OnePlus 8 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S20: classy 120Hz flagships face off
Two of the very best Android telephones launched in 2020 to date, you actually couldn’t go unsuitable with both the OnePlus 8 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy S20.
We thought we’d get that out of the best way initially, as a result of it’s the final time we’re going to be so magnanimous. Sharing equivalent evaluate scores, comparable pricing, and a nip-and-tuck spec listing, we’re an extremely tight battle. These two telephones are direct rivals to your hard-earned cash, so it pays to know which holds the general benefit.
And to do this we have to break issues down, spec by spec, and re-examine our ideas on every. At the top of all of it, we’ll deliver you our view on which is the higher of the 2: is it the Samsung Galaxy S20 or the OnePlus 8 Pro? Let’s discover out.
Samsung Galaxy S20 vs OnePlus 8 Pro worth and availability
Let’s kick issues off with some baseline numbers. Which of those two Android flagship titans is the latest, and which is the most affordable? The two telephones launched in 2020 inside a month and a half of each other, with the Galaxy S20 touchdown first on March 6 and the OnePlus 8 Pro arriving somewhat afterward April 21.
In phrases of value, they’re very carefully matched certainly. Taking the official Samsung web site as our supply, costs of the Galaxy S20 begin from £799/AU$1,349; notice that this 4G Galaxy S20 isn’t obtainable within the US. Over on the OnePlus web site, the OnePlus 8 Pro begins from £799/$899 (round AU$1,406), however it isn’t obtainable in Australia.
Further up the value scale, the 5G-ready Samsung Galaxy S20 prices £899 / $1,000 / AU$1,499, and the OnePlus 8 Pro 12GB RAM with 256GB of storage prices £899 / $999 (about AU$1,597).
It ought to be famous that availability throughout these fashions and territories is fairly patchy. Also, you’ll discover loads of discounting in the event you store round. Samsung’s personal web sites within the UK and Australia are at the moment promoting the S20 for lower than RRP, for instance.
Design
These are two good-looking flagship telephones, every sporting a contemporary, curvaceous glass-and-metal look. But there are some noteworthy variations.
If we have been to choose primarily based on aesthetic worth alone, we would simply be pushed to go along with the Samsung Galaxy S20. The South Korean producer makes among the most engaging telephones within the enterprise, and the Galaxy S20 isn’t any exception.
The predominant benefit it has over the OnePlus 8 Pro is that it’s a lot lighter at 163g versus 199g, and it’s additionally half a millimetre thinner. The Galaxy S20 is a centimetre shorter and half a centimetre narrower than the 8 Pro, which makes it a much more pocketable cellphone.
Beyond being simpler to deal with, the Samsung dramatically lessens the severity of its show edge curves compared to earlier technology handsets. More importantly, it’s a far flatter show than that of the OnePlus 8 Pro, which ends up in fewer false presses and visible distortions with panorama content material.
Both telephones go for a hole-punch selfie digicam, however whereas the OnePlus 8 Pro positions it within the top-left nook, the Galaxy S20 locations it centrally. This is essentially a matter of desire, however Samsung’s placement is a bit more distinctive to our eyes, to not point out symmetrical.
Turning the 2 telephones over, Samsung has opted to position its digicam to at least one aspect, whereas the OnePlus positions its unit within the center. Both telephones wobble on a flat floor, however in several methods. The OnePlus 8 Pro’s digicam protrudes extra noticeably, nonetheless, which we discovered annoying.
Samsung affords its handset in a wider vary of colours – 5 in opposition to 3 – and every has a glossier end than that of the OnePlus 8 Pro. Fans who like their telephones somewhat extra understated would possibly favor OnePlus’s extra matte end.
Kudos to OnePlus for sticking with that bodily alert slider, too. It’s an actual boon.
Display
Samsung sometimes wins when it’s concerned in any flagship show comparability, however issues aren’t so easy with the OnePlus 8 Pro concerned.
Both screens are wonderful, and among the many best you will get in a cellphone in the present day. We’re a pair of vibrant AMOLEDs able to as much as QHD+ resolutions and 120Hz refresh charges.
But the OnePlus 8 Pro wins out for a few causes. The most evident is that it’s larger at 6.78 inches subsequent to the Samsung Galaxy S20’s 6.2-inch display.
More considerably, the OnePlus is able to outputting at QHD and 120Hz concurrently. With the Samsung cellphone, it’s a case of both or.
This signifies that at anybody time, in the event you crank up the OnePlus 8 Pro display to the max, it’s both sharper or extra fluid than its rival. We’re genuinely stunned that Samsung hasn’t launched a ‘fix’ with a subsequent replace, however we will solely assume that the corporate couldn’t determine the battery life implications.
It’s a notable win for OnePlus, then, however don’t let that put you off the Samsung Galaxy S20 totally. We referred to as its show “one of the best screens available on a smartphone right now” in our evaluate, and that is still the case.
Camera
Just a 12 months or two in the past, a comparability between these two firms’ flagship cellphone cameras would have resulted in a simple win for Samsung. The South Korean firm has been close to the highest of the cellular pictures tree for years now, whereas OnePlus has at all times come up brief.
Not any extra. The OnePlus 8 Pro affords the primary genuinely aggressive flagship digicam expertise from the corporate but. That’s largely because of a predominant 48-megapixel f/1.78 Sony IMX689 picture sensor, which is likely one of the largest you’ll discover in any cellphone.
A 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens affords a succesful zoomed-out different, and whereas we ‘d have liked a slightly sharper telephoto sensor than the 3x 8-megapixel unit provided, it’s nonetheless able to respectable photographs. The 5-megapixel color filter digicam is a gimmick, although.
As you’d anticipate from Samsung, the Galaxy S20 is a extremely succesful all-round snapper. It won’t have the massive predominant sensor of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, however it nonetheless comes up with the products.
It’s led by a 12-megapixel f/1.8 sensor, which produces bigger pixels than its rival (1.8µm versus 1.12µm). This is backed by a 64-megapixel f/2.0 3x telephoto and a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide.
Those are the details and figures, however in actuality each are versatile, all-round succesful digicam methods, and the variations largely come all the way down to variations in shade science and the like. In normal use, the Samsung Galaxy S20 produces photographs with punchier, extra vibrant colours that may higher swimsuit an Instagram publish than these taken with the OnePlus.
The OnePlus 8 Pro, however, produces extra muted but in addition extra natural-looking photographs. If you need to seize a second because it appears to your bare eye, the OnePlus will in all probability do a greater job. However, Samsung’s wide-angle digicam takes in a broader discipline of view than OnePlus’s, which implies it’s extra helpful at what it units out to do.
In phrases of Night mode, the OnePlus 8 Pro’s bigger sensor pays off with brighter, much less noisy low-light photographs. It takes these low-light photographs surprisingly shortly, too, which is helpful.
When it involves video, although, the Samsung Galaxy S20 will get bragging rights, with assist for 8K video at 30fps. The OnePlus 8 Pro can ‘only’ handle 4K at 60 fps.
Specs and efficiency
If we have been scripting this a part of the comparability from the US, then it will be a straight-up tie. Both the OnePlus 8 Pro and the US mannequin of the Samsung Galaxy S20 run on the blazing-fast Snapdragon 865 CPU.
Perhaps the OnePlus 8 Pro would acquire a slight edge, because of the choice of 12GB of LDDR5 RAM over the fastened 8GB within the Samsung Galaxy S20. But this makes minimal distinction in sensible phrases.
As it’s, we’re scripting this from the UK, the place the so-called international mannequin of the Samsung Galaxy S20 is offered. And that cellphone runs on Samsung’s personal Exynos 990 CPU.
We’ve seen this waved away as being roughly equal in sure quarters. However, the brutal reality is the Exynos isn’t as quick because the Snapdragon 865, as proven by benchmark assessments.
In day-to-day phrases, and even with most high-end video games, this distinction isn’t readily obvious, however it does make the OnePlus 8 Pro barely extra future-proof. We’ve additionally skilled the odd glitch in relation to gaming on the Exynos 990, which suggests an inferior stage of assist from builders.
Another specification that runs within the OnePlus 8 Pro’s favor is 5G, which comes as normal regardless of the mannequin you go for. With the entry-level Galaxy S20, you solely get 4G connectivity.
When it involves storage, each telephones have their benefits. The OnePlus 8 Pro affords the choice to double your storage to 256GB, whereas the Galaxy S20 affords 128GB or nothing. However, with the Samsung you additionally get a microSD slot for growth functions, which isn’t included with the OnePlus.
One last space of comparability is software program. Samsung has come a great distance with its personal One UI, to the purpose the place it’s now engaging and straightforward to make use of. But OnePlus tops it with its clear and fluid OxygenOS, which feels just like inventory Android however with an additional injection of customizability and velocity. You don’t get as a lot bloatware as you do with the Galaxy S20, both.
Battery life
The OnePlus 8 Pro has a 4510mAh battery, which is way larger than the Samsung Galaxy S20’s 4000mAh unit. That largely accounts for the distinction in measurement and weight.
Both telephones will final a day of regular use, with double figures left within the tank. However, it’s price mentioning that the OnePlus 8 Pro is usually being requested to do some extra. Or no less than it’s in the event you set the display to output at QHD and 120Hz.
In phrases of charging expertise, each telephones have reversible wi-fi capabilities, so you may cost your wi-fi buds off the again of them if you want. The OnePlus 8 Pro helps 30W wi-fi charging, in the event you purchase the suitable charger, whereas the Samsung helps a slower (however nonetheless fast) 15W normal.
If it’s really the velocity you’re after, although, the OnePlus 8 Pro comes out on prime with its speedy 30W Warp Charge 30T system. The Galaxy S20 comes with a quick wired charger, too, however it’s somewhat slower at 25W.
Takeaway
It’s robust to separate these two telephones, and there are a lot of parallels in relation to worth, design and display expertise. While it’s removed from a clear sweep, although, we’d give the clear edge to the OnePlus 8 Pro.
Offering up a much bigger show that may be cranked as much as QHD and 120Hz concurrently, that is one thing the Galaxy S20 merely can’t match. The OnePlus can be a greater performer than the worldwide Galaxy S20 mannequin, and also you get 5G connectivity whatever the SKU you go for.
When it involves pictures, each cameras have their strengths and foibles. The OnePlus 8 Pro’s photographs are maybe extra natural-looking and extra succesful in low mild, whereas the Samsung produces punchier colours and extra expansive ultra-wide photographs, in addition to providing the potential for 8K video seize.
Finally, we’d give the OnePlus 8 Pro the nod in relation to software program. OxygenOS is just a cleaner, quicker, and fewer bloatware-ridden expertise than Samsung’s One UI.
If you like smaller telephones, or in the event you catch wind of a cut-price deal, then the Samsung Galaxy S20 continues to be an excellent decide, and probably the greatest telephones available on the market proper now. But if we got a straight selection between the 2, the OnePlus 8 Pro would get our cash.