Yesterday, OnePlus launched their OnePlus 8 Series devices – which are termed to be in the Ultra-Premium segment now. However, Apple – who is rather believed to be the king of the Ultra-Premium segment – launched the iPhone SE 2 today. And they’ve priced it quite aggressively. This created a huge question in our mind, and we hope we are not alone. The question is: Will the iPhone SE 2 affect the sales of the OnePlus 8 Series?
Even though the numbers might speak for themselves in the future, we wanted to answer this question today. And in our opinion, the answer would just be a resounding YES. You might be wondering about the reason we are saying this, right? Let’s just discuss a few points which routes us towards that answer.
Price
The first and probably the most important factor will be the pricing. Even though Apple devices are expected to come in at a higher price, things have changed with the iPhone SE 2. The iPhone SE 2 starts at the price of $399 while the OnePlus 8 Series starts at $699. But well, comparing these two devices head-to-head might not be the right choice. However, there are some similarities of the iPhone SE 2 with the flagship devices – and hence, a small comparison.
Performance
Even though the iPhone SE 2 is priced at $399, it doesn’t compromise on the performance. It’s currently running with the same flagship chipset – A13 Bionic – at its heart. If you don’t remember, it’s the same chipset which is powering the iPhone 11 Series. That was the move which was the least expected by us. On the OnePlus 8 Series, all the devices are powered by the Snapdragon 865 which is the latest and greatest available from Qualcomm. Overall, the performance wouldn’t be an issue on either of these devices.
Extras
The OnePlus 8 Pro was the first device by OnePlus to launch with Wireless Charging as well as an IP Rating. That came at a huge cost – with the starting price of the OnePlus 8 pro being $899. However, you’ll be getting both of these features on the iPhone SE 2 – which as mentioned above – starts at $399. Do note that the iPhone SE 2 has IP67 certification while the OnePlus 8 Pro comes with IP68 certification. Also, OnePlus devices supports fast wireless charging with their proprietary charger while the iPhone SE 2 supports Qi Wireless Charging. OnePlus 8 Pro also supports the Qi Wireless Charging at a slower rate.
Even though both have similar features, they have differences. However, these differences are okay when you consider the much lower price tag.
Software
There is one thing in which iPhone SE 2 might do extremely good. And that’s the software updates. The iPhone SE 2 should get instant updates from Apple – unlike OnePlus in which a user needs to wait for a month or even more to experience the newer software. Sure, OnePlus is amongst one of the best in the Android manufacturers when it comes to Software Updates. However, it just can’t compete with Apple yet as the updates are instantaneously received on every device.
Not only the updates would arrive faster but also the device will be supported for a much longer time. OnePlus usually provides 2 years of support for major Android upgrades and 3 years of periodic security updates. Apple would be providing at least 3-4 years of updates for their devices – which is also the reason iPhone users stay longer on one device.
Display and Camera
It’s not all good with the iPhone SE 2 though. The screen on the SE 2 is the Retina HD display and there’s just a single 12MP shooter on the back of the device. Both these features are just better on the OnePlus 8 Series. But yes, do note that the iPhone SE 2 supports video recording up to 4K60 – which is great. Whose video recording will be better? Well, that’s something we won’t know until we test it.
Conclusion
All these features available on the iPhone SE 2 – that too, at such a lower price – would attract the iPhone users to upgrade to this rather than shifting to another brand and even pay more. Also, people who were looking for a device around $500 would now be much more interested in iPhone SE 2 than a OnePlus device – as they already cost more. However, OnePlus does have an option at $499 and that is the OnePlus 7T. Also, the camera array on the 7T is even better than the OnePlus 8. So, that’s something people might choose if they want to go with OnePlus.
However, the launch of the iPhone SE 2 means it’ll be tough for OnePlus 8 Series to gain a larger user base – that too with a pricing which is much higher than the iPhone SE 2. Anyways, we’ll get to know if the sales of the OnePlus 8 Series are affected or not by the iPhone SE 2 when we see some sales figures. Until then, this article remains as a speculation
