcomm also introduces new arrangement for its cores, switching from the standard big.LITTLE to a new three category arrangements. The main difference is the Gold cores split into two categories, with three cores clocked at one frequency and one core clocked at an even higher one. In the case of the Snapdragon 855, these clock speeds are 2.41 GHz and 2.84 GHz, respectively.

In regards to RAM, the OnePlus 7 Pro is available with either 6 GB or 8 GB. However, the 256 GB model is also available with a completely unnecessary 12 GB of RAM. OnePlus also adds a feature known as RAM Boost, which preloads most frequently used apps in the RAM for even faster load times.

• Memory: 6 GB, 8 GB, or 12 GB RAM
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
• Chip size: 7 nanometer
• CPU frequency: 2.84 GHz (1x Gold), 2.41 GHz (3x Gold), 1.78 GHz (4x Silver)
• CPU cores: 8 Cores (4 Gold + 4 Silver)
• GPU: Adreno 640

Battery

Besides the display, SoC, and RAM, another upgrade the OnePlus 7 Pro receives is a better battery and charging abilities. For the latter, it includes the new Warp Charge 30, the 30-watt version of OnePlus' new fast-charging system. The charging system was first introduced in the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition and delivers even faster charging speed times than the previous system (Dash Charge). With 10 watts of additional power, the Warp Charge 30 can charge the 7 Pro to 50% in just 20 minutes.

But OnePlus didn't stop there. The OnePlus 7 Pro includes for the first time a 4,000 mAh battery. Oxygen OS already has a pretty dynamic memory management system to conserve battery, and combined with such a large capacity, we fully expect this phone to provide at least 1.5 days of battery life, even for those who heavily use their phones.

Another change with the 7 Pro is support for USB Power Delivery. Previous versions limited fast charging to OnePlus's Fast Charge (previously known as Dash Charge). With the 7 Pro, users can use standard USB-PD chargers for up to to 15 W of power (5 V / 3 A).

• Battery: rechargeable lithium-ion
• Capacity:4,000 mAh
• Wired charging: yes, Warp Charge 30 (5 V / 6 A) and USB PD (15W)
• Wireless charging: no

Front Camera

On the OnePlus 7 Pro, the front-facing camera is nowhere to be seen. Instead, it raises from the frame when needed. Once you finish using it, the camera returns to frame, hidden from view. The change helps in two major ways.

First, the hidden camera frees up the display for a notch-less design in the pursuit of an all-screen front. Second, it provides comfort for privacy-conscious individuals. Instead of your camera always pointing toward you and having to trust the software to protect you from background monitoring, you are now physically protected with the camera tucked safely away when not in use.

Despite being a motorized part, it can withstand nearly 50 pounds of force. OnePlus conducted a stress test for 12 hours straight, which shows that the front camera was able to raise and retract over 11,600 times without any defect. It's rated for 300,000 slides, which is more than most will perform during the life of the phone.

• Resolution: 16 MP
• Aperture: ƒ/2.0
• Pixel size: 1.0 µm
• Zoom: Unknown
• Flash: yes, screen flash
• Image stabilization: yes, EIS
• Sensor: Sony IMX471
• Sensor size: 1/3 in
• Autofocus: fixed focus
• Video resolution: 1080p at 30 fps
• Time-lapse: yes
• Face unlock: yes
• HDR: yes
• Face retouching: yes
• RAW support: Unknown
• Object detection: Unknown
• Formats: Unknown
• DxOMark Selfie Score: 86

Rear Camera

Another upgrade is the rear camera. With triple cameras being the new trending feature, the 7 Pro includes three rear cameras, a 48 MP lens standard lens, a 16 MP ultrawide lens, and an 8 MP telephoto lens. Optical image stabilization (OIS) can be found only on the standard lens.

One rare inclusion is that the telephoto lens provides 3x optical zoom. Unfortunately, this isn't the same as Huawei's P30 series, which offers true lossless 3x optical zoom.

OnePlus is back to their old ways, providing "lossless optical zoom" in technicality only. A Reddit user (/u/ImKuya) discovered that the 7 Pro was, in fact, providing 2.2x optical zoom and cropping the ends and sacrificing some megapixels to make it appear as 3x zoom. Because it isn't attempting to keep the photo at 13 MP, it is still "lossless." This trickery is also why photos taken by with telephoto lens are 8 MP while images taken in portrait mode (which uses the same lens) are 13 MP.

This isn't the first time OnePlus has been deceptive with their optical zoom specs. In 2017, they employed a similar tactic with the OnePlus 5, claiming 2x optical zoom when it was in fact 1.6x with cropping.

Nightscape is upgraded to 2.0, improving the camera ability to take low light shots. At launch, this feature is limited to the primary lens. However, OnePlus stated they would make these feature accessible by the other lens in a future update. There's also a feature known as Ultrashot which uses machine learning for smart HDR. Additionally, it uses pixel binding (which combines nearby pixels) for improved low light performance. Finally, there is a new Multi-Autofocus, which uses PDAF, CAF, and Laser AF to get your subject in focus as quickly as possible.

• Resolution: 48 MP (primary); 16 MP (ultra wide angle); 8 MP (telephoto)
• Sensor: Sony IMX586 (primary)
• Sensor size: 1/2 in (primary)
• Aperture: ƒ/1.6 (primary); ƒ/2.2 (ultra wide angle); ƒ/2.4 (telephoto)
• Pixel size: 0.8 µm/48 M; 1.6 µm (4 in 1)/12 M
• Zoom: 3x optical, 10x digital
• Flash: yes, dual LED
• Image stabilization: yes, OIS on primary and telephoto only, EIS for all
• RAW support: yes
• Lens cover: sapphire crystal
• Lens quality: 7P
• Object detection: Unknown
• Formats: JPEG, PNG
• Autofocus: multi autofocus (PDAF+LAF+CAF)
• HDR: yes
• Portrait: yes
• DxOMark Score: 111 (118 for photos)

Videos can be shot at up to 4K at 60 fps. Video recording is limited to the 48 MP camera. OnePlus did say this could change in the future. With only this lens, you don't have access to the 3x optical zoom or the ultrawide lens. However, it's optically and electronically stabilized. Slow-motion video has received an upgrade as well, with it able to deliver 480 fps at 720p for 1 minute. This frame rate was previously limited to only Samsung, which limited its users to only 0.8 seconds of recording.

• Resolution: 720p, 1080p, and 4K (2160p)
• Max frame rate: 4K at 30/60 fps; 1080p at 30/60 fps; 720p at 60 fps
• Slow motion: yes, 1080p at 240 fps and 720p at 480 fps
• Time-lapse: yes
• Photos: Unknown
• Zoom: 10x digital zoom
• Flash access: yes (same as above)
• Video stabilization: yes, EIS + OIS
• Object detection: Unknown
• Autofocus: multi autofocus (PDAF+LAF+CAF)
• Audio: WAV, AAC, AMR
• Formats: MP4
• DxOMark Score: 111 (88 for video)

Audio

The OnePlus 7 Pro brings another first — stereo speakers. For the first time ever, a OnePlus device comes with dual speakers for clearer but louder audio. These speakers are also Dolby Atmos certified.

Despite fans outcry of its removal, OnePlus still keeps the 3.5 mm headphone jack out of its phones, forcing users to either opt for wireless headphones or USB-C headphones. However, it does support aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, and AAC for high quality wireless audio streaming.

• 3.5 mm headphone jack: no
• Stereo speakers: yes
• Mics: Unknown
• Max speaker volume: Unknown

Media Formats

The OnePlus 7 Pro includes a number of additional audio formats including EAC3, EAC3-JOC, and AC4.

• Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG, MID, M4A, IMY, AC3, EAC3, EAC3-JOC, AC4
• Video: MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, WEBM

Sensors

The OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro includes the same sensors as the OnePlus 6T.

• Accelerometer: yes
• Ambient light: yes
• Barometer: no
• Color temperature: yes
• Compass: yes
• Gravity: no
• Gyroscope: yes
• Hall: no
• Infrared: no
• Laser: no
• Pedometer: no
• Proximity: yes

The OnePlus 7 Pro is the first dual-band GPS to release in the US. It supports dual-band for both GPS and Galileo satellite navigation. With dual-band, the 7 Pro can track you much more precisely than other phones. Compare to single band phones, the 7 Pro can decipher your location within 11.8 inches compared to 16 feet of a single band. This means knowing what lane you are in for better turn-by-turn directions.

• GPS: yes (L1 + L5)
• aGPS: yes
• Glonass: yes
• BeiDou: yes
• Galileo: yes, (E1+E5a Dual Band)
• QZSS: no

Connectivity

Despite the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 supporting up to Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), OnePlus follows other OEMs by limiting Wi-Fi support to 802.11ac. This leaves Samsung S10 series as the only phones to include the latest Wi-Fi standard. NFC is still available, and as far as the data port, a USB Typ-C port is available that supports USB 3.1 for super fast transfer speeds. This port can be used to take advantage of Android Q's desktop mode. You just need a USB-C to HDMI adapter.

• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MIMO
• Modem: DL Cat18 / UL Cat13 (1.2Gbps /150Mbps) 4×4 MIMO
• Bluetooth: 5.0, support aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, AAC
• NFC: yes
• Cellular: dual nano-SIM
• Port: USB Type-C 3.1 GEN 1

The OnePlus 7 Pro comes with band support for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The global variant (on OnePlus' website) includes the LTE Band 71 for improved LTE coverage in rural areas.

Model number A

• FDD LTE: B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 66
• TDD-LTE: B34, 38, 39, 40, 41
• TDS: B34, 39
• UMTS: B1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 19
• CDMA: BC0, BC1
• GSM: B2, 3, 5, 8

Security

OnePlus 7 Pro uses an in-display fingerprint sensor. OnePlus once again decide to use the optical in-display which is less accurate and can't be used with dirty or wet hands. However, with its software optimization, the 7 Pro is very quick, able to unlock the phone in 0.21 seconds.

• Fingerprint scanner: yes, optical in-display
• Face scanner: no
• Iris scanner: no
• Manual authentication: password, PIN, pattern, swipe

Box Includes

In the box, you get the Warp Charge 30 Adapter and Warp Type-C Cable for fast charging. This is USB 2.0 cable, so if you want to advantage of the USB 3.1 GEN 1 data port on the OnePlus 7 Pro, you will need to buy a third-party cable such as Anker Powerline. There is a screen protector pre-applied which will allow you to use the in-display fingerprint reader and a protective case for the back cover.

• OnePlus 7 Pro
• Warp Charge 30 Power Adapter
• Warp Type-C Cable (Support USB 2.0)
• Quick Start Guide
• Welcome Letter
• Safety Information and Warranty Card
• LOGO Sticker
• Case
• Screen Protector (pre-applied)
• SIM Tray Ejector

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