OnePlus today unveiled the OnePlus 7 Pro and the OnePlus 7. With the ‘pro’ variant of the OnePlus 7, the company is finally launching a true flagship smartphone and taking on the likes of the iPhone XS series from Apple. So, how good is the OnePlus 7 Pro when compared to the iPhone XS and XS Max? Find out in this comparison.

The OnePlus 7 Pro is a major step up for OnePlus that has so far only released premium budget flagship smartphones. Now that the OnePlus 7 Pro is a true flagship phone, it will be interesting to see how it compares to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Is the OnePlus 7 Pro good enough to do justice to its price? Or buying the iPhone XS and XS Max makes more sense?

OnePlus 7 Pro vs iPhone XS vs iPhone XS Max Comparison

Design

From a design viewpoint, Apple pushed the boundary with the iPhone X in 2017. The almost bezel-less front helped the iPhone X standout from other Android phones in the market. The company has since carried the same design language forward with the iPhone XS and iPhone Xs Max.

The OnePlus 7 Pro builds on the design of the OnePlus 6T and completely does away with the dewdrop notch at the front. Instead, it features a pop-up selfie camera which means the front of the OnePlus 7 Pro is dominated by its Fluid AMOLED display.

All the three phones feature glass panels at the front and rear. The OnePlus 7 Pro has another design advantage thanks to its frosted glass panel at the rear and the striking colors it is available in. The iPhone XS and XS Max continue to be available in the same old boring colors and don’t offer anything new in this regard.

If you don’t like notches, the OnePlus 7 Pro is definitely going to win you over. The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max do feel more premium in hand thanks to their stainless steel chassis but they won’t really stand out from the crowd as the OnePlus 7 Pro will. The iPhones do carry IP68 certification which the OnePlus 7 Pro lacks, though the company says the phone is water-resistant and that it does not want to waste money on getting an IP certification.

Display

• OnePlus 7 Pro: 6.7-inch QHD+ 90Hz Fluid AMOLED, HDR10
• iPhone XS – 5.8-inch True Tone OLED, 2688 x 1242 pixels (458ppi), 3D Touch, HDR10, Dolby Vision
• iPhone XS Max: 6.5-inch True Tone OLED display, 2688 x 1242 pixels (458ppi), 3D Touch, HDR10, Dolby Vision

All three phones offer an OLED panel and they are all excellent and highly praised by Display Mate. The OnePlus 7 Pro’s display has a higher resolution, no bezels, and a higher refresh rate, though the iPhone XS and XS Max display is not bad either and features 3D Touch and HDR10 support.

Chipset

• OnePlus 7 Pro: Snapdragon 855
• iPhone XS: A12 Bionic

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max feature Apple’s 7nm A12 Bionic chipset, while the OnePlus 7 Pro features Qualcomm’s 7nm Snapdragon 855 chipset. Despite being the first 7nm chip to the market, the A12 Bionic chip is an absolute beast. Its performance level is a generation or two ahead of what the Snapdragon 855 offers.

However, this does not mean that the Snapdragon 855 inside the OnePlus 7 Pro is a slow chip. It is among the fastest chip in the Android ecosystem and will comfortably run any heavy game or app you throw at it. The inclusion of speedy UFS 3.0 NAND on the OnePlus 7 Pro will also play an important role in this regard, though the iPhone’s NVME storage is still notably faster.

Camera

• OnePlus 7 Pro: 48MP f/1.6 aperture with OIS, 16MP 117-degree ultra-wide angle sensor, 3x 8MP optical zoom
• iPhone XS: 12MP f/1.8 aperture with OIS, 2x 12MP optical zoom

The primary camera of the iPhone XS and XS Max might just be a wee bit better than the OnePlus 7 Pro but it lacks the flexibility offered by the latter. The ultra-wide angle shooter on the OnePlus 7 Pro allows one to capture scenes with an entirely different perspective when compared to the iPhones.

The iPhones are also better at video recording. While the OnePlus 7 Pro is not bad, its video quality is a notch or two below the iPhones.

Storage and RAM

• OnePlus 7 Pro: Up to 256GB UFS 3.0 Storage, 12GB RAM
• iPhone XS and XS Max: Up to 512GB storage, 4GB RAM

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max ship with 4GB RAM, while the base variant of OnePlus 7 Pro ships with 6GB RAM. There are also variants with 8GB RAM and 12GB RAM available. The additional RAM means the OnePlus 7 Pro is an absolute beast when it comes to multitasking. While the multitasking performance of the iPhone XS and XS Max is not bad by any means, the OnePlus 7 Pro is in a different league altogether.

As for storage, the base variant of the iPhone XS and XS Max has 64GB storage while the OnePlus 7 Pro is available with 128GB storage. Despite costing a few hundred dollars more than the OnePlus 7 Pro, it is a shame that the iPhone XS series only ships with 64GB as base storage. The handsets are available with up to 512GB storage while the OnePlus 7 Pro tops out at 256GB.

Biometrics

• OnePlus 7 Pro: In-display fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
• iPhone XS and XS Max: Face ID

The OnePlus 7 Pro offers in-display fingerprint scanner and face unlock. In comparison, the iPhone XS and XS Max only offers Face ID. While Face ID is more secure than the in-display fingerprint scanner and face unlock on the OnePlus 7 Pro, it is slower and not as convenient to use.

Connectivity

• OnePlus 7 Pro: 1.2Gbps LTE modem, VoLTE, Dual-SIM,Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC
• iPhone XS and XS Max: Gigabit LTE, VoLTE, Dual-SIM, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC

This is an area where Apple should have really set the benchmark but that’s not the case. While both phones support Gigabit LTE, the OnePlus 7 Pro has a faster LTE modem which means in the right scenario, you will get faster LTE speeds on it. That’s not all, this also means better network reception in challenging areas which is really important.

Other connectivity specs of both phones are the same: Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, dual-SIM connectivity, and VoLTE.

Battery

• OnePlus 7 Pro: 4000mAh, 30W Wrap Charging
• iPhone XS: 2658mAh, 5W charging, Qi wireless charging, 18W USB-PD fast charging support
• iPhone XS Max: 3174mAh, 5W charging, Qi wireless charging, 18W USB-PD fast charging support

This is an area where the OnePlus 7 Pro beats the iPhone XS and iPhone XS easily. The OnePlus 7 Pro can easily last a day of heavy use thanks to its beefy 4,000mAh battery. The iPhone XS Max can also make it through a day of heavy use, while the iPhone XS might need a top up late in the evening.

The impressive aspect of the OnePlus 7 Pro is its 30W Wrap Charging. With the bundled 30W charger, the OnePlus 7 Pro can charge from 0-50 percent in just 30 minutes. In comparison, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will take almost an hour to reach the same level. The OnePlus 7 Pro does lack wireless charging but the faster wired charging more than makes up for it.

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max can also charge from 0-50% in just 30 minutes but it requires one to buy an 18W USB-C charger and an expensive USB-C to Lightning cable along with it.

Pricing & Availability

• OnePlus 7 Pro: Starts from $669
• iPhone XS: Starts from $999
• iPhone XS Max: Starts from $1,099

Despite a notable jump in its pricing when compared to the OnePlus 6T, the OnePlus 7 Pro is still notably cheaper than the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. For that extra money, the iPhone XS and XS Max do offer IP68 certification, a more premium build quality, and Face ID. Plus, the iPhone is available on all major U.S. networks while the OnePlus 7 Pro is only available on T-Mobile’s network in the US.

What are your thoughts on the OnePlus 7 Pro? Will you consider buying one over the iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max? Drop a comment and let us know!