The call of beauty

The OnePlus 7 Pro, launched last week, is probably the company's most beautiful phone yet, with sleek contours and a slim frame. The 6.67-inch AMOLED 90hz screen is a thing of beauty; it's smooth when you scroll and even better when you game. The colour reproduction is near perfect and users can select if they want vivid hues or something less flashy.

We appreciate the missing notch - no one liked it anyway. The screen is bright enough to operate under the summer sun without having to find some sort of shade. There is also a thin sound grill hidden at the top of the screen, giving this gadget stereo sound. The phone is loud and the stereo audio is useful during gaming sessions.

We had the nebula blue phone and the shades are stunning yet subtle. We liked the almond colour a lot, but that unit will not be available initially. Though textured, the glass back feels slippery and we would recommend putting the included cover on in the first few minutes because the device is also a fingerprint magnet. The signature physical button for silent/vibrate and ring mode is still there, which is great. The button placement is similar to the older OnePlus devices, making it familiar for users of the company's gadgets.

The three-camera set-up at the back is not flush with the back panel, which could be annoying for some. The front camera is hidden and relies on a pop-out mechanism. While there are always concerns with a physical moving part, this one feels solid and the company has tried to ensure its safety. For example, if the camera detects a fall, it retracts, so it's protected from damage. It pops in and out very quickly, and if you turn on the face-unlock feature, you will barely notice the movement.

The phone doesn't have a traditional headphone port and doesn't come with a C-type pair either. So, you would have to invest in one. And even though most flagships today have wireless charging, this phone doesn't have the feature. But honestly, we did not miss it.

The warp charger is quick and there is no need to charge your phone for most of the day because of the 4000mAh battery. The fingerprint scanner also worked better than most other phones we have used. The phone is supposedly waterproof, but it does not come with any certification. We did stick it in a bucket like the company showed in one of their ads, and the phone worked fine even after 10 minutes of being submerged.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor is a beast and combined with the 12GB of RAM, it makes this model the top variant of the phone. The games ran smoothly, programmes loaded fast, and general use of the phone was peppy. The Quad HD+ 90hz screen had a big role to play here. The phone did heat up during heavy use, but it cooled just as quickly when we stopped.

The let-down here is the camera. The phone has a 48MP, 16MP ultra-wide angle and 8MP 3X tele-photo set-up with a retractable 16MP camera for selfies. The images are good, but not great when compared with the quality of the images we have clicked using Samsung or Huawei. That being said, it isn't bad per se. It's just that the images are not the best, which is also odd because the Sony sensor they are using is top notch. We suspect that there might be software updates to fix the camera quality in the future, but as of now, it is still not there. The inclusion of a 3X tele-photo and the 117-degrees ultra-wide angle lens is great, and makes for interesting shots. The front-facing camera, on the other hand, is perfect.

OnePlus 7 Pro is one of the best phones the company has ever made, though it is expensive even by their own standards. However, there are a lot of things that have gone into it and it is still cheaper than most other flagship phones out there.

The biggest threat to the OnePlus 7 Pro is its own OnePlus 7, which houses the same processor and the same camera sensor, but falls short of the beautiful screen and the pop-out camera that this one comes with. The cost difference is significant and if you are price-conscious, then the OnePlus 7 might make more sense. However, if you have the budget, we would suggest getting the Pro instead.

Pros

• The screen is outstanding.
• Oxygen OS is the best.
• Warp charger.

Cons

• Camera not as good as described.
• C-type earphones not included.
• No wireless charging.

Camera: 8/10
Design: 9.5/10
Features: 9.5/10
Software: 10/10
Performance: 10/10
User experience: 10/10

LOG ON TO https://bit.ly/op7ppspecs (spec sheet); https://bit.ly/op7ppsamples (camera samples); https://bit.ly/op7ppbench (benchmarks)

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