OnePlus 7T Pro vs. OnePlus 7T

Software

This is really the easiest part of the comparison as there is not much to compare at all. Both the OnePlus 7T and the 7T Pro ship with the exact same software and aside from slight differences in version numbers at any given time due to different release cycles, they pretty much have identical features.

Both the 7T and the 7T Pro run on OxygenOS 10.0.3 at the time of writing, which runs on top of Android 10. Both devices were also running the September security patch, with only the Pixel devices running the newer October release.

The OnePlus Launcher has been an integral part of the OxygenOS experience since the beginning. The design is very similar to the standard Google launcher but with several features thrown in.

You can swipe up to access the app drawer, which also houses a second, hidden drawer on the left that can be accessed by a longer right swipe and can also be password protected. Here you can hide app icons that you don't want others to see (although they still show up in the Settings app and other parts of the OS).

A Shelf feature on the left of the homescreen contains widgets that provide quick access to relevant functions. The launcher supports custom icon packs, so you don't need to install another launcher if all you want to do is change the stock icons. You can swipe down to bring down the notification shade or you can double-tap on the screen to turn off the display.

The UI design is customizable to a degree. You can change the theme to light, dark, and a third one, which is something in between. You can change the accent color, which includes presets and also full RGB color sliders. You can now also change the shape of the icons.

The OS supports gesture navigation. OnePlus has ditched its older system that lets you go back by swiping up from the bottom of the display to a newer system that's more like what you find in stock Android 10 (and iOS). You have a bar at the bottom that you swipe up to go home or switch apps, and you swipe from the left or right edge of the screen to go back. It works reasonably well, but if you don't want that, you can also have the standard buttons at the bottom.

There are other gestures too, such as flip to mute, three finger screenshot, and raise to answer. You can also double tap the display to wake or draw patterns on the screen when it's off to control the music or launch specific functions like the camera or the flashlight. Another feature lets you keep holding the fingerprint sensor once the phone is unlocked to access additional shortcuts, which you then slide your finger to and release to launch.

Of course, one of the best software features in OxygenOS is a hardware button. The alert slider has been around since the OnePlus One and is still the most convenient way to switch sound profiles on Android. It's such a shame that outside of the iPhone and OnePlus, no one else has implemented this feature.

But perhaps what OnePlus does the best with software more than any other Android OEM is drawing the line at what's truly useful and what's merely a gimmick. Most of the features included in OxygenOS fall in the useful category, and there's very little fluff. All the UI decisions seem practical and purposeful, with nothing added simply for the heck of it. The design itself is largely modeled after stock Android but with several minor refinements. You still feel like you're using an Android phone, just slightly altered in a good way.

OnePlus has also been extremely consistent with software updates in recent years. Their phones get regular OxygenOS updates, which always bring improvements and further refinement. They are also among the first to get major Android updates. The only thing we would like OnePlus to do is move from bimonthly Android security updates to monthly like the Pixel phones, but bimonthly is still better than most other Android OEMs, who don't update their phones for months at a stretch.

The software has also largely been quite stable in our use. Very minor issues aside, we haven't come across anything that constantly annoyed us on a daily basis. And this is despite the fact that we have been using these devices since before they launched and thus had an earlier version of software than what most users would experience.

It's for all of these reasons and more that we consider OxygenOS one of the best ways to experience Android currently on any device. It is well-designed, customizable, has just the right amount of features, no bloatware or ads, and gets regular updates. There's not a lot more that we can ask for from an Android OEM in terms of software.

Winner: Tie. Both devices ship with excellent software, making them both winners.

Performance

Performance is another area where there isn't much to choose from between the two phones. Both the OnePlus 7T and the 7T Pro ship with the latest and greatest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ with 8GB of LPDDR4X memory. The 7T offers the choice of 128GB or 256GB of storage while the 7T Pro only comes in 256GB. Both feature fast UFS 3.0 storage.

In terms of actual everyday performance, there is no difference between the two phones. They are both phenomenal in everyday use. Both phones feel fast, fluid and effortless. It's only when they switch to some app that doesn't support 60Hz does it feel a bit jittery, but that's mostly because your mind easily gest used to the fluidity provided by the 90Hz refresh rate. Outside of that, the performance is faultless.

When it comes to gaming, again, both phones perform equally well. However, the larger 7T Pro has a better cooling solution, which distributes the heat from the chipset better over the expanse of its larger body. You really need to be playing at full brightness to get the 7T Pro to go hot. Meanwhile, the smaller 7T gets a lot warmer during gaming and more quickly, even at medium brightness.

There is no real issue with either device heating up; we didn't see any real performance loss even after several minutes of playing as whatever performance the device lost due to thermal throttling was still not enough to put a dent in the sheer GPU power either device has. The heating was also noticed only in graphics-intensive games like PUBG running at the absolute maximum visual quality settings. If you want the device to run cooler, you can always turn down the graphics settings a bit or play at a lower brightness level.

Winner: OnePlus 7T Pro. While both phones perform incredibly well, the larger size and a better cooling solution on the 7T Pro makes it run cooler during heavy gaming sessions.