OnePlus 10R: Review by Gadgetshieldz
As mentioned in our recent article, the OnePlus 10R is this year’s second mid-range flagship after the OnePlus 9RT in February. As penned down in the cited article, this phone has decent specs for the price.
We have had the phone with us for a week, and even though the specs are good enough for the prices, there’s a lot more to unfold here.
And that’s why we have penned down another review for you to follow through!
But before we head to the review, it’s suggested that we go through some of the basic specs first!
OnePlus 10R Specs
Price
- Starts from ₹38,999
Processor & OS
- MediaTek Dimensity 8100-MAX CPU
- Arm Mali-G610 GPU
- OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12
RAM-ROM variants
- 8GB LPDDR5 RAM + 128 GB ROM
- 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM + 256 GB ROM (2 variants in 5000 mAh + 80W SUPERVOOC Charging & 4500 mAh + 150W SUPERVOOC Charging)
Display & Media
- 6.7″ screen size
- FHD+ Fluid OLED Display (2412 x 1080 pixels)
- 120 Hz Refresh rate
- Supports sRGB, Display P3, 10-bit Color Depth and HDR10+
- Dual-Stereo speakers
Connectivity
- 5G compatible (16 bands)
- 5.3 Bluetooth Compatibility
- NFC Enabled
Battery and Charging
- Battery Capacity: 5000 mAh & 4500 mAh (Endurance Edition)
- Best Compatible Chargers: 80W SUPERVOOC Charger/ 160W SUPERVOOC Charger (Endurance Edition)
Camera
- Rear Camera
-50MP (Main Camera)+ 8 MP (Ultra-wide Camera) + 2 MP (Macro lens camera) with a single LED Flash.
-4k video recording at 30 fps, 1080p video recording at 30 fps/60 fps/120 fps.
-Nightscape2.0, Super Macro, UltraShot HDR, Smart Scene Recognition, Portrait mode, Pro mode, Panorama, Tilt-shift mode, Focus Peaking, Filters, Video Nightscape, Video HDR, Video Portrait Timelapse, Hyperlapse
- Front Camera
-16 MP camera
-1080p video recording at 30 fps
Design
- 16.33cm x 7.55cm x 0.82cm
- 186 gms
- Plastic back panel & side frames
- Available in Sierra Black, Forest Green shades
- Matte Textured back
Detailed Review
- The OnePlus 10R has the MediaTek Dimensity 8100-MAX processor, which as per claims by OnePlus, is an exclusive variant of MediaTek Dimensity 8100 SoC. But as per our usage, we did not find many differences between 8100 and 8100-MAX. Anyway, it’s a decent flagship chipset, right after Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 888+. This phone does not face many stutters and hiccups if there are no display fluctuation issues. However, some concerns need to be addressed. The OnePlus 10R has a Performance Mode toggle button, just like their all-new OnePlus devices, including the Nord lineup, for optimizing the phone. When it is not in use, the CPU locks the clock speeds to high instead of bringing it down. But when this mode is enabled in benchmark tests, the scores are much higher than when it is disabled, which is strange because it should lower the scores. It also implies that you won’t get the best out of your device if you disable the performance mode toggle. But when we turned the performance mode, it did not let us use the device to its maximum extent. An anomaly like this could destroy the battery. Talking about the OS, the OnePlus 10R’s got OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12. Although, there’s nothing very unique about it because it’s a mixture of a small part of Oxygen OS with most of Realme’s Color OS based on Android 12. However, it does not have too much bloat ware compared to the actual Color OS. Other than the OnePlus Store and Community app, only Netflix and Spotify is pre-installed.
- The OnePlus 10R’s refresh rate is up to 120 Hz and is variable, dropping down to 90 Hz and 60 Hz. Generally, variable refresh rates are great because they can go up to a high value like 120 or 144 Hz and come down to a low value when there’s not much activity. No hiccups or frame-skipping happened during gaming or video streaming on OTT or YouTube. The display is of a good size, and it has got Fluid OLED, which really elevates the viewing experience. It has HDR10+ support, but there’s an issue with it. The HDR10+ oversaturates and over sharpens the clarity of the images. All-in-all, the display experience is pretty much fine. But as far as the display goes, the sound system also matters. This phone has a dual-stereo system, but sadly enough, no Dolby Atmos configuration. Because of this, when sounds get loud or go to higher frequencies, the sounds come out a little bit rusty & congested. Instead of Dolby Atmos, it has Dirac audio configuration, which is not the best but is decent enough.
- There are two versions of the OnePlus 10R concerning the battery and charging: 1) Standard Edition- 5000 mAh with 80W SUPERVOOC charger and 2) Endurance Edition- 4500 mAh with 150W SUPERVOOC charger. We got our hands on the Standard Edition of 5000 mAh, and we have to say, OnePlus wasn’t kidding about the battery life and the charging at all! We used the phone extensively throughout and after work hours, and we did not have to put it back on charge till breakfast the next day. We emptied the battery and put it for charging at 7 a.m. By 7.35 a.m, the phone was fully charged! OnePlus claimed that it would take 32 minutes for a full charge from 1%-100%. It’s manageable because it’s pretty adjacent to the declared value. OnePlus 10R has a gigantic cooling chamber that ensures no overheating, and this tech is not very easy to achieve. OnePlus has received a lot of criticism before for overheating and the explosion of phones while charging. We can assure you now that OnePlus has put in a lot of effort to improve this, and the results can be seen quite visibly.
- About the OnePlus 10R’s Camera, firstly, there’s no Hasselblad branding. Secondly, the camera app is exactly like in Oppo and Realme phones. Thirdly, and most importantly, the camera quality is very subpar. The resolution and details of images under natural lighting are just decent. But, the colour rendition is reduced, shadows are underexposed, and the dynamic range is stuttered. And the macro lens is definitely not great. The quality is very fuzzy and distorted in the images. Under low light conditions, the photos look very unnatural. Moving on to video recording, you can shoot videos in 4k without EIS, whereas, for 1080p video recording, EIS is there. “What’s the issue?”-you might ask. The details in the 4k video would be way better than in the 1080p video, which would be of no use because, without EIS, you can’t capture the details correctly.
- The network connectivity is excellent! In India, 5G operations haven’t started yet (hopefully very soon), but still good to know that this phone supports 16 bands of the 5G network. What we loved most were its WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity! It’s fast and doesn’t malfunction at all!
- Lastly, about the external features of the device, it’s got a very boxy design, like the ones you see in iPhones. It would have looked good if the body frame and back panel were made of aluminum. The entire body frame and back panel are made of plastic which does not look very premium from a close distance. Most importantly, we all are missing the alert slider! It’s a OnePlus flagship phone, and it does not have an alert slider, which is really disappointing. Moreover, the handset is not very ergonomic and smudge-free as well.
Verdict
If we had to rate this phone from 0 to 5, we would give it a solid 3.5.
OnePlus 10R is a good phone with decent specs. But, if you are paying almost forty grand for a mid-range flagship, you deserve to have the incredible experience of owning a flagship device, not just decent.
OnePlus 10R is good, but there are some nooks and crannies that OnePlus hasn’t paid attention to in this phone. With the specs that this phone carries, this phone can be a terrific mid-range flagship phone. But again, some elements from the specs of this phone are average and subpar. If OnePlus works in those fields, this could be a great phone.
But to look at the silver lining, this phone has many good features, too. The battery and charging compatibility is absolutely amazing. You can use your phone throughout the day extensively and still have charge left by bedtime. There are no issues with connectivity at all!
And coming back to the design again, well…it’s not the best we’ve seen from OnePlus. Moreover, many people are upset about the absence of the OnePlus’ iconic alert slider. Except for the Nord CE lineup, it’s there in every OnePlus phone!
We know we can’t magically fix the specs and the alert slider, but we can do an excellent job for the design; make that boxy design look better. We have some of the top-notch, 3M Vinyl OnePlus 10R skins that will elevate the looks of your OnePlus 10R. Moreover, it will also protect it from annoying smudges, scratches and fingerprints.
And if you are one of those people who love the design but do not know what to do about a fingerprint and smudge magnet without changing too much, we’ve got you covered. You can opt for our OnePlus 10R screen guards for an unchanged and scratch-proof outlook!
