The wait is finally over; after months of leaks, teases, and rumors, the OnePlus has finally lifted the curtains off the OnePlus 9 series, and both devices, as we have guessed, are amazing in every sense of the way. If you were holding your upgrade plan because you wanted to wait for the OnePlus devices, now is the time because both the devices are as impressive as they get.
OnePlus warmed up the crowd a few weeks ago by announcing its three year, $150 million partnership with legendary camera maker Hasselblad. Hasselblad cameras flew on Apollo 11 to the moon, now they come equipped on the latest OnePlus 9 flagship.
OnePlus smartphones have always been impressive in almost every aspect, and this year, the company builds on the same foundations as their older devices and does offer a lot more in terms of features, too.
OnePlus 9 series design:
Starting with the vanilla OnePlus 9, you are looking at a familiar design with a hole-punch camera on the front and a flat display. The display offers a 120Hz refresh rate and a FHD+ 6.55-inch OLED panel with gorgeous blacks and 1100 nits of peak brightness. In addition to that, you are also getting the alert slider. You also get a triple camera setup on the back that Hasselblad powers.
As for the pro model, we are looking at a curved screen with a hole-punch camera on the front. This one is also a 120Hz panel, but this time, you are looking at a QHD+ LTPO panel that can go as low as 1Hz. The refresh rate is completely dynamic and would in fact save more battery by hitting max (120Hz) only when needed. The screen itself is 6.7-inch. On the back, you have a quad camera setup powered by Hasselblad.
Both phones are also going to offer IP68 dust and water resistance, so you can be sure that your phone will not stop working underwater. But we would still advise caution. Additionally, the base model will be a metal and plastic sandwich, whereas the pro variant is going to ship with the more traditional glass and metal design.
Coming to the dimensions, the weight and thickness of the OnePlus 9 are 183 grams and 8.1 mm, the OnePlus 9 Pro is 197 grams and 8.7 mm. The company specifically tried to make new devices, if not thinner, then at least lighter than other flagships. So, according to rumors, the mass of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra debuting next week will be 215 and 230 grams, respectively.
OnePlus 9 series specs:
As far as the specs of both devices are concerned, you are looking at powerhouses of devices. Both phones are running OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11 internationally and ColorOS 11 in China. Both phones have Snapdragon 888 under the hood.
Both devices will have RAM starting from 8GB and going all the way up to 12GB. As for the storage options, we are looking at 128 and 256 options for the OnePlus 9, the same storage options for the OnePlus 9 Pro. Both phones have UFS 3.1 storage for super-fast transfer speeds.
Both phones will also ship with a 4,500 mAh battery with WarpCharge 65T charging technology that will let you charge your phones at blazing fast speeds. There’s also WarpCharge 50.
For security purposes, both devices are shipping with an optical in-display fingerprint scanner, and while not as secure, this fingerprint scanner gets the job done.
OnePlus 9 series cameras:
The cameras are one of the biggest upgrades for the new OnePlus flagships. OnePlus has partnered with Hasselblad to ensure users get the best camera performance on a OnePlus phone.
The OnePlus 9 Pro gets the best cameras as expected. Its main camera is a custom Soy IMX789 48MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS. It is packed with Digital Overlap HDR (DOL-HDR), 2×2 on-chip lens (OCL), and dual ISO. The camera can shoot 12-bit RAW images which captures a lot more colors than a regular camera. It can also record in 4K at 120fps and in 8K at 30fps.
Along with the main camera is a Sony IMX766 ultrawide camera with a freeform lens that removes the distortion at the edges of ultrawide angle photos. It can also shoot 4CM macro photos. OnePlus doesn’t join the periscope camera trend but instead settles for an 8MP telephoto camera with OIS that brings 3.3x optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom. There is also a 2MP monochrome camera that works with the main sensor so you can shoot in black and white.
There are a lot of camera features packed into the camera app. There is a Hasselblad Pro mode that has a similar interface as a Hasselblad camera. There is also a Nightscape video mode that allows you to record brighter and sharper videos in low-light.
For the OnePlus 9, you get a Sony IMX689 48MP primary camera with standard HDR. It gets dual-native ISO and can also shoot in 12-bit RAW. There is also no OIS and it can only shoot 4K videos at 60fps but can still record in 8K at 30fps.
Thankfully, the standard model gets the same 50MP ultrawide angle camera with a Freeform lens and support for 4CM macro photography. It also has a 2MP monochrome camera but no telephoto camera.
Both phones have a 16MP front-facing camera with an HDR mode.
Pricing and Availability
Below are the prices and configurations according to the different regions:
U.S.A.:
The OnePlus 9 is priced at $729 for the 8-128GB config whereas the 12-256GB config retails for $829. The OnePlus 9 Pro 8-128GB config is $969 and the 12-256GB tops out at $1069.
Europe:
In Europe, the OnePlus 9 will set you by €699 for the 8-128GB version and €799 for the 12-256GB version. The OnePlus 9 Pro will set you by €899 for the 8-128GB version and €999 for the 12-256GB version.
India:
Last but not the least, the OnePlus 9 will be costing ₹49,999 for the 8-128G version and ₹54,999 for the 12-256GB version. The OnePlus 9 Pro will cost ₹64,999 for the 8-128GB version and ₹69,999 for the 12-256GB version.
The phones will be available for pre-order starting March 26 before going on sale on April 2.
The phones are available in the following colours.
OnePlus 9: Winter Mist, Astral Black, Arctic Sky.
OnePlus 9 Pro: Morning Mist, Pine Green, Stellar Black.
