OnePlus 10R feels less OnePlus-y; but does it matter [REVIEW]

OnePlus has set a benchmark in certain areas, earning it a respected place in both premium and mid-range segments. The recent launch of OnePlus 10R has left fans in a confused state. Playing to its core strengths, the OnePlus 10R seems to have gotten heavily influenced by its rivals, one in particular, losing its unique touch. Does it make sense to buy OnePlus 10R right now? Let's find out in this review.

OnePlus 10R starts at Rs 38,999 in India. The starting price is for its base model with 128GB+8GB configuration, whereas the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage model costs Rs 42,999. But that's not all. OnePlus 10R comes in a special Endurance Edition with support for 150W fast SuperVOOC charging. We did get the latter for review and as you might have guessed, the favourite feature in the phone is, well, the blazing charging speed. Even if you go with the standard models, there's 80W SuperVOOC charging, which is not slow by any means.

Design and display

If anything OnePlus has got right every time is the design, which in itself is a benchmark. With the 10R, OnePlus has taken a bold approach, so much so that it has distanced from the OnePlus signature look. For starters, the iconic Alert Slider is gone.

OnePlus 10R might look familiar to the Realme GT Neo 3, but there are certain modifications to set it apart, like the flat aesthetics and the positioning of the camera. The all-matte finish is certainly appealing, but the moment you get the phone in hand, the economical feel will part a sense of disappointment. It's not clear if OnePlus did so to shed the extra grams, in which case it worked, but any other reason would be unlike OnePlus' "Never Settle" mantra.

Even the OnePlus 9R and 9RT had metal frames and glass backs, giving that premium touch which the 10R is missing. That said, the 10R weighs just 186 grams.

One thing that is clear with the 10R is that OnePlus is gunning for a refreshed series instead of a flagship spinoff. The bold camera module with an array of strips running below it while leaving the other half of the back panel plain is a bold design shift for OnePlus. It's bound to make some heads turn. Even the OnePlus logo on the back is shifted to down right, another unusual move. The boxy flat sides are reminiscent of the new iPhones, minus the premium touch.

The Stellar Black variant helped keep fingerprint smudges at bay, but the same cannot be said about the glass module holding the camera sensors. The lightweight design certainly helped while extended use for gaming or binge-watching shows. The physical buttons are positioned on the side and the USB Type-C port sits at the bottom alongside the speaker. There's no 3.5mm headphone jack.

As for the display, there's a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Fluid AMOLED panel with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The display picks up too many smudges, which is an issue when you have to use the phone for multimedia under direct sunlight. Otherwise, the phone has a 120Hz refresh rate and a 720Hz touch response rate, which is excellent. In ambient lighting, we had no trouble viewing various content on the 10R's display and the stereo speaker setup amplified the entertainment experience. The punch-hole camera doesn't get in the way of your gaming or multimedia.

Overall, OnePlus 10R is a good-looking phone with a great display that won't give you any reasons to complain. But the biggest exception is that plastic construction, which doesn't line with the OnePlus design ethos. It all comes down to personal preference in terms of the design.

Camera

OnePlus 10R has a triple rear camera setup, comprising of 50MP IMX766 sensor with OIS, paired with 8MP ultra-wide sensor and a 2MP macro lens. On the front, there's a 16MP camera sensor.

The primary sensor is, of course, the best of the lot (comparatively). The auto mode manages good details and performs quite well in low-light as well. The colour reproduction is not quite accurate but might appeal to some with its boosted colours. The final results retain details in the shadows with a decent white balance.

Switching to Ultra-wide will allow you to capture a wider landscape, but the colour tones changed. The dynamic range and details took a noticeable hit as compared to the primary sensor. Finally, the barrel distortion was quite evident.

The macro sensor does let you get close to the subject, but at a huge cost of loss of details and colours. The presence of a macro sensor filled nothing more than the spec-sheet. The portraits came out particularly well, being able to detect the subject and outline it with the bokeh effect quite accurately under natural lighting. In low-light, there was trouble with finer details in portraits. The zoom feature is absolutely unusable in the 10R.

Selfies also lacked the quality one might expect, but it is passable for social media use. Check out some camera samples below:

Performance

OnePlus 10R is powered by Dimensity 8100-Max and daily operations were handled with ease. Thankfully, the performance aspect of the phone was kept in line with the OnePlus mantra. The performance of the 10R is very much in line with Snapdragon 888 chipset, which isn't bad at all even though it's a year old.

From running high-end games to multi-tasking, OnePlus 10R knows how to handle its stuff. There was no sign of stress, not even heating - thanks to the cooling solution integrated into the phone.

We ran the phone mostly for multimedia use besides day-to-day work tasks, involving calls, IMs, social media and internet browsing, music and a bit of gaming. No complaints there.

On the software front, OnePlus 10R runs OxygenOS 12-based Android 12, and a touch of ColorOS-influence is evident. On the plus side, there's a ton of customisations, like AOD faces, colour themes and such. But it also loses the near-stock experience, which OxygenOS was famed for. There's less bloatware as compared to none.

Moreover, OnePlus promises three major Android updates and four years of security updates. The timing of the rollout remains a concern, but we remain hopeful.

Battery and 150W charging

Clearly, the 150W fast charging is the highlight of the phone, and rightly so. The Endurance Edition packs a smaller 4,500mAh battery as opposed to the 5,000mAh unit in the 80W edition. Besides the charging speed, what impressed us more is the cooling capability at such high charging pace. OnePlus 10R charges ridiculously fast. It took about 20 minutes to fully top up the phone, and the latest would be 30 minutes due to external factors.

OnePlus 10R's battery life is also reliable. On most days, the phone lasted through the day with ease and a quick 10-minute charge would give enough juice to get through the night. Despite having a smaller battery, we never faced issues with the battery.

Quick charging paired with reliable battery life is OnePlus 10R's mantra of perfect battery management. We were thoroughly impressed.

Verdict

OnePlus 10R is a good phone, no doubt, but there are some limitations like an average camera and an odd design. Given the phone's price range, it's a tough market to sell, especially in the imaging space where an offering like Xiaomi 11T Pro exists. The lack of IP rating and the decision to ditch the Alert Slider is rather disappointing.

Clearly, the 150W fast charging and optimum performance make it an ideal choice for those who want cutting-edge tech at an affordable price point. I wouldn't worry much about any software shortcomings as future updates are most likely to address any or all concerns. OnePlus 10R doesn't cater just to the OnePlus fans as the phone appears to have its standalone identity in the OP portfolio. 

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