The OnePlus 8 sets the bar high for affordable flagships in 2020. While its design refinements borrow elements from other flagships, it's an undeniably sleek phone, with waterfall display edges and a punch-hole for the front-facing camera.

Affordable 5G connectivity; Impressive specs; Big 4,300mAh battery

No telephoto camera; No wireless charging; Price hike over predecessor

OnePlus exploded on the scene in 2014 with marketing swagger not befitting its status as a startup that had never launched a phone, but the company has matured and proved itself over the years.

Display The 90Hz OLED is smooth with excellent brightness and colors; Alert slider Great tactility and a super-convenient way to change your ringer mode; Fingerprint sensor The in-display fingerprint sensor is faster and more accurate—it's as good as the old capacitive sensors now.

No wireless charging The OnePlus 8 doesn't have wireless charging (Warp or standard) like the Pro; Macro camera The macro camera on this phone is not very good, and it replaced the vastly more useful telephoto lens from the 7T. This was a mistake.

My gut instinct is just telling me to tell you to buy this phone. It starts at $699 and has a ton of great features. If it weren’t for an ever-so-slightly inconsistent camera, I’d already be calling it POTY (phone of the year).

Specs; Display; Performance; Software; Design; Battery Life; Camera; Buy OnePlus 8

With the 7 and 7 Pro, OnePlus made the choice for consumers very simple. The Pro packed so much more of a punch whilst the 7 felt like a year-old smartphone in a fancy new dress. With the 7T and 7T Pro, the gap was reduced significantly, almost to the point where many consumers opted for the cheaper...

Does the smaller, less-feature-rich OnePlus 8 deserve your cash, or should you stick to the true flagship?...

Gorgeous design Good display Outstanding performance Affordable Formidable battery life

No wireless charging Middling camera Not as full-featured as some competitors

When smartphone companies launch new flagship models, we expect significant improvements over the previous models. Generally the OnePlus 8 comes with overall feature and performance improvements, but the camera system feels a little downgrade from OnePlus 7T.

The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro have suffered no shortage of leaks in the months leading up to today, but they are now truly official. I’ve got to admit, writing OnePlus reviews gets pretty repetitive — but mostly in a good way.

OnePlus has in the past positioned its phones as “flagship killers” that offered high-end hardware at a lower price than top-tier rivals, and the latest OnePlus 8 is no different in promising good value.

The phone to beat in 2020

The OnePlus 8 is a great phone at a good price, particularly when you consider you’re getting 5G flagship performance at £599, which undercuts rivals such as Samsung’s Galaxy S20 by about £300. You get a smartphone experience that’s second to none.