OnePlus 8 Pro costs $200 more than OnePlus 8, but is it worth the extra bucks?

OnePlus recently launched the OnePlus 8 series at a global online event. The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro have arrived with several improvements over their predecessors. But while the two devices look very similar, the hardware under the hood is very different on both the devices.

The entry-level OnePlus 8 Pro will cost you about USD 200 (Approx. Rs 15,300) more than the vanilla OnePlus 8, and that price difference could only increase in India. But the big question here is how much more do you get for that extra price and is it worth it?

The biggest difference between the two phones come in the camera department. The camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro features a primary 48-megapixel Sony IMX689 sensor, a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 ultrawide lens, an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor and a 5-megapixel colour filter.

Meanwhile, the OnePlus 8 uses an older and smaller 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor, the same sensor used on the ultrawide camera on the Pro variant. Additionally, the ultrawide camera is limited to 16 megapixels, while there’s no telephoto shooter and the colour filter is replaced with a macro camera. The OnePlus 8 Pro features OIS and EIS on the primary camera and OIS on the telephoto camera while the OnePlus 8 only features OIS on the main camera.

Another significant improvement on the OnePlus 8 Pro is on the display front. The OnePlus 8 Pro features a QHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate as opposed to the FHD+, 90Hz display on the vanilla OnePlus 8. Additionally, the display on the OnePlus 8 Pro is brighter and boasts an industry-leading 10-bit colour display with 64 times more colours than previous versions. The advanced MEMC algorithms on the OnePlus 8 Pro transforms standard footage into smooth 120 fps video.

There are two more key differences between the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. The OnePlus 8 Pro offers both wired and wireless fast charging that are capable of fully juicing your phone in about an hour. The OnePlus 8 Pro also features an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. The OnePlus 8 Pro also has Audio 3D and Audio Zoom for better audio capture when recording videos.

Now, to the second and the most important part of our question. Are the improvements on the OnePlus 8 Pro worth the extra price; we’d have to say “yes”. The camera setup on the OnePlus 8 Pro is more in line with flagships of 2020, while the OnePlus 8’s camera setup barely holds it own over the OnePlus 7T. We’d say the camera alone is worth the extra price, but then there’s the IP rating, which is quite useful, and wireless fast charging support. Lastly, the display on the OnePlus 8 Pro is also miles ahead of the OnePlus 8.