Expensive, Yes, but the Value is There in the OnePlus 8 Series (Premium)

I’ve discussed my concerns with OnePlus raising its prices this year. But in using the OnePlus and OnePlus 8 Pro, I’m starting to get it.

Normally, I’d discuss this topic in my reviews of the two products. But then that’s how this started: I was prepping my OnePlus 8 Pro review ahead of posting it next week and found myself going wildly off-topic about pricing and value in a discussion about how two intersecting circumstances—the ever-escalating prices of flagship smartphones and the COVID-10 pandemic—are throwing the entire conversation out of whack.

And not to be a jerk about it, unlike most reviewers, I actually spend time and obtain real-world experience with the devices I review. And so I thought that we might have this discussion, colored as it is by about 10 days of usage, ahead of those reviews.

I wrote previously about what I described as the OnePlus pricing problem, and went into a brief history of the prices of the firm’s various handsets dating back to my first OnePlus experience, with the OnePlus 3T about three years ago. Here, I’d like to explore how the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro compare to my favorite smartphones of the past year—including the Apple iPhone 11 and 11 Pro series, the Google 4 series, and the Samsung Galaxy S20 series—and not just on price, which is important, sure, but also on value.

Value is a tough term because each of us has different preferences. As you must know, I personally value photographic prowess above anything else a smartphone can do. But others will have different concerns, sometimes a matrix of needs that must be present before they will even consider buying a particular device.

Price is typically part of that conversation even though handset cost has been perhaps been overemphasized in an era in which few people are actually plunking down the full price of a phone in real money and are, instead, spreading out that cost over two or more years. This is what makes the most expensive handsets more viable, especially for those who use them regularly all day long every day. To many, smartphones are essential, and that need has outweighed the cost.

But then COVID-19 happened.

That the pandemic is a wrench in our previous way of thinking is obvious. And for many, the uncertainty of this year, combined with job losses or at least the threat of unemployment has triggered a massive scaling back. This, in turn, has triggered ridiculous over-reactions about the viability of low-end or relatively inexpensive handsets like the new iPhone SE, which is nothing more than a dated 6-year-old design with a new processor; the iPhone SE is cheap, but it is not a good value for most people. (Yes, yes, there are always exceptions: Perhaps you have children who need a phone or are encountering financial uncertainty and have no choice in the matter.) This is the same conversation we had last year about sub-$500 PCs; there are just always going to be compromises at low price points.

And on that note, OnePlus actually does compete at the low-end of the market, but they don’t pretend that putting a new processor in a 6-year-old design—that would be the original OnePlus One, by the way, and the firm has shipped 14 more modern handsets since then—is somehow good for its customers. So I reject anyone feigning outrage that Apple, that most premium of hardware makers, suddenly offers a phone that costs hundreds less than the cheapest new OnePlus handset. Bullshit. Instead, OnePlus still sells the two-year-old OnePlus 6T instead, and it is $50 cheaper than the iPhone SE. That phone is good for its customers. As is the OnePlus 7T, which it also still sells, for just $499.

(As an aside, I or any other reviewer could use a OnePlus 6T or 7T today and be quite happy. But all those reviewers slapping each other on the back for what a great value the iPhone SE is would never use that antiquated phone.)

So that’s the first thing we need to get out of the way: OnePlus offers a family of handsets with modern designs and prices ranging from $350 to $1000, that very effectively compete with the competition, where prices now range from $400 to $1500. OnePlus is still less expensive overall, and it’s still the better value overall.

Looking specifically at the new phones, the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro, yes, these handsets are more expensive than ever, as I previously wrote. But they also enter a market in which the market leaders have raised their prices to the highest-ever levels. And when you compare the $700 starting price of the OnePlus 8 and the $900 starting price of the OnePlus 8 Pro to the flagship competition, some clarity emerges.

All of these handsets offer modern specifications, so I’ll focus on the core specs that speak to longevity and thus value: The displays, the storage, and, for Android at least, the RAM.

The OnePlus 8, with its 6.55-inch AMOLED display, starts at $700 for a model with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. For $100 more, or $800, you can upgrade to a model with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

By comparison, the Google Pixel 4 offers a smaller 5.7-inch display, 6 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage for $800 (though it’s on sale as I write this for just $500). The Pixel 4 XL provides a larger 6.3-inch display and the same specs for $900 (but it’s only for $600 right now). You can upgrade either to 128 GB for $100 more, raising the prices to $900 and $1000, respectively. ($600 and $700 while on sale.)

Samsung offers 3 versions of its Galaxy S20 lineup. The S20 5G provides a 6.2-inch AMOLED display, 12 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage for $1000. The S20+ 5G provides a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, 12 GB of RAM, and 128 to 512 GB of storage for $1200 and up. And the S20 Ultra 5G provides a 6.9-inch AMOLED display, 12-16 GB of RAM, and 128 to 512 GB of storage for $1400 and up; the most expensive model is about $1550.

Over in Cupertino, Apple’s iPhone 11 provides a 6.1‑inch LCD display and 64 GB of storage for $700. An upgrade to 128 GB costs $50 more, or $750. Or you can go with 256 GB of storage for $850. (iPhones come with much less RAM than Android phones, but they also appear not to need as much RAM, so I won’t worry about that here.)

But the iPhone 11 Pro is, perhaps, the more obvious competition for the OnePlus 8 despite its curiously small display. It provides a 5.8‑inch OLED display and 64 GB of storage for $1000. Or you can upgrade to 256 GB of storage for $1150 or 512 GB of storage for $1350.

The bigger iPhone 11 Pro Max takes on the OnePlus 8 Pro with a 6.5-inch OLED display and 64 GB of storage at $1100. Upgrading to 256 GB ($1250) or 512 GB ($1450) of storage will set you back even more.

Overall, the viable Apple competition costs $750 to $1250 for models with the same or more storage than what OnePlus offers. The comparable OnePlus handsets are $700 to $1000. Again, OnePlus is less expensive, and Apple doesn’t even offer 5G.

Obviously, there are a lot of side conversations to be had here.

For example, the Pixels have better cameras than the OnePlus 8 lineup, and the Apple and Samsung models I’ve tested are also better overall. You may prefer iOS over Android. Small displays or large displays. You may dig out that old red herring about software updates, which I think is nonsense but nonetheless plays a role in some people’s decision-making processes. (All of these phones offer reasonable upgrade schedules.) You might have concerns about support, preferences for facial recognition or fingerprint readers, or any number of other things. Again, value is not just about price. But this is a new normal. And price does matter.

Regardless, any of these phones should be viable for years to come. And if you are shopping for a handset during this epidemic, aside from my sympathies, you do have a lot of good choices. And while there are many factors that go into a decision like this, the one advantage that OnePlus retains, I think, is that it still offers incredible value for the price.

So, yes, the new OnePlus handsets are more expensive than before, a lot more, and that will put them outside of the reach of many during this terrible pandemic year. But I think they stack up well against the flagship competition when it comes to price. And while it will be several days before my first review is available, I’m OK telling you now that the value is there as well. These are fantastic handsets and are inarguably worth the prices that OnePlus is asking. Especially when you consider what the competition offers.