Shenzhen-based device maker OnePlus recently unveiled its most expensive smartphone this week in the form of the OnePlus 8 Pro. Beyond its price, the OnePlus 8 Pro looks like a premium smartphone, unlike past OnePlus devices. But how does the OnePlus 8 Pro stack up against its closest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus?
OnePlus 8 Pro vs Galaxy S20 Plus
| Specs | OnePlus 8 Pro | Galaxy S20+ |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 865 | Snapdragon 865 / Exynos 990 |
| Display | 6.78-inch QHD+ Fluid AMOLED, HDR10+, 120Hz, 1 billion colours | 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED, HDR10+, 120Hz 16 million colours |
| RAM | 8GB/12GB LPDDR5 | 8GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB UFS 3.0 | 128GB UFS 3.0 |
| Rear Camera | 48 MP, f/1.8 (PDAF, OIS, Laser AF) + 8 MP, f/2.2 Telephoto (PDAF, OIS) + 48 MP, f/2.2 Ultrawide (PDAF) + 5 MP Colour Filter | 12 MP, f/1.8 (PDAF, OIS) + 64 MP, f/2.0 Telephoto (PDAF, OIS) + 12 MP Ultrawide, f/2.2 + 3D ToF |
| Front Camera | 16 MP, f/2.5 | 10 MP, f/2.2 (Dual Pixel PDAF) |
| Battery | 4510 mAh, 30W Fast Charging, 30W Wireless Charging, 3W Reverse Wireless Charging | 4500 mAh, 25W Fast Charging, 15W Wireless Charging, 9W Reverse Wireless Charging |
| Software | Android 10.0; OxygenOS 10.0 | Android 10.0; One UI 2 |
| Price | USD 899 / Estimated Price in India 60 - 70K (Rs) | Rs 73,999 / USD 1,199 |
Both the OnePlus 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S20+ sport a glass front and back with metal frames. However, Samsung opts for a glossy finish while OnePlus sticks to a matte finish. Both the phones have hole-punch cameras with Samsung’s notch centralised at the top, and OnePlus’ punch-hole positioned to the top left of the display. On the back, the S20+ has the camera layout in a rectangular box, while the OnePlus 8 Pro has vertically aligned cameras. Both devices also have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. While design is subjective, we’d have to give this round to the OnePlus 8 Pro as the screen curvature looks better than Samsung’s flat panel.
Display
When it comes to display, it doesn’t get any better than the panels on these two phones. Both the Galaxy S20 Plus and OnePlus 8 Pro have QHD+ AMOLED screens with a 120Hz refresh rate and amazing levels of brightness. That being said, the screen on the OnePlus beats out Samsung’s S20 Plus’ panel. Firstly, the S20 Plus’ 120Hz refresh rate can only be used in FHD+ resolution, while the 8 Pro can fully utilise the 120Hz refresh rate at Quad HD resolution. Additionally, the OnePlus 8 Pro’s display reproduces 1 billion colours as compared to the 16 million colours on the Galaxy S20+.
Performance
Both the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and OnePlus 8 Pro are performance behemoths. OnePlus and Samsung both use a Snapdragon 865 SoC paired with UFS 3.0 storage and LPDDR5 RAM standards, which will effortlessly allow them to handle any task. However, Samsung is limited to 8GB of RAM, while OnePlus goes up to 12GB. Although 8GB RAM is more than enough on Android. It is worth noting that the Exynos version of the S20+ is nowhere near as powerful as the Snapdragon 865-powered S20 Plus. If you buy the OnePlus 8 Pro in India, you will have access to 5G, while the Exynos Galaxy S20+ in India doesn’t offer 5G connectivity.
Camera
Both phones have a quad-camera setup on the back with the only difference being a depth sensor on the S20+ and a colour filter on the OnePlus 8 Pro. While OnePlus phones wouldn’t have been able to stand toe-to-toe with Samsung’s best in the past, the OnePlus 8 Pro is an exception. OnePlus has updated both its main and ultrawide camera sensors. The new primary Sony sensor is the same as that on Oppo Find X2 Pro (Third Best Camera according to DxOMark). The OnePlus 8 Pro’s ultrawide sensor is the same as the primary shooter on the OnePlus 7T.
OnePlus has also had some big improvements in video performance, which makes it very difficult to separate these two phones. On paper, the camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro does look slightly better than that on the Galaxy S20 Plus. The Galaxy S20+, on the other hand, should deliver better selfie photos than the OnePlus. Samsung offers up to 8K video capture on the rear camera and up to 4K video capture on the front camera as compared to 4K (Rear) and 1080p (Front) on the OnePlus 8 Pro. However, 8K video recording on the S20+ is not up to the mark with quite a few caveats.
Battery
The battery capacity on the OnePlus 8 Pro and Galaxy S20+ are identical with a few differences in charging. OnePlus has slightly faster wired charging and much faster wireless charging. Both phones also offer reverse wireless charging with Samsung having a slight advantage in that area. On paper, both phones seem pretty evenly matched on the battery front.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy S20+ runs on Android 10 with the One UI 2.0 skin, while the OnePlus 8 Pro runs on Android 10 with OxygenOS 10.0. Both One UI and OxygenOS are two of the best custom Android skins in terms of the overall experience, clean user interface and customisations. However, we’d have to lean a little towards OxygenOS, just because of how much OnePlus prioritizes community feedback.
Verdict
With the OnePlus 8 Pro, the company has managed to surpass or match Samsung's S20+ in every area. And while the jury is still out on camera, the OnePlus 8 Pro's camera setup is the closest any OnePlus device has come to the big boys from Samsung, Apple, Google and Huawei. The OnePlus 8 Pro is the only OnePlus device that can be classified as a premium flagship phone without having to worry about compromises.
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