OnePlus debuts $699 OnePlus 8, $899 OnePlus 8 Pro with high-refresh 6.55" and 6.78" hole-punch screens, wireless charging, WiFi 6, on-screen fingerprint reader
As the world is in quarantine, smartphone companies aren't standing still and are still moving forward with their new product launches.
AnandTechAndrei Frumusanu
Context & Ripple Effects
This launch completes OnePlus's climb out of its flagship-killer niche. The OnePlus 7 Pro introduced the 90Hz panel last year as a halo feature, and the OnePlus 7T brought it down to a $599 price point six months ago — but the new lineup starts at $699 and tops out at $899, with the Pro adding wireless charging and an IP rating the standard model skips.
The timing matters as much as the specs: shipping two tiers mid-quarantine, OnePlus is betting that high-refresh displays have moved from differentiator to baseline, and that it can now charge Samsung-tier money for them.
First-order effects
Buyers lose the sub-$600 OnePlus option entirely — the entry price rises $100 over the 7T while the Pro lands within striking distance of incumbent flagships, forcing shoppers to weigh OnePlus against Samsung rather than against 'cheap'.
The standard OnePlus 8 ships without wireless charging or an IP rating despite the $699 price, splitting the lineup's value story and leaving the Pro as the only complete device.
Second-order effects
Rivals now face high-refresh screens as table stakes at every price band above $600, since OnePlus has pushed 90Hz+ panels and hole-punch designs across both of its tiers in a single generation.
Wireless-charging accessory makers gain a larger addressable base as the Pro adopts Qi charging, while reviewers' complaints about the standard model's missing features give competitors a ready-made counterpitch.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, display refresh rate becomes the annual arms race that replaces camera megapixels — a trajectory the corpus itself confirms, from 90Hz here through the OnePlus 9's 120Hz panels to the $900-plus OnePlus 15's 165Hz screen.
OnePlus's steady price ascent points toward consolidation at the premium tier, where the 'affordable flagship' segment it once defined gets ceded to sub-brands and the company competes head-on with Samsung and Apple on specs and support length alike.
The trend: OnePlus is trading its budget flagship-killer identity for yearly premium escalations — faster panels, more radios, and prices climbing steadily toward the $900 tier.
So here's the thing, the OnePlus 8 is pretty great, but it comes with those traditional OnePlus compromises in a year when the Pro model doesn't. The 8 is great, but the 8 Pro is better, and it's also not ~that~ much more expensive https://www.theverge.com/...
So. Let's see. The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro look amazing. Am obviously very curious about the camera performance, I know the rest will be stellar. But those prices. Oof. That's a tough one, since price was previously a key advantage for them.
Also interesting that this is the *only* OnePlus phone to support mmWave 5G. The unlocked 8 and 8 Pro don't have mmWave, which is extra interesting because that means you're also not getting mmWave to use on T-Mobile. T-Mo is heavily Sub-6 5G right now, but mmWave is coming.
I chatted with Verizon and @Petelau about the exclusive OnePlus 8 5G UW, which will get access to Verizon's 5G millimeter wave network. https://www.cnet.com/...
Update: no, it does not. Compared to the Pro, the OnePlus 8 has a lower-specced camera array, and there's no mention of Warp Charge Wireless. Those savings had to come from somewhere. #OnePlus8Series
I just realized that with the punch hole front-facing camera of the OnePlus 8 series, we can say RIP to the pop-up camera from last year. I kinda liked it, actually.