tech2Apr 13, 2021 17:12:53 IST
The OnePlus 9R is a more affordable alternative to the flagship 9 Pro that somehow manages to pack top-of-the-line hardware into a pocket-friendly package.
The newly launched phone is powered by a Snapdragon 870 chip — which is faster than last year’s flagship 865 — and paired it with either 8 or 12 GB of RAM, and up to 256 GB of storage. That storage, by the way, is rated at UFS 3.1.
For storage, this is a big deal because UFS 3.1 includes a blisteringly quick SLC cache that significantly accelerates read/write performance. In effect, OnePlus promises a 3x speed boost over UFS 3.0 and speeds that are competitive in front of high-end SATA SSDs in PCs.
It’s this storage, paired with that new 870 chip and RAM that allows the OnePlus 9R to perform so smoothly. Complementing this performance is the 6.55-inch FHD+ fluid AMOLED display with its 120 Hz refresh rate and 240 Hz touch response. Whether gaming or browsing, this combo will ensure a smooth, responsive experience. The display is also rated at 1,100 nits of brightness and is HDR10+ certified.
Speaking of gaming, cooling is taken care of by a multi-layer vapour chamber system made from a combination of graphite and copper. A suite of 14 temperature sensors monitor various aspects of the phone and keep the internals in check as needed.
Various software optimisations have been implemented that focus the phone’s resources on gaming apps to help improve performance and reduce lag.
If you’re worrying about heavy gaming eating into your battery life, stop. The phone supports 65 W fast-charging that can take the phone from 1–100% in a mere 39 minutes. A 15-minute charge will give you enough power to last a day of light use. If that wasn’t enough, the 4,500 mAh battery is actually two batteries, both of which charge simultaneously. This speeds up charging by splitting the load, and it also improves battery life by allowing each cell to charge slower than if it was a single unit.
Lastly, we come to what is, arguably, the 9R’s most important feature, its cameras. The star of the show is a 48 MP IMX586 sensor that uses pixel-binning to deliver bright, sharp images in any light, and it supports OIS, nightscape, multi-frame processing, and more.
A 16 MP ultra-wide based on the Sony IMX481 sits alongside the primary camera. It’s 123° field of view is great for panoramas, and it’s f/2.2 aperture lets in plenty of light. The camera doesn’t have OIS but it does support EIS for smooth video. For the rare occasion that you need an extreme close-up of something, there’s a 5 MP macro camera.
Additional features include a video portrait mode that mimics the look of a fast DSLR lens.
The design follows more traditional camera design ideas, giving you the comfortable and familiar rounded edges and a smooth glass back. The camera bump is also more reasonably sized.
OxygenOS continues to set standards for the Android experience, and version 11 here focuses on speed, using features like RAM compression and Virtual RAM — a feature enabled by the use of UFS 3.1 — to allow more apps to remain in memory while limiting impact to performance.
Price and availability:
The phone is available in Carbon Black and Lake Blue. Variants include an 8+128 GB version at Rs 39,999, and a 12+256 GB version at Rs 43,999.
The devices will go on sale at noon on 14 April on Amazon.in and OnePlus’ various online platforms, offline stores, and partner outlets.
For Red Cable Club members, OnePlus is offering additional discounts. These include:
OnePlus.in
- The sale starts early at 8 am.
- Rs 1,000 off on OnePlus 9 series for students
- Rs 2,000 off with SBI credit cards and EMI transactions
OnePlus Experience Stores
- Red Cable Care plan at Rs 499 (including 120 GB of cloud storage).
- Rs 2,000 off with SBI credit cards and EMI transactions
Starting 15th April
- Rs 2,000 off on the OnePlus 9R through SBI credit card and EMI transactions.
- 6 months no cost EMI on the 9R on several major credit cards
Calling all gamers: Dominate 2.0
Alongside the launch of the phone, OnePlus announced the kicking off of its mobile gaming tournament, Dominate 2.0, on 15 April.
Renowned cricketers including KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will fight alongside pro gamers like Techno Gamerz, Payal Gaming and Mortal will play Call of Duty Mobileexhibition matches.
The matches will be streamed live on OnePlus India’s YouTube channel from 3 PM on 15 April.
