The Rs 35,000-Rs 50,000 smartphone segment has become a new hotbed as Indian customers are now spending more cautiously when it comes to purchasing a value-for-money smartphone. OnePlus has always been a front-runner in this space, however, it has seen its popularity taking a hit in recent quarters. Though it continues to lead Indian premium smartphone segment, the company has faced a lot of competition.
Phones like Asus 6z, Pixel 3a and Oppo Reno 10X Zoom emerged as promising players to compete with OnePlus last year. In fact, Google CEO Sundar Pichai claimed that the Pixel 3a helped the company post good revenues from smartphone business. However, due to OnePlus’ 90Hz Smooth Display as an X-factor, it was a lackluster performance from the competitors. This year may be different altogether because it is being reported that Google is planning to bring Pixel 4a and Apple is likely to unveil iPhone SE2 in this price segment later this year.
Samsung has already entered the competition as it has pitted the Galaxy S10 Lite and the Galaxy Note10 Lite against the segment favourite OnePlus 7T. Both the Samsung phones are watered down versions of their flagship siblings called the Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy Note10+ respectively. Here, we take a quick look at the specifications, features and price of the three smartphones.
The OnePlus 7T features a waterdrop notch, a tall screen and glass back with matte finish paint job. It sports a 6.55-inch Super AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate, which makes it the phone with smoothest display in this price range. The display offers a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels, an aspect ratio of 20:9 and it supports HDR10+. In comparison, the Galaxy S10 Lite comes with a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED edge-to-edge panel. Thanks to the punch hole design, the display offers 20:9 aspect ratio and 1080x2400 pixels resolution. The Galaxy Note10 Lite sports a similar display.
Under the hood, the OnePlus 7T is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor, which is flanked by 8GB RAM and up to 256GB internal storage. The Snapdragon 855+ is claimed to be 15 per cent more efficient than the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform. While the Galaxy S10 Lite is powered by the Snapdragon 855, Smasung has stuck to Exynos 9810 SoC for the lighter version of the Note model. Both the offerings from the South Korean giant come with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage.
All the three smartphones boast a triple camera setup. The OnePlus 7T camera has a 48MP Sony IMX586 primary sensor that produces 12MP binned images. The second is a 16MP sensor with an ultra-wide angle lens that offers 117-degree of field-of-view, and the third camera is a 12MP sensor paired with a telephoto lens offering a 2x zoom. The camera setup, along with a dual-tone flash, is packed in a circular module. OnePlus says that the phone can shoot SlowMo videos at 960fps, there is a 'Super Stable', and a dedicated ultra-wide Nightscape mode to capture well-lit images in dark conditions. On the front is a 16MP sensor.
Samsung is marketing the Galaxy Note10 Lite as a phone with ‘pro-grade camera’. The handset has three 12MP sensors of which the primary one comes with a Dual Pixel OIS (Optical Image Specialisation) wide angle lens. The second sensor is flanked by an Ultra Wide lens that offers 123-degrees field of view, and the third one is paired with a telephoto lens. Samsung says that the camera has a ‘Super Steady’ mode for jerk-free video recording, and Live Focus mode for depth-of-field adjustments. On the front is a 32MP front camera placed in the punch-hole.
The Galaxy S10 Lite is equipped with a 48MP Super Steady OIS primary camera, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor with 123-degrees field-of-view, and a 5MP macro camera. Just like the Note10 Lite, the camera is equipped with Super Steady OIS to capture action-focused photos and videos. The S10 Lite also has a zoom-in mic, and an AI Scene Optimiser that recognises 30 types of subjects and adjust details automatically. At the front, the phone has a 32MP camera.
While the OnePlus 7T houses a 3800mAh battery, both Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite and Note10 Lite are shipped with 4500mAh battery. However, the OnePlus 7T has Warp Charge, which is one of the fastest battery charging technologies in the world. The Samsung handsets support 25W fast charging (Galaxy S10 Lite) and super fast charging (Galaxy Note10 Lite) technologies.
When it comes to X-factor, the OnePlus 7T has a display with 90Hz refresh rate, the Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite has bluetooth-enabled S Pen that can be used to control the camera, and the Galaxy S10 Lite can take macro shots from as close as 4cm.
The OnePlus 7T is available in 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant for Rs 37,999 and 8GB RAM + 256B storage variant for Rs 39,999. Customers can purchase the smartphone in Glacier Blue or Frosted Silver colour from Amazon and OnePlus stores.
The Galaxy Note10 Lite will be available in Aura Glow, Aura Black and Aura Red colours in 6GB variant for Rs 38,999 and 8GB variant for Rs 40,999. The Pre-booking of the Galaxy Note10 Lite has already started and it will go on sale from February 3 on all major retail stores, online stores and Samsung.com.
The Galaxy S10 Lite is priced at Rs 39,999 for the 8GB variant. Customers can pre-book the handset in Prism White, Prism Black or Prism Blue colour. It will go on sale from February 4 across Flipkart, Samsung.com and other retail stores.
