Oneplus 10 Pro Review, Specs & Price: The OnePlus 10 Pro is currently available in the 8/128 GB version for €479 at Azahoo, with the voucher AZAHOO5.
After delivering two of the best smartphones in their respective price ranges with the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, the successor is now appearing – the OnePlus 10 Pro. The new flagship continues the cooperation with the camera manufacturer Hasselblad and also uses a 150° ultra wide-angle camera. There is also a battery that has been increased to 5,000 mAh, a triple camera, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip and 80 watt charging. You can find out in our test why the changes are not all good.
Here are my first impressions of the smartphone from the MWC in Barcelona in early March.
Oneplus 10 Pro Review, Specs & Price:
- OnePlus 10 Pro
- with 8GB/128GB at Azahoo for €479 | Amazon (not available) | Coolblue (not available)
- with 12GB/256GB at Azahoo for €519 | Amazon for €849 | Pro shop (not available)
- Specifications of the OnePlus 10 Pro
OnePlus 10 Pro | OnePlus 9 Pro | |
screen | 6.7 inch Curved AMOLED, QHD+ resolution (3216 x 1440P), 1-120Hz LTPO 2.0, 525 PPI | 6.7 inch Curved AMOLED, QHD+ resolution (3216 x 1440P), 1-120Hz LTPO, 525 PPI |
processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 @ 3.0GHz | Snapdragon 888 Octa Core @ 2.84 + 2.42 + 1.80GHz |
graphics chip | Adreno 730 @ 818MHz | Qualcomm Adreno 660 @ 840MHz |
Random Access Memory (RAM) | 8GB/12GB LPDDR5 | 8GB/12GB LPDDR5 |
mass storage | 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 | 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 |
camera | 48MP Sony IMX789, f/1.8, OIS/EIS 50MP Samsung JN1, 150° ultra wide, f/2.2 8MP 3.3x zoom OIS f/2.4 | 48MP IMX789 f/1.8 OIS/EIS 50MP IMX766, 110° ultra wide, f/2.2 8MP 3.3x zoom, OIS, f/2.4 2 MP monochrome |
front camera | 32 MP, Sony IMX615, f /2.0 aperture, EIS | 16 MP, Sony IMX471, f /2.4 aperture, EIS |
battery pack | 5,000 mAh, 80 watts SuperVOOC, 50 watts wireless, reverse wireless charging | 4,500 mAh, 65 watt Warp Charge 65T, 50 watt wireless, reverse wireless charging |
connectivity | Wi-Fi 5 & 6 (ac/ax), BT 5.2, aptX HD, NFC, Dual GPS/Galileo, GLONASS/ BDS, 5G, LTE Band 20, USB 3.0 | Wi-Fi 5 & 6 (ac/ax), BT 5.2, aptX HD, NFC, Dual GPS/Galileo, GLONASS/ BDS, 5G, LTE Band 20, USB 3.0 |
features | In-Display Fingerprint Sensor, Face Unlock, Stereo Speakers, USB-C | In-Display Fingerprint Sensor, Face Unlock, Stereo Speakers, USB-C |
operating system | Android 12 with OxygenOS 12 interface/ColorOS (China) | Android 11 with OxygenOS 11.2 interface |
Colors | Volcanic Black, Emerald Forest | Morning Mist, Pine Green, Stellar Black |
Mass weight | 163 x 73.9 x 8.55mm / 201g | 163.2 x 73.6 x 8.7mm / 197g |
Price | 899€ for 8GB/128GB | 999€ for 12GB/256GB | 899€ for 8GB/128GB | 999€ for 12GB/256GB |
Introduction / Release | China: 02/11/2022, Europe: 03/31/2022 | March 23, 2021 / March 31, 2021 |
OnePlus goes with the flow, but without water protection
What first catches your eye with the OnePlus 10 Pro is of course the new design of the camera body. This is significantly larger than on the OP 9 Pro and is reminiscent of the Samsung S21 Ultra due to the seamless transition into the frame. The Koreans have implemented the whole thing better for my taste, the OnePlus camera housing and the frame don’t look completely of one piece. This is also due to the fact that the camera body is made of reflective ceramic and the frame is made of matte black or shiny green metal.
The enlargement could also have been saved, because the camera system has hardly changed and this time even gets by with one sensor less than last year. While a fairly unnecessary 2 MP monochrome sensor was installed in the predecessor, this time it is limited to a “classic” triple camera.
Unfortunately, this trend towards the HUGE camera body and large lenses is an industry-wide one and OnePlus is just swimming with the current. Nevertheless, I would have found it better if the design language had remained similar to that of the 9 series – that would also have a certain recognition value.
The rest of the back design is very reminiscent of the 9 Pro. This is how the centrally placed logo and the matt glass are continued. The colors “Volcanic Black” and “Forest Emerald” were used in a similar way on the predecessor. Personally, I’m also very pleased that the OnePlus-typical notification slider is still there. OnePlus also protects the back with Gorilla Glass 5.
One protection that’s missing this year, however, is the official IP68 rating . So the 10 Pro is not officially protected against dust and water, the 9 Pro was. However, OnePlus says that the new flagship goes through the same manufacturing processes as an IP68-certified device, only the official certification is missing. This is only available on the 10 Pro in the US and only there if you buy it from T-Mobile.
Accordingly, I think it is quite realistic that protection also exists in Europe, but that certification is dispensed with for cost reasons. Nevertheless, and even though water damage is not covered by the warranty on almost any smartphone (certified or not), this omission leaves a rather bland aftertaste. If you want to call yourself a flagship in 2022 and compete with Samsung, Apple, Google and Co., you also have to swim with the crowd when it comes to water and dust protection.
As usual with OnePlus, the workmanship is very good. All transitions from the metal frame to the glass are pleasantly smooth and the notification slider and all buttons feel valuable. However, I don’t want to hide the fact that YouTuber JerryRigEverything was able to break through the 10 Pro in his usual endurance test below the camera body. Of course, you don’t normally bend your smartphone like he did in his test, but most smartphones, including the OP 9 Pro and 8 Pro, survive this unscathed. So just be careful not to sit on the 10 Pro.
The fingerprint sensor moves up
The fingerprint sensor has been placed a little higher this year than on the 9 Pro. It’s definitely easier to reach in the middle of the bottom half of the screen and I’ve never really understood why it’s so low down on the 9 Pro. According to OnePlus, the speed has also been improved, which I hardly notice. The speed and detection rate are on the same level as last year, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Fast and reliable – that’s how you can describe unlocking by fingerprint on the OP 10 Pro (Oneplus 10 Pro Review).
The same applies to unlocking via face recognition. As is so often the case, this is solved via the front camera and is therefore not as secure as, for example, Apple’s Face ID. Fortunately, you don’t have to use it here, but it’s useful in some situations.
Display: 1 billion sharp colors at 120 Hz
Hardly anything has changed on the front. OnePlus continues to rely on a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a QuadHD+ resolution (3216 x 1440P). So you get a very sharp display with an above-average 526 pixels per inch. If the high resolution eats up too much battery or you simply don’t need it, you can switch back to FullHD+ in the display settings. A new feature is the smart resolution option, in which the resolution switches between QHD+ and FHD+ depending on the content.
This dynamic adjustment is standard with the refresh rate. Between 1Hz and 120Hz, the update rate is also adjusted to the content shown. Thanks to the LTPO 2.0 technology, this change can now take place even faster than with the OP 9 Pro. According to OnePlus, the faster change leads to a higher energy efficiency of the 10 Pro, which should last 1.5 hours longer than its predecessor. If you don’t need that and want to save even more battery, you can switch back to permanent 60 Hz. By the way, the good always-on display now runs with only 1Hz and should therefore consume even less energy.
So while the refresh rate shows a slight improvement, the brightness remains completely the same. Accordingly, the maximum brightness of the 10 Pro is again 1,300 nits. However, it has to be said that this value is very good for €900. For classification: a Galaxy S22 is on par and a Xiaomi 12 for €50 less offers 1,100 nits. The brightness is sufficient for a readable display even in direct sunlight and the automatic mode does a good job.
The double color calibration of the display is new. Normally, the color representation of a smartphone display is calibrated at a brightness level (e.g. 500 nits). The OnePlus 10 Pro is now the first smartphone whose display colors have been calibrated at 500 nits and 100 nits. This should ensure a 50% more accurate color representation at low display brightness. To be honest, I never noticed a very inaccurate color representation at low brightness indoors with my 9 Pro. For people who depend on very accurate colors for their work, for example, this is certainly a nice improvement.
Speaking of colors – it is again a 10-bit display that can display 1.07 billion colors. In the settings you can choose between different color modes for the display. The default setting is Vivid, but there’s still Nature and, in Pro mode, Cinematic (DCI-P3) and Brilliant. In all modes you can also adjust the color temperature.
The settings also offer a plannable dark mode with three levels and some additional options. The so-called natural color display automatically adjusts the color temperature to the ambient light and the plannable night mode is now called eye comfort mode. If you want, you can also completely do without colors in this mode, which is not a bad idea, especially before going to sleep.
OnePlus is (unfortunately) sticking to the curved design of the display. After all, I had almost no incorrect entries due to the rounded display glass. If it were up to me, OnePlus would be happy to follow Samsung and the S22/+, which offer a completely flat display. In terms of HDR, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG are supported, unfortunately still no Dolby Vision.
Overall, the display is very similar to that of the 9 Pro and only offers significant differences in terms of the speed of the refresh rate adjustment and the second color calibration. But even without huge jumps, this is a super sharp, dynamic and colorful AMOLED display that should make pretty much everyone happy.
Hot Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 muzzled
As expected, the successor to the Snapdragon 888 is used inside. This is called Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 thanks to Qualcomm’s new naming scheme. There is also a choice of 8 GB or 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128 GB or 256 GB UFS 3.1 storage. So you are equipped with the latest equipment in all respects. I would have found a 512 GB version nice, because the memory is not expandable as always.
In everyday life, the jump from the Snapdragon 888 to the SD 8 Gen 1 is only very rarely noticeable. The system runs very smoothly, reacts quickly to any inputs and apps are opened and switched between them quickly. As is so often the case, the software, the fast display and the chip are well coordinated and don’t put any obstacles in your way. So I never felt the need to switch on the high-performance mode outside of games, which is deactivated by default.
Thus, the 10 Pro drives most of the time with the handbrake slightly applied. You don’t have to like that, but personally I’d rather have a little more battery life if I don’t notice the difference anyway. If you always want to use the maximum performance of the chip when gaming or in general, you have to activate the high-performance mode in the settings under Battery>Advanced settings. This is where a simple button in quick settings would be really useful.
The warning that the device will get warm in performance mode is definitely justified. Especially in the GPU benchmarks and in games, you notice the Snapdragon’s waste heat even without activation, which then also leads to throttling so that the device does not overheat. After all, the 3D Benchmark Wild Life Stress Test levels off at a little over 60% of the initial performance after the first few runs, which is of course not a good value.
Not only OnePlus has these problems, but can also be observed with the Xiaomi 12 Pro. The culprit here is clearly the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which simply develops a lot of heat. OnePlus tries to counter this with the largest cooling system in a OnePlus to date, which is not quite enough in longer, permanent stress tests.
Thanks to the new Adreno 730 GPU, you have plenty of power for gaming, which is evident in both games and benchmarks. However, this performance cannot be sustained for long when playing graphically demanding games. So if you are a passionate mobile gamer, you should probably look around for a cell phone with last year’s Snapdragon 888 or a gaming phone like the RedMagic 7. If, like me, you only have puzzle games installed, you won’t have these problems and won’t even notice that they exist.
Benchmark Results
The benchmark results are quite disappointing without the high-performance mode activated. However, if this is switched on, it shows that the SD 8 Gen 1 can primarily deliver better GPU performance, while the CPU improvements are quite small.
OxygenOS with ColorOS impact
In January, the OnePlus 10 Pro was presented in China. There it appears with the ColorOS 12.1 operating system , which is based on Android 12. ColorOS is OPPO ‘s in-house operating system. Last year it was announced that the two operating systems from OnePlus and OPPO would be merged in order to offer a unified experience.
After a lot of negative community feedback, however, they refrained from doing so and left it with a unified codebase. Accordingly, the OnePlus 10 Pro continues to appear with OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12 with a security update from March 2022.
Even if it’s still called OxygenOS and many of the well-known features can be found again, you can still see that OxygenOS 12.1 has a lot of ColorOS 12.1 in it. The screen for editing the start page looks exactly like it does on Oppo, Thorben has already found the “inventive background images” on the Find X5 Pro and the O-haptics for the vibrations have also been adopted. The battery settings and the camera app can also be found on Oppo.
Also new to longtime OnePlus users are the redesigned icons, which are now square with rounded corners. As always, you can simply install and use other icon packs and of course another launcher. The shelf has also been redesigned and can now be accessed by swiping down from the top right corner. Finally, you don’t have to choose between Quick Settings & Notifications and Shelf like OxygenOS 11 does.
Other innovations include the Private Save and Work Life Balance 2.0. Fortunately, the well-known gestures have remained – for example, on a switched-off display (V for the flashlight, etc.) – the many personalization options and the good performance. OxygenOS runs very smoothly, quickly and intuitively with (or despite?) ColorOS influence. In addition, there is the promise of three major Android updates (up to and including Android 15) and four years of security updates.
Second generation Hasselblad camera
The three cameras on the rear form a very similar setup to the 9 Pro. The 10 Pro also uses the Sony IMX789 sensor for the 48 MP main camera. The telephoto camera with 8 megapixels has also remained the same, enabling a 3.3x optical and up to 30x digital zoom. The HASSELBLAD branding of the Swedish camera manufacturer, with which OnePlus entered into a three-year partnership in March 2021, is also clearly visible again.
So only the ultra-wide-angle camera is really new, which still has a resolution of 50 megapixels, but relies on the Samsung JN1 sensor and offers a recording angle of up to 150° (110°-120° is normal). OnePlus calls the whole system ” the second generation Hasselblad camera for smartphones “.
What’s new is that all three rear cameras of the 10 Pro can take photos with 10-bit color depth and thus capture over 1 billion colors. This should ensure even more realistic colors, finer color gradients and transitions. However, HEIC files are created in the process, which so far can only be opened on the OP 10 Pro and current Macs. It did not work on several current Windows computers with the two installed extensions (HEIF & HEVC).
Furthermore, all three cameras can take photos in 12-bit RAW format in Pro mode and there is a new RAW+ format. For video creators, there is also the new Film mode, which allows you to “set ISO value, shutter speed, white balance and more before and during video recording” and film in LOG format.
Main Camera: Still going strong
As already mentioned, the main camera is exactly the same as in the predecessor. Even the OnePlus Reviewer’s Guide only devotes a single page to the camera and talks about improvements in image noise, resolution and dynamic range. That and of course the photos show that she really hasn’t done much here. The main difference that most people will notice is that the OnePlus 10 Pro produces photos with more color saturation and the white balance tends to be a bit warmer.
These two changes ensure that the colors are no longer quite as natural, which many people might even like better. Just think of holiday photos with blue sky and blue sea that you can see so often on Instagram. I can’t absolve myself of that either – it simply looks better in places when the plant is really green and the sky is really blue, but that’s often no longer realistic.
Below are always the photos of the OnePlus 10 Pro on the left and those of the OnePlus 9 Pro on the right, both in auto mode and without post-processing.
A small improvement can be observed in the already good dynamic range. In the following photo you can see even more of the brightly lit house in the background. In terms of details and sharpness, on the other hand, practically nothing has changed, but both were already at a very good level with the 9 Pro.
Where you can see the warmer white balance a little too clearly, in my opinion, is in night shots. Here the photos from the 10 Pro often get a certain red cast, the 9 Pro goes more into the green. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, especially the pictures of the plant in weak (but not red) light turned out to be too red for me.
The so-called Master Styles should also be briefly mentioned. These are three color filters created in collaboration with three professional Hasselblad photographers. From left to right you see the normal photo and then the Sparkle, Clarity and Emerald filters in action.
150° ultra wide-angle camera: Not a fair exchange
The biggest innovation of the camera system is the new ultra wide-angle camera with a recording angle of 150°. This is the same camera as in the recently introduced Realme GT 2 Pro. However, since 150° is a really extremely wide recording angle, normal recordings with the ultra-wide-angle camera “only” capture a normal 110°. As with the main camera, the colors are a bit stronger, the white balance is quite warm and all photos appear very bright. You can also like that better, but you lose contrast and the new sensor cannot keep up with the details and sharpness either.
With this slightly clearer brightening, you might be trying to compensate for the fact that the new sensor is unfortunately about 44% smaller and has 36% smaller pixels. This means you can capture less light, which leads to poorer photos in low light and with a smaller dynamic range.
To take photos with a 150° angle or in fisheye mode, you have to tap on “More” on the far right in the camera app and select 150° there. I honestly find it a bit odd to hide such a heavily advertised new feature where it’s not even guaranteed that all buyers will even discover it. You could have just added it as another fourth option in the normal “Photo” section. Disappointingly, videos with 150° or a fisheye effect are not possible. The photos definitely have a cool effect, but even the distortion correction cannot prevent the skyscraper from having a slight curvature towards the edge.
A feature that the new UWW camera unfortunately does away with is the macro mode. Admittedly, this is just as much a gimmick as the 150° mode, but it was solved well with the 8 Pro and 9 Pro via the ultra wide-angle camera. Overall, the ultra-wide-angle camera is a downgrade compared to its predecessor, and that’s only for a shooting mode that OnePlus doesn’t even place prominently. For me, this is not a fair exchange and a clear step backwards.
3.3x telephoto camera: Nice to have
The telephoto camera is still the same as it was in the OnePlus 8 Pro. This is also only about improvements in the digital zoom, which is possible up to 30x. However, I would not go beyond 10x, because then it gets very muddy. In combination with optical image stabilization, you get passable zoom photos here. It’s just a pity that the colors aren’t particularly consistent across the three cameras. The telephoto camera is always warmer or has a slight red cast. Here you should try again with updates to adjust the colors a bit.
32 MP front camera: Captures more
But then there is another change at the front. The 32 MP Sony IMX615 sensor, which is also used in the OnePlus Nord 2, is used here. This gives you a 27% larger shooting angle than the 9 Pro. This is an improvement, especially for group selfies or selfie videos. The camera captures many details and takes sharp selfies. The dynamic range could also be increased somewhat.
Another new feature is that you can now also use night mode for selfies. But even without this, the 10 Pro takes better low-light selfies than its predecessor. In my opinion, the new front camera is a real improvement – it works!
Overall, in my opinion, the 10 Pro is a bit far away from the advertised “Hasselblad Natural Color Solution for Mobile”, because the colors on the 10 Pro are no longer that natural . Whether that’s good or bad is in the eye of the beholder and photographer. It is clear, however, that the new ultra-wide-angle camera is worse and the new front camera is better than its predecessor.
5,000 mAh battery ensures good runtime
The biggest improvement of the 10 Pro over its predecessor is clearly the battery capacity and runtime. You get a 5,000 mAh battery here, which is an increase of 11%. Since the display size, resolution and brightness have remained the same and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is permanently throttled somewhat in the standard setting, the enlargement is also carried over into everyday life.
I got about 7-9 hours of screen time in everyday life, depending on how many benchmarks and games were running in between. I can get through 1 to 1.5 days without charging. In the PCMark battery benchmark, the OnePlus 10 Pro lasted between 13:26 hours and 14:26 hours. With the shorter runtime, the display resolution was QHD+, the longer was achieved with FullHD+. However, the display ran at a dynamic 120 Hz in both tests.
The 10 Pro is charged with the supplied 80 watt SuperVOOC charger. Here, too, one notices the ever-progressing opification of OnePlus. Of course, OnePlus has always used Oppo’s VOOC charging technology, but so far OnePlus has called it Dash Charge and then Warp Charge. The wireless charging with 50 watts, which we know from the 9 Pro as Warp Charge 50 Wireless, is now called “50W AIRVOOC”.
In practice, the OP 10 Pro only needs 15 minutes to reach 50% wired, the full 100% is reached after 33 minutes. Slightly oddly, the charger now has a USB-A port again, while the 9 Pro was the first to use USB-C directly on the charger. Wireless charging can also be done with the “old” Warp Charge 50 wireless charger and then takes 47 minutes to reach 100%.
When connected to a cable, the charging time has only increased by 4 minutes compared to the predecessor, which is a strong plus point in view of the significantly larger battery. The battery life could also be increased, so I ‘m a bit jealous of my 9 Pro. Overall, the biggest progress of the OnePlus 10 Pro can be seen in the battery and charging category.
Loud speakers & strong vibration
The OnePlus 10 Pro is again equipped with two speakers. The stronger one sits at the bottom next to the USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbit/s) port. The slightly weaker sits at the top edge and doubles as an earpiece. The stereo pair gets quite loud, but then distorts the bass range a bit. Overall, this is on the average level of the 9 Pro, but a Xiaomi 12 Pro sounds even better.
The vibration, on the other hand, could really be improved. The same vibration motor is probably installed here as the Oppo Find X5 Pro and its “O-Haptics” branding is also used. The motor is 40% more powerful than the one in the 9 Pro, according to OnePlus , and you can definitely feel the stronger vibration. Add to that the fact that you can choose between “sharp” and soft vibration, which really makes a difference.
The integrated X65 modem gives access to 5G (standalone & non-standalone) as well as WiFi 5 and 6 (ac & ax). The dual SIM slot offers space for two 5G nano SIM cards at the same time. When making calls, VoLTE and VoWiFi are supported and both sides could understand each other well.
With Bluetooth, you also have a good choice with version 5.2 and aptX HD as well as LDAC support. NFC for Google Pay is of course also installed. Dual GPS, Dual Galileo, GLONASS and BDS are supported for navigation. The GPS fix is there after about 2 seconds and is accurate to 3 meters.
The OnePlus 10 Pro will have a hard time
You may already have noticed that the OnePlus 10 Pro did not impress me. It’s not a bad cell phone overall, but it lacks the major advancement, the WOW factor and then you can still make a few mistakes. There’s the missing IP68 rating, the “breaking in two”, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 overheating and throttling in demanding games, and the inferior ultra-wide-angle camera.
On the pro side there is a very good display, good everyday performance, smooth running software that I still like despite the Oppo influences, an improved battery life with fast 80 watt charging and the main camera, which is still very good.
The problem is that the OnePlus 9 Pro already had a good display, an overall better camera system thanks to the ultra-wide-angle camera, good performance, and a shorter but still good battery life. So if you would like a new OnePlus cell phone and can do without the slightly better battery, I think the OP 9 Pro is the better overall package for currently around €200 less.
Compared to the 2022 flagships, the Samsung Galaxy S22+ , the Oppo Find X5 , Google Pixel 6 Pro and Xiaomi 12 / Pro are competitors that are certainly not flawless and sometimes cost €50-100 more, but often offer a slightly better overall package and are definitely good alternatives. Accordingly, I think the OnePlus 10 Pro will have a much harder time this year than the 9 Pro did last year. It’s just not the smartphone I can recommend first when it comes to flagships anymore.
The OnePlus 10 Pro is available for pre-order now and will be available in stores from April 5th. Unfortunately, the version with 8GB/128GB is only available in black and costs €899. The larger 12GB/256GB variant costs €999 and is available in green and black.
What do you think of the OnePlus 10 Pro? Is my assessment too harsh and what do you think of the new ultra wide-angle camera?