OnePlus 8 surprise reveal confirms Samsung Galaxy S20-rivalling hardware

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are all set to be announced on Monday, April 14, at 11am EST. There's a load of really cool predictions for the reveal: as "fast and smooth" is OnePlus' tagline for the next gen, it's theorised OnePlus will be pushing its state-of-the-art display with a buttery-smooth 120Hz refresh rate and a 25% increase in CPU performance. 

Coincidentally, a 120Hz refresh rate is also sported by OnePlus' principle rival, the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. Now the Huawei P40 is no longer sporting Android, Samsung's latest flagship remains the phone to beat.

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However, it's not the only similarity the two flagship phone series is set to share. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau posted on the official OnePlus forums, divulging some juicy details about the phone's innards. 

Both the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are set to contain a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, the top-line 5G processor that's providing the S20 series with its awesome processing power. As well as making complex tasks a breeze, it also makes everyday tasks more efficient, with a 16% decrease in power consumption while video recording. 

Lau also writes the following, regarding the phone's impressive RAM specs:

"UFS 3.0 flash storage might already be the current standard for flagship smartphones... But we’ve taken it a step further. We’ve also added two new technologies to the mix—Turbo Write and Host Performance Booster.

"Turbo Write uses the upper section of the ROM's storage as a high-speed read/write interval. Here, in theory, each read/write will enter this high-speed buffer, and then proceed to the next command of data transfer.

"In addition, HPB (Host Performance Booster) can further improve the random read performance after extended use."

This all sounds rather complex (and it is) but the key takeaway is the phone's storage is designed to mesh well with OnePlus' "fast and smooth" mission statement. News outlet and phone tech experts PhoneArena states storage speed (as in the "high speed read/write interval" mentioned by Lau) is a key factor for a "smooth, stutter-free performance" on Android phones. 

While the base OnePlus 8 models are rumoured to only get 8GB of RAM, it certainly sounds like the speed of that storage is going to help create a more powerful, faster machine than its contemporaries, a phone that swaps between tasks very easily even after prolonged use.

How will the phone really compare to its rivals on release? OnePlus is known for creating devices that can go toe-to-toe with other flagships at a lower price point. However, the impressive-sounding specs could easily justify premium prices. We'll know more for sure next week, when both phones are formally unveiled.

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