New 5G Flagship Phones Take The Fight To Android Rivals

Competition among 5G Android phones is fierce, but OnePlus is a brand that has been making strong inroads in recent years by catering to enthusiast fans that want a definitive set of top-shelf features in their handsets. As such, OnePlus has become known for its high-end, high refresh rate displays, high-powered wired and wireless charging and powerful internal hardware, with typically more system RAM and storage versus some major competing brands like Samsung. However, one area that OnePlus has been working hard to improve is it computational photography chops, and that’s exactly what the new OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro, which were just launched this morning, intend to make good on.

With cameras developed in collaboration with Hasselblad, the OnePlus 9 series offers an impressive list of photography features driven primarily by their 48MP Sony rear sensors (a new Sony IMX 789 sensor for the 9 Pro model and the tried and true IMX 689 for the OnePlus 9) with f/1.9 aperture lenses. Both also share the same stout 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera, along with 2MP monochrome cameras for those moody black and white shots, along with 16MP front-facing selfie cameras. There is a big differentiator between the Pro and non-Pro OnePlus 9 models, however. The OnePlus 9’s main rear camera doesn’t have Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and has to rely on Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) to steady shots in low light or otherwise. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 9 Pro has both OIS and EIS and, as such, its primary camera performance is superior in general, with sharper shots, especially in lower lighting conditions. In addition, the OnePlus 9 Pro also has a dedicated 8MP f/2.4 Telephoto lens for superior zoomed shot performance as well.

Finally, where Hasselblad comes into the mix for both phones is with respect to color tuning and sensor calibration, rather than hardware specific optimizations. In the future, OnePlus notes its partnership with Hasselblad could expand beyond just tuning and into glass and other areas. With all this high-end camera gear on board, you might be wondering how things stack up. Here’s a quick taste, but be sure to check out Myriam’s OnePlus 9 Series review at HotHardware for more.

The phones themselves look fantastic, with the OnePlus 9 Pro coming in Morning Mist (seen above), Cloud White, Midnight Gray, Gold, Violet and Special Edition Blue color options, whereas the OnePlus 9 is offered in Winter Mist, Arctic Sky and Astral Black (seen above).

The OnePlus 9 Pro has a slightly curved, waterfall QHD+ display at up to 3216×1440 resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh at 1300 nits max brightness. The OnePlus 9 offers a 2400X1080, FHD display also at 120Hz adaptive refresh with 11oo nits brightness. Both displays are gorgeous and some of the best in the smartphone business currently, with the 9 Pro’s display offering just a touch more brightness for better viewability in full sunlight.

Both phones deliver class-leading performance, powered by Qualcomm’s excellent Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platform SoC. The OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro delivered some of the best benchmark scores we’ve seen from an Android phone yet, save perhaps for the much bulkier ASUS ROG Phone 5, which is a different beast altogether.

Regardless, you can expect up to 25% better general purposes performance and even higher than that for gaming with the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, along with solid battery life as well. We measured well in excess of 12 hours for the 9 Pro at its 60Hz display refresh rate (nearly 11 hours at 120Hz), and in excess of 14 hours of continuous, always on up-time for the OnePlus 9 at 60Hz (almost 13 hours at 120Hz). Further, OnePlus also packs 65 Watt ultra-fast Warp chargers in the box for both devices; a serious value-add when you consider brands like Samsung and Apple are removing chargers completely from phone bundles. In addition, the OnePlus 9 Pro also now supports 50 Watt wireless OnePlus Warp charging, while the OnePlus 9 standard also supports 15 Watt Qi charging. In short, these phones can perform when you need it and handle whatever you throw at them, and also last all day and then some, if need be with ultra-quick top-offs.

The only downsides for these new OnePlus phones are possibly their respective price points, starting at $729 for 8GB RAM / 128GB storage and $969 for 8GB RAM / 128GB memory/storage options, for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro, respectively, coupled with some carrier support weirdness. Currently, both phones are supported by T-Mobile’s Sub-6 5G network, with the 9 Pro supporting T-Mo’s mmWave as well (no mmWave for the OnePlus 9, unfortunately). OnePlus is also working on Verizon 5G support as well, including mmWave, but that support is not official yet. And unfortunately AT&T is a complete no-go at this point, which is really kind of silly when you consider most of OnePlus’ competitors offer unlocked devices with 5G support of some sort across all carriers, with Sub-6 only varying depending on model and price point. It just doesn’t make sense really, and I’m hopeful OnePlus will work hard in this area. Finally, another aspect of the OnePlus 9 (not the Pro) itself that is a bit of a miss, is the lack of OIS on its rear camera. At $729, it should be in there and it doesn’t seem like a costly adder at all, considering OnePlus has made it available on lower-prices, previous-gen devices.

Regardless, generally speaking, these are a great new generation of flagship Android phone options on the market now from OnePlus, and in fact, I might well make the OnePlus 9 Pro my daily driver for a while. It’s that nice. Again, be sure to check out HotHardware’s review for the deep dive. There’s a lot to unpack and it’s all covered there.