That is the question that a lot of folks have been asking us ever since we put up our first impressions of the OnePlus 8. And that is hardly surprising. Ever since OnePlus announced the OnePlus 8, the more affordable of the OnePlus 8 series, a lot of discussions have revolved around its cameras. It was not just about how good they were, but very pointedly about how they compared with the ones on the OnePlus 7T. And that is because, on paper, the difference between the cameras on the two phones did not seem too great – in fact, many felt that the OnePlus 7T was superior – well, we did say that the OnePlus 7T was going to be a headache for the OnePlus 8, but that’s another story (hint: read it here).
For those who might have missed it, the OnePlus 8 comes with a 48-megapixel Sony IMX 586 sensor with OIS and an f/1.75 aperture, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens with f/2.2 aperture and a 2-megapixel macro lens. The OnePlus 7T on the other hand came with a similar main sensor (but with a larger f/1.6 aperture, a similar ultra-wide sensor, and crucially a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor. Both phones seem to have similar 16-megapixel front-facing cameras. But of course, if specs were everything in phone photography, then the world would not be bossed around by phone with a 12-megapixel main sensor, right? So, the big question is: does the OnePlus 8 offer a better photography experience than the OnePlus 7T. Now, the cameras on the OnePlus7T were a huge improvement over the very mediocre ones on the OnePlus 7, so much so that we had compared with those on the more pricey OnePlus 7 Pro. The answer, after about two days of random (and very careful – check the mask in the selfie) photography from the two phones, is not clear. You can, of course, decide for yourself by seeing the sample shots below, but our findings can be summed up as follows: So where does that leave us? Well, it is a very tough call (see the images for yourself), but the difference between the two phones in camera terms is not a massive one. The OnePlus 8 seems to get slightly better colors and does portrait mode and selfies slightly better, the OnePlus 7T captures a little extra detail and scores on macros and low light and (a little on) optical zoom. If cameras are a factor, you can safely opt for either of these handsets and not really miss out on too much. Yes, the OnePlus 8’s cameras are not a massive step forward from the OnePlus 7T. In fact, they do not seem to have moved much, but the phone has not really lost out much by omitting its telephoto, although its macro sensor does not seem to add a lot of value.
So if you have to choose between a OnePlus 7T and a OnePlus 8, or have a OnePlus 7T and are wondering whether to upgrade to a OnePlus 8, do not spend too much time thinking about the cameras. They are not massively different in terms of performance.
