OnePlus 8 Pro Review and how the new iPhone SE is the cheapest iPhone ever | TechRadar Talks By TechRadar

So, it has been a huge week for phones here on tech radar at first when we got the OnePlus 8 series, and then it was followed up by the much-anticipated return of the iPhone SC four years in the making it has finally turned up. So while we are stuck in lockdown, the tech world is still turning, which is great news, and we're going to dig in right now. John, you reviewed the OnePlus 8 pro, but give us an overview about what actually landed. Absolutely yes, I did have the OnePlus a pro I still have the OnePlus a pro in all its Glacial green glory. This was one of two phones, one Plus announced alongside the one plus 8 and the 8 Pro is probably the jewel in the crown. It's its the most accomplished flagship phone today, and it's a product reflection wasn't really cut any corners.

This time it has, in the past to achieve a lower price tag, down sort of the big-name flagships, a couple of corners, nothing major, but you know a few noticeable things such as a full HD display or no wireless charging things like that, but this home, and it's gone all out full-fat with the pro it's also its most expensive, hence its date. But it is still coming in cheaper than the likes of the galaxy s 20 past a while a p40 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro, which are basically its direct rivals. So it still has a slight price difference which may pay to us a barrage, but it's not as bigger golfers, one plus fans. Historically, it has maybe been used to and sort of looking at the price of this new handset, maybe a bit steep for those diehard fans. But it is a very, very good devices, but a great display, 120, Hertz, HD+ and smooth it's fluid.

It's crisp. It's claimed HDR 10, plus it has extra video enhancements as well work for when you're watching prime video YouTube Netflix and the lights, which enhances the video content. Furthermore, it can also increase the frame rate to take advantage of that 120 Hertz display for more smooth and fluid movement. Furthermore, it can look a little odd, especially if there's a lot of people movement in shots. People seem to be moving a little too smoothly, which seems a little unnatural, but you can turn this setting on and off, and it's fun to play with, and it doesn't make for some quite stunning visual that frame rate changing.

Is that automatic? Is it like ad artificially? Yes, okay, so it's not like it's not find another mode, it's actually making if it's doing all on KET on the device right, yeah yeah, and to be fair to it. It's really impressive. What it's able to do, real-time processing on device it does work, it won't. Everyone's cup of tea visually you've got to take your hat off, and so you know that that is well done. They've ditched a pop-up camera from the 7.17 series that covers Oh, which makes more space inside the phone, makes it lighter and means there's not a mechanical movement and potentially break so easily. So yeah the pop-up was fun, but you know long terms wise, probably not the most sensible thing to have on a device with tends to get knocked around a bit plenty of power under the hood as well.

Snapdragon 80-65 performs top-shelf chipset, which is found in the US version of the gutsiest 20 series, among many other flagship phones, so plenty of power they've got the round to back it up as well. You get eight gigs around with 128 gigs of storage or 12 gigs of ram with 256 gigs of storage. I mean that's an insane amount of RAM fare for any device, especially a smartphone, but it does mean that you have the longevity of this device. It's also 5g, as is the 1+8, so both of this device have got top spec chipset they've got 5g they've got plenty of RAM. They've got a decent amount of storage, although no expandable storage, but it means that they should keep running fine for the next few years without too much of an issue.

So that would be nice in terms of people into making a basement, especially as 5g networks roll out even more over the next couple of years, and you can take advantage of better download speeds, so we've obviously been reviewing phones for many many many years you. What do you miss the mechanical part camera cause? That was one of the funnest things we played with. When we had the Opp, they would find X. Wasn't it when we that first turned up like I know you love that, do you missed it or you are glad that it's now punch, oh I, miss it in terms of it was fun, and it was something a bit different in the camera whoa in the camera world in the phone world, in fact, where all our phones, these days are relative, rectangles with which all screen on the front and their lives can on the Block on the bank. So a point of differentiation is nice, but in terms of thinking, sensibly is for the best actually to get rid of that moving mechanism.

Just because it's something that always seemed like it was easy to break and people I saw divided a bit on the punch hole, but they stay use. Did you stuff against? There doesn't really actually get in the way it sits in the notification bar most of the time, so he's out of the way naturally and apps tend to do well to avoid it, and sometimes a black bar will be just across the top to sort of hide the camera. But that's okay, because it's a 19 point 8 by 9 screen. So it's really quite tall anyway. So a lot of apps aren't necessarily optimized for that sort of height just yet anyway, so it still works nicely and one of the things I'm interested in loves to eat.

You've been using the OnePlus phones pretty much throughout the series. If we didn't have the 1 + 8 pro right and it a 1 + had just done the 1 + 8. Would you say it still qualifies as a flagship killer, I wouldn't necessarily say that they can, I mean the flagship killer, tagline, we've sort of poo-pooed from that 1 + 2 onwards is not quite the right terminology, yeah and I, wouldn't say it's necessarily a killer, but sake can now hold their own against Samsung and Apple and Huawei, etc? Yeah, the OnePlus say, is still a good phone I've not personally be able to use it, but two of our colleagues both have them, and you can read our in-depth review on the site, but it's still an accomplished phone. It has the specs that you'd expect to see from a phone which is costing you know at flagship price tank and the cameras aren't quite as good on the 1 plus 8 versus the pro and the cameras. The four cameras on the pro are a marked improvement over the previous generations, but they're still not quite up to Samsung levels.

So, while the Samsung and the iPhone and Huawei that are still a touch more expensive, they are a touch better as well. So well wonders hasn't compromised the weak point and which seems hard to say because, as an auto Mecca's, it's very good. The cameras aren't quite up to their levels that we've seen from the bigger manufacturers at the moment, but they are making big improvements now each generation, so you can sort of expect that they're only going to get closer and closer yeah and do the cameras be interesting there, because I feel, like OnePlus, has been making a big play about his cameras for a long time. Do you feel like it's getting closer to being in the conversation about the best camera phone I think, while I probably still is, is maybe the leader with Samsung and kicking around, and I mean like every time I think about it? Like I've, been to the Apple labs for cameras, we've seen what Samsung can do like every brand has got their own now, two idea what the best camera is, but I'd say those three are the ones that are really doing things like you dependent subjectively, what you prefer, but is one plus in the same ballpark. Now, it's not quite I'd, say it's still paying a little a catch-up, but it's much closer than it was.

But yeah. As you say, it's very subjective I've been talking to some photographer friends of mine and one of them were saying that from a series of vs. pictures, I actually tweeted out between the 8th row, the 17th row, the s20 plus and the P30 Pro she's. Because that's why I had lying around, and he was saying he still thinks from his sort of photography, I that the s20 plus is still the best foreground of those four particular phones yeah. But it does really come down to personal preference.

Samsung actually produces images which are a bit more colorful, they pack more of a punch and on quite as close to real life. So the images look more vibrant and thus initially a more visually alarming, but you'll actually find that the 8th row takes better closer to real life images in terms of the way it brings out the colors. So it doesn't seem, maybe quite as punchy as the photos taken by the s20 plus. But you are getting a trailer phone actually does represent what we were actually seeing for eyes a bit more, but the zoom on the Samsung, for example, is better the night modes on the wild laser excellent, and they're better than they want that's as well and in terms of availability. How easy can you get them? I'm really easy.

Now gone are the days when Campus phones were invite-only they're available on the OnePlus website in major countries, markets, including the US and UK over 20, our European countries, a variety of an Asia as well, so it now got an established name in the market and while it's certainly in terms of the consumer, nowhere near as widely known as Samsung and Apple etc. is building that base, and it is convincing stores and carriers to actually range the phones, which is always difficult for a new brand and okay they're, not new anymore, but it shows that they've come a long way to be able to be ranged in major stores and with major carriers, and that will only further enhance the knowledge and the brand among students I mean. So you make a good point there about the fact that one plaster isn't as well known by consumers. It does have a perfect community, a lot of really engaged fans who love one plus the matter. What its kind of what it's built itself on you know, honor and jammy.

Do the same kind of thing. I worry about OnePlus is that it's now kind of in that middle ground, where you know we've seen Sony LG HTC try and be the same thing. They're great brands. They've got big names behind them, they've got great specs, and yet they were all sort of fallen by the wayside. Why do you think OnePlus is still got a future and does that still have a future? Can it start to gain more ground than the top brands, even if it hasn't got the same price comparison and stuff like that? I want to say OG and saying: don't have a future as it were, it's a challenging time and there are clear it sort of big names, especially the top of the mobile market.

It is an interesting transition for the brand which started out producing maybe more mid-range phones in terms of pricing, and it has now transitioned into sort of the 30 flagship. So whether its fans will continue to follow it because they were drawn by the underROG sort of Stan sector that was heavily undercutting flagship phones. And yes, there were several compromises made to produce a lot of price, but they were finding the right mix of specs and design and price to encourage people to stay and buy whether it can continue to bring the fans along and whether they're fully invested enough in the brand itself, rather than just the price point will be interesting to see. I think that the phone is good enough to stand on its own and to justify its price tag if you've stuck a different brand name on this phone, and you put it out there and with the current price tag, you'd be like ok, yeah I can understand that price tag. The thing with one-pass is that they went so heavy in the early years on price that they really drove it home.

As we're you know. So much cheaper than big name. You don't need to pay a lot for a great phone, etc. they're in so heavy on that branding. That is sort of the ideology they've put in defense minds.

So whether those fans are willing to shift their expectations will be interesting to see. But you put a different brand on this phone, a high-end brand, and you start you know this- is this much and people be like yeah I can see that and fact I suppose. Finally, do you think that if it's about price and those fans are the--and like this, isn't as good price-wise as it used to be? And it's not quite got the same luster and the specs aren't? Quite there I mean what would drive people to you know a person who's, never heard of OnePlus. What would drive them to buy this phone? Given the fact that the price is relatively similar, it's an it's a good-looking device, it does look different I mean it's not reinventing the wheel when it comes to smartphone design, but it does have a different look, a different finish. The sort of matte frosted glass in the bank feels great, it looks different.

It looks shiny, especially in the Glacial green or the interstellar glow, which is sort of already yellow we mix, but you do by caching, and they're a bit different to sort of just solid old colors. The screen is great, especially if you like gaming or consuming video, it's a real comfortable watch and the cameras for the average person. I'd say you know: you're not going to be disappointed, especially if you're upgrading from a phone, which is two plus years old, the difference from where you had been turned out. It's still great and you- and it is just that bit cheaper than Samsung and Apple so well. The s20 in the iPhones may be stretching your budget.

A little mattress gives you an option where you're, basically getting a full flagship phone, maybe saving yourself a little of money in the process and having something a bit different. You know stand out from the crowd a bit. You know maybe not follow the factions of people who just buy the same brand every year. Try something new, potentially and one of the interesting things that we talked about. OnePlus, Pro, I'm, gonna, say Pro, which I feel like is really the phone that people should be looking at if they, if they're interested in one plus, but though it's weird to think that we've got one plus eight and a new iPhone out in the same week, and the new iPhone is cheaper than the one plus sure the new iPhone.

Is it I, wouldn't say it's a compatible device to either of the OnePlus handsets Ted they're operating in very different areas of the market. I mean straight-up design. Why it's the new iPhone SE? He uses the body of an iPhone 8, which means you've got the big bezel as a bubbling below display. You've got the physical touch ID button on the phone, there's no face, ID, there's a single camera on the back. You know easy is very much a mid-range phone which will be going up against the likes of sort of the Google, pixel, 3/8 and 3 a.

m. cell and that sort of range, which again is decent competition for it and be interesting to see. But what's fascinating about the FNC is obviously the price, because it is that much cheaper than any iPhone we've seen in the last few years, and you've. Obviously um spend a bit of time speaking to Apple about it, and what are you finding about the ESC? Well, it's different for me. I think the prices is.

It is incredible in the sense of its way through $99 419 pounds that you know if you take inflation class, the same price as the iPhone SE from 2016, which was a very similar device in terms of the methodology behind it. It took that a shape the shape of the iPhone 5s I, think it was yeah and chucked in the iPhone.6S is power and camera quality, and then it charged $399 for it. Then, if you add inflation, that makes it 429 today, so Apple has actually launched its cheapest ever new iPhone here and I kind of disagree in the sense that they aren't comparable because, while yeah, the one plus eight in the iPhone SE are completely different in terms of power and camera and all this kind of stuff. The thing people want with the new iPhone is that it's a new iPhone. They don't want it to be necessary, the best spec they don't want it to be the highest performing certain ways.

Although I'd say the a13 chipset inside day, 13 biochips it inside the iPhone 11 range and now- and there see, is what is the fat possibly flip. App on the market so having that held together makes it sound a lot more like an applicable by for people that want I, said a new iPhone and especially those people who don't really care, so you're talking about people who might be a bit older, who you know, parents often go like which new iPhone to go for three and my family bought the iPhone SE originally based on that alone. They're like oh, it's. This one is TV by this, and I'm like yeah go for it, you know it's, it's small it'll fit in your hand better, and it's the difficult thing right is that I've often said the Apple kind of sits outside the Android phone race, and there are some comparable points and especially the top end, there's a decision between Apple and Samsung, but those embedded in the iPhone ecosystem. All that's! There is all that's there, and they don't like necessary change, though you've got the old screen front phone coming through with the 10 and 10s, and the 11 range that's taken a while to get people excited about, and so this starts to be this whiff of nostalgia for the home button and for the bezels and for a phone that you can kind of wrap your hand around a little better, even though the tenon to the 11 actually really easy to hold inside.

Because of that, I think this is going to be an incredibly attractive handset. The can you think for it, for me is gonna. Both two things number one is: will the camera be any good, because the iPhone SE from 2016 had a much better Hardware set on an upgraded the hardware? The lenses were better had a better sensor. It looks to me, like they're, very, very similar hardware on the iPhone 8 from 2017 to a 20/20 model in terms of a camera, and because of that it makes me feel a bit worried that. Well, let's see what can do because they're basically saying that the Thirteen's chipset has got this perfect image: sensing processor: it can take images, it can improve them.

It uses a neural engine to basically split up the picture into so many ways and analyze them in a train for the second or wherever and say like right. There are lips, there are eyes, there's shadow in the background. Let's work out what the best kind of picture should be and puts it together, really quickly computationally and makes a good picture if it can do that, and you're getting a good new iPhone with a camera that can take good pictures, then this is incredibly strong proposition. The only thing that sits on my mind is that battery life, because the thing you reviewed, the iPhone 8, didn't you John, and you found the battery was maybe a day. Yeah, historical issues with iPhones have been a bachelor that hasn't been quite comparable or is what you'd want it to be versus Android phones, but in the most recent years it has improved significantly, so you're, hoping that with a more efficient processor in the a13, Bionic, and you'd assume there be more software sort of efficiencies made behind the scenes as well that the ESC will be able to provide a better battery life and I mean we don't know under the hood.

What we're looking at in terms of battery size, but you never know they may be able to reorganize some things, maybe squeeze in a bigger battery depending on what's going on. But yet the operating system, iOS 13, should be more power efficient. The chipset is more power efficient and running that with I would assume stew a relatively low res display in terms of today's standards into space that should hopefully all make for a relatively good battery life performance. But again we're not going to know until we get that yeah and what I found very interesting was when a police or launching this whole thing. They made a big deal about the fact that well make a big deal, but the battery life itself will be the same as on the iPhone, 8 I sort of think I agreed with you, like we've got a much more efficient process, a much more efficient compared to ? back than, which was the AE 12.

Yes, 12 11 anyway, should know that and obviously way more efficient than the a9 from 2016, but yeah right, the low res screens. What we're used to now. It's got 220 6 PPI, it's not even full HD that we see most phones with now. It's its LCD and, like I, said I think the battery size would probably be the same. So combined with and you know, in more efficient operating system, combined with the better process.

I'm, not entirely sure why Apple has said this. My hope is that, like the iPhone XR or Tenney, they there's a surprise waiting because that had perfect battery life for an iPhone. No one could really stand why it was so late came out, and it came sort of under the radar. So that's pretty good, but I. Think yeah Apple is kind of managed to catch yourself back up again in terms of offering bachelors it's comparable to the Android phones in the world.

Maybe not you know market leading by a long way, but we've we used to you know the five six seven years of Apple, where it's better up. It wasn't good enough. You know if you were just an iPhone user, you might not have noticed, but then you went to like a Huawei Mate, for instance, and it gave you a triple the battery life or double it, and you can see there was something to make up and that will have done that. So, let's see what happens because under review conditions, anything could happen, but I'm surprised that Apple's downplayed it I would say that Apple does. It has started to get history of under promising just to make sure it doesn't go too far like the Apple Watch originally was all has always been 18 hours, and I've always found that goes along with them.

That and it's nice, it's a nice surprise to have yeah I, think never where maybe the historical criticism, maybe from journalists and also from the public about battery life. So yeah you want to maybe remain cautious if you are poor around those figures, but at 399 dollars. It's its a fascinating product and I expect it to be super popular, and it will Maine may well help Apple break into new markets will break into sort of more emerging markets in a bigger way. With a new lower price tagging. Yeah, it's going to be a fascinating one to watch, yeah I think you're right.

The availability obviously will be worldwide. Pre-Orders have gone, live on the 17th of April and me. Think you're right about emerging markets. We saw a huge amount of interest from India. Then we went it went when the launch was happening.

So two people coming over from there, and we'll see. We've got good readership in India hello, if you, if you're watching- and it was a much bigger spike than we expected- and it shows there is definitely some interest in this or lower cost. iPhone in that region alone and obviously said more around the world, the key thing I think is gonna, be just like. What can this actually do? You know like I, think for me having a new iPhone for people are important because they're holding on to them for longer I, maybe it's a year out, but I'd argue that this iPhone has been timed. It's because we're expecting the new iPhone SE for since the last one like next year get another one.

Next, do we get another one, but the special edition things seem to last, and so the question is: why now why? Four years later, do we get a new iPhone, SE and I? Think it's because people who have the old one is just so old, and it's getting so slow and the battery's, probably starting to really struggle, and the screens are probably smashed and now is the time to upgrade. I would say last year to be in the point, but people are holding onto them for longer. So you know a four-year cycle is quite interesting and let's see if it can hold up, because the great thing is now with the a13 processor, the upgrades to iOS. We can probably see this getting upgraded for at least four more years, if not five six and that's a really great thing in terms of people wanting to hold on to their devices. Absolutely yeah I mean I guess the only question mark is no 5g but against the cheaper iPhone and 5g networks are ubiquitous, yet even in sort of developed areas.

So it's no surprise that always holding off that particular train while trying to jump on it, because yet fine chief for most people isn't appalled at the moment to buy a phone. But it does give you a little of future proofing, but it'll be interesting to see, maybe with the development of 5g, whether that encourages Apple, maybe in two years to reboot the SC just so it can do a 5g version. I. Don't really feel like that.5G is going to become a thing like a must-have thing for five years, at least because you know with the addition of 4G, took a while to roll through, and I think 5g. It depends on what it does basically like it was.

We know it could be game-changing, but until it is, then the budget phone end of things, especially which Apple is you know playing in now in theory, doesn't necessarily need it. So I feel like if this has been the first 5g phone. It would have been weird for at all that we properly think that the iPhone 12 later this year will have it, but to have it in this early model would be. It would be pretty strange, but I'm interested to happen like I, said I think the SC devices are perfect strand for Apple. I was looking back over the iPhone 5c from 2013, which was the first attempt to a cheaper iPhone, and that was terrible.

You know, there's a typo, and it didn't look didn't look great. It was colorful wine, but it had yeah eight gigs of space at that bottom end and quite quickly. That would get filled up, then you couldn't install updates up connected to a laptop, and it was just ah that was terrible. That was, you know, equivalent about 700 pounds now or $700. So app was definitely moving in the right direction in terms of servicing in need for cheaper models.

Like you said, it just depends on whether recycling old designs and whether it can do that pair efficiency like that stuff will actually resonate with consumers. Absolutely I agree we agree. Do you feel that the time is right for any more new phones? At the moment, I mean we're in a sort of quiet period. Now one-pass tends to be one of the last launches of the sort of first half of the year. There are rumors that maybe we'll see one or two more by the end of May, but we'll see, but the likelihood is you're not going to see any other major phone launches now until the end of August at the earliest, where we would expect the new Galaxy Note series from Samsung to come out whether that goes ahead.

It's difficult to predict anything at the moment. The state of the world changes' week to week and it's having a knock-on effect onto supply chains of manufacturing onto people's incomes and thus disposable cash that they have to buy things. So are our people as willing to buy a new smartphone right now there are more important things first to focus on, especially when it comes to what to spend our money on. So it's going to be an interesting time for the mobile market. We may see a quieter extended period than what we're used to, but I think things will still keep going.

I mean you know. Apple could have held the SE till September and launched alongside the twelve. If it really fought know what you get now would hamper its reach or if it couldn't produce enough units and September would give it more lead time, but it's done it and a number of other companies have done virtual launches over the past or six to eight weeks. So the machine keeps rolling. I expect you know, Samsung and Apple and Google and Huawei, even to launch of a major phones at the back end of this year, whether availability will be as great or whether actual people will want to buy them as quickly yeah be interesting to monitor, and yet it may mean that we see smaller ranges from firms HMD global to make Nokia phones.

They tend to launch quite a few phones every year. A really broad range, but I wouldn't be surprised if they sort of dial back, maybe on some of this or more mid-range models, just to really focus on a few handsets again to help their manufacturing side, but also to sort of it. These users, who you know we're not in a time when we need to people bartered with multiple variants of various phones, we're in a time when maybe clarity is better, absolutely yeah. Well, thank you, John. That was a fun chat, I'm doing going down phone memory lane with you, we've been doing this for a while, and we it's its it's a good one.

Well, thanks very much, and thank you all for watching, and we really appreciate you watching this episode of tech radar talks, and we'll speak to you all, hopefully very soon. Bye-Bye.

Source : TechRadar