OnePlus has finally announced the Indian pricing of the OnePlus 8 series. The company, which holds a large chunk of market share in the mid-premium market in India, has once again priced the smartphones at an interesting price point.
With this, OnePlus is targeting aggressively in the mid-premium market, giving a tough competition to the likes of Samsung and Apple. So, does the OnePlus 8 series pricing be Apple of consumer’s eye? Let’s find out.
What is the pricing of OnePlus series in India vs the other markets?
To start with the US pricing, the OnePlus 8 is priced at $699 (approx. Rs 53,508) for the base variant of 8GB RAM with 128GB of internal storage. The 12GB RAM variant with 256GB storage option is priced at $799 (approx. Rs 61162). Similarly, the OnePlus 8 Pro is priced at $899 (approx. Rs 68,817) for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage option and $999 (approx. Rs 76,472) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB of internal storage.
That said, the Indian pricing is quite low as compared to the US counterpart. The OnePlus 8 base variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is priced at Rs. 41,999. The OnePlus 8 with 8GB RAM, 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 44,999, and the top variant of the OnePlus 8 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage will cost you at Rs 49,999. The OnePlus 8 Pro 8GB RAM with 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs 54,999 and the 12GB RAM with 256GB storage variant is priced at Rs 59,999.
The difference is quite massive, to be honest. The top model of OnePlus 8 Pro is priced at Rs 59,999 in India, while in the US, one has to shed around Rs 76,472 to buy the latest smartphone. However, there is a small catch here. The company has given more options with OnePlus 8. The smartphone is available in three variants in India, while in the US, it comes in two variants.
How does it compare with the latest Apple iPhone SE?
Interestingly, a few days back, Apple also introduced a new cheaper iPhone SE 2020 in India and for the US market. The pricing matches the OnePlus 8 series as well. However, there is a huge difference between the US pricing and Indian pricing. In the US, the iPhone SE 2020 comes with a starting price of $399, which roughly translate to Rs 30,543. However, in India, the iPhone SE 2020 is priced at Rs 42,500 for the 64GB storage option, Rs 47,800 for 128GB option and Rs 58,300 for 256GB option.
When it comes to the pricing, the iPhone SE 2020 looks a tad overpriced as compared to the OnePlus 8 series. The OnePlus 8 base model is priced at Rs 41,999 and it is offering much greater design and specs. Although, Apple has used the latest Apple A13 Bionic chipset, which also powers the iPhone 11 series. The A13 Bionic is sure a powerful Chipset and it delivers slightly performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor. However, it is the OnePlus 8 delivers much more than the latest chipset. The smartphone come with a higher Resolution display along with 90Hz screen refresh rate, both of which are absent on iPhone SE 2020.
Furthermore, the smartphone offers you better camera performance with triple-camera setup against the single-camera setup present in the iPhone SE 2020. Another area where OnePlus 8 takes a major lead over the iPhone SE 2020 is the 5G connectivity. The latest smartphone from OnePlus supports 5G networks, but the same cannot be said with the latest iPhone. Apple is still struggling to launch its first 5G smartphone around the globe and it is currently not known when the 5G iPhone from Apple will come into life.
So, the OnePlus 8 series pricing is Apple of the consumer’s eye?
The answer is a Yes. OnePlus has done a good job when it comes to providing the latest hardware at an aggressive price point. The company knowns that India is an important market for them and it is also price sensitive.
So, launching smartphones that are cheaper around the globe will further strengthen its position in the Indian smartphone market, but giving a tough competition to the likes of Samsung and Apple, who are also looking to garner some good market share in the mid-premium market. This will be a milestone for other brands to launch their smartphones at lesser or similar price points so that they can survive in this segment.