OnePlus 8 smartphones: Made-in-India series to be available by May end

New Delhi: The much-awaited OnePlus 8 series which is being manufactured at the company's factory in Noida, will be available in the Indian market by the end of this month, a top company executive confirmed on Wednesday. Launched last month, the new flagship OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 witnessed the delay in arrival owing to the COVID-19 lockdown.

According to Vikas Agarwal, General Manager of OnePlus India, the initial assessment of the OnePlus 8 series 5G has been very positive in the country. "We are expecting it to transition into robust sales in the coming months. The OnePlus 8 series will be available in the Indian market by May end," Agarwal told IANS.

"We have resumed operations in the Noida facility last week itself in line with the health safety regulations laid out by the government," he added.

Aligned with the government-issued health safety directives and advisory, the company has resumed its doorstep repair service across six cities - Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai.

"In addition to this, we have resumed services in our standalone customer service centers in 18 cities as of now, while aligning with the government advisory and guidelines on health safety measures," informed the OnePlus executive.

OnePlus 8 series 5G received an immensely positive response globally including in the US, Europe and China markets.

OnePlus 8 Pro with 8GB/128GB will cost Rs 54,999 and the top-end model of the phone with 12GB/256GB will be available for Rs 59,999 in India.

The compact OnePlus 8 base variant with 6GB/128GB will come for Rs 41,999, while the top-end model of the phone with 12GB/256GB will cost Rs 49,999.

There is also an 8GB/128GB version of the OnePlus 8 that will be available for Rs 44,999.

Agarwal said that the India R&D team has contributed significantly towards innovative product development for the OnePlus 8 flagship series globally.

"These include innovations across OxygenOS, camera features, 5G network optimisations and much more. A lot of these innovations were also a result of our community co-creation efforts, wherein we work closely with beta testers to acquire valuable feedback on how to improve and further innovate on the product design and overall user experience," he elaborated.

As a consumer-centric brand, OnePlus has always implemented unique initiatives to engage with its consumers while also offering them a truly premium experience.

Since the brand`s inception in India in December 2014, OnePlus has achieved several milestones, said Agarwal, and has grown to become a leading premium smartphone player in India.

"With our growing business success in the Indian market, OnePlus has been increasingly investing in India in line with its commitment to delve deeper into its `Make in India` strategy," he added.

While the manufacturing sector witnessed a slowdown, recent government directives to begin relaxing restrictions have led to manufacturing operations in India picking up momentum.

"We are confident that we will soon overcome this situation, and regain normalcy in due time, while ensuring that we protect our employees` health through necessary precautionary measures," said Agarwal, adding that they are currently exploring new, innovative formats with the partners to provide seamless experience to customers using omni-channel approach.