Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus which has built a strong fan base in India with its competitively priced devices in the premium category recently launched two phones -- OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro -- at the same time globally. OnePlus 7 is actually just an improvement on the OnePlus 6T while the 7 Pro is a whole new device.
It is the price of the phone which has garnered a lot of attention because it was released at a far lower cost than expected. The OnePlus 7 starts at Rs 32,999 for the 6GB RAM/128GB storage variant, going up to Rs 37,999 for the 8GB RAM/256GB storage variant.
The 6GB RAM phone is available in "mirror grey" colour, while the 8GB RAM variant is available in both "mirror grey" and red colours.
In terms of design, the OnePlus 7 gets 6.4-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and a conventional refresh rate of 60Hz. The display seems to be really good for its price.
It looks similar to the 6T which means it has the same notch in the display. The only main difference is a wider earpiece grille.
The OnePlus 7 features a dual rear camera setup, consisting of a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor as its primary camera, with an f/1.7 aperture, electronic image stabilisation (EIS), and phase detection autofocus (PDAF). The secondary camera features a 5MP sensor with an f/2.4 aperture and 1.12-micron pixels.
The rear camera setup is accompanied by a dual-LED flash module. The OnePlus 7, like its predecessor 6T, scores high in capturing quality pictures. The colour balance is nearly perfect. On the other side, the 16MP selfie camera in the dewdrop notch served very well in almost all kinds of light conditions.
The OnePlus 7 is powered by Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 855 processor and runs Oxygen OS 9.5.2 that is built on Android 9 Pie.
The device we reviewed was 8GB RAM+256GB variant. We did not notice any lag and playing games like PUBG was quite a smooth experience on the device.
OnePlus has added some valuable features like the Zen Mode to the new phone.The Zen Mode completely cuts off access to everything except the camera and emergency phone call access.
One thing which is lacking in this smartphone is wireless charging which is almost common on premium devices now.
The 3,700 mAh battery of the OnePlus 7 is a good addition which provides enough juice for longer than a day with moderate usage. But the absence of a headphone jack may annoy some.
Conclusion: Overall, we found that OnePlus 7 offers a good upgrade from its predecessor at no extra cost. With an improved processor and new features, the device still bundles capacity to give flagship phones of other brands a run for their money.
(Md Waquar Haider can be contacted at waquar.h@ians.in)
--IANS
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