So OnePlus decided to debut its new flagship device in China, its home market which happens to also be the largest smartphone market in the world but that’s not the point.

OnePlus 10 Pro happens to be the only device debuted by the Chinese smartphone maker so far this year and with that., there’s literally no other device to compare the device against unless we do an unfair comparison with the previous version from the company, the OnePlus 9 Pro which was released back in 2021.

Even though that might be disappointing, OnePlus has decided to play it safe this year by not over-innovating. The OnePlus 10 Pro comes in a simple design aesthetics with the only noticeable difference being the squared camera module which houses the device’s triple rear camera system.

The design of the squared camera module sort of looks similar to the rectangular camera module on the Galaxy S21 Ultra released last year – in that it sort of blends in with one side of the device’s frame.

Apart from that, it maintains the good ol’ OnePlus design aesthetics including the slightly curved screen and a hole-punch camera cut-out which seems to be the new norm.

Also, the OnePlus 10 Pro wears the Hasselblad’s badge on the camera module, and OnePlus swapped out its OxygenOS UI for ColorOS even though there were reports that say this is only limited to OnePlus 10 Pro devices sold in China while international variants will make use of the known OxygenOS based on Android 12.

Some may find the OnePlus 10 Pro disappointing especially since the brand didn’t make too much noise over the release of the device, at least not outside of China yet and we’re yet to get an official global release date just yet.

The device actually feels good and nice when held. Pictures can be deceitful sometimes which is why I decided to opt for one-on-one interaction and a first-hand experience of the device and certainly, it didn’t disappoint – at least, in most ways.

It’s a 2022 flagship-tier smartphone meaning that it comes with everything you’d expect from one. I’m talking about high-end specifications such as the latest Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen1 (4 nm) chipset which has either 8GB or 12GB of RAM with either 128GB or 256GB of internal storage.

Apart from the performance specs on the paper, other cool features include its AMOLED panel with LPTO 2.0 support and 120Hz refresh rate. It’s a pretty fast device in every way possible and it’s quite big with its screen measuring up to 6.7-inch.

Below is a spec sheet of the new OnePlus 10 Pro to give you a better idea and understanding of this cool smartphone.

Hardware and Design

• 6.7-inch LTPO 2.0 AMOLED Display
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip
• 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage

Initially, there isn’t so much intriguing design aesthetics found on the device especially when its leaked pictures started circulating over the internet but then a close look at the device and you may fall in love pretty quick.

First, it comes in just two color options: Black and Green. Personally, I think the Green looks quite unique because it exposes the camera module more making it look as weird as it could possibly be.

The measurement of the OnePlus 10 Pro is about 163 x 73.9 x 8.6 mm (6.42 x 2.91 x 0.34 in) and it weighs about 200.5 g (7.09 oz). Both the front and the back of the device are protected with Gorilla Glass Victus while the frame is made of aluminum.

With a big 6.7-inch display, 108.4 cm² the device has about 90.0% screen-to-body ratio which isn’t bad. The placement of the front-facing camera at the left-top corner isn’t aesthetically pleasing to me but that’s a biased I have because of my constant usage of my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

The bezels around the display are nearly invincible except for the slightly big chin at the bottom and it’s still intriguing that after all these years, Android OEMs still won’t or can’t make a symmetrical display like the iPhones where the bezels are the same around the display.

As for button placement, they’re scattered around the device with volume rockers and power buttons on opposite sides of the device while its fingerprint scanner is right beneath the device’s display.

At a quick glance, you may not find the OnePlus 10 Pro interesting when looking at it from the front until you turn it on or turn the device around to see its camera module.

When you hit the power button to light up the display, you’ll quickly be welcomed by its ultra brightness which can reach 1,300nit in at its peak. Regardless, the display is great and the UI isn’t as bad as it may be rumored.

At the bottom, you get the device’s SIM tray, USB-C port, and speaker grilles. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack and I don’t need to remind you that OnePlus isn’t going back to that thing again – especially on its high-end smartphones like this one.

Compared with the previous model, the current OnePlus 10 Pro doesn’t exactly have too many differences in terms of its specs and even in terms of the design apart from the new camera module and some texture added to the back of the device.

One of the major differences between the previous OnePlus 9 Pro and this model is the upgrade to the LTPO technology. With the OnePlus 10 Pro now making use of LTPO 2.0, the main difference with the previous version is speed.

While the previous controls between high and low refresh rates, the new tech improves on the latency and reduces it from 700ms delay to just 75ms, and can switch the display between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on what’s happening on the display.

AOD has also been upgraded, most of the current common rest screen display is running at 30Hz refresh rate, OnePlus 10 Pro is achieved 1Hz, a total of 25 patterns support, it is said that the rest screen scene single scene power consumption is reduced by more than 30%, it has not been pushed yet, I hope the subsequent push to older models.

Still, on the hardware and design of the device, the back has seen a significant change from the previous model. It’s normal for OnePlus to embrace the new trend of making camera modules as obvious as possible.

Thanks to the new implementation, the camera took about a quarter of the back of the device while sending OnePlus’ logo down to the center-back of the device

While there are just three camera sensors, the fourth circle is the device’s LED fash which makes up the quad-rear circles on the camera bump that’ll surely rock on a flat surface when you place the device on its back.

There might be third-party cases out there that can help balance out the design so as to give it more stability.

OnePlus utilizes 3D nano-microcrystalline ceramic materials to protect the camera lens. So you won’t have to worry if the back of the device is rubbing against a hard surface with tiny debris that can scratch the lens cover.

Also, the OnePlus 10 Pro is curved all around its sides. Even though Apple is normalizing the squared side design with its iPhone 13 series and possibly, the iPhone 14 series, OnePlus has decided to stick with its curved sides design.

The lens protection area is made of 3D nano-microcrystalline ceramic material, after 25 days of the production cycle, after 20 processes, and the frame is almost integrated, tight seams, and is not particularly protruding, in the hands is a premium texture, OnePlus phone workmanship no spray, exquisite is finished. The package comes with an 80W charger, protective case, and stickers.

ColorOS 12 based on Android 12

• ColorOS 12.1 based on Android 12 OS
• Advanced Privacy features

Powering the all-new OnePlus 10 Pro is the current Android 12 OS based on COlorOS 12.1 but as mentioned above, rumors have it that this will only apply to Chinese variants while global variants will use OxygenOS 12 but we’ll only have to wait to confirm that.

However, my extended experience of the ColorOS isn’t a terrible one, to say the least. It’s bright and animations are on point. It’s definitely riding on Google’s Material You user interface and comes loaded with some cool features and security options.

There are also reports that OnePlus might just merge both ColorOS and OxygenOS to get HydrogenOS in the future but the ColorOS on the OnePlus 10 is definitely on point.

You get the dynamic memory compression and unified memory management technology onboard all of which makes background apps cache their performances by 30%.

All of these features are to efficiently help manage the performance of the device and also max out the battery life of the device. While the majority of the information displayed on the device is in Chinese, you may need to make use of a Google translation app to get through with this.

I love the haptic feedback on the OnePlus 10 Pro as it helps with gaming and other interesting things. Switching between applications is smooth and super fast. Even though there’s background optimization going on, you’ll certainly get back into your apps where you left them with his device.

Other important features that come with the ColorOS 12.1 update include permission control, app lock management, and even clipboard management. You can prevent apps from viewing content on your clipboard and there are some interesting privacy features to block apps that might be spying on you.

Performance of the OnePlus 10 Pro

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Chip
• 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage
• Powerful heat dissipation

At the core of the OnePlus 10 Pro is the all-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset which was recently announced. And it’s the industry standard for high-end flagship smartphones in 2022.

Apart from the chipset, you also get an LPDDR5 RAM paired with a UFS 3.1 super-speed flash memory with a good heat dissipation technology built inside.

While all these sound great on the paper, my experience with the device was superb. Playing games on the device felt really great and everything is always smooth thanks to the fast storage, high-end chipset, and its 120Hz LTPO 2 display all of which work together to enhance the performance of the device in every situation.

While there is still a little noticeable heat considering my usage of the device, OnePlus bragged that its heat dissipation system is the most efficient in the industry thanks to its internal VC thermal plate and copper graphite sheet, as well as other hardware, joined together to remove heat from the device’s chipset.

Heat dissipation area reached 34119mm².

In order to find out how powerful this device really is, I had to take it through a benchmark score and AnTuTu runtime of the OnePlus 10 Pro is about 1019819 with high-performance mode turned on.

Compared to the similar high-end flagship in 2022, the Xiaomi 12 Pro, both devices have a nearly similar GPU score while the CPU score is slightly different with the OnePlus 10 Pro slightly edging its Chinese counterpart.

One of the speeds of the OnePlus 10 Pro can also be attributed to its UFS 3.1 flash memory with a measured sequential read speed of 1802.8MB/s and the sequential write reaches about 124MB/s.

As for gaming performance, the device comes with HyperBoost full-link game stable frame technology which is there to enhance the gaming experience in every way possible using a number of AI algorithms.

There are mainly three core technologies, respectively, graphics heterogeneity, GPA extreme stable frame, O-Sync overclocking response. The graphics heterogeneity is mainly the CPU and GPU sent graphics instructions for refinement and disassembly, and it also helps re-allocate resources reasonably, such as group combat to provide higher performance.

Then there is the GPA extreme stable frame which helps to stabilize the frame rate while O-Sync overclocking response is an exclusive custom low-latency chip that’s meant to help enhance the touch response in order to achieve after open mirror.

Compared to previous generations, it can achieve between 60Hz and 90Hz full scene coverage while also offering support for low brightness scenes.

Even though the OnePlus 10 Pro is not dubbed a gaming smartphone, it’s certainly a gaming beast and can handle nearly any game thrown at it. Although it lacks the other gimmicks such as an internal fan or extra buttons and RGB LEDs.

Camera capacity of the OnePlus 10 Pro

• Triple rear camera system
• Latest custom-made Sony IMX789 primary sensor
• 4K at 120FPS video supported
• Hasselblad color performance optimization system onboard

OnePlus 10 Pro comes with a powerful camera system. A triple system for that matter, it’s also the second time OnePlus will be slapping the Hasselblad’s badge on its camera.

The device comes with a main 48MP primary sensor which is a custom Sony IMX789 sensor that measures about 1/1.43 inches. The secondary sensor is a 50MP ultra-wide-angle sensor with a custom 150 degree ultra-wide allowing you to capture a large area while the last one is an 8MP telephoto lens with 3.3x optical zoom, optical image stabilization, and electronic anti-shake functionalities.

With this kind of setup, you can do a lot of interesting things with the OnePlus 10 Pro camera. For example, you can record up to 4K videos at 120fps.

The camera always output is always enhanced by the Hasselblad Natural Color Optimization system. Upgraded to the current version 2.0, it came with over 500 core scenes of color optimization in order to match Hasselblad’s signature color performance.

Also, the system is also able to achieve shooting efficiency and better storage capacity, OnePlus 10 Pro comes with a full chain of 10-bit processing that can help output 10-bit color depth photos.

Daytime sample photos

In order to take the camera out for a spin, a couple of pictures were taken and the output doesn’t look bad at all. The good thing is that the camera is quite consistent and pictures are often flat which could require post-tunning in order to get the perfect outcome you’d like.

While I and other tech reviewers questioned the efficiency of Hasselblad’s partnership in the past, the current output on the OnePlus 10 Pro is definitely compared to the previous OnePlus 9 Pro.

The 50MP compresses the image output to 12MP with a 110-degree angle but can then be manually widened by using the ultra-wide sensor to increase the range to 150 degrees. However, the wide-angle sensor doesn’t have Hasselblad’s color optimization technology.

As for the telephoto lens, it supports 3.3x optical zoom, and afterward, it uses digital cropping which compared to periscope telephoto lenses seen in other devices like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the difference is glaring.

Night sample photos

The primary sensor managed rays of light very well at night and the device managed to produce a promising result at night. Another cool thing is the details that are retained despite the night shot. Take a look at the samples below.

The dynamic range of the OnePlus 10 Pro for night shots is quite smaller compared to daytime and that has helped enhance the overall level of exposure allowing it to reproduce rich colors even though they might not be in the league of some other high-end devices like the iPhone 13 Pro Max for example.

Inconsistencies can also be noticed with outputs looking foggy in some situations but under a well-balanced shot, you might be able to get a good result at the end of the day.

Battery life and charging

• 5,000mAh Li-Po battery
• 80W fast wired charging
• 50W fast wireless charging
• Supports reverse wireless charging

OnePlus 10 Pro is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery which is a flagship-level in my opinion. Xiaomi is one of the brands that often equip their devices with big batteries as such.

Another interesting thing about this device is the fact that it can charge at 80W using a wired charger or 50W with wireless charging. It also has support for reverse wireless charging.

The size of the battery is part of why the device weighs about 200.5g but even at that, there are some devices with similar battery size but weigh more.

The stress test is a built-in feature of the AnTuTu review, which tests the stability of the device’s performance by performing high-load calculations, requiring the CPU to perform a large number of calculations, so the power consumption is greater compared to video, daily use, and other scenarios.

While I was able to max out the performance of the device, it definitely took a turn on the battery life even though it didn’t run it down just that much.

For example, doing superpower consumption things such as running the display at its maxed-out performance such as 2K and 120Hz refresh while playing PUBG Mobile for about 2 hours (or more), I noticed a little bit of heat here and there but there was no lag.

While heat dissipation was fast, the 5G network running to keep on while playing the online game also took its own chunk on the battery but it prevailed despite all these.

One thing though is that the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and other background features running constantly, the battery life of the OnePlus 6 Pro quickly dwindles to just 6 hours which can be disappointing and that’s exactly why you might want to use power optimization mode in order to balance things out when needed.

In terms of charging, the OnePlus 10 Pro supports 80W wired fast charging as mentioned earlier, with two modes to choose from, the fastest one can do 0% to 100% under just 30 minutes while also offering support for a 50W wireless fast charging, that can charge from 0% to 100% under just 47 minutes.

After the actual test, the OnePlus 10 Pro took 31 minutes from 1% to 100%, and the official data is not much different, including 9 minutes to charge 44%, 15 minutes to charge 66% power, this speed is not slow considering the fact that the battery is a huge 5000mAh Li-Po cell.

Should you buy the OnePlus 10 Pro?

Yeah! If you have the money to import it from China or you can wait for it even though there isn’t any big release so far this year. Its biggest rival would be the Xiaomi 12 Pro but it’s also a China-only release so far.

If none of the aforementioned barriers are your concern and you just want the OnePlus 10 Pro, then you can purchase it and expect high-end premium-tier performance from the device.

First is the unique design which in my opinion isn’t as bad as I first thought it was and secondly, the Hasselblad camera has been modified this time around and so you can expect some interesting performances from the device.

With premium materials such as Gorilla Glass Victus and aluminum frame, the device is well protected even though you can get a case to further enhance that.

The great display is another wonderful thing even though I don’t necessarily like the placement of the front-facing camera. That shouldn’t be a dealbreaker after all.

The device is said to be around $1,059.99 but that price could vary, however, one thing I feel is that the price tag may just be too much when compared to previous models and even other flagships released later on last year.

OnePlus 10 Pro vs

Even though it’s still January, there are some smartphones that were released back in 2021 that can surely match the OnePlus 10 Pro head-to-head despite being a couple of months older for example:

Google Pixel 6 Pro

The Pixel 6 Pro seems to be everyone’s favorite Android smartphone last year when it debuted and for real, the device offers some great features such as Google’s custom-design Tensor chip, a triple rear camera system, and of course a first-hand experience of the latest Android 12 OS.

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Xiaomi 12 Pro

If you reside in China, this shouldn’t be a problem for you. The device debuted with almost everything you’d expect from a premium-tier flagship smartphone in 2022 such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, big battery, and a triple-rear camera sensor.

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iPhone 13 Pro

If you’ve been planning to move away from Android-based smartphones for a while now, this might just be your chance to make that switch on time before Samsung debut its Galaxy S22 series which is expected to be loaded with some cool features and interesting specifications.