The OnePlus 9R induced hope among mobile gamers with deep pockets at its launch with a starting price of Rs 39,990. It offers the still capable Snapdragon 870 chip, a 120Hz OLED display, a 65W fast charging, and decent cameras – enough to keep the performance enthusiast, right? iQOO thought of joining the party with the iQOO 7 Legend, also starting at Rs 39,999.
The iQOO 7 Legend truly lives up to its name with everything it offers at the same price as the OnePlus 9R. It has the more powerful Snapdragon 888 chip, a better set of cameras, a superior display, an even faster charging, and a stunning design. Suddenly, the OnePlus 9R audience has the option to buy a phone that outdoes their revered choice. Also Read - iQOO 7 Legend review: Lives up to its name
Since I have used and reviewed both of these phones, what justice would I do if I don’t tell you what’s what?
iQOO 7 Legend vs OnePlus 9R
Design
Both the iQOO 7 Legend and OnePlus 9R are torchbearers of modern smartphone design in 2021. The OnePlus tries to go for an elegant approach whereas the iQOO wants to dazzle eyes everytime you take it out of the pocket. To the 5-year-old inside me, I would pick up the iQOO 7 Legend any day owing to its striking BMW M stripes and a pretty white colour theme.
That said, both the phones are equally well built, with the OnePlus having a slightly better finish than the iQOO. To the regular gamer, both of these are equally good.
Display
iQOO and OnePlus have settled for similar 120Hz AMOLED display tech with in-display fingerprint sensors. The iQOO takes the lead with a higher touch sample rate of 300Hz that aids in a super-responsive gaming. The OnePlus 9R, however, has slightly better colour calibration and looks more natural to the eyes. Hence, gamers should choose the iQOO while everyone else could be content with the OnePlus.
Performance
The iQOO 7 Legend has a vast advantage here with its Snapdragon 888 chip, aiding flawless gaming for extended hours. It, however, heats up fast and runs on Vivo’s FunTouchOS 11. If you can live with the messed-up interface of the iQOO, there’s no reason as to not consider this phone. The haptic feedback is second to none and the stereo speakers are loud. You also get a pressure-sensitive display, if you fancy a hardcore gaming setup.
OnePlus only uses a Snapdragon 870 chip that occasionally drops frames in games but casual gamers won’t have issues. OxygenOS 11 is in a league of its own with an elegant interface and limited pre-loaded 3rd party apps. It is refined and easy to use on a daily basis. Except for some system bugs, OxygenOS is well optimised to offer a reliable and smooth smartphone experience. Also, OnePlus is quick with updates, something that we can’t comment on in case of the iQOO 7 Legend.
Cameras
After using both these phones for a while, it is clear that the iQOO 7 Legend benefits from the superior camera hardware and better optimisation. The 48-megapixel camera uses a superior Sony sensor shows class-leading still photography performance. Whether in day or at night, the iQOO 7 Legend retains closer-to-natural colours, more details and better contrasts. It even exceeds with superior wide-angle photos and macro photos, both of where the OnePlus 9R falls flat.
The OnePlus 9R can’t quite match the colour science, clarity, sharpness, and detail in still photography as the iQOO 7 Legend. The same advantage carries over to the selfie cameras, with the iQOO 7 Legend impressing at all times while the OnePlus 9R falls behind in overall quality. The situation does not change with video recording either.
Battery life
The OnePlus 9R has a notable advantage here with its slightly bigger 4500mAh battery and an power-efficient OxygenOS 11. The OnePlus can easily last an entire day and then some, often ending the day with approximately 30 percent charge. The iQOO 7 with its smaller 4000mAh battery often needs a quick refill before the day end if you game for an hour.
However, the situation reverses with the charging technology. On paper, there’s hardly between the OnePlus 65W Warp Charge and iQOO 66W Flash Charge solutions. The OnePlus 9R takes over 40 minutes from under 10 percent whereas the iQOO completes the same journey in under 20 minutes.
Verdict
After going through every aspect, it seems that you must be colossal fan of OnePlus’ OxygenOS in order to consider the OnePlus 9R over the iQOO 7 Legend. Whether it be the performance, display, cameras or design, the iQOO 7 Legend is superior to the OnePlus 9R by leaps and bound. The OnePlus 9R seems extremely pricey in comparison.
