OnePlus has reinvigorated its lineup with the gorgeous new OnePlus 7 Pro — a stunner of a phone with a pop-up selfie camera and almost no bezel. But the midrange market has changed while OnePlus has been away, and the Google Pixel 3a XL is the big phone to beat. Which of these two is better for you?
OnePlus is best known for providing smartphones with comparable specs to top-rate flagships, but for hundreds of dollars less. While the price has crept up over the years, the OnePlus 7 Pro sticks to that philosophy, providing the latest and most powerful hardware available, and a stunning redesign that puts most flagship phones to shame. But OnePlus isn’t alone in making supremely affordable phones, and the Google Pixel 3a XL is an extremely capable midrange phone with a lot to recommend it. When you’re looking to spend a little less for a capable phone, which of these two is better for you? We found out.
The Snapdragon 670 processor in the Pixel 3a XL is no sluggard, but it simply can’t compare to the Snapdragon 855 in the OnePlus 7 Pro. That story is repeated when we look at RAM and storage, and the OnePlus 7 Pro massively outguns the Pixel 3a XL on paper. However, the real-life performance of the Pixel 3a XL is still solid, thanks in large part to the close relationship between Google’s hardware and Android.
The OnePlus has a lot more raw power, but what about the battery and charging? The OnePlus 7 Pro has a 300mAh advantage over the Pixel, but it’s the Pixel that wins out in battery performance. We saw a solid day out of the Pixel 3a XL, while the OnePlus 7 Pro would often struggle more than expected considering the battery capacity. It’s likely the massive display plays a big part in this disparity. There’s no wireless charging on either phone, but they have strong fast charging and managed similar feats in our tests, with both taking 20 minutes to charge the battery from 15 percent to 53 percent.
While the Pixel 3a XL offers slightly better battery life and similarly strong charging, the OnePlus 7 Pro’s processing power is far beyond anything the Pixel 3a XL can offer.
Winner: OnePlus 7 Pro
The OnePlus 7 Pro is one of the most beautiful phones released so far in 2019. A pop-up selfie camera means there’s no notch and barely any bezel. The 6.67-inch display dominates the front panel, and it’s a gorgeous sight. That minimalism extends to the back of the phone, with Gorilla Glass 5 and the vertically stacked triple-lens camera. The Pixel 3a XL isn’t ugly, but the comparatively large bezels really stand out next to the OnePlus 7 Pro.
