First glance at OnePlus 8 Pro before launch: Trendy new green colour, sad punch-hole camera

The next-generation OnePlus phones are coming soon and a bunch of leaks from reliable tipsters have given us a lot to ponder on. The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are notable upgrades over the outgoing models in terms of the specifications. But what about the design? After the original bunch of CAD renders and some nasty fakes, OnLeaks has finally revealed the official renders of the OnePlus 8 Pro. And this seems like the real deal as it features the new OnePlus logo on the back. It also looks kind of sad.

At first glance, the OnePlus 8 Pro looks as if OnePlus picked up the design of the OnePlus 7T Pro and made a few changes. At the back, the cameras sit in the middle but since it is now a quad-camera system, the fourth camera sits outside the main camera hump and that is accompanied by a bunch of sensors. The phone also flaunts the new OnePlus logo at the bottom.

Additionally, you must have noticed the new green colour by now. This is supposed to be the new matte green colour and it resembles a lot like the gree on the iPhone 11 Pro models. It looks good too. The colour appears to have a striking resemblance to the green variant on the Realme X50 Pro 5G.

At the front, it still has the same narrow-bezel display with curved edges. The top and bottom bezels are still thick and the worst part is that there’s a punch-hole cutout now sitting in the corner for the camera. OnePlus has ditched the pop-up camera system and that has resulted in the new display cutout. This makes it easier for OnePlus to manufacture the phone. OnePlus will credit this move the rumoured IP68 water and dust certification, as always.

Surprisingly, the phone appears to be slimmer from the sides. OnePlus may have trimmed the excess fat from the OnePlus 7 Pro, except for the camera bump that sticks out. The frame houses the USB-C port and a loudspeaker. There’s no headphone jack here. Moreover, on the top, OnePlus has borrowed a design cue from Oppo and Realme phones.

Is it a nice looking phone? The outgoing OnePlus 7T Pro looks good and OnePlus continuing that design isn’t a bad thing. The absence of the ugly square or circular camera hump is a breath of fresh air. However, this is a stale design and we would have likes OnePlus to try out something new, given that the OnePlus 8 Pro is expected to be as expensive as a Samsung Galaxy S20 series phone.