OnePlus 10 Pro review: settling in

The 10 Pro is grown up. The 9 and 9 Pro were the true flagships of last year, with true flagship specifications and prices to match.

The result is a sleek, sophisticated device, which is a result of the sharpening of the vision of a legitimate flagship phone by the company. It's not just a cheaper flagship, it's a real alternative to both companies, with its own identity.

That isn't to say that the gap between itself and the big brands has been closed. The price of the 10 Pro makes more sense than the 9 Pro price. There was a less expensive version that never made it to the US. There are some good reasons to consider the Pixel 6 Pro or the S22 Plus over the 10 Pro. The camera department is where the competition is fiercest, and that's where OnePlus has some work to do. There is no support for that carrier's 5G network because it hasn't worked out with AT&T.

I can't recommend the 10 Pro to anyone looking for a premium phone because of the major considerations. I am encouraged by the direction the company is taking with the 10 Pro, and I like where it is going.

The big screen of the OnePlus 10 Pro makes it a big phone. It has a curved panel with a 1440p resolution. Its 20:9 aspect ratio is a hair taller than the S22 Plus and the Pixel 6 Pro displays, and it matches their top refresh rate of 120Hz. I can see that the display isn't as bright as the one on the S22 Plus, but it's bright enough to use comfortably.

The 10 Pro has an aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass on the front and back panels. The metallic camera bump housing on the side rails of the phone is a good look. One of the smart kids in the class may be cribbing someone else's work.

The unlocked version of the phone is only sold through T-Mobile in the US, but the carrier version has an intellectual property rating. There is no build quality difference between unlocked and unlocked phones. Do what you will with that information.

The 10 Pro has a small physical size difference between it and other big flagship phones, depending on what device you're comparing it to. It feels a little sleeker and easier to handle because of the taller screen. It's easier for me to wield than the Pixel 6 Pro. The 10 Pro's in-display optical fingerprint sensor is fast and responsive, which is an advantage over the slow fingerprint scanner of the Pixel. Even for a small phone fan, it is an enjoyable phone to carry and use.

The top Chipset of the year is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The only variant that will be sold in North America will be the 128GB version with 8GB of RAM, which will be available in the US at a later date. There is plenty of processing power in these specifications. For all intents and purposes, this is a device that delivers flagship-level performance and I noticed some stutters with heavier tasks like playing Genshin Impact.

The 10 Pro is a flagship phone. It's just sub 6 GHz 5G, no super-fast millimeter wave, which isn't a problem for most people. There is full low- and mid-band 5G support on T-Mobile right from launch, but the story gets complicated for the other major US carriers. The 10 Pro won't have certification to use the 5G network at launch, but it is working with the carrier to get it. Last year, the 9 and 9 Pro received 5G support shortly after launch.

There is no support for AT&T's 5G network and no plan to add it at a later date. The 10 Pro will be stuck on 4G even as AT&T improves its 5G speeds over the next couple of years. If you're hoping to use the 10 Pro on AT&T, you're missing out because the S22 Plus and the 6 Pro both offer full 5G support.

In my experience, the 10 Pro's 5,000mAh battery can easily get me through a day of moderate use. I felt like I had to keep an eye on my battery percentage because I was down into the single digits by the end of the day. I will qualify that claim by saying that I wasn't able to test it on 5G since I'm on the other side of the country.

I enabled every battery-draining setting, including the phone's high- performance mode, 1440p screen resolution, and the fastest screen refresh rate available. I never ended up with low battery percentages even on a day where I mostly spent off of wi-fi.

There is good news on the battery front, the OnePlus 10 Pro supports fast charging and there is a fast charger in the box. You won't get that with a phone from either of those companies. The phone in the US supports 65W charging, while other regions can charge up to 80W. The difference in the total time it takes to charge the phone is only two minutes, and 65W is plenty fast to bring the battery from 0 to 100 percent. I did not wish that the phone would charge faster.

Unless you spend a lot of time gaming or streaming video, you probably won't need to replenish the 10 Pro in the middle of the day. If you need to top the battery off, you can do it quickly and without having to pay for a fast charge.

The 10 Pro ships with the latest version of the phone. It got off to a rough start, but the launch bugs seem to have been fixed, and I haven't noticed any significant issues. There is a home screen page where you can put yourwidgets and motivational quotes from a disaster movie. Scout is a search feature that is similar to Spotlight on the iPhone. This is the first time the feature has appeared in a phone sold in the US. It is a nice way to quickly find contacts, apps, and settings.

I have seen other device makers embrace the focus on interface customization, but not the one from OnePlus. You can choose a color scheme inspired by your wallpaper to apply to the system-wide controls and app icons on the phone. They all have more of a One Plus flavor to them, but they only offer a limited amount of personalization options. You can use the sample colors from a photo in your camera gallery to make a wallpaper. It's neat, but a decidedly different vibe, one that's a little more grown up and a little less playful.

Three major OS updates and four years of security updates for the 10 Pro have been added to the support policy. That is not as good as what they offer, but it is getting closer. Three major OS updates for its own devices are promised by the company, as well as extended security support for up to five years. Four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates is the best support for the device. It isn't matching that, but it is taking a step in the right direction.

There are three cameras on the 10 Pro. The fourth cutout is the flash, not a silly sensor or something like that. The 9 Pro has not had any major updates to the rear camera hardware compared to the 9 Pro.

• Main: 48-megapixels f/1.8 with OIS
• Ultrawide: 50-megapixel f/2.2
• Telephoto: 8-megapixel f/2.4 with OIS
• Front: 32-megapixel, fixed focus

This isn't the same camera system as last year, and there are some improvements. HEIF is a compressed still photo format with 10-bit color that Apple has also adopted. It isn't on by default, but you can enable it for all three rear cameras. If you are viewing a HEIF image on a display that supports it, you will see a subtle improvement in the range of color it can reproduce. The 10 Pro can shoot 8K video at 24p, with a heavy crop, and can shoot 4K video up to 120p for slow motion.

A new shooting mode called RAW Plus is accessible in the camera app. It is a computational RAW mode, like Apple's ProRAW and the one from SAMSUNG. Computational RAW modes include data from multiple frames to give you a final image with more flexibility for post-processing.

I'm glad to see it on the 10 Pro, though I'm not seeing the improvements I saw using the standard version. The RAW Plus file sizes aren't substantially bigger than the standard RAWs either, which leads me to believe that it isn't putting a lot more information into that file. Maybe this feature isn't finished. You can tinker with the standard DNG files in any of the software or app that comes with RAW Plus.

• Ultrawide camera
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• Ultrawide, 150-degree mode
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Three new color filters called Master Styles named for Hasselblad ambassadors are part of the camera feature set. The image processing for noise reduction and dynamic range has been changed by the company.

The list of updates is not very impressive, especially considering that the camera capabilities of the OnePlus were lagging behind that of the other two companies. Some of the best portrait mode photos from any phone can be found on the phones of the two companies. I can't say I'm impressed with the images I've taken with the 10 Pro, but the ultrawide camera is still better than most.

Night mode photos are over-brightened, and the camera sometimes overexposes even in moderate indoor lighting. Portrait mode photos look okay, but side by side with the S22 Plus, it's obvious how far ahead they are. I hope that the next iteration of the camera will be more effort than just relying on the partnership with Hasselblad to do the leg work.

The day-to-day experience of using the phone is one of the things I like about the OnePlus 10 Pro. It looks nice. Its software is good. It is not loaded with a lot of apps I don't need. It is pleasant to use, like a phone should be.

The evolution of its flagship offerings is a good one, and it has taken another step. It feels like a device that knows what it is and who it is for, more so than the 9 and 9 Pro. It's hard to recommend this phone when the Pixel 6 Pro is the same price, with 5G support on every carrier, and a better camera system. The S22 Plus has a better camera system, broader 5G support, and will get an additional year of OS upgrades, so it might be worth the extra $100.

Camera quality and 5G compatibility are important factors for someone buying a premium phone in 2022, so it's a shame that the OnePlus doesn't measure up in those categories. There is also a likability factor. It might be more important than taking better portrait mode photos. The new OnePlus has some work to do, but it knows how to make a nice phone.

Allison Johnson is a photographer.

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it. It is impossible for us to read and analyze all of these agreements. We started counting how many times you have to agree to use devices when we review them.

You need to agree to use the pro.

• OnePlus’ Terms and Conditions, its End User License Agreement, and Privacy Policy
• Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
• Google Play Terms of Service
• Install updates and apps: “You agree this device may also automatically download and install updates and apps from Google, your carrier, and your device’s manufacturer, possibly using cellular data. Some of these apps may offer in-app purchases.”

You need to get past several optional agreements during setup.

• Participation in Co-Creation User Programs, which includes built-in app updates, push notifications for surveys and product updates, and system stability reporting
• Join OnePlus’ Red Cable Club
• Assistant Voice Match
• Back up to Google Drive: “Your backup includes apps, app data, all history, contacts, device settings (including Wi-Fi passwords and permissions), and SMS.”
• Use location: “Google may collect location data periodically and use this data in any anonymous way to improve location accuracy and location-based services.”
• Allow scanning: “Allow apps and services to scan for Wi-Fi networks and nearby devices at any time, even when Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is off.”
• Send usage and diagnostic data: “Help improve your Android device experience by automatically sending diagnostic, device and app usage data to Google.”

There are seven mandatory agreements and seven optional agreements.