The smartphone brand Oneplus stood for big visions for a small budget. The new Oneplus 10 Pro is the opposite of that. And just the Edelknipse holds it back.
How do you make a new brand big on the market? The small start-up Oneplus set itself this challenge at the beginning. The answer: a lot of hype about a technically strong smartphone for little money. The biggest weakness, however, was always the camera. With a cooperation with Hasselblad, Oneplus wanted to become a premium smartphone manufacturer. But the distance from one’s own roots takes revenge.
That starts with the outside. The first Oneplus smartphone, simply called “One”, scored with some idiosyncratic design decisions. Instead of relying on the then modern metal backs like the competitors, it offered a pleasant, unusually non-slip alternative with a back reminiscent of sandstone. After Oneplus quickly switched away from it and first relied on metal and then glass, the sandstone is now back. The black model is reminiscent of the ancestors visually and in terms of hand feel. Unfortunately, the handle is missing: somehow Oneplus managed to make the roughened surface even feel slippery than glass. A somewhat strange development.
Unfortunately, the camera bulge of the Oneplus 10 Pro, which is impressively integrated into the frame, is very susceptible to dust and fingerprints. Good to see here: the sandstone back and the mute switch
© Malte Mansholt / star
The main feature disappoints
The second eye-catcher on the back is – as with other smartphones of this generation – the gigantic camera bulge, including the not very discreet “Hasselblad” lettering. As with the predecessor (here in our test), the cult camera brand Oneplus has again supported the development, the supposed precious snaps is one of the main selling points. In fact, the two companies are reticent about the details of the cooperation, the camera expert probably helped primarily with the fine-tuning of the software.
In practice, as with the Oneplus 9 Pro, the cooperation is less than one would have hoped. It can be found above all in the Hasselblad red release button and sound, and the professional mode also bears the Hasselblad logo. The images in daylight are very nice to look at, but in poor light the images lose a lot of detail. Oneplus has always had a weakness here, it would have been nice if it were finally fixed. A detailed comparison of the cameras can be found in the photo gallery.
The Oneplus 10 Pro cuts a fine figure in videos. By default, 1080P is filmed, but if you want, you can also set more modern resolutions such as 4K (with up to 120 frames per second) or even 8K. However, this should be carefully considered: the device gets very warm with 8K recordings, and the battery is noticeably drained. 30 minutes of video consumed about 15 percent of the battery power in the test. In addition, the videos eat up a lot of memory, almost 500 megabytes are consumed per minute. If you don’t have an 8K TV at home, you can save storage space.
Eye-catcher with too little radiance
You can’t enjoy them in all their glory on the display of the Oneplus 10 Pro either. With 1440 x 3216 pixels, it does not offer an 8K resolution, but that would be completely oversized on the 6.7-inch AMOLED display. The display is extremely sharp and shows colors and rich blacks well. The flexible refresh rate is also good: Depending on the content shown, the display can freely adjust its refresh rate between 1 and 120 frames per second. This ensures that scrolling is very smooth without draining the battery. It works pretty well in everyday use, you don’t notice the change.
The good display of the Oneplus 10 Pro covers almost the entire front
© Malte Mansholt / star
The low brightness is a bit of a shame. According to the manufacturer, the Oneplus 10 Pro achieves a peak brightness of 1300 nits, but in bright daylight it still looks quite dark compared to an iPhone 13 Pro, even at the highest automatic level. This is where software should help. But you shouldn’t hope for that: The system already warns that the battery life will suffer if the display is turned up to the max.
Oneplus 10 Pro in the test: fast charger
Actually, it shouldn’t fail. With 5000 mAh, the Oneplus 10 Pro is extremely well equipped. In the test, the device always lasted a full day even when used a lot and even had reserves left. More moderate users should regularly get a second day. In view of the fast charging, however, a low battery level is not the end of the world. Thanks to Oneplus’ strong quick-charging technology, the 10 Pro can be refueled from 0 to 100 in just under half an hour on the right charger.
The rest of the hardware is at a high level, but ultimately not a quantum leap. The processor is the fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which comes with 8 or 12 GB of RAM depending on the memory selection. The Oneplus 10 Pro is always on the move, even games and high-end videos manage it without getting out of breath. However, this applies to most premium smartphones.
differences in detail
As a unique selling point, small details that Oneplus has retained from its early days are more suitable. There is, for example, the mute switch, which otherwise only Apple gives its smartphones. It has been an integral part of the program since the first Oneplus smartphone. Once you get used to the three levels (loud, vibrating alarm, completely silent), you won’t want to do without the controller anymore.
Oneplus also continues to cook its own soup with the software. At least in Europe: If the Oneplus 10 Pro comes with Oppo’s Android system ColorOS in its home country of China, Oneplus offers its own system with OxygenOS in the rest of the world. This offers some nice features like the widget screen accessible by swiping in the top right corner.
Unfortunately, there are also some bizarre decisions: The automatic rotation of content when the device is tilted is switched off by default. Clips filmed in landscape format are always displayed with thick bars in the photo app. Fortunately, this can be changed quickly in the menu. On the other hand, Oneplus’ promise to support the device with three other major Android updates and to guarantee four years of security updates is good.
Conclusion: the end of the hype
The Oneplus 10 Pro is many things, it is no longer exciting. Ironically, the much-hyped camera is more of a weakness than a strength. The hardware feels very well made, with the exception of the camera, which is a bit too weak, top technology is used. But the magical moment that used to set many Oneplus devices apart from the competition is simply missing. Except for small details like the rest slider, the Oneplus 10 Pro now feels like other, quite generic smartphones. The price has also long been mainstream at 899 euros and is no longer nearly as cheap. That makes compromises like the camera all the more annoying.
The Oneplus 10 Pro is a good smartphone. But not anymore. It is therefore not a real buy tip. If you want to save money, you can do that with the otherwise more expensive models from premium manufacturers, such as the iPhone 13 or the Galaxy S22 from Samsung, both of which cost at least 100 euros less than the Oneplus 10 Pro. If you add a hundred more, you even get the Galaxy Ultra model or the iPhone 13 Pro.