The OnePlus 10 Pro 5G is here, delivering the usual improvements we see from OnePlus every year. Their flagship phone is even faster with better cameras and a better screen, and other small tweaks to convince you to upgrade yet again. You know the drill.
But with some new changes to OxygenOS and a (supposedly) radically improved second-gen camera collaboration with Hasselblad, is it worth the cash? Let's find out.
Improved design
OnePlus has always had a good design department that never quite managed to step into “great” territory. Older phones could stay competitive with whatever flagship of the year Samsung put out, but never reach that same level. The OnePlus 10 Pro seems like it's finally made the jump to that hang with the big guys.
The phone itself is designed to feel weight balanced in your hand to counteract its taller shape, and it works. It sports a 20:9 aspect ratio, similar to Sony's newer very tall flagships, but it never feels unwieldy in hand. The material on the back is also fingerprint resistant, which is a massive upgrade over previous OnePlus devices.
The camera module on the back houses the phone's three camera lenses and a flash, and wraps around the side of the phone to where you'll find the volume/silent mode switch that OnePlus is known for. That integrated design does feel really nice here.
Aside from that, things are business as usual. The volume rocker sits on the left side of the phone opposite a power button on the right, and there's a USB-C charging port along the bottom.
Decent audio, fantastic display
It seems hard to believe, but companies (especially anyone related to Samsung) keep making smartphone displays better and better every year. The Galaxy S22 Ultra has an absolute stunner of a display, but the OnePlus 10 Pro gives it a run for its money. You're getting an extremely colorful screen that looks fantastic, and it gets plenty bright enough to handle whatever HDR content you're throwing at it. Side by side, trying to pick a winner between these two is tough. I'd say Samsung might have a very slight edge, but OnePlus is delivering a phone that's 99% as good (and $400 cheaper).
OnePlus is also using a newer LTPO screen, which means it can scale its refresh rate anywhere from 1hz to 120hz. You'll still get extremely smooth, fluid feedback while you're using your phone, but when it's not needed it can ratchet down to a significantly slower refresh rate to save on battery.
I wish I could talk up the speakers as much as the screen. The speakers on the 10 Pro are a far cry from the tin cans that OnePlus used to ship on their phones, but they're still just okay. No headphone jack, either, but that's all the more reason for OnePlus to try and direct you over to their new wireless earbuds.
Performance
We won't bore you too much here, considering smartphone performance has peaked for a while now. The OnePlus 10 Pro is extremely fast and extremely capable of handling nearly anything you can throw at it, long and short.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is a incredibly fast processor that will render video, play ultra-demanding games, and open 486 Chrome tabs without breaking a sweat. OnePlus has paired their base model with 8GB of RAM, which has been perfectly okay in my testing, but you can bump up to 12GB if you really think you're going to need the multitasking chops.
That 120hz screen is also basically perfect, never dropping frames, even in games that support the higher refresh rate. Perhaps most importantly, the phone never gets too hot to touch, which is likely due to the S8G1 chip being so efficient and the newer material of the phone resisting heat a bit better.
OxygenOS upgrades
The OnePlus 10 Pro comes with OxygenOS 12, the newest software skin that's arguably the biggest changeup with the phone. In fact, I'd almost say a review of just OxygenOS 12 could take up 1000 words on its own, but we'll try and hit just the highlights.
OnePlus phones used to ship with what was basically stock Android with just a few key enhancements and changes on top. You got a pretty standard Google-esque experience with a couple different app icons, some extra customization features in the settings, and sped up animations to make the phone feel fast. It was OnePlus's ideal version of vanilla Android.
That's not necessarily true with OxygenOS 12. Instead of grabbing Google's Material You design language, you see the phone take much more inspiration from ColorOS from OnePlus's sister company OPPO. You generally don't lose any features either way and still retain a lot of customization on top of a very modern looking UI, but the stripped down, zippy feel of older versions of OxygenOS are gone. Animations are smooth, but not rushed; there are sound effects for everything, like dismissing all your notifications, and the UX throughout feels customized and fresh, but still distinctly OnePlus and not Google.
Personally, I really like this direction. Android has, for better or worse, struggled to shake off its underbaked feeling compared to iOS, even with newer versions focusing much more on visual polish. This is really the first time that I don't think any features feel bolted on or unfinished, even down to some of the obscure customization options, animations, or in things like OnePlus's dedicated Shelf that's accessed by swiping down from the top right of the notification shade. It's all extremely cohesive and feels like it would appeal to enthusiasts and casual users alike, which isn't something I can say for every version of Android I've used over the years.
OnePlus, however, has only promised three years of updates for the 10 Pro. That's decent, but in the face of Samsung's much longer upgrade support, it's a little disappointing.
Battery and Charging
OnePlus phones have always tended to hit the mark on battery life and exceed expectations with charging speed. The 10 Pro, more or less, manages to keep up the good work of its predecessors.
You'll very easily squeeze a whole day's worth out of the phone's 5000mAh battery paired with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. It handles nearly anything you toss at it, whether that's HDR video, intense gaming sessions, or rounds of photography.
If you do start to run low, the phone almost completely recharges in a lightning quick 30 minutes if you max out its 65W charge speed. Wireless charging is capped at 50W (and you'll obviously need the specialized wireless charging dock, not your average Anker charger from Amazon) but it's still incredibly fast compared to other popular phones.
Keen eyes might notice that we mentioned 65W charging, even though the international OnePlus 10 Pro can do 80W charging. Apparently there were some issues getting the phone certified to work with US power standards, so OnePlus capped it at just 65W. It generally won't make much of a difference, and a full recharge in a little over half an hour should be sufficient for almost anyone, but do keep that in mind.
Camera
OnePlus has been playing catch up on camera quality for a few years now, and that's one area where they put a ton of focus with every iteration of their flagship line.
The 10 Pro does a good job, although it's still not quite on the same level of the Galaxy S22 line or a Pixel.
The camera still has a tendency to soften shadows too much and overexpose low-light shots. It's all very serviceable and you can take some excellent photos with it, but you'll probably still be a little envious of your buddy's Galaxy S22 Plus.
The software side of the camera app has gotten some very nice improvements, however. You can shoot in HEIF (high efficiency image format) that Apple has also adopted for smaller file sizes without losing image quality, alongside a computational RAW shooting mode that gives you much more post-processing flexibility.
OnePlus also includes some Master Styles, which are basically preset color filters if you're trying to capture a specific mood with your shots. It's all things that you could tweak manually, but having it just a couple taps away to really chase that cloudy day aesthetic is nice.
Worth it?
The OnePlus 10 Pro 5G is a very cool phone. I think it's easily the most accomplished smartphone OnePlus has cooked up, although I can see some of the ColorOS changes being a little controversial. It feels significantly more polished than the typical OnePlus offering at the expense of the more speedy stock feel that older software had.
The US version also makes some painful tradeoffs, like missing 5G support on AT&T, no IP certification on the unlocked models of the phone, and only three years of guaranteed updates. However, that $899 price tag is much easier to swallow than last year's $1000 asking price. Amazon has also regularly discounted the 10 Pro even further, if you're searching for a deal.
I think it's a great phone, and at the right price it's a killer alternative to the Galaxy S22. If you're looking to get into OnePlus's ecosystem, this is the phone to do it with.
