Redmi K20 Pro vs. OnePlus 7

Introduction

The OnePlus 7 and the Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro are two of the most popular entries in the growing mid-range flagship segment. We call it the mid-range flagship segment because while these phones are priced at what you'd generally expect mid-range phones should be, they offer most of the performance and features that one would normally expect from premium flagship devices.

The segment was more or less invented by OnePlus back in 2014 with its OnePlus One. That phone showed us that you can have a flagship-level device without having to spend flagship-level money. Sure, there are some compromises but if you want a truly no-compromise experience you are still looking at spending at least twice as much for the premium flagship devices and for a lot of people that's not a deal worth making.

Since the original OnePlus One, OnePlus phones have gone up in pricing. This has opened up room for other manufacturers to step in and take up the space previously occupied by OnePlus. Xiaomi is trying exactly that with its new Redmi K20 Pro, which offers some seriously impressive hardware at a price that even undercuts OnePlus' own 7 and 7 Pro.

OnePlus 7

• Build: Aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 6
• Dimensions: 157.7 x 74.8 x 8.2 mm, 182g
• Display: 6.41-inch, 2340x1080 AMOLED, 402PPI
• Rear camera: Main: 48MP f1.7 PDAF OIS Depth: 5MP f2.4
• Front camera: 16MP f2.0
• Chipset: Snapdragon 855
• Memory: 6/8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage
• OS: Android 9, OxygenOS
• Battery: 3700mAh, 20W charging (Warp)
• Misc: In-screen fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers

Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro

• Build: Aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 5
• Dimensions: 156.7 x 74.3 x 8.8 mm, 191g
• Display: 6.39-inch, 2340x1080 AMOLED, 403PPI
• Rear camera: Main: 48MP f1.7 PDAF laser AF Telephoto:8MP f2.4 Wide: 13MP f2.4
• Front camera: 20MP f2.2
• Chipset: Snapdragon 855
• Memory: 6/8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage
• OS: Android 9, MIUI 10
• Battery: 4000mAh, 18W charging, optional 27W (QC 4.0)
• Misc: In-screen fingerprint sensor, headphone jack

Of course, with experience comes wisdom and OnePlus has spent the past five years further refining its phones. The new OnePlus 7 may look like last year's OnePlus 6T but it's more refined and more powerful than any OnePlus phone before it. Whether that experience or refinement will play to OnePlus' advantage, we will have to see.

So today we are pitting these two phones against each other to see which is the best option in the mid-range flagship segment. Should you save some money and go for the Redmi K20 Pro? Or does the OnePlus 7 have something valuable to offer for the extra money? Let's find out.