The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro launched alongside a certain OnePlus Watch. There was a third OnePlus smartphone that launched on the side though. This was not part of the global launch for a simple reason. It will only be available mid-April onward in India and China for now. That device is the OnePlus 9R.
We talked about the cheaper variant of the OnePlus 9 series before. It is expected to be the least powerful version of the OnePlus 9 series, but still pack enough power to match most other flagships. We also expected it to be a 5G device, but not pack the state-of-the-art Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G System on a chip (SoC).
It packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 for that matter. It is still a very powerful flagship level chip with 5G capability derived from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 7nm chip of last year. You can opt for up to 12GB of RAM too with 256GB of storage in tow. With 4,500mAh in battery size and 65W with Wrap Charge 65T, the device will still impress.
That is not all that you get though from the OnePlus 9R. You get one more camera than the vanilla OnePlus 9. What you have is a 48-Megapixel main shooter (Sony IMX586), a 16-Megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 5-Megapixel Macro sensor, and 2-Megapixel depth sensor. Technically, you are getting the same camera array from the OnePlus 8T. In that case, it looks more like an enhanced OnePlus 9. It even packs the same 120Hz OLED display from the vanilla OnePlus 9 at 6.55-inch Full HD+.
The OnePlus 9R, as previously mentioned, will be available in India and China in mid-April onward. The device will be available with about the same colorways as the OnePlus 9 except that it also gets an exclusive matt black colourway. The OnePlus 9R will be retailing at IN₹ 39,999 or around US$ 550 (MYR 2,276*) for the 8GB + 128GB variant and IN₹ 43,999 or around US$ 600 (MYR 2,503*) for the 12GB + 256GB variant. They are cheaper than the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. There are no mentions on whether or not the onePlus 9R will make it to markets outside China and India at the time being.
*Approximate value based on conversion rate IN₹ 100.00 = MYR 5.69 on xe.com as of 24/03/2021
Source: Android Central