OnePlus 7 Pro Review

July 26, 2019 | Amy Davies | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

Over the past few years, OnePlus has carved out a niche in the smartphone world. Generally, it offers a range of features but a budget price.

For the OnePlus 7 Pro, it seems to be heading in a slightly different direction - concentrating more on what the phone can offer, than offering it a super-cheap price. That said, the price starts at £649, making it still not as expensive as plenty of other flagship smartphones on the market, such as the Huawei P30 Pro or the iPhone XS.

On the rear of the phone, the OnePlus 7 Pro now sports a triple camera set up, which marks a first for OnePlus and brings it in line with several other devices on the market. The main camera is a 48 megapixel device, which has a f/1.6 equivalent lens. As is becoming increasingly common, it is joined by an ultra-wide angle f/2.2 lens. That lens sits in front of a 16 megapixel sensor. Finally, there’s a 3x optical zoom lens with an f/2.4 aperture and an 8 megapixel sensor.

Other specifications which are likely to appeal to photographers include 4K video shooting at up to 60fps, “Nightscape” mode, the ability to shoot in raw format and Pro Mode.

Ease of Use

OnePlus 7 Pro
Front of the OnePlus 7 Pro

For a phone which falls into the “mid-range” category, the OnePlus 7 Pro feels very well built, while also featuring an elegant design on the whole.

The problem of the “notch” has been tackled in an unusual way for this phone. The OnePlus 7 Pro features a whole screen display, with the selfie-camera popping out from a drawer in the top left of the camera. It’s quite a novelty to see it emerge from the housing - OnePlus says that it has been tested to use over 300,000 times (that’s 150 selfies a day for 5.5 years, if you’re interested), so it should be nice and secure. You might reach the magic 300,000 times a bit quicker if you want to use Face Unlock, though - so that’s something to think about.

For this review, I’ve been using the Nebula Blue colour way, which is very attractive and causes a nice sheen and gradient as the light hits it. The phone uses a glass back and rear panel, which again makes it look very elegant, but it does feel heavier than many other phones on the market.

OnePlus 7 Pro
Rear of the OnePlus 7 Pro

In order to access the OnePlus 7 Pro’s camera, you can slide up from the bottom right hand corner of the screen from the lock mode. The native camera app offers a lot of functionality, with good options available depending on whether you want to keep it simple or take a little bit more control.

By default, the app opens in Photo mode. This acts like a basic point and shoot, making all the decisions for you. From here, you can move between the different lenses. By default, the 1x lens is selected, but you can easily tap to move to the wider 0.6x lens, or the 3x telephoto lens. To do this - tap the tree icons (three threes for wide angle, two trees for standard, one tree for telephoto). You can also pinch out on the screen to go beyond 3x with a digital zoom up to 10x.

Along the top of the screen (or to the left if you’re holding it in landscape orientation), there’s a series of icons that control various things. You can set a timer, change the aspect ratio, or turn on the flash. The ability to control HDR will be up here too, if you’ve added the control from the settings menu - which is worth doing in case of HDR going a bit far in certain situations.

OnePlus 7 Pro
The OnePlus 7 Pro In-hand

In order to take a photo, you can either use the on-screen virtual shutter release button, or you can use either the volume up or down button to take a shot. Tapping around the screen changes the focus point, and you’ll also see an exposure compensation slider pop up when you tap, allowing you to increase or reduce the brightness of your image.

At the bottom of the screen you’ll also see that there’s the option to switch to the front-facing camera. Tap this, and the hidden selfie camera will emerge. As well as being tested for durability, there are some other things which have been done to ensure it stays safe - for instance, it will automatically detect if the phone has been dropped and retract it to keep it safe. It will also warn you not to physically push the unit back into the phone if it notices you doing that, too. The camera should retract by itself when switching back to the main camera, or indeed if you leave the camera app altogether.

Where you see the Photo mode, you’ll notice that you can move to the left or the right to select different shooting modes. To the left there’s Video, while to the right, you’ll find Portrait and Nightscape. When in Video mode, you’ll be able to adjust the frame rate and flash from the top panel.

OnePlus 7 Pro
The OnePlus 7 Pro's Camera Mode

Portrait mode is for creating a shallow depth of field effect. Although called Portrait, you can also use it for other types of subjects, too. You can also switch on a beauty mode, too. Nightscape is similar to other low-light modes we’ve seen on other smartphones, such as Google’s Night Sight or Huawei’s Night mode. It blends together several short exposures to create the impression of a long exposure.

To reach further shooting modes and options, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and several more will be revealed. As well as all of the other modes already discussed, there’s also Pro, Time Lapse, Panorama and Slow Motion to be found here. The last three are fairly self-explanatory, but the Pro mode is well worth exploring if you’re a little bit more of an advanced user.

OnePlus 7 Pro
The OnePlus 7 Pro's Shooting Modes

In Pro mode, you’ll be able to change a number of different shooting parameters to suit the situation. There’s ISO, white balance, shutter speed, focusing and exposure compensation. To make changes, you tap each parameter and then use a sliding wheel which appears to make adjustments. It’s also in this mode that you can activate raw format shooting - the option for which appears in the top bar.

Also in the slide up menu is the ability to access further settings. In here you’ll find a number of useful options - one such option is being able to configure which shooting modes appear in the start up screen, so for example if you think you might use Pro mode a lot, you can add it here to save having to delve into the expanded menu. It’s also here that you’ll find options such as Manual HDR control, plus you can turn on lens correction for the Ultra Wide lens.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 48 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 10Mb.

We’ve been impressed by the quality of OnePlus cameras before - as is the case with many other smartphone manufacturers, the company often markets its devices on the back of the quality of the onboard camera.

Previously, we were impressed considering the camera was found on a mid-range model, but for the OnePlus 7 Pro, it feels as if the company has stepped up a gear and produced something very likeable for not too much more of a price increase, which is even more impressive.

To see a triple-lens set up on what is essentially still a mid-range phone is great, and there seems to be no sign of the penchant for extreme wide-angle lenses to abate any time soon - it’s fantastic to have that flexibility to shoot at a range of different focal lengths.

On the whole, images are bright and punchy with a satisfying amount of detail. They look particularly good on the screen of the OnePlus 7, being marginally less so on a computer screen. If your main intention is to share your images on social media sites, or print at small sizes, you’ll likely be enamoured with what the OnePlus 7 is capable of producing.

As for the different lenses, the telephoto zoom is not quite as good as that found in the Huawei P30 Pro, but considering the OnePlus 7 Pro is available for a significant chunk less, that’s still pretty good.

Being able to take control of shooting parameters in Pro mode is very handy for complex situations, but other modes which deserve a special mention are Nightscape and Portrait. While Nightscape puts in a solid performance, again it’s not quite on a par with others on the market - particularly those found inside Google Pixel phones and the Huawei / Honor models. Portrait mode is also a reasonable performer, but it’s not quite as flexible as we see elsewhere, with no option to alter how blurred the background is, or choose different bokeh styles.

Noise

JPEG

RAW

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

iso100.jpg iso100raw.jpg

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso200raw.jpg

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso400.jpg iso400raw.jpg

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso800raw.jpg

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso1600.jpg iso1600raw.jpg

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso3200raw.jpg

Focal Range

Optical Zoom - 1x

zoom1x.jpg

Optical Zoom - Wide

zoom-wide.jpg

Optical Zoom - Tele

zoom-tele.jpg

Flash

Flash Off

rear-camera-noflash.jpg

Flash On

rearcamera-flash.jpg

Selfie Camera - Flash Off

selfiecamera.jpg

Selfie Camera - Flash On

selfiecamer-aflash.jpg

Macro

macro.jpg

Portrait Mode

PortraitMode.jpg

Night

Standard Long Exposure
longexposure.jpg
Nightscape Mode
nightscapemode.jpg
nightscapemode2.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the OnePlus 7 Pro camera, which were all taken using the 48 megapixel JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The OnePlus 7 Pro enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some OnePlus RAW (DNG) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movies & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 3840x2160 pixels at 60 frames per second. Please note that this 18 second movie is 340Mb in size.

This is a sample movie at the quality setting of 3840x2160 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 17 second movie is 85.7Mb in size.

This is a sample movie at the quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 60 frames per second. Please note that this 17 second movie is 83Mb in size.

This is a sample movie at the quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 18 second movie is 43.9Mb in size.

Product Images

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

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OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

OnePlus 7 Pro

Conclusion

There’s a heck of a lot to like about the OnePlus 7 Pro. The company has always sold its wares on the basis of providing much of the same specifications as flagship smartphones but at a fraction of the price. Although it’s not quite as cheap as previous models, it still represents good value for what you get and shows that you don’t have to spend upwards of £800 to get a well-performing smartphone.

We’ve liked previous OnePlus cameras, but now we’ve got something ultra flexible with the introduction of a triple-lens setup. Having a super wide-angle lens is fantastic and really appeals for taking holiday and travel shots - something which a lot of people will surely be doing. It’s nice to see modes such as Nightscape here, but if you’re somebody who takes a lot of low-light shots, there are just about other better performers currently on the market.

On the whole though, image quality is fantastic. The native camera app is one of the best ones on the market, offering a range of flexible shooting modes, as well as solidly-performing automatic mode for those that simply want to point-and-shoot.

Despite being a mid-range phone, you don’t have to compromise on looks either, with the glass back and front of the OnePlus 7 Pro being very elegant. You might want to invest in a case for it though, as dropping glass is of course never a good idea.

The pop-up selfie camera is likely to be a “love it” or “hate it” situation. It’s an interesting solution to the “notch” problem, and is certainly unusual. OnePlus is confident that the camera can cope with over 300,000 retractions, but it’ll be interesting to see if anybody comes a cropper with the device.

There’s a huge amount of competition in the smartphone market at the moment. OnePlus is not one of the “big players” (like Samsung, Apple and Huawei), but it consistently produces good smartphones and has a loyal fanbase. The OnePlus 7 Pro offers something which builds on the previous OnePlus models, and although it’s no longer the bargain that it once was, it still offers great value for money.

For those a little distrustful of some of the big players at the moment, or simply don’t want to fork out a lot of cash, the OnePlus 7 Pro comes highly recommended.

4.5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4.5
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 4
Value for money 4.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the OnePlus 7 Pro.

Apple iPhone XR

The Apple iPhone XR is the cheapest of the three new iPhones released in 2018, sacrificing the telephoto lens and higher-resolution screen that the XS models offer. Read our in-depth Apple iPhone XR review to find out if it's still worth considering...

Apple iPhone Xs

The Apple iPhone XS is the 2018 update of Apple's best ever selling phone, last year's iPhone X. Read our Apple iPhone XS review to find out what this latest version offers and if it's the right smartphone for keen photographers...

Google Pixel 3

The brand new Google Pixel 3 smartphone offers photographers a 12 megapixel sensor, 5.5-inch FHD+ screen, wide-angle selfies, Portrait Mode, and the clever Night Sight mode for low-light hand-held shooting. Read our in-depth Google Pixel 3 review to find out just what it's capable of...

Google Pixel 3 XL

The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL are new flagship smartphones from Google. New features for photographers include Top Shot, which uses AI to help you capture the perfect photo every time, Super Res Zoom, which produces sharp details when you zoom, and Night Sight, which lets you take natural-looking photos…

Google Pixel 3a

Do you want the same excellent camera from the flagship Pixel 3 but at a much lower price? Of course you do! Then look no further than the brand new Pixel 3a, which features exactly the same camera module as its big brother, including the innovative Night Sight and Portrait modes, but at almost half the price. Read our Google Pixel 3a review to find out if this is all the smartphone camera that you actually need...

Honor 20

Want a great smartphone with a triple-camera setup that doesn't cost the earth? Then you may be interested in the Honor 20, a new mid-range 48 megapixel device with a 6.26” full HD screen, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. Read our Honor 20 review to find out what this new smartphone has to offer keen photographers...

Honor View 20

The Honor View 20 is a mid-range smartphone with flagship specs and performance, with a 48 megapixel sensor, a “hole punch” to house the front-facing camera, and dedicated Night, Portrait and Pro shooting modes aimed at photographers. Is this all the smartphone that you really need? Find out now by reading our in-depth Honor View 20 review, complete with full-size sample images and videos.

HTC U12 Plus

The HTC U12 Plus is a flagship smartphone from one of the smaller players in the industry, with a dual-camera setup on both the front and rear. Read our detailed HTC U12 Plus review to find out what it offers photographers, complete with full-size sample images and videos...

OnePlus 6T

The OnePlus 6T is a flagship smartphone with a 16 megapixel camera, 4K/60fps movie recording, 960fps super slow motion video, and a smaller notch design. Read our expert OnePlus 6T review with full-size sample JPEG and Raw images and videos...

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus

The Galaxy S10 Plus is the best smartphone that Samsung have ever made, but is it also the best for keen photographers? Find out now by reading our expert Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus review, complete with full-size sample images and videos...

Sony Xperia 1

The Xperia 1 is the first ever Sony smartphone to borrow technology from the company's successful Alpha range of mirrorless cameras, including the very popular Eye AF feature and the latest Bionz X processor. Could this be the ultimate smartphone for photographers? Find out now by reading our in-depth Sony Xperia 1 review, complete with full-size sample images and videos...

Sony Xperia XZ3

The Sony Xperia XZ3 is a flagship smartphone with a 19 megapixel camera, 4K HDR Movie recording, 960fps Super slow motion in Full HD, and AI predictive capture.Are there enough features and performance to tempt keen photographers? Find out now by reading our in-depth Sony Xperia XZ3 review, complete with full-size sample images and videos...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the OnePlus 7 Pro from around the web.

techradar.com »

The OnePlus 7 Pro has a few surprises behind its stunning all-screen front, unblemished by a notch cutout or punch-hole camera. It hides a novel pop-up selfie camera and offers a 90Hz screen refresh rate that makes games and movie-watching look extremely fluid. Even if it doesn't have the best camera phone, it has features that Apple and Samsung aren’t giving you in 2019, and performance to match. One more surprise, though: this new OnePlus phone now costs almost as much as the iPhone XR and Galaxy S10e.
Read the full review »

trustedreviews.com »

The OnePlus 7 Pro manages to innovate in one of the most competitive technology markets out there while still circumventing convention by undercutting the majority of the competition on cost. Even if wireless charging and water resistance aren't part of the equation, It has one of the nicest displays you'll find on a phone, is a superb performer, offers great battery life and the camera is always improving.
Read the full review »

androidauthority.com »

The OnePlus 7 Pro offers quite a bit of value for what the company is asking, but it's missing a few key features for which consumers might be willing to cough up the extra dough. While the display and camera versatility are much better than they were on the OnePlus 6T, the downgraded battery life, lack of wireless charging, and lack of water resistance make this an option, rather than a no-brainer.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Basic Parameters

Dimensions

162.6×75.9×8.8mm

Weight

206g

Back Material

3D Corning® Gorilla® Glass

Colors

Mirror Gray/Nebula Blue/Almond

Operating System

OxygenOS based on Android™ 9

CPU

Qualcomm® Snapdragon™855 (Octa-core, 7nm, up to 2.84 GHz), with Qualcomm AI Engine

GPU

Adreno 640

RAM

6GB/8GB/12GB LPDDR4X

Storage

128GB/256GB UFS 3.0 2-LANE

Sensors

In-display Fingerprint Sensor, Accelerometer, Electronic Compass, Gyroscope, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Sensor Core, Laser Sensor

Ports

USB 3.1 GEN1, Type-C, Support standard Type-C earphone
Dual nano-SIM slot
OnePlus 7 Pro 5G version: Single nano-SIM slot

Battery

4000 mAh (non-removable) Warp Charge 30 Fast Charging (5V/6A)

Vibration

Haptic Vibration

Buttons

Gestures and on-screen navigation support
Alert Slider

Audio

Dual stereo speakers
Noise cancellation support
Dolby Atmos®

Unlock Options

In-display Fingerprint
Face Unlock

Connectivity

LTE

4×4 MIMO, LTE Cat. 18, DL 5CA, UL CA, Supports up to DL Cat18 /UL Cat13 (1.2Gbps /150Mbps), depending on carrier support

Bands

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

Check carrier compatibility

Wi-Fi

2x2 MIMO, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4G/5G

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 5.0, support aptX & aptX HD & LDAC & AAC

NFC

NFC enabled

Positioning

GPS (L1+L5 Dual Band), GLONASS, Galileo (E1+E5a Dual Band), Beidou, SBAS, A-GPS

Display

Size

6.67 inches(The corners of the screen are within a standard rectangle. Measured diagonally, the screen size is 6.67 inches in the full rectangle and 6.46 inches accounting for the rounded corners.)

Resolution

3120 x 1440 pixels 516ppi

Aspect Ratio

19.5:9

Type

Fluid AMOLED

Cover Glass

3D Corning® Gorilla® Glass

Features

Support sRGB, Display P3
Video Enhancer
Reading Mode
Night Mode

Rear camera

Rear camera - Main

Sensor: Sony IMX586
Megapixels: 48
Pixel Size: 0.8 µm/48M; 1.6 µm (4 in 1)/12M
Lens Quantity: 7P
OIS: Yes
EIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.6

Telephoto Lens

Megapixels: 8
Pixel Size: 1.0µm
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.4

Ultra Wide Angle Lens

Megapixels: 16
Aperture: f/2.2
Field of View: 117°

Flash

Dual LED Flash

Lossless Zoom

Autofocus

Multi Autofocus(PDAF+LAF+CAF)

Video

4K video at 30/60 fps
1080P video at 30/60 fps
Super Slow Motion: 1080p video at 240 fps, 720p video at 480 fps
Time-Lapse
Video Editor

Features

UltraShot, Nightscape, Studio Lighting, Portrait, Pro Mode, Panorama, HDR, AI Scene Detection, RAW Image

Front Camera

Front Camera

Sensor: Sony IMX471
Megapixels: 16
Pixel Size: 1.0 µm
EIS: Yes
Autofocus: Fixed Focus
Aperture: f/2.0

Video

1080P video at 30fps
Time-Lapse

Features

Face Unlock, HDR, Screen Flash, Face Retouching

Multimedia

Audio Supported Formats

Playback: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG, MID, M4A, IMY, AC3, EAC3, EAC3-JOC, AC4
Recording: WAV, AAC, AMR

Video Supported Formats

Playback: MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, WEBM
Recording: MP4

Image Supported Formats

Playback: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF
Output: JPEG, PNG

In The Box

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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