It used to be that you couldn’t buy a previous-generation OnePlus phone. The company churned out a new Android phone (or two) per year and quickly discontinued the old model. But a few years ago, this practice stopped. Instead we saw steep discounts on predecessors as successors arrived. That has enabled killer price cuts like this Amazon Prime Day deal: A little more than a year since its launch, the OnePlus 8 is a mere $349.
The OnePlus 8 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) launched at $699, but the company has been selling it at $449 to $599 for some time now. Taking an additional $100 to $150 off makes it one of the cheapest powerful Android phones around. Seriously, it’s powered by the flagship Qualcomm processor from 2020—the Snapdragon 865—which is in phones like Samsung’s Galaxy S20 and the Sony Xperia 1 II.
It’s the same price as our current favorite Android phone, the Google Pixel 4A, but you get much speedier performance, a 90-Hz screen refresh rate, multiple rear cameras, and speedy fast-charging. It can’t match the OnePlus 9 or OnePlus 9 Pro, but it’s still fantastic value.
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Is the OnePlus 8 Right for You?
WIRED: The excellent 6.6-inch AMOLED screen with the 90-Hz screen refresh rate makes for a smooth and vibrant viewing experience, whether you’re browsing Twitter or catching up on Loki. You’ll never be dissatisfied with this phone’s performance, and it can recharge (with the included cable and adapter) from zero to 100 percent in a little under an hour. There’s also 5G connectivity.
TIRED: The camera system includes a 48-megapixel main sensor, a 16-MP ultrawide, and a 2-MP macro, and they won’t knock your socks off. (You can probably snap slightly nicer photos with the $350 Google Pixel 4A.) Battery life is also just OK. It’ll likely just get you through a day. There’s no headphone jack, no wireless charging, and no MicroSD card slot. It’ll only get one more Android OS upgrade (Android 12) and a little less than two years of security updates.
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Links to Retailer Sale Pages
If you’d like to check more Prime Day deals yourself, here are some links to sales going on this week.
More WIRED Prime Day Coverage
