OnePlus 11R 5G review: Not perfect, but mid-premium pricing makes up for it

The OnePlus 11R 5G is a capable smartphone with strong core capabilities geared toward performance

The India-exclusive OnePlus 11R 5G is a mid-premium smartphone designed in the shadow of its premium elder sibling, the OnePlus 11 5G (review). It has the same form factor, featuring a two-side curved screen, tapered frame, and fingerprint resistant glass back cover with ring-shaped camera island. The resemblance continues on the interface side too with both smartphones running the same version of Android 13 operating system-based Oxygen OS.

The OnePlus 11R and OnePlus 11 look identical and it is difficult to know which is which, if both are put side-by-side. Therefore, buyers do not have to settle down with something that looks inferior in comparison to the premium model. Important to note, however, there have been tradeoffs in the making of the OnePlus 11R to match the price. For example, it has a plastic frame.

The OnePlus 11R is geared to performance and it ticks the right boxes. Starting with the screen, it is a 6.7-inch 10-bit HDR10+ certified AMOLED panel of 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The screen automatically adjusts the frame rate between 40Hz, 45Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz – based on on-screen content requirements. This enables smooth experience without compromising on the power efficiency. Complementing the smooth experience is the brightness, which goes all the way up to 1450 nits. It essentially means consistent screen experience irrespective of lighting conditions.

Adding to the experience is the dual stereo speakers powered by Dolby Atmos. The speakers are loud and clear, but not balanced because the earpiece unit that doubles up as a second speaker is not as loud and clear as the primary bottom-firing speaker. Nevertheless, the audio quality from the speakers is good for everyday use.

Coming to the performance, there is no significant difference in the OnePlus 11R and OnePlus 11. Like its elder sibling, the OnePlus 11R handles day-to-day operations with ease and shows no restraint in running power-and-graphic intensive tasks. Importantly, there is no thermal issue and the phone delivers consistent performance even after extended usage. The performance is alike while gaming with commonly available graphic-intensive gaming titles playable in peak graphic settings.

Speaking of games, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the OnePlus 11 has native support for a ray-tracing engine for realistic lights, highlights, and shadow details in games. This makes the premium model future ready, especially with regard to mobile gaming experience. Currently, however, the OnePlus 11R is as good a gaming smartphone as the OnePlus 11.

Rounding up the performance is the stellar on-battery time. The OnePlus 11R has a 5000 mAh battery, which is good for a day of mixed usage. Charging is quick with the supplied 100W wired charger, which takes less than 30 minutes to replenish the battery to 100 per cent from 10 per cent.

The OnePlus 11R is a performance-focused smartphone and it delivers on core capabilities. Unfortunately, imaging is not part of the experience. Not that the OnePlus 11R has a bad camera system but the experience is generic.

The OnePlus 11R sports are triple-camera array on the back, featuring a 50-megapixel primary camera sensor with optical image stabilisation, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor of 120-degree field-of-view, and a 2MP macro lens. It is the only primary camera sensor that lives up to expectations with consistent performance in varied lighting conditions. The large sensor enables natural shallow depth-of-field, which adds zing to regular shots. Besides, it is quick in fixing focus and gets it right most of the time. The ultra-wide-angle camera is good in daylight conditions, but struggles in low-light. Besides, there is no colour consistency and the sensor tends to soften the frame in post processing that results in missing crucial details such as shadows, highlights, contrast, etc. The macro lens is there for novelty with limited usage applicable only in good light conditions. On the front, the OnePlus 11R has a 16MP camera sensor. It is good, but not the best.

Verdict

The OnePlus 11R is a capable smartphone with strong core capabilities geared toward performance. It has a bright and vivid screen, loud stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, swift performance, and clutter free OxygenOS interface. Imaging from supplementary cameras put it a notch below others, but the phone’s mid-premium pricing (Rs 39,999 onwards) makes up for it.