OnePlus 10 Pro price drop makes waiting for the iPhone 14 much harder

If you’re waiting for the iPhone 14 to launch before you buy a new smartphone, we’ve got some bad news for you: one of the best phones we’ve tested just received a price cut, and now costs the same as the expected price of Apple’s forthcoming phone.

This is the OnePlus 10 Pro – it’s seen a permanent reduction by $100, so although it initially cost $899 for the lowest storage and memory configuration, it’s now just $799. If you live outside the US, we’re sorry to say that it doesn’t seem like OnePlus is reducing the price of the 10 Pro anywhere else right now.

That price cut coincides with the launch of the OnePlus 10T which is, in theory, a budget version of the 10 Pro that focuses on performance (though this price cut narrows the gulf between them).

However, at this new price, the OnePlus 10 Pro is likely a very close rival to the iPhone 14, which we’re expecting to launch in September.

The iPhone 13 cost $799 at launch, for the same amount of storage as you’re getting on the now-$799 OnePlus 10 Pro (that’s 128GB). And it’s very likely that the iPhone 14 will launch at the exact same price, or at least a similar enough price that they’re directly comparable.

OnePlus 10 Pro vs iPhone 14

Of course, we don’t know what the iPhone 14 will offer just yet – but judging by the leaks and rumors, it sounds inferior to the OnePlus 10 Pro.

While the iPhone is slated to get a main and ultra-wide camera, the OnePlus has three sensors on the back, including a telephoto snapper for zoom photography; and two of them have really high megapixel counts that allow for improved stabilisation and fidelity. Plus, the 10 Pro has lots of additional camera tricks from Hasselblad, that will likely give it a photographic edge.

In terms of performance, the gap isn’t likely to be particularly big – Apple’s chipsets are often the best in the industry, but we’ve heard that the iPhone 14 could use the same chipset as its predecessor, instead of getting a newer one (thought to be exclusive to this year’s iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max).

In terms of battery and charging, the OnePlus 10 Pro clearly takes the cake too – it has a massive 5,000mAh battery and quick 65W charging (or even faster 80W on models outside of the US) – we haven’t heard many rumors regarding the iPhone in this department, but Apple has yet to embrace fast charging that keeps step with its rivals.

Perhaps the biggest fact in the OnePlus’ favor is its screen, though. It has a 6.7-inch 1440 x 3216 120Hz AMOLED display that curves gently at the edges. The iPhone 14 is expected to sport a smaller 6.1-inch panel, with a lower resolution and lower refresh rate than the Android too.

As long as the iPhone 14 gets the specs that the leaks say it will, the Apple device will likely be a weaker-looking offering on paper, compared to the OnePlus 10 Pro.

If you’re looking to buy a new phone in the next few months, and were planning to wait until the iPhone launched, OnePlus’ 10 Pro is now an incredibly tempting rival. However, since it’s a permanent price reduction, there’s no harm in waiting a little bit to see if the iPhone 14 can join the OnePlus 10 Pro on our list of the best phones.