OnePlus 7 Review
OnePlus 7 Review
HIGHLIGHTS
OnePlus has been a disruptor in the smartphone market right since the launch of the OnePlus One. The company has consistently launched powerful smartphones with top-of-the-line hardware at relatively affordable prices. The OnePlus 6 (Review) helped the company break into the premium smartphone segment. It offered a premium design but commanded a higher price than previous OnePlus smartphones. While more expensive than some fans would have liked, the OnePlus 6 still offered great value for money compared to established brands such as Samsung and Apple, helping OnePlus capture a huge portion of the premium smartphone market in India.
OnePlus' six-month upgrade cycle then resulted in the launch of the OnePlus 6T (Review) which managed to further strengthen its position. In addition to premium build quality, it also offered an in-display fingerprint scanner, which wasn't very common at the time of its launch.
With Samsung having now retaken the top spot in the premium smartphone market with the Galaxy S10 (Review) series, OnePlus is using a two-pronged approach by bringing in the OnePlus Pro to compete at the top end of the market, while the OnePlus 7 is intended to maintain the company's hold over the lower end of the premium smartphone segment.
We have already tested the OnePlus 7 Pro (Review) and we were impressed with the power it packs. The OnePlus 7 boasts of the same core hardware but is priced much more aggressively at Rs. 32,999. Is this the best smartphone you can get on a mid-range budget right now, or is it worth spending extra for the OnePlus 7 Pro? We put the new OnePlus 7 to the test to find out.
OnePlus 7 design
While the OnePlus 7 Pro gets a pop-up selfie camera and notch-less screen, the OnePlus 7 retains the same design as the OnePlus 6T. OnePlus has given the OnePlus 7 a new paint job to help distinguish it from the older model. It is available in Mirror Gray or Red, and the latter option is limited to India and China markets.
We got the Red color variant for review and found it to be a bit too flashy for our liking. We would pick the Mirror Gray option over this. While it is a little disappointing that the design is unchanged, retaining the look of the old OnePlus 6T could be one of the factors that helped OnePlus price its new phone aggressively.
The OnePlus 7 has a glass sandwich design with a rounded metal frame. This makes it comfortable to hold. Unlike the OnePlus 7 Pro, the OnePlus 7's display does not have curved edges. This is a 6.41-inch Optic AMOLED panel that puts out a full-HD+ resolution (1080x2340) and also has an in-display fingerprint scanner. This is a similar implementation as the OnePlus 6T and uses a CMOS sensor under the display, but the company says it works quicker.
The display has good color reproduction and gets bright enough when outdoors. You can change the color profile from Natural to Vivid, or choose between the NTSC, sRGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts. An option to tweak the color balance is also available. This panel doesn't have a 90Hz refresh rate or QHD+ resolution like the OnePlus 7 Pro.
There are thin bezels around the display, though the chin is noticeably bigger. You get the same waterdrop notch at the top as on the OnePlus 6T, which houses the selfie camera. The earpiece sits between the display and the metal frame.
OnePlus has opted for stereo sound output on the OnePlus 7, and the earpiece that acts as a second speaker is considerably longer than on the older model. The bottom-firing speaker is positioned in the left grille at the bottom. We like the positioning since it doesn't get muffled while holding the phone in the landscape while playing games. The USB Type-C port is also at the bottom.
The button placement is identical as on the OnePlus 6T, with the power button and alert slider on the right while the volume buttons are on the left. All buttons offer good clicky feedback. The three-position alert slider is slightly smaller than before but has a knurled texture that makes it easy to distinguish. It is a handy way to change audio profiles quickly.
A secondary microphone is at the top of the device. Just like the OnePlus 6T, this phone also lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, and this time you also don't get a Type-C to 3.5mm dongle in the box with the phone. This will be an inconvenience to buyers, and OnePlus should have included one.
The OnePlus 7 has Corning Gorilla Glass on the front and back for protection. It has a glossy finish and our review unit did slide about sometimes. On the rear, there's a dual camera module that is positioned in the center, along with the dual-LED flash.
This camera module protrudes quite a bit causing the phone to rock about when placed on a flat surface. The back does not pick up smudges very easily, but you might still want to use the bundled plastic case to keep the device safe. OnePlus supplies a 20W fast charger and a USB Type-C cable in the box.
OnePlus 7 specifications and software
Despite being positioned lower than the OnePlus 7 Pro, the OnePlus 7 sports the same top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC, which is a significant improvement over the outgoing Snapdragon 845. The octa-core Snapdragon 855 is manufactured using a 7nm fabrication process. It has four high-efficiency Kryo 485 Silver cores clocked 1.8GHz, three high-performance Kryo 485 Gold cores clocked at 2.42GHz, and one even faster Kryo 485 Gold core clocked at 2.84GHz. Graphics duties are handled by the integrated Adreno 640 GPU.
The OnePlus 7 is available in two variants, one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and the other with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Red finish is only available with the more expensive configuration, which is priced at Rs. 37,999. Storage isn't the usual UFS 2.1 that most other smartphones use; this phone gets the new faster UFS 3.0 standard, similar to the OnePlus 7 Pro. So far, the OnePlus 7 siblings are the only phones to launch in India with this new storage standard.
No comments