OnePlus 8 Pro: A great phone that's no longer a great value

OnePlus used to give you a lot for the money. Now it just gives you a lot.

- MICHAEL SIMON

The OnePlus 8 Pro ushers in a bunch of firsts for the humble Android phone maker. It’s the first OnePlus display with a hole-punch camera and a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s the first OnePlus phone with wireless charging and a quad-camera. It’s the first time OnePlus has made Wi-Fi 6 and 5G standard. Heck, it’s even the first OnePlus phone with IP-rated water resistance.

It’s also the first OnePlus handset to top a thousand bucks (with tax), more than three times the cost of the original OnePlus One. To be fair, things have changed quite a bit since 2014, when Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5 cost just $650 off-contract. But even though OnePlus can claim the 8 Pro costs $300 less than the closest apples-to-apples comparison Galaxy phone, a four-figure sticker price is still much more shocking on a OnePlus phone than a Samsung one.

While the 8 Pro is a fantastic phone that continues to shine a light on just how expensive premium Android phones have become, the light is less illuminative this time around. By throwing out its own playbook to give die-hard fans everything they wanted, the OnePlus 8 Pro has joined the ranks of the phones it was supposed to undercut.

DESIGN: BIG AND BEAUTIFUL

The design of the OnePlus 8 Pro doesn’t deviate much from that of its predecessor, the OnePlus 7 Pro. Its dimensions are a touch bigger, and it’s a bit lighter (199 grams vs. 210 grams) and thinner (8.5mm vs. 8.8mm). There’s one noticeable deviation: The curved display now has a hole in the upper left corner for the selfie cam, rather than the delightful pop-up cam introduced on the 7 Pro.