Fast wireless charging, dark theme, 5G, and more: Here’s all you need to know about OnePlus 8 launch

The OnePlus 8 Pro comes with Warp Wireless 30 charger. The company said it gives 50 percent power in just 30 minutes which is a strong result for wireless charging compared to the competition from Apple and Samsung. This is the first OnePlus phone to come with wireless charging technology, and it also supports reverse charging, which means it can help you charge some of your other accessories as well. 

The OnePlus 8 Pro comes with main 48MP Sony IMX689 sensor, 48MP ultra wide angle lens, 3X telephoto lens and a colour filter camera. It comes with 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB of storage, Wifi 6. The OnePlus 8 series comes with Amazon Alexa support and Android 10 with OxygenOS on top. 
OnePlus 8 too comes with a 6.55-inch display, slim bezels, 72.9mm wide, Snapdragon 865 processor, up to 12GB RAM and 256GB USB 3.1 storage, triple rear cameras (48MP IMX586, 16MP ultra-wide and macro lens), 3D curved glass finish, HDR10 support, three colour variants, can shoot 4K videos, 4300mAh battery, Warp Charge 30T, and fully support 5G.  The highlight of the variant is that it has a few “less” things. The company said that it has more “compact flagship”. It is 180 grams, which is notably light for a device of its type. Also, It’s only a Full HD+ resolution (that’s 2400 x 1080) for the OnePlus 8, which is one of the major differences to the Pro model. Similar to its Pro counterpart, the OnePlus 8 comes in Onyx Black and Glacial Green, as well as a brand new color variant — Interstellar Glow.
The OnePlus 8 series is a big upgrade over the OnePlus 7T which was launched towards the end of last year. The latest series is more powerful and sport better specifications such as screen, 5G, wireless charging and others when compared to its predecessors. The company did not share when the devices will be available on the shelves and what would be the price.

“The OnePlus 8 series is the most powerful and beautiful flagship smartphone series we have ever created,” said Pete Lau, Founder and CEO of OnePlus. “The seamless immersive viewing experience provided by the OnePlus 8 Pro’s industry-leading 120Hz display, and the sleek design and compact form factor of the OnePlus 8, together deliver a burdenless, premium user experience like never before,” he added. 

The smartphone major focussed on highlighting ‘5G’ capabilities and told that users will not be able to get a 4G-only version of either the OnePlus 8 or OnePlus 8 Pro. “A 2020 flagship has 5G”, said the company. On UI side, there is a new dark theme in this series, plus there are new dynamic wallpapers that will change depending on the weather you are in at that point of time.

Alongside the launch, OnePlus also announced its partnership with Google to offer Google One, Google’s signature membership programme, which provides expanded storage across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos and automatic phone backup. With Google One, users will be able to keep their photos and contacts more safe within the cloud. All OnePlus 8 Series users can enjoy a three-month free trial of 100 GB of cloud storage, while owners of existing OnePlus devices are eligible for a one-month free trial.

The OnePlus 8 series is also built to provide hands-free and push-to-talk access to Alexa. Just download the Alexa app, complete setup, and ask to make phone calls, open apps (for US and India users), control smart home devices, access the library of Alexa skills, and more. In the coming months, OnePlus will launch new capabilities that let customers use Alexa to start a Zen Mode session and cast their phones to TVs. Amazon and OnePlus are committed to providing customer choice and flexibility to interact with multiple voice services, which is possible with the OnePlus 8 series.

In February, China-headquartered OnePlus widened its lead over peers Samsung and Apple in India by capturing 33 percent of the premium smartphone segment (Rs 30,000 and above). OnePlus shipped a staggering two million smartphones in 2019, growing 28 percent from last year, according to Counterpoint Research. Its India sales were driven by the OnePlus 7 series.

Today, India completed its 21-day lockdown, which is now extended till May 3 as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with an aim to reduce the deadly impact of COVID-19 or coronavirus. The lockdown has impacted various industries including smartphone companies, as the product does not come under essentials as of now. According to media reports, the lockdown has forced smartphone companies such as Realme, Vivo, and Xiaomi to delay new launches in India, and overall the smartphone companies are not able to sell the units that are already on the shelves as offline retailers and e-commerce players cannot sell due to the restrictions under the lockdown.