OnePlus 9RT buying guide: Release date, price, specs — everything we know

While the OnePlus T-series won’t get a device this year, OnePlus has launched the OnePlus 9RT — the successor to the OnePlus 9R it revealed earlier this year. Notably, the U.S. market won’t get these devices, with only the OnePlus 9 Pro being available to U.S. users, while other markets have access to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus Nord 2. The hybrid T and R series device is the first OnePlus smartphone to have the RT suffix, and it’ll be exclusive to India and China. Here’s everything you need to know about the newly launched OnePlus 9RT.

OnePlus 9RT name and release date

OnePlus confirmed that there won’t be a OnePlus 9T or a OnePlus 9T Pro this year. The announcement came as a surprise since the company has launched a T-series smartphone every year since the OnePlus 3T. Last year, the company decided not to launch a OnePlus 8T Pro and stuck with just the OnePlus 8T. However, this year, there won’t be either a T or a T Pro model. Instead, we are getting a new OnePlus 9RT, which is a combination of two series from the company. It has now been launched in China and will be available for purchase starting October 19.

OnePlus 9RT design

The OnePlus 9R was introduced with a slight change in the camera setup from the 8T. While the OnePlus 9R features a quad rear camera setup, the OnePlus 9RT sports three cameras on the back. The design includes the Alert slider and no headphone jack, while other button placements are likely to remain the same.

The smartphone has a glass back and an aluminum frame, but don’t get your hopes up since there is no support for wireless charging. It also has support for an in-display fingerprint scanner and features a dual stereo speaker setup.

OnePlus 9RT hardware and software

The OnePlus 9RT has a 6.62-inch full-HD+ Samsung E4 AMOLED display (1,080 x 2,400 pixels) with a 20:9 aspect ratio, 1300 nits of peak brightness, and up to 120Hz refresh rate. The display also covers with 100 percent of DCI-P3 color gamut. Like the OnePlus 9R, the RT device was rumored to have the Snapdragon 870 SoC under the hood. However, the smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon 888 chipset. You will be able to use an additional 7GB of UFS 3.1 storage as virtual RAM. It comes with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

The OnePlus 9RT sports a triple rear camera setup with a 50MP Sony IMX766 camera, which was also used on the OnePlus Nord 2, OnePlus 9, and OnePlus 9 Pro. It is accompanied by a 16MP ultrawide camera with an f/2.2 and a 2MP macro sensor. It supports up to 4K video recording and is coupled with hybrid focus. On the front, you get a 16MP selfie shooter. The primary camera on the OnePlus 9R was a 48MP sensor, so this is a good step up.

In terms of battery, the smartphone will pack a dual cell that equals a 4,500mAh battery capacity. It will have support for 65-watt fast charging. Connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.2, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C port, while sensors include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, magnetometer, and a proximity sensor.

Notably, the OnePlus 9RT was rumored to be the company’s first device to launch with Android 12 out of the box. However, this turned out to be false as the smartphone runs Android 11, though we expect it to get the Android 12 update eventually.

OnePlus 9RT price and availability

The OnePlus 9RT will be exclusive to India and China. If you are in the European or American smartphone markets, don’t expect to get your hands on the upcoming smartphone without importing it. If you’re feeling left out, you can take a look at our general overview of the best smartphones.

OnePlus 9RT is priced at 3,299 yuan ($512) for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and 3,499 yuan ($544) for the 8GB + 256GB model. There is also the 12GB + 256GB option that is priced at 3,799 yuan ($590).