OnePlus announced their 9 series phones, the OnePlus 9R, 9 and 9Pro, and the OnePlus Watch during their live event on Tuesday.
These phones come in partnership with Hasselblad, the Swedish camera company that has helped OnePlus develop what they claim as their best camera experience so far.
In this article, we’re putting the OnePlus 9Pro, and the budget focused OnePlus 9R head to head to find out which one’s the better buy for you.
In the News: OnePlus 9 Pro vs Samsung S21 Ultra: Which flagship should you pick?
What does OnePlus 9R bring to the table?
The OnePlus 9R is a special budget variant of the OnePlus 9 that’s exclusive to the Indian market.
Processor
The 9R is powered by the Snapdragon 870 SoC that comes along with the Adreno 650 GPU. While it’s not absolutely top of the line in terms of numbers, the phone will still deliver pretty decent performance.
Memory and Storage
The phone is powered by 8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM which gets paired with the extremely fast 128/256 GB UFS 3.1 storage.
Display
You get a pretty good looking 6.55 inch display at 2400×1080 pixels with 402 ppi. The aspect ratio is the same as the better looking 9 Pro at 20:9.
The display is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass and has high refresh rate settings at 120Hz.
Camera
The camera system on the 9R is slightly downgraded from the OnePlus 9 and this is perhaps the biggest difference between the 9Pro and the 9R.
There’s a 48MP Sony IMX586 as the main camera paired with a 16MP ultra-wide lens. You will miss out on the freeform lens that makes the fisheye distortion go away. You get a 5MP Macro and a 2 MP Monochrome lens as well.
While it may look weaker on paper, this is by no means a weak camera system and should get you good looking photos in just about any environment.
The video front is pretty much the same story. Apart from the 8K video, you’re not missing anything else. You can still shoot 4K and 1080p video at 30/60 fps along with super slow motion 1080p video at 240fps. If you want to go even higher, you have to downscale to 720p, but the framerate goes up to 480 fps.
Price and availability
The OnePlus 9R starts at INR 39,999 (8GB RAM + 128GB Storage) and is available exclusively in India. There’s an upgraded version with 12GB RAM and 256GB Storage available for INR 43,999.
You get Lake Blue and Carbon Black in terms of colour options. The phone is available on Amazon, OnePlus stores, and many other electronics retailers near you as OnePlus plans to launch the phone on as wide a scale as possible.
Also read: 3 ways to take a screenshot in OnePlus 5
How about the OnePlus 9Pro?
The OnePlus 9Pro is the latest and greatest offering from OnePlus in terms of phones. It comes packed with all the top tech in smartphones that there is, and you won’t be disappointed.
Processor
The OnePlus 9Pro is powered by top of the line Snapdragon 888, which is claimed to be about 25% faster than it’s predecessor, the 865.
The GPU is an Adreno 660 running at 840MHz.
Memory/Storage
The 9Pro is powered by 8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM, paired with the extremely fast 128/256 GB UFS 3.1 storage.
Display
There’s a sharp-looking 6.7-inch QHD+ 3216 x 1440 (20.1:9), 120Hz Refresh Rate display. The display also features the brand new LTPO tech from OnePlus that’s sure to take your viewing experience to the next level.
The display goes as bright as 1300 Nits along with 10-bit Colour Depth and HDR10+.
Camera
OnePlus’ collaboration with Hasselblad has brought the phone’s camera experience to another level. There’s a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor in the front camera that takes amazing, crisp photos in just about any lighting. You can take pictures in up to 12K RAW format.
On the back, there’s a 48MP primary camera, 50MP ultra-wide and 8MP telephoto camera. You also get an additional 2MP monochrome camera designed to work in tandem with the primary camera.
The primary and ultra-wide cameras are the OnePlus exclusive Sony IMX789 sensor that’s frankly one of the largest in terms of size that you’ll see on a smartphone. There’s also a freeform lens on the ultra-wide camera to get rid of any fisheye distortion.
In terms of video, you get 8K video at 30fps, 4K video at 30/60/120 fps, 1080p video at 30/60 fps, Super Slow Motion: 1080p video at 240 fps, 720p video at 480 fps, Time-Lapse: 1080p at 30fps, 4k at 30fps
Price and availability
The OnePlus 9 Pro starts at $1069 in the US and INR 64,999 (8GB RAM + 128GB Storage) in India. You also get three colours, namely Morning Mist, Stellar Black and Pine Green, in terms of colour options. There’s an upgraded version with 12GB RAM and 256GB Storage available for INR 69,999 available in India.
Like the 9R, the OnePlus 9 Pro will also be available on Amazon, OnePlus stores, and many other electronics retailers near you as OnePlus plans to launch the phone on as wide a scale as possible.
Also read: How to take a screenshot and screen record on OnePlus 6T?
OnePlus 9R vs OnePlus 9 Pro: Key differences
Here’s how the two phones fare side by side.
| Specs | OnePlus 9R | OnePlus 9Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.55-inch FHD+ 2400 x 1080 (20:9) 120Hz Refresh Rate | 6.7-inch QHD+ 3216 x 1440 (20.1:9) 120Hz Refresh Rate (Variable) |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 CPU Adreno 650 GPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 CPU Adreno 660 GPU |
| Memory | 8/12GB LPDDR4X | 8/12GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 128/256 GB UFS 3.1 | 128/256 GB UFS 3.1 |
| Battery | 4500mAh | 4500mAh |
| Charging | 65W Warp-Charge | 65W Warp-Charge 50W Wireless Charging |
| OS | Android 11 w/ Oxygen OS | Android 11 w/ Oxygen OS |
| Sensors | In-display Fingerprint | Sensor | Accelerometer | Electronic Compass | Gyroscope | Ambient Light Sensor | Proximity Sensor | Sensor Core | Flicker-detect Sensor | In-display Fingerprint | Sensor | Accelerometer | Electronic Compass | Gyroscope | Ambient Light Sensor | Proximity Sensor | Sensor Core | Flick-detect Sensor | Front RGB sensor |
| 5G Support | Yes | Yes |
Here’s how the camera systems on the two phones compare to each other.
| Camera | OnePlus 9R | OnePlus 9Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Front Camera | Sensor: Sony IMX471 Megapixels: 16 Pixel Size: 1.0 µm EIS: Yes Autofocus: Fixed Focus Aperture: ƒ/2,4 | Sensor: Sony IMX471 Megapixels: 16 Pixel Size: 1.0 µm EIS: Yes Autofocus: Fixed Focus Aperture: ƒ/2,4 |
| Primary Camera | Sensor: Sony IMX586 Megapixels: 48 Pixel Size: 0.8µm/48 MP, 1.6µm/12 MP four in one Lens Quantity: 6P OIS: Yes EIS: Yes Aperture: ƒ/1,7 | Sensor: Sony IMX789 Sensor Size: 1/1.43″ Megapixels: 48 Pixel Size: 1.12µm OIS: Yes Lens Quantity: 7P Focal Length: 23mm equivalent Aperture: ƒ/1,8 |
| Ultra-wide Camera | Megapixels: 16 Aperture: ƒ/2,2 Field of View: 123° | Sensor: Sony IMX766 Sensor Size: 1/1.56″ Megapixels: 50 Lens Quantity: 7P Focal Length: 14mm equivalent Aperture: ƒ/2,2 Lens: Freeform Lens |
| Telephoto Camera | None | Megapixels: 8 Pixel Size: 1.0µm OIS: Yes Aperture: ƒ/2,4 |
| Extras | 5MP Macro lens 2 MP Monochrome lens | 2MP Monochrome lens |
Also read: OnePlus 8 Pro vs OnePlus 8: Which one should you pick?
Which one should you buy?
The OnePlus 9Pro is obviously the better phone, both on paper and in terms of performance. However, all the performance and extra features come at a cost. With the phone starting at INR 64,000, this is no cheap investment.
The OnePlus 9R, on the other hand, is a budget focused variant, which will appeal to a larger audience.
If you can afford the extra features on the Pro phone, it’s a total steal at its starting point. For those looking for a great phone but not exactly wanting to spend a whole lot, the OnePlus 9R makes for a very tempting buy.
Also read: OnePlus 7 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10
