OnePlus 10 Pro
entertainment reviewers of the last
decade so it would be a mistake to write
off the oneplus 10 pro without taking
full measure of it
the fact is oneplus seems to have
finally listened to feedback in some
important ways so let's start out by
giving it some credit
a new thermal management system keeps
the snapdragon
gaming
the weight distribution has been
reworked the phone sits more evenly in a
hand while the optical fingerprint
sensor got moved up a few millimeters so
it's even easier to unlock than its
predecessor and those revised haptics
work with the new animations and even
sound effects to give those unlocks just
a touch of
whimsy that sense of attitude is
something oneplus software has always
projected
but unfortunately the recent co-mingling
of oneplus and its sister brand oppo has
really taken the edge off of that
attitude kind of like the former punk
who takes an office job but still wears
fun socks
i mean the window dressing is still here
for example you can use this visual
representation of your screen time as an
always-on display you know to make sure
your digital shame stays intact
the oneplus shelf is still here with its
specialized widgets though it's
annoyingly placed behind an upper right
drop down swipe now in a possible bid to
appeal to iphone users
i was really excited about the work and
life modes because they could be great
if they were smart but in practice
they're blunt instruments that separate
the two sides with old-fashioned molle
coddling pop-ups that annoy more than
they assist
at least the alert slider is still here
as i've been saying since my first palm
trio circuit 2005 it's the best way to
silence a phone in a hurry and the
display is probably the best part of the
phone's hardware its 1300 nit peak
brightness has defeated every
potentially debilitating spring sunblast
to which i've subjected it its variable
refresh rate is refreshingly smooth
and oneplus says it's got better color
calibration at lower light levels but
honestly i didn't really notice a
difference it's a beautiful screen and
that's all there is to it
i did notice the design though and while
it's not my favorite oneplus of all time
i will say i appreciate the effort to
stand out
emerald forest is a good name for the
color of the green gorilla glass 5
backplate with its fingerprint resistant
satin finish beneath that sits a battery
plenty big enough to hang in there i've
used this thing for two weeks and not
once succeeded in draining it before
bedtime even on that everyday carry road
trip on which i used it pretty
extensively
and charging it from empty to full takes
a vanishingly small 40 minutes with a
charger that actually comes in the box
and the 10 pro draws your eye toward its
camera module with a rectangular
aluminum extrusion that reminds you that
this is the second generation hasselblad
system for phones
with a triple camera array anchored by a
50 megapixel main
shooter and disappointingly that main
sensor is the same as last year as is
the 3.3 x telephoto the only hardware
change was to the wide angle where a new
50 megapixel samsung jn1 makes it
possible to capture
150 degree fisheye photos and damn do i
love them
whether you use it to squeeze in a
sidewalk ice cream shop without backing
into the bike lane or snag a driver's
seat selfie from behind the wheel it's
handy added flexibility to an already
versatile system
hasselblad's contribution to the cameras
continues to be focused on color tuning
leaving one plus one more year to
realize the dubious pledge that its high
profile camera partner would one day
have input into the hardware
but at least the x-pan mode is here for
those situations where nothing but a
vintage 24 by 65 millimeter
pseudo-panoramic photo will do
and honestly shooting in this mode
brings me much of the same poser joy as
that leica phone did last december
and more importantly
after ages of merely adequate oneplus
cameras i was surprised to discover when
reviewing the photos that in some
situations i preferred the 10 pros shots
to those of the google pixel 6 pro
against which it directly competes
now that's only sometimes i still prefer
the pixel overall due to its dedication
to dynamic range which you can see at
work here notice how google renders the
clouds with the depth and definition
they have in real life while oneplus
can't help but blow them out
but all that hasselblad color tuning
must be doing something because in other
situations i find the oneplus better
preserves the color and mood or the
attitude of the scene
while the pixel too often tends to
bleach it in its single-minded quest to
preserve every possible mid-tone
this sounds familiar hey thanks for
subscribing i said much the same thing
in my last round of apple reviews and
indeed shooting with the oneplus feels a
lot more like shooting with an iphone
set to rich contrast mode
but
a oneplus had a big opportunity here to
really surge ahead if it got the video
side right
it made the decision to export that
video in the rec 2020 color space which
for me was just a very frustrating and
confusing decision
my friend danny winget helped me
describe why rec 2020 makes handling
video from a phone more challenging back
in my review of the oneplus 7t and the
company actually seemed to take that
note
last year's nine pro delivered video in
the more common rec 709 color space
which i counted as a great victory
when i asked oneplus wyatt backslid on
this the company said it was because it
knows users will continue to use a wider
color gamut that has more vivid and
natural colors
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