The best OnePlus phones offer you choices beyond iPhones and Galaxy devices
The best OnePlus phones allow for a break in the Samsung-Apple duopoly. In less than a decade, OnePlus has grown from a little-known start-up to a phone maker with a fierce following that can release devices capable of challenging the best phones out there.
OnePlus pulls off this feat by cramming as many premium features into its phones as possible, while still offering devices that cost less than comparable phones from Apple and Samsung. In recent years, the cost of OnePlus flagships has crept up, so OnePlus pivoted, introducing the budget Nord lineup, which still manages to pack a few top features into inexpensive handsets.
The launch of OnePlus Nord phones has created some overcrowding in the company's product lineup. To help alleviate the confusion, we've ranked the best OnePlus phones that the company still says and that we've reviewed. Whether its the latest models or holdovers from a previous year, there's a OnePlus phone that will fit your needs.
What are the best OnePlus phones right now?
The OnePlus 10 Pro is the best OnePlus phone currently available, thanks to a display that adjusts its refresh rate based on your current activity. It has much improved cameras over previous OnePlus phones and offer 65W charging. Best of all, it's $899. However, the OnePlus 10T is right around the corner.
If you don’t want to pay up for the OnePlus 10 Pro, consider a phone from the OnePlus Nord lineup of budget phones. The best OnePlus phone value available in the U.S. is the OnePlus Nord N10 5G, which boasts superior specs to the newer OnePlus Nord N200 5G. In other parts of the world, the OnePlus Nord 2 is available, and it’s the best budget OnePlus phone.
OnePlus keeps around older phones for a few years, selling them at reduced prices. The best option among these older devices is the OnePlus 8, which features very good battery life and fast charging.
The best OnePlus phones you can buy
It goes without saying that the new OnePlus 10 Pro is the best OnePlus phone that you can buy. It’s got the latest specs, excellent battery life, and the best cameras we’ve ever seen from OnePlus. We love a lot about this phone, including its eye-catching design.
The large 6.7-inch AMOLED display has excellent colors and brightness. The 65W charging tops off the 5,000 mAh battery in just over 30 minutes. All of that in a body that feels nice to hold. The OnePlus 10 Pro takes everything we loved about the OnePlus 9 Pro and steps it up.
Read our full OnePlus 10 Pro review.
The OnePlus 10T is possibly the least OnePlus-y phone the company's ever produced. The revival of the flagship T-series brings with it both some market-leading features but at the expense of other elements falling below par, and some OnePlus signature abilities disappearing. The result is a strong and attractively priced phone, even if it’s an uneven one.
The OnePlus 10T could make for an excellent gaming phone, except with the reassurance of well-designed software and no obnoxious design elements. Equally, it could be a great work companion, with the good battery life meaning you're not likely to be left in the lurch with 0% juice, and the outstanding charging making sure if that does happen, you won’t be with an un-powered device for long.
Even lacking some expected features like the Alert Slider and wireless charging, the OnePlus 10T is the company's most powerful phone yet.
Read our full OnePlus 10T review.
One of the best Android phones around, the OnePlus 9 Pro is also the best handset you can get from OnePlus. The 6.7-inch screen is gorgeous and a dynamically adjusting refresh rate can make activities like scrolling buttery smooth. Even with the hit that 5G and fast-refresh rates can put on a battery, the OnePlus 9 Pro outlasts the average smartphone. Support for 65W wired charging sets the standard for other phones.
In addition to all that, the real star of the show is the camera setup on the OnePlus 9 Pro. Past OnePlus phones have featured only so-so cameras at best. For the OnePlus 9 Pro, the phone maker teamed up with Hasselblad and the benefits of that partnership are on display in photos that show off natural tones.
If you want the very best experience that OnePlus has to offer, pay up for the OnePlus 9 Pro. But bear in mind that the OnePlus 10 Pro is right around the corner.
Read our full OnePlus 9 Pro review.
The OnePlus 9 has just about everything you could want in the best OnePlus phones, but for $240 less than what you'd pay for a OnePlus 9 Pro. You'll make some trade-offs for that lower price — the screen's refresh rate no longer adjusts dynamically, there's no telephoto lens and wireless charging isn't as fast. But otherwise, all the other highlights of the OnePlus 9 Pro are here in this less expensive flagship.
That includes the partnership with Hasselblad that's dramatically improved the OnePlus 9 camera output from what we've seen with past OnePlus phones. While some color inconsistencies remain, on the whole, you get photos from the OnePlus 9 that can stand against some of the best camera phones out there.
While wireless charging isn't as fast on this model as it is on the Pro version, you still get 65W wired charging, which is the best in the smartphone business. The OnePlus 9 lasts a long-time on a charge, too, falling just short of 11 hours in our testing.
Read our full OnePlus 9 review.
U.S. shoppers looking for the best OnePlus phone can feel a little envious about the OnePlus Nord 2. This 5G phone isn't available in the U.S., though U.K. shoppers can pick it up for £399 (roughly $550). But this OnePlus offering has more impressive features than its midrange price tag would suggest.
Start with the screen refresh rate, which is 90Hz. That's better than most smartphone which top out at 60Hz, so expect smoother scrolling from the Nord 2. Despite the fact that it's a lower-priced phone, the OnePlus Nord 2 shares the 65W wired charging speeds featured in the company's more expensive flagships.
For now, OnePlus issues Nords with less impressive specs to its U.S. customers. But if you live in an area where the Nord 2 is available, jump on it with both feet, because you're getting a lot of value with that phone.
Read our full OnePlus Nord 2 review.
The OnePlus Nord N20 5G can be used as an example of how U.S. users are getting short-changed with the Nord lineup. In other parts of the world, people enjoy the more full-featured OnePlus Nord 2, but here, we get a device with a lower price and stripped-down specs to match.
There are things to like about the OnePlus Nord N20 5G, most notably that it gives you 5G connectivity in a device that costs less than $300. In fact, the Nord N20 may be one of the cheapest 5G phones currently available. You get other solid features as well, such as a nice AMOLED display and good battery life.
Other aspects of the Nord N20 5G disappoint, as the camera improvements that we've seen on other recent OnePlus phones have passed over this model. Still, at $282, the OnePlus Nord N20 5G is a good value that will please bargain hunters just looking to add 5G connectivity.
Read our full OnePlus Nord N200 5G review.
What to look for in a OnePlus phone
When shopping for the best OnePlus phones, keep in mind that OnePlus divides its smartphone product line into two different categories. The more expensive OnePlus flagships usually cost $700 and up and pack in the best features OnePlus has to offer. OnePlus Nord devices are the phone maker’s budget devices — prices are lower and features are scaled back, though you’ll still find a few notable capabilities.
OnePlus used to release flagships twice a year — once in the spring, followed by a T series version of that same phone in the fall. But OnePlus has changed a lot in recent years, so it's hard to predict what the company will do next. You can play the waiting game forever with OnePlus, so it's best to just go for the phone that stands out to you.
How we test the best OnePlus phones
We take the same approach to finding the best OnePlus phones as we do any smartphone we review, with the exception of the Nord 2 since we don't have the proper testing facilities in the UK.
We do, however, run benchmarks on every phone we can — Geekbench 5 to measure overall performance and 3DMark Wild Life to test graphics performance. For real-world testing, we use Adobe Premier Rush to transcode a video, timing how long it takes. (This test does not work on all devices due to app compatibility issues.)
| Geekbench 5 (single-core / multicore) | 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited (FPS) | |
| OnePlus 10 Pro | 995 / 3482 | 61 |
| OnePlus 9 Pro | 1126 / 3685 | 35 |
| OnePlus 9 | 1126 / 3618 | 34 |
| OnePlus Nord 2 | N/A | N/A |
| OnePlus 8T | 887 / 3203 | N/A |
| OnePlus Nord N20 5G | 696 / 1995 | 7 |
In our lab, we test the brightness of the phone’s display as well as how colorful each screen is (using both the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut). We measure color accuracy as well.
| sRGB (%) | DCI-P3 (%) | Delta-E | |
| OnePlus 10 Pro | 174 (Vivid) / 119 (Natural) | 123 (Vivid) / 84 (Natural) | 0.32 (Vivid) / 0.23 (Natural) |
| OnePlus 9 Pro | 208 (Vivid) / 120 (Natural) | 147 (Vivid) / 85 (Natural) | 0.32 (Vivid) / 0.2 (Natural) |
| OnePlus 9 | 199 (Vivid) / 104 (Natural) | 141 (Vivid) / 74 (Natural) | 0.28 (Vivid) / 0.27 (Natural) |
| Nord 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| OnePlus 8T | 108 | 76 | 0.22 |
| Nord N20 5G | 179 (Vivid) / 103 (Gentle) | 127 (Vivid) / 73 (Gentle) | 0.34 (Vivid) / 0.3 (Gentle) |
We have a custom battery test in which we have phones surf the web continuously over a cellular connection, timing how long it takes until they run out of power. We also time how quickly a phone can recharge, checking the battery status after 15 and 30 minutes.
| Battery life (Hrs:Mins) | |
| OnePlus 10 Pro | 11:52 (Adaptive) / 12:40 (60Hz) |
| OnePlus 9 Pro | 10:40 (Adaptive) / 10:38 (60Hz) |
| OnePlus 9 | 10:32 (Adaptive) / 11:20 (60Hz) |
| OnePlus Nord 2 | N/A |
| OnePlus 8T | 9:59 (Adaptive) / 10:40 (60Hz) |
| OnePlus Nord N20 5G | 11:20 |
Finally, to test cameras, we take the best OnePlus phones out into the field and shoot photos of landscapes, portraits, night images and other shots. We compare those shots to similar images captured by phones with comparable specs and prices.