OnePlus 8 India Price May be Much Lesser Than Global Prices, Hints Company

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro have finally landed among us. While there would typically have been massive fanfare, a tumultuous launch event and social media swarmed with tweets, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic led to a far less-hyped and a somewhat sombre launch event. Nevertheless, users in India have remained puzzled in terms of the OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 price in India, and with the dollar prices the online information to go on, have largely assumed that in 2020, OnePlus' phones will be far more expensive than what they ever were. OnePlus, however, insists that this will not be the case.

Following the launch event live streamed from an empty auditorium last night, OnePlus India's Twitter account posted a message that said, "We don't speak dollars, India prices coming soon." However, OnePlus India is yet to reveal any further information, such as date of sale in India, availability or pre-order timelines, or any hint of the pricing of the two phones. This suggests that OnePlus may be looking to wait it out for a while in India, perhaps until the end of the nation-wide lockdown period due to Covid-19, before officially launching the device in India.

This would not be the first time that OnePlus' phones would cost lesser in India, in comparison to their global prices. The same held true for the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7T as well. However, what remains to be seen is exactly how vast is the disparity between the pricing of the devices in India and abroad. Upon direct conversion, the OnePlus 8 costs approximately Rs 53,000 in its base variant, going all the way up to a rather steep Rs 76,000 (approx) for the OnePlus 8 Pro. Speculations on the internet suggest that the OnePlus 8 may be priced onward of around Rs 40,000 in India, while the OnePlus 8 Pro may cost about Rs 55,000 to 60,000 in the country.

Nevertheless, it now remains to be seen exactly how big a disparity does OnePlus employ in the pricing of their phones in India and abroad. Neither of the two phones will be able to utilise 5G, since the debt-ridden telecom sector, coupled with the coronavirus outbreak in India, significantly pushed back the projected 5G trials in the country.