OnePlus 7 review

Competition

The OnePlus 7 may have thought it would have it easy, leaving the 7 Pro to fight with the big guys, while it faces far inferior competition with its lower price tag. Yet, its relatively late arrival meant some of the H1 flagships already got their first price cuts, while those from value-oriented brands have managed to expand their market presence.

One of the most obvious alternatives to the OnePlus 7 is the newly released Asus Zenfone 6. It has that top-notch chipset, while costing a lot less than most of its rivals, including the OnePlus 7. It has the same primary camera, but also an ultrawide module and produces the best selfies in the class thanks to its clever flip-camera mechanism. It also has a stock-looking Android just like the OxygenOS, leaving OLED panel as the OnePlus 7's only advantage. Then again the Zenfone doesn't have a notch, so even that isn't exactly clear-cut.

Then there's the Huawei P30, which has fallen down in price to below what the OnePlus 7 charges. With the Chinese giant's issues with the US authorities seemingly on the way to being resolved, the P30 seems like a huge upgrade in terms of camera, while offering an audio jack and a memory card slot (sort of). The OLED screen on the P30 is smaller though and the Kirin 980 is a step behind the Snapdragon 855 in the GPU department. And then there's the choice between the feature-rich but somewhat less streamlined EMUI and the stock looks of the OnePlus 7 UI.

Another affordable Snapdragon 855-powered solution would be the Mi 9. It brings a triple rear cam with ultrawide, regular and telephoto modules, an OLED screen of very similar size to the OnePlus 7's at the very tempting €400 price point.

Xiaomi Mi 9 • Huawei P30 • Asus Zenfone 6 ZS630KL

The verdict

So the OnePlus 7 faces some properly tough competition and at a lower price to boot. It's not without it chances though, with it being the only one to offer the particular combination of stock-feeling Android, OLED screen, amazing UD fingerprint scanner and UFS 3.0 storage. The mod-friendly approach of the maker could also win a few fans over.

OnePlus 7's camera is one of the better in the price range, but sadly with virtually all of its competitors offering at least one of the extra focal lengths (ultra wide or telephoto) it really lacks in versatility.

Stereo loudspeakers make for an even stronger case, although two of the three nearest rivals come with a dedicated audio jack and memory expansion. But there's no escaping the fact that all of a sudden, the OnePlus phone lost at its own game - being able to match the performance of rivals while undercutting their prices.

It appears then that unless OnePlus considers a prompt price cut, its market success might be very reliant on the loyalty of its fan base and the number of people looking for the exact feature set we listed above.

Pros

• Great OLED screen
• Top notch under-display fingerprint performance
• Decently sounding stereo speakers with very good loudness
• Excellent battery life
• Excellent main camera
• Bloat-free, stock-looking and snappy Android experience utilizing the rare UFS 3.0 storage
• 20W charging speed is better than most in the class

Cons

• No ultra-wide angle or telephoto cameras
• No 3.5mm audio jack
• No microSD card slot
• No official ingress protection rating