VERDICT:

The OnePlus 11R is a phone for OnePlus enthusiasts, which also makes it a very good device for the average buyer looking to get their hands on a fast phone with reliable cameras and a big battery, but one that still does not force them to break the bank for it. 

The OnePlus 11R was launched recently as the company’s new contender to the mid-segment flagship crown. The device starts at an aggressive price of Rs 39,999 and takes the fight to the likes of iQOO and Realme, which have offerings of their own in the segment. As a product, the OnePlus 11R takes us back to the times when OnePlus phones in this segment would come packed with powerful hardware and plenty of features, often making them very easy to recommend. 

For example, the OnePlus 11R offers a flagship-grade chipset, good cameras, a big battery and also fast charging at the above-mentioned aggressive price point. Let’s take a deeper look at the device to figure out if it’s worth your hard-earned money. 

Design

With the design of OnePlus 11R 5G, the company has chosen to use the same design language that has been previously seen on some of its phones, including the more premium OnePlus 11. Minus some minute changes, the two look pretty much identical to the eye. 

The OnePlus 11R feels nice in the hand and has a good in-hand grip as well. The phone also has a balanced heft to it, which makes it feel every bit worth the price being asked for it. Apart from this, we also have the iconic Alert Slider, which is back on the OnePlus 11R. The camera module at the back is also the same in terms of design, however, the one on the OnePlus 11R does not come with Hasselblad branding, while the one on the OnePlus 11 does flaunt it. Overall, it’s a tastefully designed device, that definitely gets a recommendation from our end. 

Also Read: OnePlus 11 Display Review

Display

Moving to the front of the phone, we have a 6.74-inch display that is curved and also flaunts very minimal bezels. This is an AMOLED display that runs at a static Full HD+ resolution and 120Hz peak refresh rate. It also supports HDR like the OnePlus 11, but unlike the more expensive flagship from the company, it does not get support for Dolby Vision. This panel is covered by a sheet of Dragontrail glass for scratch protection.

In terms of performance, we’re happy to report it does better than expected. This is because not only does the panel look like a million bucks with its curved edges, but it also offers good viewing angles and good peak brightness as well as colour accuracy both for sRGB and DCI-P3 colour spaces. 

Let’s talk numbers. 

So for brightness, we tested the panel to produce around 800 nits at its peak. This is the panel’s typical peak brightness so expect the panel to hit similar numbers for sustained periods when you jack up the brightness to the maximum. For daily use, this is a good number to achieve as it is good enough to ensure the screen does not look faded, or legibility suffers even if you use the phone under harsh lighting conditions. 

As for colour accuracy, the phone threw up better numbers than OnePlus 11. Testing the panel using Calman Ultimate and Spectracal C6 Colourimeter, we found the OnePlus 11 reproducing very accurate colours in the sRGB container where the average DeltaE only slipped to 1.3, while the max also remained well within acceptable levels at 2.4. 

For the more challenging DCI-P3 container, the numbers were also good. In the colour check analysis, the average error in colour accuracy was observed to be 3 while the Max DeltaE jumped up to 7. 

A look at the Grayscale tracking revealed that both the contrast ratio and average correlated temperature were good, with the latter very close to the perfect 6500 kelvins mark. Another thing of note is that the gamma tracking was also good for the most part. 

Gaming and general performance

Underneath the hood, we have the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC keeping the OnePlus 11R ticking. While it’s not the fastest processor in town and is certainly eclipsed by the OnePlus 11’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, the difference is not something that you’ll notice outside the realm of synthetic benchmarks. 

The chipset paired with the high amount of RAM found on both the variants of the device is good enough for any task of daily use. Apps load fast, and switching between them or scrolling between pages is fast and smooth. Gaming is also a good experience on the phone, with device-handling games such as Call of Duty Mobile and Asphalt 9 Legends at very good median FPS and stability.  

Benchmark performance is also nothing to complain about, with important ones such as AnTuTu, Geekbench and 3DMark WildLife Extreme all clocking good numbers on the phone. For example, on AnTuTu the phone scored a high number of 838309 points while on 3DMark Wildlife Extreme we saw it clocking a high score of 2796 points. Both, if we may add, good scores. 

Lights on the device are kept on using a 5,000mAh battery, which comes with support for 100W fast wired charging. This ensures the phone can last for over a day on a full charge and when it’s out of charge can be charged in barely 25 minutes. There is no wireless charging support, however, so if that’s a deal breaker for you then choose wisely. 

Also Watch: OnePlus 11 Gaming performance review

Cameras

Keeping with the theme of keeping the experience very close to the OnePlus 11, the OnePlus 11R 5G gets the same main camera as the OnePlus 11 5G. This Sony IMX890 50-megapixel sensor with OIS is capable of clicking some very detailed shots with punchy and vibrant colours. Daytime performance is as expected very good, and the low light shots also come out with rich detail and accurate colours.

Other lenses on the device include an 8-megapixel ultra-wide and a 2-megapixel macro camera. Both are there for more than just making up the numbers, and their performance, especially in well-lit conditions is good. Shots clicked using the two lenses come out with plenty of detail and good dynamic range as well, which is a very important factor for the ultra-wide lens. 

At the front, we have a 16-megapixel lens, which captures accurate skin tones and thankfully does not kill detail on faces by over-smoothning textures. The low-light performance of this lens is similar. However, it does not get the ability to click selfie portraits at multiple focal lengths as the OnePlus 11 does. 

Other than this, everything else is pretty much similar to the OnePlus 11, as the camera app and most of the features are all the same as what we’ve previously seen on the more expensive flagship. This, of course, is not taking into account the Hasselblad Pro mode which along with the Xpan Mode is missing on the OnePlus 11R. 

Verdict 

The OnePlus 11R is the phone for OnePlus enthusiasts, which also makes it a very good device for the average buyer looking to get their hands on a fast phone with good cameras and a big battery, but one that still does not force them to break the bank for it. 

It has everything you’d need and then some more and that too at an aggressive price point. However, if the OnePlus 11R still doesn’t feel like the phone for you, then you can always consider devices like the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE which are being offered at a similar price point, and also bring to the table good hardware and decent features.

OnePlus 11R Key Specs, Price and Launch Date

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Sushant Talwar

Sushant Talwar is a full-time foodie who reviews cool gadgets and binges on TV shows when he is tired of playing video games. He is also in love with football and thinks Manchester United is a religion View Full Profile