- The OnePlus 8 launch event will take place on April 14th, but an early display performance review has leaked.
- Separately, OnePlus CEO confirmed the handset will rock the same hardware as the Galaxy S20, but the phone will not cost over $1,000 in the US.
- Pricing will be a crucial factor for the OnePlus 8 series during the coronavirus pandemic that’s already hurting smartphone sales worldwide.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
The OnePlus 8 is one of the highly anticipated phones of the first half of the year, and we already have a launch event for it. OnePlus will unveil the OnePlus 8 series during an event on April 14th, which is just 11 days away. OnePlus already confirmed a few details about the new phone, which is the usual business for the Chinese smartphone maker. The company. We know the handset is getting a 120Hz display, and we know the OnePlus 8 Pro 5G will be cheaper than $1,000. Everything else probably leaked in the past few weeks, from design and color options to specs.
But in an unexpected twist, the experts at DisplayMate have already confirmed the unreleased OnePlus 8 phones will have some of the best phones in town. DisplayMate evaluates the screen performance of all new high-end handsets, and the newest device is usually slightly better than the one that preceded it. The last example is the Galaxy S20 series, which succeeded the iPhone 11.
Here’s what DisplayMate wrote in a Tweet on Thursday:
DisplayMate’s in-depth Display Shoot-Out for the OnePlus 8 series Smartphones have earned our Highest A+ Display Rating and DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Awards, with 10+ Display Performance Records including Color Accuracy that is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect!!
They didn’t link to the full review of the screen, but they didn’t remove the tweet either. Then again, maybe it’s all part of a marketing push from the smartphone maker, which will have a tough mission ahead.
OnePlus phones have been popular with fans for years now because of the value proposition. OnePlus flagships faced the iPhone and Galaxy S phones with a novel approach, one that worked for others in China. The phones were very affordable compared to their rivals, although OnePlus did have to settle on specific features in the process. But OnePlus prices went up ever so slightly in the past few years.
OnePlus was also among the first Android handset makers to launch a 5G phone last year, and the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G was cheaper than the competition. But it was also more expensive than what OnePlus phones used to cost.
We’re now in a novel coronavirus pandemic season, an ordeal that doesn’t bode well for smartphone makers — just ask Samsung. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau told Business Insider a few days ago that the 5G version of the OnePlus 8 will not top $1,000 in the US.
The handset will run on the same Snapdragon 865 platform as the Galaxy S20, a CPU that has to be bundled with a separate 4G/5G modem by default. Qualcomm’s modem choice for the Snapdragon 865 is what might have determined Google and others to avoid the chip. The Galaxy S20 starts at $999.99, a more expensive price tag than we would have expected from Samsung. And the Korean smartphone maker is already forced to discount its new flagship series.
The OnePlus 8 series will also be compared against the upcoming iPhone 9, an affordable device that doesn’t support 5G but features a chip that’s more powerful than the Snapdragon 865 in tests. The iPhone 9 is rumored to start at $399.
That said, it’s unclear how much cheaper the OnePlus 8 Pro 5G will be and whether it’ll cost less than the LG V60 5G, which is priced at around $900. But it’ll sure have a top display that’s “Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect!!”
