OnePlus 8 Review: Stuck Between Mid-range and Flagship

TL;DR: The OnePlus 8 is a great mid-range device so long as camera quality and camera experience isn’t a top priority, but it’s not worth the upgrade from even a OnePlus 7 Pro. Unless you get a good deal on the device for under $500, I wouldn’t pick this phone out and would actually go for either a 7 Series or even a Nord to potentially save a few bucks while getting more out of the device. 

2020 saw OnePlus cater towards the flagship level market for the first time with the OnePlus 8 Pro, offering top-notch specs starting at $899. At this level, you got it all: a large, high refresh-rate display, fast wired and wireless charging, water resistance, and the best camera setup on a OnePlus phone. Even though OnePlus went all out on specs this time around, it wasn’t without its faults. There were tinting issues at 120 Hz on low brightness and dark backgrounds, the colour filter lens became a controversial key-feature, and there have been touchscreen issues with 120 Hz QHD+. Despite these shortcomings, the 8 Pro is still a fan favourite and a great device to use even in 2021, but still hasn’t reached audiences in the USA due to carrier availability. 

While the display did face some scrutiny and the camera sensors were the same as even 2018’s OnePlus 7-series offerings, the device exceeded most people's expectations of what OnePlus could achieve. The main issue that stopped it from being a #1 best-seller here in the States, however, was its lack of carrier availability and the lack of brand existence. However, OnePlus did offer a better value, the OnePlus 8 that was sold across Verizon (OnePlus 8 5G UW), Visible (OnePlus 8 Visible), Sprint, and T-Mobile (OnePlus 8 5G) and likely brought a lot more brand recognition than the 8 Pro could. 

I had the chance to upgrade my phone this past January, switching from my OnePlus 7T (T-Mobile) to the OnePlus 8 5G. I needed to upgrade that day, and the OnePlus 8T+ 5G, despite being way more appealing, was out of stock in every local store because of the upcoming Nord N-series. So, I settled with the next best; the OnePlus 8 5G interstellar glow. Now, the 8 isn’t a bad phone by any means. It has flagship level specs at a price that can reach a lot more customers, and it looks downright awesome. 

Quick Specs

Display

6.55 in curved and rounded edges

Display Quality

1080p 90 Hz AMOLED

Processor

Snapdragon 865

Hardware config

8 GB (DDRL4X) 128 GB UFS 3 (2-Lane)

Battery

4,300 mAh 30w wired USB-C

Rear Cameras

48 MP Wide 16 MP Ultra-wide 2 MP Macro

4K60 and 720p480fps

Selfie

16 MP 1080p30

OS

Oxygen OS 10 (Android 10) Oxygen OS 11 (Android 11)

Extras

IP68 (T-Mobile only), sub-6 5G

At launch, the device retailed for $699 on OnePlus, $100 more than the 7T the year prior. At the time I bought the device from T-Mobile, the device was retailing for $599 and I was paying it off monthly with an EIP (equipment installment plan), but it’s now available for just $399 directly from OnePlus.

The Basics

The device came in the signature red OnePlus box, which contained the charging cable, plug (or charging brick), stickers, manuals and the device which was covered in a clear frosted sleeve. There was no case like the OnePlus 7T I had prior. The device fit perfectly in my hand and was easy to navigate: volume rocker on the left and power and alert slider on the right. I only just discovered the importance of the placement of these vital buttons with my chunky Pixel 6 that will be reviewed next. The device is a bit slippery on the back and picks up a lot of fingerprints if you don’t constantly wipe the back of the phone down every 10-15 minutes. 

Setting up the device on Android 10 was a bit long, with only a few additional steps from OnePlus regarding user experiences and T-Mobile concerning additional apps and terms and conditions. The experience felt a lot more pristine in the Android 11 update, but did cause a more noticeable difference between T-Mobile’s setup steps and the rest of the systems’ default setup. The fingerprint scanner was really easy to set up and use and works amazingly fast. The only thing I found missing from the set-up was face unlock. It’s not really an issue, but more of an inconvenience, because you can either go right ahead and set it up after the setup or you, if you forget, the device will send you a notification to set it up.

Once you reach the homescreen, the experience is pretty much learn as you go. All of the main Oxygen OS features are intact, although the Shelf is only accessible if you disable swipe down for notifications and the discover side page is riddled with a T-Mobile bloatware tab next to Google’s Discover tab. I personally think the design of Oxygen OS 10 was much more consistent, as it ran through most of OnePlus’ system apps and wasn’t as drastically different to stock apps, but Oxygen OS 11’s design is better overall. I’m excited to see how Android 12 and the next generation of Oxygen OS look when it hits devices estimated in the first half of 2022.

Camera Experience

For me, the camera experience hasn’t exactly been that great on the OnePlus 8. Not only is it less versatile than the 7T and the 8 Pro, but its camera’s feel worse the 7T’s. Even though the last generation used the ultra-wide lens for macro shots, it could still beat the 8 in most macro mode shots. I think the only way the camera’s have improved is with it’s layout on the back of the phone. The coin look didn’t pique everyone’s interest, but at least it stuck out as different. The selfie camera feels the same, but obviously still lacks in 4K capability and any gimmicks for it, like Samsung’s slo-fie videos. Portrait mode still isn’t the best on any of the lenses, even with a GCam mod, but night mode shots come out pretty well. Speaking of GCam, the mod works pretty well for regular photos and video shots, but on some versions and configurations, night mode shots and portrait shots end up creating weird purple and pink tints all over which ruin the shot and you can’t use the auxiliary lenses with some versions of the mod. If you pay attention to every fine detail of a photo, then it will be worth the hassle to set up the app. Otherwise, you might as well stick with the default. 

Software Support

The combination of OnePlus taking longer about pushing updates and T-Mobile delaying updates for their carrier settings caused very little software support for the 8. Even on global firmware, I received about one update every three months. Custom ROM support is wide in reach, but they all have their flaws. The most stable ROM I used is Pixel Experience, however I tested out multiple other ROMs to see which is best. I have not been able to test the new Paranoid Android Sapphire, based on Android 12, but I did test the alpha builds based on Android 11 (which weren’t so great).

Lineage OS - Stable - Missing key features such as OnePlus system applications, proprietary vendor blobs for the camera, and face unlock. Obviously Lineage OS purposefully exclude these to keep the ROM open source, so it’s more of a inconvenience than a flaw or issue.

Pixel Experience - Stable - Very few updates, but don’t try to fix anything that’s not broken, eh? It provided a few customizations, but not quite enough to satisfy my needs. At least I had unlimited Photos storage?

AICP - Relatively Stable - Had a few bugs, but otherwise had the same inconveniences as Lineage OS. 

DerpFest Beta - Relatively Stable - Customizable and pretty stable, even had good battery life. Had issues with two-button navigation and, since it was a beta, did not have OTA updates. You had to manually flash new updates to the device, but it can be done with a dirty flash at least.

Havoc OS - Relatively Stable - One of the most customizable ROMs, provided the best experience, in my opinion, and was my primary daily driver. It did have some fingerprint scanner issues, but they weren’t too bothersome. Battery life could’ve been a bit better, but was still do-able.

crDroid - Stable - crDroid was pretty stable and had enough customizations to suffice. There wasn’t anything that stood out for me for this ROM, but it worked and that’s all that matters.

Global Oxygen OS - Stable - I’m including this version of Oxygen OS because it allows for stability and official OnePlus software. This was the only OS that actually worked with my OnePlus Buds Pro, popping up when they connect and are available over Bluetooth. 

Jaguar ROM - Not very stable - Jaguar ROM was probably the worst one I tried. It was highly customizable, but was not stable enough to actually customize. It has been a while since I last used the ROM, so maybe check out the latest update to see if it has improved. 

ShapeShift OS - Somewhat stable - ShapeShift was my favourite ROM for a short time, but with every update the stability kind of dropped and updates became fewer and fewer. I liked the custom settings app, but it just wasn’t quite stable enough for me to use. There has not been an update since August 8th for the device, so until a new version is uploaded I would stick with a different ROM. 

Evolution X - I have not used this ROM in too long to comment.

AOSP Extended ROM - I have not used this ROM at all and cannot comment. It is marked unofficial though. 

MSM Xtended-XR - Not Stable - The ROM download site is not available at the moment, but the last time I used the ROM, it was not stable enough to daily drive.

Fluid ROM 1.6 - Discontinued - Do not use this ROM, it has been discontinued.

DotOS and Android 12 GSI - Somewhat Stable, missing features - You cannot send or receive texts or calls on this GSI. Same as the Android 12 GSI.

Hycon OS - Has not been updated, would recommend not using. Was not very stable.

CarbonROM 9 - Have not used, decline to comment. 

I started using the device right as OnePlus was beginning to roll out the Android 11 update to global 8 and 8 Pro users, so I was stuck with Android 10 for about a week before the update pinged my device. I had to wait a bit longer because of the T-Mobile carrier software, which gets rid of the default Oxygen OS update method. It has performed pretty well with only a few issues to share regarding usage which were brought about with Android 11. As soon as 5G turns on, the device gets really hot. Recents sometimes lags when switching out of apps and causes you to stay in the app until you switch the display off and on again. The left-most homescreen ditches the Shelf for a T-Mobile branded tab as well as Google Discover tab. My last complaint: the cameras are quite bad. If you can find this phone for $499 or less, which you can from OnePlus themselves, this phone is a solid option despite the cameras. Otherwise, you can definitely do better.