The OnePlus 7 Pro is deemed to be the next contender for OnePlus. OnePlus itself has come a long way with its smartphones. Starting from scratch the brand shaped up the upper midrange market for smartphones and has ever since provided quality products with very accessible prices.
There have been a few details already leaked about the device, from its renders to its internals and even pricing. The phone is undoubtedly a beast but today, courtesy of Roland Quandt, the launch prices for the OnePlus Pro have surfaced for the European markets.
The base model of the upcoming smartphone with 6GB/128GB configuration is speculated to start off at €699 in most European nations with prices going to a maximum of €709 depending on what region one’s from. Considering the pricing of the new OnePlus, fans were devastated to see how a smartphone which once aimed at the $500 price point has jumped two stories and starts off at $700.
Many even criticized that OnePlus is no longer the “Flagship Killer” as it once was and the company has launched a cash-grabbing smartphone at such a price. While all this disappointment may be justified, we can’t just target OnePlus. Over the course of a few years, the landscape of modern smartphones has shifted significantly. Gone are the days when the $500 mark was considered to be the gold standard for smartphones ever since Chinese budget smartphones backed by Xiaomi and Huawei flooded.
Recently, the $750 price point has turned a lot of head. It acts as an intermediate point for smartphones where the devices’ host flagship internals with very little trade-offs. Samsung and Apple have already hopped on the hype train with their lower end variants like the Galaxy S10e and the iPhone XR. Among all this, OnePlus feels left out at a $600 price point and hence the price rise.
Now there are two ways OnePlus can go from here. They could either stick to their formula of being the underdog and a “flagship killer” which they clearly arent according to a majority or they could spice it up. Changing their approach would mean that OnePlus is finally redeeming itself to the fullest and would directly take on the top tier smartphones like the Galaxy S10 and the iPhone XS. Since the phone is already compared to the top cream smartphone they might as well compete directly with a bigger and better budget.
