OnePlus 8 launched: retains most of the Pro version's DNA

The most anticipated phone from OnePlus, the OnePlus 8 is finally here. The phone has been speculated for quite some time now and many of its specs got leaked. But now we got to see the device in its full glory. OnePlus an online event launched its new phone and boy oh boy, what an amazing job they have done in making this phone. Even though OnePlus 8 Pro is a superior device among the series, OnePlus 8 is not very far behind. The vanilla OnePlus shares many of the traits with its bigger brother and has many similarities but the differences between the two make it a totally different phone. The OnePlus 8 price in Nepal can be expected to be NPR 85,000 for an 8/128GB variant and NPR 97,000 for the 12/256GB model.

Design and Display

Starting with the design of the phone, OnePlus 8 is labeled as the “compact flagship”. As the display size of the phone is getting bigger and bigger, the device itself is getting bigger. Due to this, many feel uncomfortable carrying a larger device in their pockets or purses. But small devices don’t cut it either. Smaller phone means smaller display and smaller display means poor immersive experience. For that, OnePlus tried to make a compact phone without giving up a larger display resulting in OnePlus 8.

The device sports a 6.55 inch AMOLED screen which is just 72.9mm wide. Not only the width, but the thickness of the device has also decreased to just 8mm. The display has a resolution of 2400×1080 and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The Phone has a glass sandwich design, with glass in the front and back with an aluminum frame in the middle. The right side of the phone houses the unlock button accompanied by notification slider while the volume rocker can be found on the left side of the device. USB Type-C port can be seen on the bottom center of the phone accompanied by a speaker.

The display of the OnePlus 8 gets the 90hz refresh rate instead of the 120hz which can be seen in the Pro model. But the display of the phone as amazing as the Pro version. You won’t find a noticeable difference in smoothness unless played side by side. The display also has a punch-hole cut out on the top left side of the phone to house a selfie camera and the cutout comes at just 3.8mm. Another important feature that the display sports, is an in-display fingerprint scanner. The in-display sensor is very fast and accurate. The display is plenty bright as well, the brightness of the display peaks at 1100nits and supports HDR10 and HDR 10+ contents.

OnePlus 8 Camera

OnePlus 8 sports a triple camera setup, the primary camera being a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor. This is the same sensor seen in the pro model of the phone. The only difference is that the sensor is a secondary sensor for the pro model whereas primary for the vanilla OnePlus 8.

Accompanying the primary sensor is a 16 MP, f/2.2 ultrawide lens and a 2 MP, f/2.4 macro lens. The cameras of the phone are capable of taking good videos with 2160p@30/60fps, or 1080p@30/60/240fps. On the front housed inside the punch-hole cutout is a 16 MP, f/2.0, wide-angle lens capable of taking decent selfies.

Performance, Software, and Battery

OnePlus 8 is very similar to its OnePlus 8 Pro when it comes to performance and sports a Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 chipset as its processor. The processor has been bundled with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. Taking care of the graphics in the device is the Adreno 650. The device is also 5G ready thanks to the X55 modem coupled with the processor. The X55 modem is capable of working in both mmWave as well as Sub-6 spectrum giving the phone faster speed.

For the software, OnePlus is back with its OxygenOS and is using OxygenOs 10.0 which is based on Android 10. With the OnePlus 8, the company is bringing many improvements in the software experience for its users. With OnePlus 8, the users will get a new dark mode as well as dynamic wallpaper which changes according to the weather.

As for the battery, the phone sports an impressive 4300mAh battery. The battery supports the company’s Warp Charge 30T technology which is a 30W fast charging solution. This enables the phone to charge from 0 to 60% in just 30 minutes. Unlike the big brother, OnePlus 8 Pro, no wireless charging for OnePlus 8. The device is also Stadia and Amazon-Alexa ready. Additional features of the phone include WIFI 6, 5G, USB Type-C, and Bluetooth 5.1

OnePlus 8 Key Specs

Release Date	April 14, 2020
Display	6.55 inches Fluid AMOLED screen, 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~402 ppi density)
Chipset	Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 (7 nm+), Adreno 650
Memory	128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM
Primary Camera	48 MP, f/1.8, 25mm (wide) + 16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide) + 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
Selfie Camera	16 MP, f/2.0, (wide)
OS	Android 10.0; OxygenOS 10.0
Battery	Non-removable Li-Po 4300 mAh battery
Colors	Onyx Black, Glacial Green, Interstellar Glow, Polar Silver
Miscellaneous	WIFI 6, 5G, USB Type-C, and Bluetooth 5.1, Stedia and Amazon Alexa ready
OnePlus 8 Price in Nepal (Expected)	NPR 85,000 (8/128GB)

OnePlus 8 Price in Nepal & Availability

Coming to the pricing of OnePlus 8, it is modestly priced and starts at $699 / £599 for the 8+128GB variant. That’s £100 more than the OnePlus 7’s launch price and £50 more than the 7T‘s. And as for the higher 12+256GB variant is priced at $799 / £699.

The device will be available on stores to buy April 21 onwards in the UK and Europe, and April 29th onwards in the US. However, the pre-orders are already set for the UK.

Of course, there’s no official information on the device’s pricing for the Nepali market. Converting the international market pricing, the OnePlus 8 price in Nepal should be around NPR 85,000 and NPR. 97,300 for 8/128GB and 12/256GB variants respectively.

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