OnePlus 9R review: Apple doesn't fall far from the tree

OnePlus came up with three phones this year, OnePlus 9 Pro, OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9R. Of the three, the 9R is the most affordable and caters to those who cannot spend Rs 50,000 or above for that no-compromise experience. The best OnePlus flagship yet, the OnePlus 9 Pro costs Rs 65,000 and the OnePlus 9R is priced starts at Rs 40,000, which is still Rs 10,000 cheaper than the OnePlus 9. But the 9R goes beyond the price factor and makes a strong statement with what it has to offer.

OnePlus 9R comes in 8GB+128GB and 12GB+256GB models with only two colour choices, Carbon black and Lake Blue. The review unit sent to us is the latter in the top configuration, although the black shade would be more favourable, seeing how it looks more its premium siblings. It's worth noting that OnePlus 9R is exclusive to India, which gives a sense of importance OnePlus has towards the country. And it makes perfect sense considering the potential for gaming-centric devices on a budget. OnePlus has already established a name in this niche, so it saves the extra marketing push.

Let's dive deep into the 9R.

Design

OnePlus 9R gets the same premium treatment as other OnePlus devices. It looks stunning as it is and feels great in hand, especially in landscape mode, suitable for gaming and multimedia consumption. It weighs 189 grams, measures 8.4mm thick with good weight distribution to enable single hand use easily.

Despite being a low-cost model in the flagship trio, OnePlus didn't cut corners. OnePlus 9R gets metal treatment with glass back. The frosted back panel keeps fingerprint smudges at bay, but it is extremely slippery so our recommendation is to slap on that free silicon case, which even adds an extra layer of protection to the display.

OnePlus 9R's rounded corners offer a good grip and all the physical buttons are well out of the way when held horizontally. The alert slider and power button are on the right and the volume controls are on the left. The USB Type-C port and speaker grille can be found at the bottom, the usual placement.

Overall, OnePlus 9R's design is hard to criticise. The incredible attention to detail with a comfortable in-hand feel makes the 9R an easy choice.

Display

OnePlus 9R features a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate on a Full HD+ panel. With 1100 nits peak brightness, the 9R can be used under direct sunlight without having to strain your eyes and shift the phone's angles. The colours are natural in Vivid mode, but in natural mode, they seem a bit faded. But we suggest trying out the advanced screen calibration that lets you choose from AMOLED Wide Gamut, sRGB and Display P3, along with the option to turn the hues to cold or warm and tint to green or magenta depending on your liking. There are also other useful display features like Reading mode, Ambient display and Vision Comfort, which aren't just for namesake.

OnePlus also lets you drop the refresh rate directly to 60Hz for longer battery, something we wouldn't recommend having gotten used to that ultra-smooth display. The display also embeds the fingerprint scanner, which thankfully gets the usual placement unlike the case with OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, where the in-display fingerprint scanner is positioned towards the chin. This won't demand realignment of your muscle memory.

OnePlus hasn't made any compromises on the display or design, which strikes an appeal at such a low cost.

Camera

OnePlus had to make compromises somewhere and it chose the cameras. The biggest thing missing in the 9R's camera as compared to its premium siblings is the Hasselblad tuning. Looking at the difference in price between the 9R and the premium duo, it sure looks like OnePlus had to shell out a premium for those cameras on the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro. But that doesn't make the OnePlus 9R a bad camera phone, it's just that it has fallen in line with last year's phones so to speak.

OnePlus 9R packs a 48-megapixel primary Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.7 aperture and EIS, which is borrowed from the 8T, paired with a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a 123-degree field of view, a 5-megapixel macro sensor and a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor for black and white photos. Ideally, this setup should be sufficient, but after having tested the 9 Pro or even the 9, it's hard to un-see OnePlus' potential.

Without comparison, OnePlus 9R delivers good daylight shots with satisfactory colour accuracy and dynamic range. The portraits are also able to detect the edges well and add the bokeh effect quite accurately. We had higher expectations from the dedicated monochrome sensor rendering the blacks, which lack that pitch dark visual. The ultra-wide shots in daylight and artificial light also lack details, but not to a noticeable extent unless you go looking for it.

Under low light, we noticed a lens flare issue while shooting against a light source. The Nightscape mode really cranks up the colours and brightens the room. In the process, a few details are amiss, but it's well worth it.

Overall, the OnePlus 9R's camera is not a bad one, but the best either. For those who demand better camera from the OnePlus stable, the 9 Pro is easily the best choice.

Performance

OnePlus 9R is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor, which is slightly better than the SD865 on paper. When we used the 9R, we didn't feel much of a difference and you'll find a similar experience on both the phones, which means upgrading from 8T to 9R for the sake of performance is out of the picture.

OnePlus 9R supports 5G, which we'll only test when Indian carriers up the ante. Until then, the 4G worked seamlessly on Jio's network in Bengaluru during our review period. From streaming to connecting calls and voice quality, the overall telecom service didn't trigger any red flags.

As for gaming performance, it's safe to say OnePlus 9R is for casual and heavy gamers who do not wish to spend anywhere from Rs 10,000-Rs 25,000 extra on the 9 or the 9 Pro. We had the 12GB RAM variant, so things were flawless, but we doubt the 8GB RAM variant will face any issues doing the daily chores and handling your CoD: Mobile gaming sessions in between.

We constantly ran 10-15 apps in the background and at no point the phone froze or lagged. During gaming, the 9R managed the heat pretty well too. For what its worth, OnePlus said there's some sort of a multi-layer cooling system along with 14 temperature sensors. They sure are doing the trick.

A huge part of that smooth user experience on the 9R is the OxygenOS 11, which we have personal liking towards as an OS. No bells and whistles, OxygenOS is how software should be done.

OnePlus 9R's fingerprint scanner performs efficiently and accurately scans the perfectly registered fingerprint without any issues. The face unlock also works incredibly well and it did manage to get the face scanned in dark rooms too. Multimedia streaming for several hours, aka binge-watching, rendered no issues - no heating.

Battery

OnePlus 9R's battery is one of its strongest suits. It packs a strong 4,500mAh battery, which is the same in the other two OnePlus 9 phones. But the highlight of the battery is its 65-watt Warp Charge 65, which does 0-100 in less than 40 minutes. As per our use, which involves IMs, emails, messages, calls, social media browsing, multimedia and gaming, the OnePlus 9R delivered a reliable 6 hours of screen on time. This translated to full-day use, with little juice left before plugging the phone for charge at the end of the day. The fast charging is indeed a boon as plugging the phone for about 20 minutes gave us full day's worth of use without gaming or intense multimedia.

Verdict

OnePlus 9R is too good a phone not to recommend in its price range. Of course, there are some setbacks like the camera is not as great as the 9 Pro, but again you're saving Rs 25,000 for that compromise. The phone lacks wireless charging and even any IP certification, which begs the question of how badly you need both these features in your next phone.

OnePlus 9R makes a strong case in the premium smartphone segment and could even easily lure buyers away from the OnePlus 9 for Rs 10,000 less. Gamers can surely make a win with this one as the performance is top-notch quality. If you're puzzled between OnePlus 8T and OnePlus 9R, the latter is the easiest choice. Pick the black shade, even if you settle for 8GB RAM model, and let the world be guessing if you have the OnePlus 9 or the 9 Pro.

OnePlus has taken a page out of Apple's book with this low-cost model but did one better by not compromising on the "Never Settle" spirit.