OnePlus has finally launched the Ace 3 in China. This is the smartphone that will debut as the OnePlus 12R globally and in India on January 23, based on the design, specs shared by the brand and the company’s trend of former launches. Going by the specs, the Ace 3 looks like an ideal competitor to the iQOO Neo 9 in China, and will most likely be the same in India as well. So let’s take a look at the comparison between the two.
OnePlus Ace 3: Specs, Price
The OnePlus Ace 3 has been launched at CNY 2,599 (approx Rs 30,000) for the base 12GB + 256GB variant, CNY 2,999 (approx Rs 33,000) for the 16GB + 512GB, and finally, CNY 3,499 (approx Rs 40,000) for the top-end 16GB + 1TB option. It comes in Moon Sea Blue, Ming Sha Jin, and Star Black (translated from Chinese) colours.
The OnePlus Ace 3 sports a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 1.5K Resolution (2780 x 1264 pixels), 120Hz refresh rate, 4500 nits peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3, 2160Hz PWM Dimming, and 94.2% screen-to-body ratio. The panel is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC powers the device with up to 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.
Additionally, the OnePlus Ace 3 has a triple camera setup at the rear including a 50MP f/1.8 primary sensor with OIS, 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide sensor, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera. On the front, there is a 16MP f/2.4 sensor for selfies and video calls.
It is backed by a 5500mAh battery that supports 100W SuperVOOC charging. Connectivity options include 5G, NFC, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v5.3 and USB-C for charging. Further, it will run on OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 outside China and ColorOS 14 in China. Lastly, it equips stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and an X-Axis Linear Vibration Motor.
OnePlus Ace 3: Should iQOO Neo 9 Worry?
The iQOO Neo 9 series that debuted earlier last month in China, has the iQOO Neo 9 which shares the same chipset with the OnePlus Ace 3. Further, leaks suggest that Chinese iQOO Neo 9 will launch in India as iQOO Neo 9 Pro, meaning it should be the handset that will compete with the OnePlus 12R in India.
In comparison with the Ace 3, the iQOO Neo 9 of China gets a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED Display with a 1.5K (1260 x 2800 pixels) resolution, HDR10 support, 2160Hz PWM dimming and up to 1400 nits brightness and up to a 144Hz refresh rate. While this is a flat panel compared to the curved one on the OnePlus Ace 3, it also gets support for up to a higher refresh rate. On the other hand, the Ace 3’s panel gets brighter in comparison to Neo 9’s.
They have the same chipset under the hood, paired with up to the same amount of RAM and storage. As for the cameras, Neo 9 gets a dual camera setup with a 50MP main IMX920 camera with 1/ 1.49″ VCS bionic, f/1.88 aperture, OIS, LED flash, paired with an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture. This setup is as good as the one on Ace 3, at least on paper, considering the macro camera is quite useless, impractical and unnecessary. We liked iQOO’s approach better where they provided only the practical sensors.
While the OnePlus Ace 3 does have a bigger battery cell compared to the 5160mAh cell on the Neo 9, iQOO’s handset does sport slightly faster 120W fast charging. Both of them run on Android 14 based on their respective UI skins.
In overall conclusion, we can say that both of them go neck to neck in terms of specifications. Last year, the Neo 7 Pro had a major pricing advantage over the OnePlus 11R and so far in China, the Neo 9 repeats that, as it starts at CNY 2,299 which converts to approximately Rs 27,700, compared to the starting price of CNY 2,599 for the OnePlus Ace 3. We’ll have to wait till February to see whether Neo 9 will once again repeat history or not. Until then, you can start making up your mind on which phone you like more.
