OnePlus 10 Pro review: A wholesome flagship

The anticipation around the OnePlus 10 Pro's launch is finally over as the company has revealed this year's flagship. OnePlus is nothing short of a household name in India, where its phones are received with great enthusiasm. This year's flagship by OnePlus, with all its upgrades, gives fans more reasons to consider an upgrade. But the real question is whether you should give in to your temptations?

OnePlus 10 Pro starts at Rs 66,999 for the 8GB+128GB model whereas the 12GB+256GB variant costs Rs 71,999. There's an offer with SBI cards, where customers can avail Rs 4,500 instant discount among host of other offers. OnePlus 10 Pro goes on sale starting April 5 in India.

Now, let's take a deeper dive into what the 10 Pro is made of and what it is truly capable of. This is a review of the OnePlus flagship after using the device for a week.

Design and form-factor

The phone's design is the first thing anyone notices and that first impression makes or breaks the intention to buy the phone. OnePlus has remained consistent in its efforts to deliver one of the best-looking premium smartphones, which has appealed to the masses. Now, with the OnePlus 10 Pro, the streak continues. In fact, it is distinctly different from the previous generation, thanks to the remodelled camera module, giving reasons for OnePlus 9 series users to give the 10 Pro some serious thought.

OnePlus 10 Pro has a frosted glass back, which has a nice smooth feel. The rear panel is disrupted by the relatively large camera module, which merges into the phone's aluminium frame. The Hasselblad branding along the side is a nice touch. The module looks like it's part of both the glass panel and the chassis. OnePlus' bold makeover is well-lauded and a refreshing change, which grabs a lot of attention. It's worth pointing out that the camera module has a ceramic cover, which looks just as premium and effortlessly keeps scratches at bay. It's a much-needed feature considering there's more area prone to scratches than before.

The weight distribution of the phone is one other important factor. OnePlus has done a good job in that space, which makes handling the phone easier. Despite tipping the scales at 201 grams and measuring 8.55mm thick, the 10 Pro feels light and sleek when held.

OnePlus 10 Pro comes in Volcanic Black and Emerald Green, the latter being our review unit as you can see from the product shots. It's a beautiful shade with a touch of elegance. This shade perfectly conceals any fingerprint smudges, not once did we have to clean the rear panel. The only area that required cleaning was the camera module and the lenses, but it wasn't too evident.

OnePlus has once again nailed the design. The 10 Pro looks premium, feels just as great. For anyone looking to get a refreshing flagship look, the 10 Pro checks all the boxes.

Display and usability

OnePlus 10 Pro's display is another winner. The 6.7-inch screen curves towards the edges to give an edge-to-edge feel. The punch-hole camera takes the top-left corner position, which is no longer a disruption given how frequent it has become. The front glass is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, which adds some durability but don't go on drop-testing your new phone.

Impressively, the display is an LTPO AMOLED panel, which in layman's terms means the refresh rate is adjusted based on the content you're viewing in real-time. It can go from as low as 1Hz and as high as 120Hz.

The tall displays are becoming a norm in premium phones, which is particularly useful in tasks like viewing multimedia or playing games. In landscape mode, sliding fingers across the screen leaves hardly any dead spots. Another noticeable difference OnePlus has made in terms of convenience is moving up the fingerprint sensor, which now perfectly aligns with the position of your thumb while holding the phone in one hand. OnePlus says this was done after thorough research and feedback. We can vouch for its effective execution. So, kudos!

As for the output, the 10 Pro's display is as good as things get. The colours are punchy and vivid and the brightness is generously sufficient to be used even under bright summer sunlight. The auto-brightness setting also seemed to work accurately, as it adjusted the brightness based on ambient lighting. There's also Nature tone display feature, which adjusts colour temperature according to ambient lighting, but we left it turned off. The dark mode with enhanced style was the best choice as the deep blacks gave a nice visual appeal.

After playing around with the screen colour modes, we found the Cinematic mode under Pro setting ideal. But you can always find the best setting based on your liking.

Camera and new modes

Clearly, the OnePlus 10 Pro's revamped camera module is indicative of the fact that the company has spent extra hours on perfecting the optics. Taking some help from Hasselblad and reliable sensors, OnePlus aims to gain some weightage in the camera department, an area that has been challenging for the maker. With the 10 Pro, OnePlus has done some tweaks here and there, let's see if it has yielded any positive outcome.

Let's start with the specs. OnePlus 10 Pro has a triple camera setup, the fourth ring at the back is a dual-LED flash. The phone has a 48MP primary sensor with f/1.8 OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide secondary lens with 0.64μm, f/2.2 and an 8MP telephoto f/2.4, OIS, 3.3x sensor. On the front is a 32MP selfie snapper.

OnePlus-Hasselblad association is still in its early stages. But its use case cannot be ignored completely. For instance, the iconic shutter button, the Pro mode and new filters from Hasselblad Master Styles, show their association. But there's more work for the sensors than Hasselblad from what we've gathered.

Some of the early shots of OnePlus 10 Pro in different modes have shown the cameras deliver a decent output. The low-light shots are exceptionally good, the main sensor captures good details with vividness. The ultra-wide and 150-degree mode bring a fresh perspective to shooting images, but not as much as the Xpan did when it was introduced.

Shot on OnePlus 10 Pro:

Observations:

1. The main camera captures good details, dynamic range and deep contrasts. Colours are rich, not too punchy.
2. Ultra-wide sensor has a warm tone, image is brightened while the details well retained. The edge correction does a decent job.
3. Portrait works well, accurately blurs the background, except in some cases when the background is brighter. The colours and details are acceptable.
4. The 150-degree mode brings in a fresh perspective to shoot landscapes. Colours are retained well but the details around the edges are amiss.
5. The 150-degree Fisheye mode has limited use-case, but needs work in terms of details.
6. Night mode takes excellent shots, setting the brightness levels and exposure to the right tones.
7. Zoom at 3.3x is usable if the need arises, but anything beyond that (10x) is poor. It's still a work in progress. Nightscape at 3.3x is a useful addition.
8. You'll love the Movie mode and the freedom it brings to shooting certain videos.
9. There are three new filters, Radiance, Serenity and Emerald, which can be used specifically. The Serenity style was more aligned to our style of photography, but the other two styles can be used at certain scenes. These styles work across lenses and modes, so you have the freedom to explore.
10. Selfies come out nice, portraits are better. Best part is that Nightscape now works on the front, so shooting in the dark delivers better results. Post software update, the results were better.

Performance and software

OnePlus is known to never compromise on performance. The 10 Pro is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the best processor there is for smartphones. Paired with 8GB or 12GB RAM, the configuration is ideal for any tasks you throw at the phone. OnePlus 10 Pro also lets you increase RAM capacity by 3GB, 5GB or 7GB, which will be borrowed from the storage. This will give a boost to the performance.

The first update arrived for the 10 Pro, fixing several bugs we encountered early on. Like the camera app would force close or go unresponsive even after mild use. This was fixed by the update, and we haven't had the issue again so far.

With Jim 4G and ACT Fibernet at home, the OnePlus 10 Pro had good range and connectivity throughout. The gaming experience was uninterrupted. The performance was unparalleled during gaming, but we did notice mild heating when we played games while the phone was on charge. But OnePlus seems to have handled heat dissipation well on the 10 Pro, courtesy of its 5-layer 3D Passive Cooling System. OnePlus 10 Pro is still going to be our go-to phone for gaming. 

The fingerprint scanner worked accurately with good success rate. OnePlus 10 Pro delivers what is expected of it in terms of performance, but so do other flagship phones, which can be a reason for worry for OnePlus' "never settle" spirit.

The UI optimisation is fine-tuned well, the settings and customisations let you go far and beyond. But we must mention the new wallpapers look incredibly cool. The smooth animation paired with that beautiful display make the wallpapers come to life. You must really check them out.

OnePlus has added some special features. We found the OnePlus Shelf and Quick Launch to be of great use during our review.

Battery and charging superpowers

The battery makes up for a big part of OnePlus 10 Pro. There's a 5,000mAh unit inside. It is powered by 80W SuperVOOC fast charging, but OnePlus has switched back to USB-Type A on the adapter, a move the company says was the accommodate the faster-charging capability. We'd still have loved to have the Type-C simply for its convenience.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, paired with LTPO display and the huge size of the battery seems like a fine combination to keep the phone running for a full-day. With low to moderate use, the 10 Pro can last up to two days, but with heavy use, you'll need to plug the phone in for charging towards the end of the day.

OnePlus 10 Pro can fully charge in just 30-35 minutes, which is a nice feature to have. But even if you plug the phone in for 20 minutes, we were able to use the phone for a whole day. OnePlus 10 Pro also supports 50W wireless fast charging, which came in handy while working. It would take about an hour to fully charge the 10 Pro wirelessly.

The fast charging feature makes up for any shortage in battery life. Often, it would be helpful during gaming or binge-watching sessions.

Verdict

OnePlus 10 Pro is indeed a well-rounded flagship, but the severity of the competition in the premium segment doesn't make it easy for OnePlus to walk away with the title of "flagship killer" anymore.

Fans who've grown to love and admire OnePlus over the years will find the 10 Pro extremely compelling. The phone has a lovely, premium design, great performance, good cameras overall, beautiful display and some nice add-ons if you dive deeper. For its price, OnePlus 10 Pro is not without competition.

Pros

1. Refreshing design
2. Great display
3. Best performance
4. Refined software
5. Reliable camera (specific modes)
6. Good battery with 80W charging

Cons

1. No IP68 certification
2. Ultra-wide camera, fisheye mode need reworking
3. Doesn't outperform competition in charging speeds