When OnePlus came into the Indian market its only objective was to offer flagship-level features at affordable prices. As the company grew, it moved up the ladder of the premium segment and as a result of that we have the OnePlus 7T launching at over 35K.
Samsung as a brand, on the other hand, focused more on flagship-level products but has now understood that the real action is in the sub-40k category which is why it has launched not one but two phones in this price segment, the Galaxy Note10 Lite, and the S10 Lite.
Since the Note10 Lite intrigues us more (obviously because of the stylus), let’s dive into how Samsung could be a challenger to the OnePlus 7T in this price segment.
Design & Display
The Note10 Lite sports a similar compact form factor like the Note 10 which is one thing that many liked about the device. There has been a compromise in the resolution as it drops down to a 6.7-inch FHD+ display from a QHD on the Note 10, but still you get a Super AMOLED display with the Lite version of the Note10.
The bezel-less screen does have a lot of pluses when it comes to watching content on it. The OnePlus 7T also comes with an FHD+ AMOLED display which is also good. The fact that it’s a 90Hz display with HDR10+ compatibility gives it an upper edge in this department.
The Note10 Lite is just 10 grams heavier than the OP7T but you’ll hardly notice the difference in weight.
Performance & Hardware
The OP7T is powered by a Snapdragon 855+ processor coupled with 8GB of RAM. This is as powerful as you can get in the market and you don’t really need any more processing power than that.
Packed with an Adreno 640 GPU it takes care of all your gaming and graphics processing with one core tied behind its back. What is a bummer though, it doesn’t offer the option of expandable storage.
The Samsung Note10 Lite packs an Exynos 9810 octa-core chipset the same that’s been carried forward from the Note 9 era. Samsung has upped the RAM to 8GB this time around and but there is a 6GB RAM option as well.
Storage won’t be a problem here as the Note10 Lite comes with up to 1TB expandable memory on top of 256GB of internal storage.
The S-Pen does offer a lot of perks as it adds that corporate look and feel to the device. This adds great value to the device as you get to experience a stylus in the sub-50k category now.
Just FYI, the S-Pen on the Note10 Lite doesn’t offer all the functionalities, like you cannot zoom in and out in the camera app using the S-Pen.
There are a lot of possibilities you can explore with the Note10 Lite but the fact that it packs an old processor makes it lose some points.
Camera & Battery
The OP7T comes with a triple camera setup at the back with a 48-megapixel primary sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto and a 16-megapixel wide-angle lens. It offers FHD video recording at 240fps which the Note10 Lite doesn't offer.
Also, the OP7T comes with EIS which is also a bonus.
The Note10 Lite also comes with a triple-lens setup at the back with three 12-megapixel sensors. One wide, telephoto and an ultrawide setup.
On the front, the OP7T houses a 16-megapixel snapper in comparison to the 32-megapixel camera on the Note10 Lite. Both offer a wide-angle view.
I’ll hand the trophy to the OP7T in this round thanks to some extra features it brings to the game. I’m not saying the Note10 Lite camera is bad, it’s just that the OP7T camera setup edges it slightly.
Where the OnePlus 7T comes with a 3,800mAh battery the Note10 Lite offers a mammoth 4,500mAh battery pack. The fact that the OP7T supports a 30W fast charger is a big bonus.
The Note10 Lite also offers fast charging but not as fast as the competition.
Which One to Buy?
The Note10 Lite has a lot to offer here. A full fletched Samsung Pay ecosystem, a good display and also the functionalities of a stylus. All this at Rs 40,999 for the 8GB RAM variant.
If you want a ‘Samsung flagship’ experience under the Rs 41,000 bracket then the Note10 Lite should be your pick.
The OnePlus 7T, on the other hand, comes with a power-packed snapdragon 855+ processor and a fluid user interface that users have liked a lot. At Rs 39,999 for the 8GB RAM variant, you can consider the OnePlus 7T.
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