For OnePlus, the bigger challenge is getting the smartphones in the hands of the public in the time of Coronavirus.
OnePlus unveiled its latest flagship OnePlus 8 series on Tuesday in a digital-only event with most of the world still under lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. India is OnePlus’ biggest market of smartphones and the new extension of the coronavirus lockdown means the devices won’t be made available to consumers for at least three more weeks.
In India, all offline retail stores are temporarily closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, India’s biggest e-retailers, Amazon and Flipkart, have limited their services to just essential goods, that too in limited localities. The OnePlus 8 price starts at $699 while the price of the OnePlus 8 Pro goes up to $899. The open sale for both phones will begin on April 21. The company hasn’t announced the India price yet.
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Experts claim every smartphone brand has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and OnePlus is no exception. “Even if they [OnePlus] will be able to secure supply from China, who will buy their phones, “ commented Navkendar Singh from research firm IDC. Singh expects negative growth happening in the smartphone space unless the market “quickly rebounds by June”.
The handsets were unveiled via a livestreamed video feed instead of the splashy event OnePlus fans are used to. There are two versions of the handsets. Both phones rely on a punch-hole display, which reminds of the Galaxy S20 series. The OnePlus 8 Pro has a 6.78-inch QHD+ display, while the standard OnePlus 8 gets a 6.55-inch FHD+ display. The former has a 120Hz screen, while the latter has a 90Hz refresh rate.
As always, the phones will be powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon platform. This time around, OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 are powered by the Snapdragon 865. Both support 5G. The top-end model has four rear cameras, including one that is capable of 3x optical zoom. The standard model has three rear-facing cameras.
OnePlus says you can expect improvements across the board when it comes to flagship smartphone experience including bigger batteries, wireless charging, up to 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM, IP68 rated (limited to OnePlus 8 Pro), better night mode, and improved camera app.
Anuj Bhatia is a personal technology writer at indianexpress.com who has been covering smartphones, personal computers, gaming, apps, and lifestyle tech actively since 2011. He specialises in writing longer-form feature articles and explainers on trending tech topics. His unique interests encompass delving into vintage tech, retro gaming and composing in-depth narratives on the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture. He covers major international tech conferences and product launches from the world's biggest and most valuable tech brands including Apple, Google and others. At the same time, he also extensively covers indie, home-grown tech startups. Prior to joining The Indian Express in late 2016, he served as a senior tech writer at My Mobile magazine and previously held roles as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. Anuj holds a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University. You can find Anuj on Linkedin.
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