OnePlus has a new flagship phone, the 10 Pro. It is a well-built, good looking smartphone with 2022 flagship components that has no glaring weaknesses. But its appeal will vary greatly depending on where you are. In North America, where most Chinese brands are non-entities and where Samsung has a stranglehold over the Android phone scene, the OnePlus 10 Pro is an enticing (perhaps only) alternative option: the OnePlus 10 Pro offers virtually the same level of core performance (display, cameras, and computing power) as Samsung’s highest end Galaxy S22 Ultra, but at a lower $899 price tag.
In chunks of Asia, particularly China, Singapore and Malaysia, the OnePlus 10 Pro has an uphill battle for relevancy, for it is but one of already a half dozen Android flagships that have been released in 2022, one of which is the Oppo Find X5 Pro, which is very, very similar to the OnePlus 10 Pro (Oppo and OnePlus are essentially the same company).
In Europe, OnePlus’s appeal is a bit in between North America and Asia: it faces some competition from fellow Chinese brands, but nowhere near as fierce as in Asia. And thanks to Samsung phones running on an inferior Exynos chip in Europe, this gives the OnePlus 10 Pro further appeal as one of the few flagships in Europe running on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip.
Design
Android flagship phones mostly look the same from the front these days, so a phone’s design is really only just on the backside, and I think the OnePlus 10 Pro has one of the most attractive back designs in recent years. I find the large camera module that spills over the side of the phone (blending into the aluminum chassis) visually striking. Although this is not an original design (Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series did this first), I like OnePlus’ look more. That the camera module is crafted out of ceramic gives it an extra air of premium feeling. The rest of the phone’s back is crafted out of glass, with a frosted matte coating. I am currently testing the black model, which looks sleek to my eyes, but I think the green model is even more striking.
The OnePlus 10 Pro is also quite a bit easier to hold than the Galaxy S22 Ultra because it’s lighter at 201g, and its corners are rounded instead of pointy like Samsung’s phone.
Hardware
The most striking element about the OnePlus 10 Pro will be that display, for it is just about flawless at this point in time. It’s an LTPO OLED panel, meaning it can vary its refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz. At maximum 120Hz, animations are buttery smooth and everything within the phone seems to fly around. OnePlus has calibrated the screen for two levels of brightness, which helps its color temperature to remain consistent at extreme ends of the brightness spectrum.
I can’t say the OnePlus 10 Pro screen is better than the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s much praised display, but I can say it is not worse in any noticeable away. Right now, the top four Android flagships can all settle for a four way tie for best display anywhere.
Where there isn’t a tie is in processing power, and it’s ironic because the OnePlus 10 Pro runs on the exact same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip that’s powering the North American/China variant of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Xiaomi 12 Pro, but the OnePlus 10 Pro is slightly less powerful (noticeable only if you nitpick) because the company has applied a system-wide throttle to the chip. This is done to keep the chip cooler, which benefits us in the long run because the phone can run at a sustained performance longer. The Xiaomi 12 Pro, for example, has been known to overheat, because the Snapdragon chip runs hot. I personally don’t mind the self-imposed cap on peak performance because modern smartphone chips are more than powerful enough, but power users who play mobile games, or those who just want to have the absolute most powerful tech, may be annoyed.
There’s a 5,000 mAh which can last all day, and best of all, the phone can charge at either 65W or 80W speeds depending on region. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, by comparison, can only charge at 45W, and the iPhone 13 Pro can only charge at 25W. The total charging time between 65W or 80W only comes down to a few minutes so it’s not a big deal—the point is the OnePlus 10 Pro can charge very fast. I tested the 65W version, and the phone was able to charge from 0 to 100 in 32 minutes.
The OnePlus 10 Pro also has other flagship flourishes like wireless charging, an in-display fingerprint scanner, and unofficial IP water rating. I say unofficial because a specific U.S. carrier version (T-Mobile) of the phone is officially rated IP68 for water and dust resistance, while all other models of the device do not—even though OnePlus confirms they are the exact same device. This is because it actually costs companies money to use the IP rating license, and apparently only T-Mobile cares enough to officially acquire that license. The point is, even if you’re using the non-T-Mobile version of the OnePlus 10 Pro, rest assured it can survive a brief dunk in the water the way most modern Android flagships can—and yes, I’ve tested this on my device.
Cameras
The OnePlus 10 Pro’s main camera system consists of a 48-megapixel main camera, with a large 1/1.4 sensor sourced from Sony, along with a 50-megapixel super ultra-wide camera with 150-degree field-of-view, plus an 8MP 3.3x telephoto zoom lens. The system is capable, thanks to intelligent software processing that has apparently been co-developed with Swedish camera maker Hasselblad. OnePlus says the two company’s R&D team met regularly to fine tune colors.
The OnePlus 10 Pro’s main cameras produce brilliant images, with strong natural bokeh (provided there is a subject closer to the lens than the background), vibrant colors, and excellent light in take ability. I have examined dozens of photos between the OnePlus 10 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the photos are really too close to call—it often comes down to personal preference.
The ultra-wide camera can be a bit hit and miss—because it has such a sweeping field-of-view, it results in an image that can capture unprecedented wide views, but the images are soft on details if you zoom in. But then again, one can argue ultra-wide shots, which are ideal for sweeping landscape shots, are not meant to be zoomed in.
The zoom lens is fine, but at 3.3x optical zoom, it lacks the ability to go longer the way Samusng’s Galaxy S22 Ultra can. The latter can produce a sharp and clean 20x zoom shot, the OnePlus 10 Pro cannot.
The OnePlus 10 Pro’s video capabilities are very good—among the best in Android—with excellent stabilization and colors. Below are video samples captured by the OnePlus 10 Pro’s various cameras.
Software
The OnePlus 10 Pro runs Android 12 with its OxygenOS Android skin on top. OxygenOS has always been similar to Oppo’s ColorOS in features, but previously they had distinct visual identities. That’s not the case anymore, as OxygenOS looks very similar to Oppo’s ColorOS. I don’t mind it too much, but this does mean OxygenOS has lost its identity.
For example, I always liked OxygenOS because it was the only phone software that seems to understand that modern phone screens are too tall, so the software would place most things (icons in a folder, app buttons, PIN code number pad, etc) near the bottom of the screen for easier thumb reach. That’s not the case anymore, as apps in folders and the number pad just open dead center on the screen like every other phone. If you have smaller hands, it’s just hard to reach the top row of apps or number pad.
The software is still very fast and very customizable, however, so overall I still enjoy using it much more than Huawei and Xiaomi’s Android skin.
Conclusion
As I said at the beginning, the appeal of the OnePlus 10 Pro will vary greatly depending on region. Now you may be wondering: why is this an issue now when these regional availability variances have been around for years?
The reason is because last year, OnePlus and Oppo publicly announced a merger, with the former essentially becoming a sub-brand of the latter. This wasn’t news to anyone who follows the Android scene closely, as it’s been an open secret for years that Oppo and OnePlus have close ties. But now that it’s out in the open, it hurts OnePlus’ identity, because it eliminates OnePlus’ previous crafted image of an independent startup-ish phone brand out to disrupt the scene. Now, OnePlus is just a branch of Oppo, and it’s natural for consumers to see OnePlus as the second fiddle brand.
Take, for example, the Hasselblad collaboration. OnePlus made a huge deal about this partnership last year, and it was made to be this exclusively years-long partnership between the two. But Oppo’s recent flagship, the Find X5 Pro, essentially took that Hasselblad branding for itself. It’s no longer just OnePlus’ thing.
In the U.S., where Oppo doesn’t exist, it’s not a big deal. But for those of us in regions like Hong Kong, Singapore or London, with access to both Oppo and OnePlus phones, it’s impossible not to see the latter as the little brother. This means for us in these regions, the OnePlus 10 Pro’s only appeal is the lower price. Otherwise, the Oppo Find X5 Pro is there, basically the higher priority phone.
But if we ignore the market situation and examine the OnePlus 10 Pro in a vacuum? It’s an excellent phone and easily the company’s best yet.
