These two new OnePlus phones are crazy fast and impressively affordable
Remember the good old days when OnePlus used to release just two to three new phones a year around the world? Whether you look back at that time with nostalgia or believe a richer product portfolio is better no matter what, it's pretty obvious that the company's vision and strategy have radically transformed over the years and there's likely no turning back, at least not in the very near future.
Of course, there's diversity and then there's confusion, and with more than 15 OnePlus-branded devices expected to see daylight this year (presumably in total), prospective customers and hardcore fans are bound to be left scratching their heads trying to distinguish between the Ace and 10R, for instance.
Yes, the 6.59-inch OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G starts at a measly 19,999 rupees ($260) with 120Hz display refresh rate capabilities, a reasonably powerful Snapdragon 695 processor under the hood, a versatile triple rear-facing camera arrangement composed of an impressive-sounding 64MP main snapper and two... largely useless 2MP sensors, and above all, a hefty 5,000mAh battery equipped with 33W SuperVOOC charging support.
As some of you might already know, that's actually one and the same high-end handset, unveiled in China last week under the new Ace name and expanded to India yesterday as the sequel to last year's very well-received 9R. Alongside the OnePlus 10R, the Oppo-owned company also surprised... absolutely no one yesterday by officially taking the wraps off the thoroughly leaked Nord CE 2 Lite 5G mid-ranger as well.
OnePlus 10R - huge battery or crazy fast charging?
Unfortunately (and somewhat curiously), that's a choice you're going to have to make (in India) starting May 4, as regardless of how much you're willing to pay, you won't be able to get both 5,000mAh cell capacity and 150W SuperVOOC charging support.
If you want the former, you'll need to "settle" for 80W SuperVOOC technology, which is still far better than what the likes of Apple's iPhone 13 Pro Max or Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra have going for them in the charging speed department.
Probably the greatest thing about the 5G-enabled OnePlus 10R is that it doesn't play in the same league as 2022's most advanced smartphones in terms of retail pricing, starting at the rough equivalent of just $510, while almost certainly delivering an impressive level of raw power... even by $700 or $800 standards.
Given that MediaTek's Dimensity 8100 processor nearly managed to defeat Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 beast in benchmarks not long ago, we can only assume the hot new and somewhat mysterious Dimensity 8100 Max inside the 10R will be capable of even higher performance scores and absolutely outstanding real-life speed.
Designed to stand out from the ultra-high-end OnePlus 10 Pro relatively easily, the 10R sports a humbler 6.7-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2412 x 1080 pixels and silky smooth 120Hz refresh rate support, as well as a massive 50MP primary camera accompanied by a so-so 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor and lackluster 2MP macro shooter on its distinctive rear cover.
Your $510 or so (38,999 rupees) will buy you a 128GB storage variant with 8 gigs of RAM, a 5,000mAh battery, and 80W charging speeds, mind you, while the higher-end configurations pairing 256 gigs of local digital hoarding room with a 12GB memory count are priced at Rs. 42,999 ($560) and Rs. 43,999 ($575) with an 80-watt-supporting 5,000mAh cell and 150W-capable 4,500mAh juicer respectively. Alas, there are no words on international availability yet and slim to no chances of ever seeing the OnePlus 10R (or the Nord CE 2 Lite 5G) released stateside.
"A little more than you'd expect" at an unbeatable price
Given that the rest of the system is pretty frugal, OnePlus claims the newest member of the increasingly successful Nord family can offer "all-day-and-then-some" battery life (which is probably true) while taking just half an hour to get from 0 to 50 percent juice.
That latter claim is obviously not as remarkable as the 10 minutes (!!!) the 10R purportedly needs to deliver a full "day's power", but compared to other devices in the CE 2 Lite's price range, it's absolutely outstanding.
Believe it or not, the significantly lower-cost handset also comes with a couple of features on deck that are notably absent from the 10R's spec sheet, specifically a good old fashioned 3.5mm headphone jack and an always handy microSD card slot that you can use to easily expand the 128 gigs of internal storage space with up to 1TB more. And these are, our friends, just some of the reasons why OnePlus is growing at such a crazy pace in India's super-crowded and competitive smartphone market.
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