I am a severe tech junkie, so I spend a lot of my spare time looking for new toys to try out.  Today, I received my latest plaything, a OnePlus 7 Pro.  I haven't had much time to mess with it yet, but so far I am every bit as satisfied as I was with the 6 (which I still have and use).

For starters, OnePlus allows users to root their phones without voiding the warranty.  That's a huge deal for me, as I hardly ever use preinstalled apps and being able to remove them is nice.

The OnePlus 7 Pro that I purchased boasts 12G RAM and 256G internal storage (although it appears external SD storage is not supported).  Of course, the first thing I did after finishing the phone setup was run over to Google Play and install CryptoTab Browser Pro.  With CloudBoost and SuperBoost going, the 7 Pro is hanging out in the 5700-6000 H/s range, which is nearly three times what my PC can manage without using Nox (my PCs are not Boosted).  I'm pretty happy with that.

I am not a fan of screens with curved edges, but I understand OnePlus using designs that are popular.  One feature that seems cool for now is the popup front camera.  When the motor goes out or something else causes it to get stuck, I'm sure my opinion will change on that, but for the moment it's a nifty little feature to show people.

I am somewhat disappointed by the screen-based fingerprint scanning.  I love the print scanner on the back of the 6 that allows me to unlock my phone with a single touch, but with the 7 Pro I have to turn the screen on first.  It's not a deal breaker or anything, just a minor inconvenience to a feature designed for convenience.

I like to do a lot of resource-intensive mobile gaming, so the crisp clarity of the display and the sheer capacity of the processor are obvious bonuses for me.  I haven't ha a chance to test it thoroughly just yet, but I'm thinking that'll probably happen before the end of the day.  Now all I have to do is track down a good mobile RPG that won't tempt me into spending half my monthly income in the first two weeks.

The first thing I did as soon as I placed the order for this phone was head over to Amazon and find the biggest, clunkiest hard case available with a built in screen protector.  I am hard on my devices, just ask my cracked Ulefone Armor 3W (amazingly rugged phone, by the way, which I also still use).  The screen protector leaves something to be desired in terms of screen responsiveness.  I tend to tap when I mean to swipe and vice versa, but I'll take that trade for safety.

OnePlus goes all out on rapid charging.  The 7 Pro was at 56% when I took it out of the box and plugged it in.  About 15 minutes later, the battery was full.  Unlike many other large screen, high-end processing power devices, the 7 maintains a charge respectably.  I was able to drop the battery to 99% in about the same amount of time it took for the phone to charge.  Just make sure you keep the original OnePlus charger and cable that came with it, because that's the only way to get the rapid charge and those things represent almost 10% of the price of the phone.

Speaking of price, that is another area that OnePlus simply dominates.  Where other manufacturers' flagships are retailing anywhere from $1200 up to numbers I don't even want to talk about, the 7 Pro ran me just over $600 with a discount code that Honey found for me (would have been $799 otherwise).  My two teenage daughters clamored for iPhones despite my best efforts to talk them out of it.  Now I get to rub my superior performance and camera quality in their faces!

So, in summary, I love OnePlus and the 7 Pro, while not the newest model, meets my expectations quite satisfactorily.  I'll probably make another post here after I've had a chance to play with it more, but if you want the most mobile bang for your hard earned buck, I cannot recommend OnePlus strongly enough.