Will OnePlus 11R steal the spotlight from OnePlus 11?

OnePlus is just hours away from unveiling a host of new products for the Indian market. It will no doubt be a long event in New Delhi on Tuesday, February 7th as the brand is confirmed to announce not one, not two, but at least five products. Among the five are two new smartphones that will look to establish themselves as the best Android devices in their respective segments early in the year. While the OnePlus 11 is the premier new flagship smartphone from the company, it’s the OnePlus 11R that is likely to pique everyone’s interest.

In fact, going by all the teasers so far, the OnePlus 11R is turning out to be quite an impressive smartphone. This is not the first time OnePlus has announced an R series device alongside its flagship phone. We had the OnePlus 9R arrive with the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro in March 2021. Last year, however, OnePlus unveiled the OnePlus 10R a month after the OnePlus 10 Pro. Is OnePlus running the risk of having the more affordable OnePlus 11R steal the spotlight from the OnePlus 11? Well, it would seem so.

OnePlus 11R and OnePlus 11 have a lot in common!

In the past, OnePlus tried to make sure that its R series device came with reasonable downgrades in specs and design so that buyers knew they weren’t the same as one of the numbered flagship phones. That can’t really be said about the OnePlus 11R though. OnePlus has blurred the line between the two new devices by making the OnePlus 11R look identical to the OnePlus 11 on the design front.

Renders and official teasers reveal that the OnePlus 11R gets a similar circular rear camera module as the OnePlus 11 (minus the Hasselblad branding). The display will also look identical with slim bezels and a punch-hole camera in the centre. There will surely be a few downgrades such as a plastic chassis instead of metal on the OnePlus 11R to bring down the cost, but aesthetically the two phones are more similar than expected.

Design language aside, the OnePlus 11R is similar to the OnePlus 11 on a hardware level as well. Both devices will come with the iconic Alert Slider. They are confirmed to launch in 8GB and 16GB LPDDR5X RAM options. They also support 100W SuperVOOC fast charging. For a lot of people, having these features on the more affordable OnePlus 11R could be a more enticing proposition.

Both OnePlus 11R and OnePlus 11 will offer (almost) similar performance

The main difference between the two devices is the chipset. The OnePlus 11 gets the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor while the OnePlus 11R will arrive with last year’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. That said, the difference in performance between the two processors is really not that much. In day-to-day usage and gaming, you should see the OnePlus 11R deliver a smooth and lag-free experience much like the OnePlus 11. 

OnePlus 11R will be cheaper than OnePlus 11

This is a pretty obvious one. The OnePlus 11R will be priced more affordably than the OnePlus 11. Combining an affordable price tag with OnePlus 11’s design language and features and you have yourself a flagship killer that might just end up killing the OnePlus 11! We don’t have an estimated price yet but one expects the OnePlus 11R to launch between Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000 given that the OnePlus 10R was launched last year at Rs 38,999. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 11’s price in India is tipped to start from Rs 54,999.

What does OnePlus 11 have that OnePlus 11R doesn’t?

Hasselblad! The OnePlus 11 comes with Hasselblad-branded cameras while the OnePlus 11R’s cameras won’t get the Hasselblad tuning. With the Hasselblad partnership, OnePlus has spent millions in R&D to enhance the image quality delivered on its flagship smartphones since the OnePlus 9. The OnePlus 11 is expected to refine that experience further by offering accurate and true-to-life photographs, with the inclusion of Hasselblad Pro Mode for pro-grade photographers.

What all of this means is that the OnePlus 11 should offer superior image quality compared to the OnePlus 11R. And this is primarily where the OnePlus 11 will look to attract buyers. For everything else, there’s MasterCa…er, OnePlus 11R!