As OnePlus phones begin to gain feature parity with many mainstream flagships from the likes of Samsung, their prics have inevitably gone up too — the top configuration of the OnePlus 8 Pro hits the $1000 mark in the US while even the cheaper model starts at $700. In the Indian market, which has the biggest OnePlus userbase, that price tag would be far too high to be competitive, and therefore prices start much lower. In addition, the company also plans to bring a more affordable RAM option for the already economical OnePlus 8.

Converting the previously announced US prices to Indian rupees showed a significant jump from the OnePlus 7T, which started at ₹38,000 (~$496) for its base 8GB RAM variant — something the generally price-sensitive smartphone community in India didn’t like at all. In response, OnePlus India announced that it would soon come out with localized prices, which it finally revealed yesterday. For the new 6GB RAM variant — exclusive to amazon.in — of the OnePlus 8, you’ll only have to pay ₹42,000 (~$550), while the higher-end configurations with 8GB and 12GB RAM cost ₹45,000 (~$590) and ₹50,000 (~$650), respectively. While the new 6GB model offers a cheaper entry point, the Indian pricing for the other two options is still considerably lower than what it is in the US.

Similar to the 8, the OnePlus 8 Pro is also far more affordable in the emerging Asian market, where it costs ₹55,000 (~$720) for the 8GB RAM model. The most premium option with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is priced at ₹60,000 (~$780) — a far cry from the $1,000 tag in the US. In comparison, the S20 starts at ₹70,500 (~$920) in India, though with an Exynos processor and without 5G. Even the Bullets Wireless Z have been discounted, with an asking price of ₹2,000 (~$26) — about half of its US price of $50.

All OnePlus phones sold in India are locally assembled, which helps the Chinese company avoid heavy import taxes and keep the prices low. Plus, the Asian market is one of the more competitive ones, with the likes of Xiaomi and Realme tussling for the growing budget flagship segment, warranting a more aggressive pricing strategy. Coming to India sometime in May, the two OnePlus phones have a rather broad release timeline because the entire country is currently under a state-enforced lockdown. Production and sales of smartphones have been halted until at least May 3.

Source: OnePlus India (1), (2)

Thanks: Satheesh