OnePlus is having a busy year already. The company recently launched the OnePlus 10 Pro in China. Just three days later, the company launched the OnePlus 9RT in India along with the OnePlus Budz Z2 in India at a starting price of Rs 42,999. The OnePlus 9RT is the successor to the OnePlus 9R smartphone that was launched in India alongside the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro back in March last year.
The newly launched OnePlus 9RT has a lot in common with its predecessor. Yet there are some subtle differences that make this phone stand out among its peers. For instance, the OnePlus 9RT features the same dimensions as the OnePlus 9R, which makes it easy to hold and use. But the company has made slight changes to the overall design of the phone, which gives it a more premium appeal. The OnePlus 9RT features a metallic chassis with frosted glass finish at the back. The back of the phone is protected by the Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The phone is available in two colour options – Nano Silver and Hacker Black. We got to use the Hacker Black variant of the phone, which feels very smooth and elegant to hold.
Up front, the OnePlus 9RT has a 6.62-inch fluid AMOLED display with a full HD+ resolution of 1080×2400 pixels and a screen refresh rate of 120Hz. There is a punch-hole camera that is stacked towards the top-left corner of the screen. Overall, the display of the OnePlus 9RT will remind you of the OnePlus 9R. If you have used the OnePlus 9R before, you won’t notice any changes on using the OnePlus 9RT.
Image: BRG.in
The part where OnePlus has made changes is the heart of the phone. The newly launched OnePlus 9RT ships with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset with X60 5G modem, which is a step up from the OnePlus 9R’s Snapdragon 870 chipset. The Snapdragon 888 is the chip powering the top premium smartphones such as the Asus ROG Phone 5, iQoo 7 Legend and the Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro. This processor is coupled with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. Together, this combination should offer a slight bump in the performance compared to the older OnePlus 9R smartphone but we won’t know that for sure until we test this phone thoroughly. In terms of the software, the OnePlus 9RT runs on Android 11-based Oxygen OS. If you have used a OnePlus smartphone running the OxygenOS before, you won’t find any difference in experience at all.
Another area where OnePlus has made changes is the rear camera. The OnePlus has upgraded the camera configuration in case of its newly launched OnePlus 9RT smartphone. The phone gets a 50MP primary camera with Sony IMX766 sensor and electronic image stabilisation feature, a 16MP ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 2MP macro lens and dual LED flash. The OnePlus 9R, on the other hand, features a quad rear camera setup consisting of a 48MP primary camera with Sony IMX586 sensor, a 16MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens, a 5MP macro lens and a 2MP monochrome lens. While the OnePlus 9RT falls short of a lens, presence of a more advanced Sony IMX766 sensor more than makes up for the loss. On the front, both the phones – the OnePlus 9RT and the OnePlus 9R – get a 16MP camera with Sony IMX471 sensor.
Image: BGR.in
Lastly, the battery. The OnePlus 9RT ships with a 4,500mAh battery with support for Warp Charge 65T, which is the same as the one available on the OnePlus 9R. The long list of similarities between the two phones also includes an in-display fingerprint sensor, support for Dolby Atmos, dual stereo speakers and noise cancellation technology.
The OnePlus 9RT ships inside a red-coloured box that houses a charging cable, a silicon cover and a power adapter. Yes, there is a power adapter. It’s good to see that OnePlus is blindly following the trends and ditching the much-needed and much-appreciated power adapter.
Overall, the OnePlus 9RT is a beautiful flagship smartphone by OnePlus. We’ll talk in length about its performance and camera when we test it thoroughly in the coming days. So, stay tuned for a detailed review!