OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro reviews
The previous fall's OnePlus 8T was a strong gadget, yet it actually seemed like OnePlus could step it up. With the arrival of two new leader telephones, it would seem that OnePlus concurred. The new $730 OnePlus 9 and $970 OnePlus 9 Pro game recognizably improved cameras because of another organization with Hasselblad, much quicker charging, including remote charging on the two models, and a start to finish spec revive highlighting rapid new parts.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt: Not just are the OP9 and OP9 Pro the best telephones OnePlus has at any point made, yet the organization has additionally gone all New Game+ on us and entered the second period of life.
In its initial days, OnePlus obliged the cravings of no-nonsense telephone aficionados, however, the organization has since advanced and entered the standard. I need to concede: OnePlus has taken extraordinary steps with its new gadgets. Be that as it may, a piece of me actually contemplates whether it's true enough.
OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro
WHAT IS IT?
OnePlus' latest 5G phones
PRICE
Starts at $730 for the standard OnePlus 9, $970 for the OnePlus 9 Pro
LIKE
Good value, strong performance, solid battery life, big jump in camera quality, excellent build, upgraded displays, still has the alert slider
DON'T LIKE
5G only works on T-Mobile, boring design, weak haptics, unlocked models don't have IP68 certification, no headphone jack
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Buy OnePlus 9
Buy OnePlus 9 for $730 from OnePlus
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Buy OnePlus 9 Pro
Buy OnePlus 9 Pro for $1,070 from OnePlus
The likenesses don't stop there, all things considered. Like Samsung, the OnePlus has added a 120Hz revive rate to the OP9's 6.55-inch screen, with the OP9 Pro getting a 6.7-inch Samsung-made board with a variable 120Hz invigorate rate that can progressively change its showcase to coordinate with the sort of substance you're seeing. That implies higher revive rates while gaming to convey smooth visuals, and lower invigorate rates while riding the web or seeing pictures to help save money on battery life.
Presently I don't intend to be excessively cruel, since, in such a case that you're going to bunk off of another person's notes, you should pick the world's greatest cell phone producer.
What's more, on the off chance that you overlook the opposition, the OP9 and OP9 Pro's showcases are extraordinary by their own doing, offering solid brilliance (as much as 800 nits in our testing), and the rich immersed colors individuals have generally expected from great AMOLED shows. I simply wish OnePlus would infuse its very own portion style or special subtleties to make the OP9 line stand apart all alone.
The base model games a Snapdragon 888 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of capacity (with a lift to 12GB/256GB accessible also) making the OP9 telephones are as amazing as could be expected. Both the OP9 and OP9 Pro regularly matched or posted marginally higher benchmark scores than what we've seen from comparably specced Samsung telephones.
Also, because of little contacts like the quicker movements in OnePlus' Oxygen OS (which depends on Android 11), the OP9 and OP9 Pro regularly feel much more responsive than you may anticipate. With regards to speed, OnePlus conveys.
OnePlus additionally incorporates various standard highlights found on other premium telephones, including sound system speakers, an in-show unique mark sensor, water opposition, and 5G, yet shockingly support for a portion of those highlights differs extraordinarily relying upon where you get it. On T-Mobile (which is the solitary U.S. transporter that will convey the OP9 line at retail), you get a full 5G network and an IP68 rating for residue and water opposition.
Nonetheless, in the event that you get an OP9 or OP9 Pro opened, you don't get similar tough accreditations and you will not have the option to get to 5G on AT&T and Verizon, which is a gigantic bummer for anybody wanting to carry their own gadget to another organization. Furthermore, in case I'm truly criticizing, I feel like the OnePlus optical finger impression sensor isn't exactly just about as quick or precise as the ultrasonic peruser that Samsung utilizes on the Galaxy S21.
Yet, we should get down to the greatest redesigns on the OP9 line: the camera execution. OnePlus just inked a 3-year arrangement to work together with Hasselblad, and to begin, OnePlus has utilized Hasselblad to update its camera application with another UI and simpler approaches to change settings and alter photographs.
Furthermore, OnePlus additionally inclined toward its new organization to make Natural Color Calibration with Hasselblad that utilizes both improved calculations and hand-tuning from specialists at Hasselblad to catch more exact tints and better subtleties. What's more, I need to say, the outcomes are very amazing.
For years, the image quality of OnePlus phones was always a tier below competing phones from Apple, Samsung, or Google. But that changes on the OP9. Colors are rich and deep, subjects are sharp, and I personally really like the high-contrast look Hasselblad’s tuning has given OnePlus’ photos, even if it doesn’t always result in the most realistic looking image.
The standard OP9 features a 48-MP main cam, 50-MP ultra-wide cam (with a huge IMX 766 sensor), and 2-MP monochrome cam to help out with color accuracy.
The OP9 Pro features a 48-MP main cam with an even newer Sony IMX789 sensor, the same 50-MP ultra-wide cam used on the OP9, a 3x telephoto zoom cam, and the same handy 2-MP monochrome cam. But regardless of which phone you choose, either one can totally hang with other high-end handsets.
In a photo I captured of some tulips, the regular OP9 captured strong dynamic range and good details, even on the inside of the flower. And at night, OnePlus’ improved Nightscape mode kept up with Samsung’s dedicated low-light mode, with the OnePlus 9 Pro even capturing a sharper looking (possibly a bit over-sharpened) photo when zoomed in 3x compared to the Galaxy S21. Even ultra-wide shots from the OP9 and OP9 Pro largely lived up to OnePlus’ claims that its new “free-form” lens helps cut down on the barrel distortion you typically see in wide-angle photos.
However, like I said before, while I appreciate Hasselblad’s fine tuning, I have to admit that in a shot of plant-based nuggets (don’t ask), the OP9 did boost contrast a bit too much, which resulted in deeper shadows than what I actually saw.
But still, OnePlus’ image quality has taken a big step forward, and with Hasselblad expected to add new custom hardware to future phones, OnePlus’ photography cred is definitely getting a big boost.
Finally, when it comes to battery life, both phones performed rather well, with the standard OP9 and OP9 Pro lasting 15 hours and 35 minutes and 13 hours and 54 minutes, respectively.
That’s both well above the current 12:25 smartphone average and standard S21's time of 12:36, and in the same range as the iPhone 12 (14:20). When it comes to charging, the OP9 and OP9 Pro are incredibly fast, offering 65-watt wired charging that can legit recharge the phone from dead to 100% in around half an hour. In my testing, starting at 5%, the standard OP9 was able to hit 72% charge in 15 minutes and hit 100% before the full 30 minutes were even up.
And as an added bonus, when you want to charge other non-OnePlus devices, you won’t get a full 65 watts of power, but you can still charge over USB-C at up to 45 watts, which is handy if you only want to carry a single power brick around.
Of course, wired charging is a bit old-school, so in addition to giving the standard OP9 15-watt Qi wireless charging, OnePlus also made a proprietary $70 charging pad that can deliver 50 watts of wireless power to the OP9 Pro, which was enough to take the phone from 5% to 74% in 30 minutes. In short, this is the fastest wireless charging you can get on any phone available in the U.S. right now.
OK, great—but should you get one? The tricky part is that the answer to that question depends greatly on your carrier and how much you care about or have access to 5G. For people on T-Mobile, the OP9 and OP9 Pro are basically slightly discounted versions of the S21 and S21+.
You get the same processor and similar base components, with new and improved image quality, and a lot of premium features like water resistance, wireless charging, and high refresh rate screens. However, for people on other networks, the equation isn’t quite as clear, most notably because you have to forgo support for 5G.
And this is kind of the problem for OnePlus, because the company has obviously leveled up in many areas. OnePlus’ collaboration with Hasselblad is already paying off, and with LG’s smartphone division struggling and Google doing its own thing, OnePlus is filling in for other Android phone makers by creating a worthy alternative to Samsung’s flagships.
But not supporting 5G on two of the nation’s three largest providers, skipping IP68 certification on unlocked models, and a lackluster design means that OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro stop just short of being true contenders. They’re great phones and a good value for money, but they just don’t have the X-factor you need to turn a solid device into something you love.