In brief: The OnePlus 10 Pro has shaken things up for the company in 2022. Unlike the regular and Pro versions of its flagship that launch a couple of months into every new year, OnePlus has been early this time around with just the 10 Pro model that's now up for pre-order in China, with sales starting tomorrow.
On the outside, the OnePlus 10 Pro's heavily revised camera module seems to be the only major design difference over its predecessor. It's OnePlus' second attempt at exciting mobile photographers with a Hasselblad partnership that's now dropped the 9 Pro's monochrome sensor, while the remaining trio of 48MP wide, 50MP ultrawide and 8MP telephoto lenses have been carried over, alongside improvements like better RAW support and updated Hasselblad software.
Selfie shooters, meanwhile, can look forward to a 32MP sensor, which doubles the image resolution over the 9 Pro's 16MP unit. The OP 10 Pro's 6.7-inch AMOLED display, QHD resolution and 120Hz refresh are also the same as last year's flagship, however, this newer model uses second-gen LTPO tech that's said to be faster at switching the refresh rate between static and dynamic content for better battery life, and can even go as low as 1Hz for increased efficiency.
The OP 10 Pro joins the first crop of Android flagships to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, following the recent launch of the Xiaomi 12 series and the Honor Magic V foldable. Qualcomm's high-end silicon is paired with 8GB/128GB of memory and storage in the base model and goes up to 12GB/256GB, just like the OP 9 Pro.
In terms of software, OnePlus' OxygenOS has now been replaced with Oppo's ColorOS on top of Android 12.1, a result of the two companies merging last year. OnePlus once had a stellar reputation in the Android community for its snappy, intelligent software, but the company has been dropping the ball lately with buggy OS updates which it had to roll back, alongside uninspired design changes in its custom Android skin.
It remains to be seen how well OnePlus' 'oppo-fication' with the 10 Pro and future models sits with the flagship killer's fan base. What they can likely expect with the OP 10 Pro, however, is better battery life and recharge times. OnePlus has given a 500mAh bump to this model for a 5,000mAh unit. Pair it with 80W fast charging, a more efficient SoC and display tech, and the OP 10 Pro could end up with promising battery life that lasts for days and is recouped back in minutes.
For now, the OP 10 Pro is only available for pre-order in China, with prices set at ~$738 for the 8GB/128GB model, ~$785 for the mid-spec 8GB/256GB variant, and ~$832 for the 12GB/256GB version. It goes on sale tomorrow in two finishes: Volcanic Black and Emerald Forest.