OnePlus 10 Pro launch recap: Price, release date and everything you need to know
The OnePlus 10 Pro is official
Good morning, and welcome to Tom's Guide's OnePlus 10 Pro event live blog. Things don't get underway for a good few hours yet, but we'll use this time to recap everything we know about the new phone, and a few things we don't.
So bookmark this page and follow the event with us live from 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT./3 p.m. BST.
One feature touted in January won’t make the U.S. version of the OnePlus 10 Pro. OnePlus has confirmed that the North American OnePlus 10 Pro will not have 80W charging like the rest of the world has; it’ll have 65W instead. This is supposedly because OnePlus’ 80W charging technology isn’t compatible with the North American power standard.
But that 15W difference may not be such a big deal. Charging wattage isn’t linear and getting charging speeds this high hits diminishing returns as you climb. We have yet to see how fast the OnePlus 10 Pro recharges in our lab, but we expect it’ll be plenty fast — certainly faster than the Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max, which charge at 45W and 30W, respectively.
What about that display? At 6.7 inches, the OnePlus 10 Pro’s screen is far from small. It’s also QHD and, if it’s anything like the OnePlus 9 Pro, you’ll be able to choose whether you want FHD or QHD resolution. The former setting will help save battery life.
Samsung has set a high bar this year with the Galaxy S22 displays (pictured), so the OnePlus 10 Pro has its work cut out for it. We’ll see how it stacks up in our testing and comparisons, but we expect OnePlus to deliver something great.
With just a few hours to go, we’re super excited to hear more about the OnePlus 10 Pro’s cameras.
The OnePlus-Hasselblad partnership is in its second year, which means we could hear about more major improvements over the OnePlus 9 Pro. We hope that the OnePlus 10 Pro sticks with accurate, natural colors — even Samsung has started to tone down its trademark oversaturation.
OnePlus already tipped its hand a little bit back in January, talking up some of the features you can expect from the OnePlus 10 Pro cameras. We also know the hardware specs. There’s a 48MP main sensor, with 50MP ultrawide and 8MP telephoto cameras joining it. The latter features 3.3x optical zoom. The front-facing camera is 32MP. So we’ll see what kinds of photos the OnePlus 10 Pro can take, but we have high hopes.
When it comes to Android phones, the Galaxy S22 Ultra claims the title of best Android phone overall, at least by our reckoning. Will the OnePlus 10 Pro have enough to challenge Samsung’s flagship?
We can’t answer that definitively until we’ve tested the new OnePlus phone. But our global editor in chief Mark Spoonauer has outlined five areas where the OnePlus 10 Pro could challenge the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
We expect OnePlus to focus entirely on the OnePlus 10 Pro today. But just in case OnePlus wants to squeeze more product announcements into this event, there’s always the chance of a follow-up to last year’s OnePlus Watch.
Because we haven’t heard many watch rumors in the buildup to today’s event, we’d guess that we’ll hear about the OnePlus Watch 2 some other time. Still, we’ve got a OnePlus Watch 2 hub that contains all the latest rumors about a future smartwatch from OnePlus.
So what about pricing for the OnePlus 10 Pro? As reported by 9to5Google, the German online retailers MediaMarkt recently showed a price tag of €899, which is the same as the OnePlus 9 Pro. However, we're hoping for a lower price for the U.S., as the OnePlus 10 Pro will be going head to head with the $899 Google Pixel 6 Pro as well as the $999 Galaxy S22 Plus.
We're just over an hour away from the reveal of the OnePlus 10 Pro. Above you can see the box in the trademark OnePlus red. Based on the size, we expect the 65W charging brick to be included with the phone. (The iPhone 13 and Galaxy S22 come in much slimmer boxes.)
What are you most excited for with the OnePlus 10 Pro? We can't wait to see the cameras do. Previous smartphone and long-standing camera manufacturer partnerships haven't amounted to much (Huawei/Leica, Nokia/Zeiss), but last year's OnePlus 9 Pro certainly showed that OnePlus and Hasselblad might have gotten something right.
Now it's one year later and we hope that the second generation camera system and software suite can put OnePlus on the map of the latest best camera phones.
We've only heard about the OnePlus 10 Pro. It seems like there won't be a OnePlus 10 this year, though there are rumors about a OnePlus 10 Ultra later in 2022. OnePlus used to favor fewer phone launches, but it seems that's changed in the wake of the company's larger international popularity (such as with the Nord and Nord N series).
Assuming the OnePlus 10 Pro's price is right, maybe we don't need a OnePlus 10. It might give the Pixel 6 some competition, but that's it.
The OnePlus 10 Pro has started its preamble. We're mere minutes away from the launch! Right now, it's just OnePlus reiterating how far it's come.
The event is starting!
OnePlus is starting with a Shark Tank rip-off/parody. The presenter is trying to "sell" the OnePlus 10 Pro.
The OnePlus 10 Pro, as we know, features the second generation Hasselblad camera system. The phone shoots in 10-bit color, which offers a billion more colors than 8-bit. OnePlus achieved this with natural color calibration.
The phone also has a 150-degree ultrawide mode, which offers wider sweeping shots than other ultrawide cameras. The new Pro mode can capture image in 12-bit RAW with enhanced dynamic range.
The OnePlus 10 Pro features a Pro mode for video and can save in LOG format. It can record at 4K 120 fps.
But this Shark Tank skit is a bit weird.
The OnePlus 10 Pro comes with OxygenOS 12.1, which we expect fixes some of the problems that have plagued OxygenOS 12.
And yes, the phone features a 5,000 mAh battery.
I guess that the launch announcement is going to be in this Shark Tank skit.
The OnePlus 10 Pro obviously uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. It also has the Hyper Boost Engine, which boosts the GPU and stabilizes the frame rate. The phone also features a new cooling system to lower SoC throttling.
We basically knew everything about the phone. But Pete Lau is on now, talking about OnePlus and its mission. He's promising a new OnePlus IoT ecosystem, which is interesting. What might that look like?
OnePlus is talking its partnerships. OnePlus is the official 2022 smartphone for the International Photography Awards.
What is OnePlus planning for 2022? The roadmap includes phones, audio, and IoT. There's also new OnePlus Buds Pro in a Radiant Silver colorway.
The 6.7-inch AMOLED display has second-gen LTPO tech, meaning smoother refresh rates between 1Hz and 120Hz. The OnePlus 10 Pro features the new SuperVOOC charging.
The phone comes in Volcanic Black and Emerald Forest. Both colorways feature fingerprint resistance. And the camera module is housed in ceramic in a very Samsung-esque design where the array blends into the phone's frame.
OnePlus says that its proximity to Oppo equals access to those resources, but OnePlus remains loyal to its community.
OxygenOS is apparently still different than ColorOS. On the surface, the two are very similar, but OnePlus says OxygenOS retains its community-first DNA. It's supposedly smooth, responsive, and secure. But so is ColorOS.
OnePlus is now showing what's new in OxygenOS 12.1, like the new dark mode and Shelf. OxygenOS is different nowadays, but it has a lot of features that many have come to love. The Work Life mode is pretty nice if you use your phone for work and play.
OnePlus is giving back to its community with coupons and discounts to thank long-time customers.
The phone goes on open sales on April 5 in the EU, April 14 in North America. But it's pricing. It'll cost $899 in the US and be available from T-Mobile, OnePlus, Best Buy, and Amazon. That'll be £899/€799 for the 8GB/128GB model and £999/€899 for the 12GB/256GB version.
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And now it's time for our OnePlus 10 Pro review. Be sure to check it out to see test results and my final thoughts. And also check out our OnePlus 10 Pro TikTok!
