If OnePlus wants to tackle flagship pricing, it needs to address a few lacking features.
There's been a lot of hype building for the incoming OnePlus 7 Pro, and last Wednesday, we revealed a key bit of information that could either make or break the phone — its pricing.
We confirmed that the OnePlus 7 Pro will have a price of €749 for the model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, whereas a model with 12GB RAM will kick things up to a whopping €819. While we still don't know the price of the base model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (though it makes sense for it to be in the €649-699 range), compared to the OnePlus 6T, which currently starts at just €549, that's quite the price increase.
OnePlus phones have gradually gotten more expensive each and every year, but only by around €20 or so. A €150-200 jump is certainly the biggest we'll have seen yet, and while I'm not completely averse to OnePlus phones getting more expensive, there are a few things the OnePlus 7 Pro will have to absolutely nail if it wants to justify its larger price of admission.
(A note: we expect there to be a cheaper OnePlus 7 released in some of the company's most popular markets, but the U.S. is unlikely to see the cheaper model.)
The 90Hz display needs to be great
Year after year, OnePlus phones have come with essentially the exact same display — 1080p Full HD AMOLED panels that look really good without pushing the bar.
That's changing this year, however, as we have confirmed that the OnePlus 7 Pro is the first OnePlus phone to feature a Quad HD+ resolution in addition to a refresh rate of 90Hz. This is something we very seldom see with smartphones, and in real-world use, that means things like scrolling animations and games will appear much smoother than normal.
This sounds really great on paper, and while OnePlus is one of the very few smartphone OEMs trying something like this, it's worth mentioning that the Razer Phone 2 has a 120Hz panel and can often be purchased for as little as $500.
With this all-new display, OnePlus needs to make sure it looks great, the refresh rate works as advertised, and that there's a noticeable jump in resolution.
Considerably improved cameras
Another boundary OnePlus is pushing this year with the OnePlus 7 Pro is its camera offering. Every OnePlus phone since the OnePlus 5 has shipped with dual rear cameras, but on the 7 Pro, we'll be getting three.
While not yet confirmed, the rumor mill suggests that these cameras will consist of a primary sensor, telephoto sensor, and an ultra-wide sensor.
Having that added functionality is a great improvement on its own, but I'd also like to see OnePlus take things even further with cameras that produce truly excellent photographs. OnePlus's last couple of phones have outputted reliably good pictures, but compared to phones from Samsung, Huawei, and especially Google, they tend to lack fidelity in comparison.
This has previously been understandable considering the drastic difference in price between OnePlus's phones and the "real" flagships, but if OnePlus is ready to charge as much as we're expecting for the OnePlus 7 Pro, it needs to really wow us in the camera department this year.
Haptics that don't feel like they're from 2008
Although some of you reading this may not care about this point too much, it's an issue that I and a few of my colleagues here at AC have with every phone OnePlus releases. Simply put, OnePlus's haptic feedback is straight-up bad. On my OnePlus 6T, I had to turn off the vibration motor entirely because it felt so weak and made so much noise with notifications and when typing.
Good haptic feedback can really add a lot to your experience of using a phone in daily use, and while upgrading to a higher-end vibration motor would be more money for OnePlus to spend, it certainly has the wiggle room if we're jumping up by at least 100 EUR/USD.
Again, while not every single customer will even give a thought to something like this, it's a nice premium feature that OnePlus should add considering how much we'll be asked to spend in just a few days.
Wireless charging
Last on the list, we have wireless charging.
This point is kind of useless since OnePlus has already confirmed that the OnePlus 7 Pro won't have the feature, but if you ask me, it's awfully silly of OnePlus to keep ignoring Qi wireless charging year after year.
OnePlus keeps making the argument that it doesn't want to add wireless charging support until it can get it to be as fast as its Dash/Warp Charge systems, but that point is moot if the phone debuts with a €749 starting price. Even if Qi standards don't charge as quickly as OnePlus's proprietary wired charging method, that's not a good enough excuse to hold the feature back from a flagship phone with flagship pricing.
If the $344 Xperia 10 can support wireless charging, so can the OnePlus 7 Pro. End of story.
OnePlus 7: News, Rumors, Release Date, Specs, and More!
Planning on buying the OnePlus 7 Pro? Get these accessories before you do
RAVPower 26800 Portable Charger
Every phone deserves a great battery pack, and for the OnePlus 7 Pro, this option from RAVPower is a really solid choice. It has a huge 26,800 mAh capacity, up to 30W output, and a USB-C port along with two full-size USB ones.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active
If you don't already have a smartwatch, one of the best bang-for-your buck options out there is the Galaxy Watch Active. It offers built-in GPS, NFC for Samsung Pay, in-depth fitness tracking, and a whole lot more for a really great price.
OnePlus Bullets Wireless
It's pretty damn remarkable just how great the Bullets Wireless are for such a low price. These wireless earbuds kick out really good sound, are comfortable to wear, and when used with a OnePlus phone, offer easy pairing and other software tricks.
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