Here’s Why You Should Buy The OnePlus 7T Over The OnePlus 8!

With OnePlus creeping out of their niche year by year, they’re becoming more mainstream – something that doesn’t align with the company’s overall MO.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the OnePlus 8 in its new color scheme (especially the Interstellar Glow) doesn’t attract me as a buyer. But, I’m someone who prefers form over function, and most of all I’m stingy with my savings (as most of you should be). Being a smartphone aficionado is quite an expensive habit considering that they depreciate in value like a brick held over a bucket of water. With OnePlus driving up prices across the board, the OnePlus 8 has started to succumb to the plague it was originally set on eradicating – lack of value. With prices starting at over 42,000 INR I sincerely believe this is the time to jump ship from the newly launched faux flagship and land safely in the hands of financial sensibility that’s marked by the 6-month- old OnePlus 7T. Here’s why.

Same Old Camera System!

Despite its fancy new camera fascia, the OnePlus 8 uses the same camera hardware as the 7T (albeit the new macro lens which is straight-up trash). The IMX 586 makes a disappointing return with small changes in computational photography which can no doubt be pushed as an update to the 7T. Furthermore, the decision to move away from the telephoto sensor on the 7T to a dedicated macro lens is a straight up asinine lapse in logic. The macro mode on the OnePlus 7T which uses the ultra-wide sensor still takes WAY BETTER shots than the dedicated 2 MP shooter on the 8 can ever hope to achieve. More than anything, it seems like OnePlus has tried to befuddle the average consumer’s mind by offering an inferior solution under the pretext of it being an “upgrade”.

The Display.

90 Hz. Check. FHD+ AMOLED. Check. Hole-punch? Maybe not, but here’s the catch. The displays on the OnePlus 7T and 8 are essentially the same (surprise surprise!). Okay, if I’m being unflinchingly precise, the 8 does boast of higher peak brightness and color accuracy. BUT FOR CHRISSAKES, do you REALLY think the average consumer is going to use a tri-stimulus meter to make sure their tiny smartphone display has proper color calibration? Especially at this price point? I think not. Furthermore, I’m infinitely sure that most of you out there appreciate the symmetry of the water-drop notch over the punch-hole in the OnePlus 8.

Processing Power.

At the end of the day, this becomes a debate of whether the Snapdragon 865 is worth the insane premium it commands over the 855+ on the 7T. In short, NO. I’m pretty sure there are going to be certain readers that are going to quote benchmark scores to me. To them I say, go ahead! Go ahead and look at the data yourselves. The 865 theoretically offers 15% CPU gains and a minuscule 9% jump in GPU performance. How does that translate to the end consumer? Barely noticeable change in everyday performance. Qualcomm’s 855+ already had significant performance overhead to handle even the most demanding tasks and still had a little juice left to give at the end of it. The 865 only broadens this overhead and in no noticeable way improves your day to day bouts.

Pricing And Conclusion.

This is the final nail in the coffin for the OnePlus 8. The 8 clearly offers no significant gain in value for the almost 8000 INR premium you would pay for the phone over the 7T. Heard of “the law of diminishing returns”? This rule was something that OnePlus used to take great cadence with and used to their advantage. “To push phones with small shortcomings at forgivable prices”. With OnePlus creeping out of this niche year by year, they’re becoming more mainstream – something that doesn’t align with the company’s overall MO.