If you are seeking an inexpensive flagship, this phone is one to consider. Our OnePlus 8 5G UW review will walk you through the features.
OnePlus 8 5G UW smartphone was released in April 2020. Being a new brand, OnePlus has quickly become a household name for good smartphones. This model is one of the latest examples.
A flagship product, the OnePlus 8 5G UW boasts a 6.5-inch screen, 5G support, and powerful CPU. Other features are the beasts too here, including the battery, storage capacity, and RAM size.
OnePlus 8 5G UW is a phone attracting tech enthusiasts. It also offers a great triple camera with the main lens having 48MP resolution.
In this OnePlus 8 5G UW review, we’ll take a look at how this phone is worth your money. If you are seeking an affordable flagship, give this phone a try.
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Key Specs
OnePlus 8 5G UW specifications:
- Weight: 180g
- Dimensions: 160.2 x 72.9 x 8mm
- OS: Android 10
- Screen size: 6.5-inch
- Resolution: 2400 x 1080
- CPU: 2.8GHz Octa-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 128GB
- Battery: 4,300mAh, Non-removable
- Rear camera: 48MP
- Front camera: 16MP
Design
Looking at its dimension (160.2 x 72.9 x 8mm), it’s clear that the OnePlus 8 5G UW is a big phone. Interestingly, it’s not heavy at 180g. The OnePlus 8 5G UW features an ultra-slim body but very tall and wide.
The color that dominates this phone’s casing comes in two choices, onyx black and polar silver. The back cover is very thin but is also curved, thus increasing comfort when you hold the phone. Despite being big, you can still operate the phone with one hand thanks to this type of design.
The aesthetic itself is very typical of a OnePlus phone. For example, the screen takes almost the entire front part of the phone. The display adheres to the edge-to-edge design approach. Instead of a notch, you see a punch-hole camera on the corner.
You may need to get used to the placement of the volume button. It’s on the left instead of on the right like many phones today. There’s also one additional button, the Alexa button. This feature connects you to the Amazon Smart Assistant in an instant.
In short, the OnePlus 8 5G UW’s build quality is great as always. The phone uses aluminum as the frame and glass as the back cover. It is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5. But frankly, we found nothing special that makes people turn their heads. It’s just a great and durable design.
Read also: OnePlus 8 5G UW User Manual
Display
OnePlus 8 5G UW comes with a wonderful 6.5-inch AMOLED display. It’s one of the best displays you’ll get in the market nowadays. Packed with dense pixels at 2400 x 1080, the display boasts a 20:9 aspect ratio and 402 ppi pixel density.
The display is a beast in every factor that makes a screen great. The size itself is expansive. With its ultra-thin edges (88.65 %), the front area is almost entirely created for a visual treat. It’s a spacious canvas for you to do your work seamlessly, looking at images with great detail, and watching widescreen movies.
The screen quality is top-notch. An AMOLED screen has great brightness that can fight sunlight with ease. On this phone, the peak brightness can reach 1100 cd/m2 (nit). You can use the phone comfortably when outside.
This display also comes with a color-correcting HDR feature. The refresh rate at 90GHz is also one of the fastest in the market. On top of that, all this goodness is protected by the scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5). You don’t have to worry about everyday wear and tear.
The screen ticks many of our boxes in this OnePlus 8 5G UW review. It’s an ultimately great screen with great size and quality.
Camera
We expected to have a quad-camera on OnePlus 8 5G UW. However, the phone only offers three cameras on the back. The triple-camera combo consists of a 48MP main lens, a 16MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP macro lens.
The best shooter is undoubtedly the main lens. At 48MP, the camera comes with PDAF and most importantly, an Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) technology. This technology makes it possible to shoot a smooth video with no shaking. The camera itself can shoot 4K videos here.
The lens also has a small aperture and a large sensor size. It means you can take the best quality photo, even when the light situation is challenging.
The second camera is a 16MP lens with its own PDAF autofocus and 3.0 optical zoom. The optical zoom means the lens itself will shoot a faraway object, instead of using software on digital zoom.
The third lens is kind of gimmicky, however. It’s a 2MP macro lens with average quality when shooting photos. We also lament the absence of a depth camera on OnePlus 8 5G UW. There’s no way you can take a true bokeh picture with this phone.
Lastly, the front camera comes with interesting features as well. The 16MP shooter has image stabilization too, though only an electronic one. You can take stable recordings with this camera as well.
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Storage
You’ll have 128GB to store your files on OnePlus 8 5G UW. The internal storage is not only expansive for your data, but it also comes with UFS 3.0 technology. The technology ensures speedier data reading and writing, and therefore increasing the phone’s performance.
There’s no expandable option on this phone. It’s interesting and depending on how you look at it, it could be good or bad. In our opinion, it’s not really a problem. The internal storage is already big enough and there are also cloud storage options.
Performance
OnePlus 8 5G UW delivers its performance through a 2.8GHz Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor. The massive processing speed is coupled with an equally massive RAM, at 8GB. You can already imagine what this combo is capable of.
It makes the OnePlus 8 5G UW a perfect device even for the hardest smartphone task available. The RAM allows users to do more at a time. Opening many apps simultaneously doesn’t hinder the performance in the slightest. Everything is smooth and fast with the OnePlus 8 5G UW.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU allows you to reach peak performance with your phone anytime. Enjoy desktop gaming performance level when playing demanding 3D names out there. It also packs AI capability for a better photography experience and voice interactions. It’s a CPU for premium devices.
It translates into how this phone operates the smart assistant features. Aside from Google Assistant, you’ll also get Alexa. These two AIs respond faster than on cheap phones, thanks to the processing capability of the CPU.
For entertainment, the OnePlus 8 5G UW also provides a full-fledged mini home theater. The Kryo 585 GPU offers fast renders on multimedia output. You’ll also enjoy pristine audio quality from Dolby Atmos and high definition output from aptX-HD.
No need to worry when you don’t spot any fingerprint reader on this phone. The fingerprint sensor instead is embedded into the screen. This is a distinct technology OnePlus has and offers with their premium models.
On the software side, the OnePlus 8 5G UW runs on an operating system called OxigenOS. It’s an Android-based OS that OnePlus managed to keep simple. Regardless, this phone has a killer CPU and RAM that some custom skin and apps won’t affect performance much.
Connectivity
As we’ve seen in its names, the OnePlus 8 5G UW is a 5G supporting phone. This is something anyone would expect after paying a lot of money to get this phone. OnePlus 8 5G UW itself runs on various bands, so older techs like 4G are still available.
The call quality and internet speed is great, without a doubt. The phone supports HD voice and VoLTE, but it is carrier-locked with Verizon.
OnePlus 8 5G UW has the updated Bluetooth 5.1 as well as dual-band Wi-Fi. It also has NFC, Wi-Fi calling, and OTG support. There’s nothing you won’t find on this phone in terms of wireless features. We are satisfied that the OnePlus 8 5G UW provides everything for its users, even the old headphone jack.
Battery
OnePlus 8 5G UW has a 4,300mAh battery. This may seem like a large capacity. However, with an AMOLED screen and turbo performance, the OnePlus 8 5G UW is not the kind of phone that can last more than two days on a single charge. On paper, the battery durability is a mere 27 hours. It can be much fewer in real life.
The good news is, OnePlus 8 5G UW’s battery comes with speedy charging technology. The in-house fast charging technology is called OnePlus Wrap Charge. The 30W charger is able to revive the phone in mere minutes. However, this phone isn’t compatible with any wireless charger.
Is the OnePlus 8 5G UW a good phone?
Our OnePlus 8 5G UW concludes that this phone is one of the best products we ever reviewed. The device is an exceptional flagship. Coming with a $799.99 price tag, it’s certainly not cheap. However, the features you get are in line with the money you spend.
Buyers will enjoy an AMOLED display, metal body, and great performance. There are some features missing, such as the depth camera and expandable storage. However, the absence doesn’t make any dent in this phone’s overall great quality.
This model certainly targets savvy users. Especially the ones who don’t want to pay thousands for a flagship. OnePlus 8 5G UW is certainly a great choice for this purpose.
OnePlus 8 5G UW Pros
- Metal body
- AMOLED display
- Great camera
- Great performance
- 5G support
OnePlus 8 5G UW Cons
- No depth camera
- Expensive
