Tuesday, March 31, 2020

OnePlus 8: Price, release date, specs and all the biggest leaks

Here are all the latest news and rumours concerning the most ambitious handset yet from OnePlus, from the release date and price to the key specs.

The OnePlus 8 could prove to be one of the most important launches in the manufacturer’s history, with a report suggesting it may launch in the US for the first time in the company’s history, and several sources claiming that there will be three separate variants available from launch (another first). But beyond the sales strategies, we also expect OnePlus to pump up the specs yet again.

With so many leaks and rumours surrounding the new phone, it can be difficult to keep up to date with all the latest news – so here is our definitive guide detailing all the latest credible reports about the OnePlus 8.

OnePlus 8 release date

It’s confirmed: the OnePlus 8 series will be released on April 14, according to the official Twitter account:

This is a little surprising based both on the brand’s recent release pattern and the fact that it was speculated that the coronavirus pandemic might have delayed smartphone production. In fact, co-founder Pete Lau claims that the release date had already been postponed three times due to the health crisis:

Excluding the T-series (released approximately six months after the main line of phones), here’s when the mainstream handsets hit the market:

  • OnePlus 7 — May 2019
  • OnePlus 6 — May 2018
  • OnePlus 5 — June 2017
  • OnePlus 3 — June 2016

OnePlus 8 price

OnePlus’ prices have risen considerably over recent years — but in all fairness, so have prices in the rest of the market as well.

The £699 OnePlus 7T Pro is comfortably the brand’s priciest handset yet, and the OnePlus 7T is excellent value for money but hardly cheap, at £549. Below is a graphic showing the rise of OnePlus smartphones over time, up to spring 2019:

It’s possible that the OnePlus 8 could be an exception to this rule, since trendsetter Apple has reduced the price of its new base model, the iPhone 11, to £729. It would go considerably against the ‘flagship-killing’ philosophy of OnePlus if it was to release handsets costing even more than the notoriously pricey iPhones.

So we’d expect the prices to be around the same again this year, and hopefully, the devices will still deliver the good value for money that OnePlus has traditionally delivered in spades.

OnePlus 8 design

Thanks to a multitude of leaks, we’ve got a very strong idea as to what the OnePlus 8 will look like – and in one way, it seems to actually have taken a backwards step.

The OnePlus 7 Pro made the bold choice to introduce a pop-up selfie camera so that the screen was completely notch-free (in contrast to most of its competitors). But all the leaks are in agreement that the new device will have a cut-out selfie camera similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy S10.

Image Credit: OnLeaks/CashKaro

This rumour first appeared courtesy of OnLeaks and CashKaro, who showed off a render (above) including the cut-out notch, back in early November — before the OnePlus 7T had even gone on sale!

This was given extra weight by a blueprint leaked by True Tech, indicating that the OnePlus 8 will have a single selfie camera, and the Pro edition will have a dual camera cut-out – similar this time to the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

Image Credit: True-Tech

Our first sneak peeks of the smartphone out in the wild arrived via the YouTuber Marques Brownlee, who showed off snaps that seemed to confirm the renders and blueprints.

 

The reasoning behind this controversial decision could be that a cut-out notch allows for two separate sensors for better selfies, and perhaps it was also influenced by consumers who perceived the pop-up module to be more vulnerable to hard knocks. The trade-off is of course that you’ll no longer have an uninterrupted screen.

Aside from this key element of design, the body of the phone looks strikingly similar to the OnePlus 7T Pro. The vertical camera module remains this time around, in place of the circular style favoured by the OnePlus 7T, and the bezels look to be minimal.

Image Credit: PC Tablet

Since MKBHD’s candid snaps emerged, we’ve since seen the OnePlus 8 appear “in the wild” a few other times, including the example above sourced by PC Tablet, which appears to show a curved-screen design somewhat similar to the Huawei Mate 30 Pro.

Even Iron Man himself seemed to be toting the handset – and given that Robert Downey Jr. is a brand ambassador for the OnePlus, it’s hardly surprising that he’d get his hands on the phone before anyone else.

Image Credit: OnLeaks / iGeekBlog

Claimed official renders from @OnLeaks show the device in yet more detail, giving us a good look at the camera module – which appears to have a fairly significant “bump” raised from the rear panel.

Image Credit: @OnLeaks / @91Mobiles

The rumours have also pointed towards there being a ‘Lite’ version of the OnePlus 8, which could be a welcome return to the company’s low-cost, high-performance roots. Above is a render purporting to be of the Lite version, and below is a tweet showing off what is supposedly a dummy model of the handset in the open air.

The leaks appear to show that the Lite version will have three rather than four cameras as one of the compromises we’ll have to accept for a lower price point, and the design is slightly different from the other variants as the camera module is shifted to one side rather than centred.

Renowned Twitter leaker Ishan Agarwal has also joined the fray, announcing three new colours for the new device: Interstellar Glow, Glacial Green, and Onyx Black. The former is by far the most eye-catching,

OnePlus 8 display

With the OnePlus 7 Pro’s 90Hz display, the brand pushed high refresh rates firmly into the mainstream of the smartphone market, no longer leaving them as the sole preserve of dedicated gaming phones such as the Razer Phone 2 or the Asus ROG Phone 2.

It has since become a benchmark to judge most competing flagships, including the Google Pixel 4, offering users smoother scrolling and much more reactive mobile gaming experiences – and now the manufacturer will up the stakes.

During an event in China on January 13, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau unveiled a new 120Hz Fluid AMOLED screen panel and heavily alluded that it will be employed by the company in the very near future, boasting: “We believe that the smoothest smartphone display must also be able to deliver superior visual quality and viewing comfort. We’re sure that OnePlus’s new 120Hz Fluid Display will be the best you’ll lay eyes on in 2020.”

OnePlus 120 Hz Fluid Display image

It has since been confirmed definitively that OnePlus’ next flagship will host a 120Hz refresh rate tech, and on top of that the screen will support 10-bit colour and 1000 nits peak brightness, with a 2K+ resolution. These highly impressive display specs will no doubt be a key selling point for the upcoming device.

OnePlus 8 specs

OnePlus was quick to the 5G game, introducing it with the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G – one of the first compatible handsets when the network had just begun to be rolled out in the UK. Since then coverage has improved greatly, and OnePlus is responding to that with

Co-founder Pete Lau declared: “This is a milestone both for OnePlus and our users. We’re proud to be among the first smartphone manufacturers to have full 5G line up for our next launch. OnePlus has achieved many firsts with 5G, and this time’s no exception.”

So if there is indeed to be a Lite version of the handset, it’s a sure bet that even it will offer 5G connectivity.

The OnePlus 8 is sure to run on the latest top-of-the-line Qualcomm processor, as always, which this year is the Snapdragon 865. It can attain 5G thanks to its associated X55 modem, and we expect it deliver a powerhouse performance – an area where OnePlus rarely fails to excel. Combined with that enviable refresh rate, this could indeed be a good choice for gamers.

OnePlus 8 camera

So far, our most reliable camera information comes courtesy of tipster Ishan Agarwal, who scored several coups before the launch of the OnePlus 7 series.

He claims that the OnePlus 8 Pro will boast the same 48-megapixel main sensor as the Oppo Find X2 Pro, along with a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens, an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom, plus a 5-megapixel colour filter. We can’t wait to see how it performs in action.

The post OnePlus 8: Price, release date, specs and all the biggest leaks appeared first on Trusted Reviews.



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