OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 7 Pro: which is the best of these OnePlus phones?

There's no doubt that the OnePlus 7 Pro and the OnePlus 7 are the best phones that OnePlus has ever made – but which one is right for you? The premium, high-end OnePlus 7 Pro (with pop-up selfie cam) or the more affordably priced and conventional OnePlus 7?

We're here to help you answer those questions, whether you're upgrading from the OnePlus 6T, switching over from the iPhone XS, or arriving at these OnePlus phones from any other direction. These are the specs and design considerations to bear in mind.

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OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 7 Pro: design

The OnePlus 7 Pro comes with a bigger screen and smaller bezels than the OnePlus 7 – it's a 6.67-inch, 1,440 x 3,120 pixel resolution AMOLED display on the bigger phone and a 6.41-inch, 1,080 x 2,340 pixel resolution AMOLED display on the smaller one. For the extra money, you get more screen space, and a sharper display too.

As you'll notice from the pictures, the OnePlus 7 Pro does away with the notch, too: it makes use of a motorised pop-up selfie camera instead. The OnePlus 7 keeps a teardrop notch up at the top of the display, and is very similar to its predecessor the OnePlus 6T in terms of the overall aesthetics.

With both phones featuring in-display fingerprint readers, the back of the handsets are left clear for the camera. Depending on where in the world you are, you can pick up the OnePlus 7 in grey or red, and the OnePlus 7 Pro in grey, blue, or a limited edition almond. Overall, we think the OnePlus 7 Pro just edges it in terms of design.

OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 7 Pro: specs

On to the specs, and there's the same Snapdragon 855 inside both these phones – that's the top-tier processor for the best Android phones of 2019, so you won't be left disappointed in the performance stakes by either the OnePlus 7 or the OnePlus 7 Pro. In terms of RAM you get 6GB or 8GB with the OnePlus 7, and 6GB, 8GB or a whopping 12GB with the OnePlus 7 Pro.

Neither of these phones have a memory card slot for expanding the available storage, so you're stuck with the internal storage you're given: 128GB or 256GB for both the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro, depending on how much you want to spend.

It's in this performance battle where the phones are most evenly matched – it would be virtually impossible to tell the difference between them in terms of how fast they can run apps and games, and both the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro should be good for years of use. The OnePlus 7 Pro has a slightly bigger battery (4,000mAh vs 3,700mAh), but then it does have a slightly bigger screen to power too.

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OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 7 Pro: features

If the performance levels of the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro are similar, the photographic capabilities aren't: the Pro model has a superior 48MP + 8MP + 16MP triple-lens rear camera, whereas the standard one sticks with a dual-lens 48MP + 5MP snapper. Around the front, both phones make use of a single-lens 16MP camera.

That means the photos you shoot should look significantly better on the OnePlus 7 Pro, and give you access to more tricks (like 3x optical zoom, for example). That said, the OnePlus 7 is no slouch in the camera department – it's just not as good.

Elsewhere these phones are well matched in terms of features: they both offer fast charging but not wireless charging, neither of them have a 3.5mm headphone jack, they both come running Android 9 Pie with OxygenOS on top, and neither the OnePlus 7 or the OnePlus 7 Pro are classified as waterproof or dustproof.

OnePlus 7 vs OnePlus 7 Pro: verdict

As you would expect given the Pro label attached to it, the OnePlus 7 Pro is a better phone than the standard OnePlus 7. If you're choosing between them though, the question is whether the extra price is worth it – you can check out the widgets embedded on this page to see the latest deals on both the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro.

If you can afford it, there's no doubt the OnePlus 7 Pro is one of the best phones of 2019, excelling in just about every area. The OnePlus 7 won't let you down though – especially in terms of performance, where it's on a par with its more expensive variant. It's just a shame the OnePlus 7 isn't much different to the OnePlus 6T.

We like the larger, sharper screen of the OnePlus 7 Pro, and especially the better camera performance. With no notch, the phone as a whole looks gorgeous too – and while a pop-up selfie camera seems a bit gimmicky to begin with, you'll soon get used to it. Unless you want a smaller screen or are working to a tight budget, the OnePlus 7 Pro is the handset we'd go for.

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