The OnePlus 9, with its Hasselblad camera partnership and impressive specifications, seems like a compelling upgrade for OnePlus 8 owners. However, its higher price point and the introduction of the OnePlus 9R raises questions about its value proposition. Is it a worthwhile investment compared to its predecessor, other OnePlus models, or even competitors from Samsung? We delve into the OnePlus 9’s design, performance, camera capabilities, and battery life to see how it stacks up.
OnePlus 9 Price in India and Variants
OnePlus sent me the 12GB RAM variant (with 256GB of storage), priced at Rs. 54,999. It also comes in an 8GB RAM and 128GB storage configuration, priced at Rs. 49,999. Both variants offer the same LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage as the 9 Pro. Three colors are available: Astral Black, Arctic Sky, and Winter Mist (only available with the top-end variant). The pastel lilac hue of Winter Mist is attractive, though its glossy finish easily attracts fingerprints.
OnePlus 9 Design
My first impressions of the OnePlus 9 noted the company’s first use of a polycarbonate frame for its flagship number series. Samsung has recently made a similar compromise in its non-Plus or non-Ultra flagship smartphones. While this might be acceptable if the OnePlus 9 were priced similarly to the OnePlus 8T, the higher price makes it disappointing. It’s puzzling how a brand aspiring to compete in the premium smartphone segment would choose to take such a step backwards.
Despite the plastic frame, the OnePlus 9 feels solidly built and the frame does look like metal, even though it’s not. The lighter (183g) and slimmer (8.1mm) profile compared to the 9 Pro and even the 8T is a positive aspect. The alert slider and buttons offer good tactile feedback, similar to the 9 Pro. OnePlus continues to use Corning Gorilla Glass for the front and back of the phone. At the bottom, you find a USB Type-C port, dual-SIM tray, and speaker.
The OnePlus 9 boasts a 6.55-inch AMOLED display similar to the 8T. It lacks the LTPO OLED screen found in the 9 Pro, which is acceptable considering the lower price. The display features a full-HD+ resolution, HDR certification, and a 120Hz refresh rate. An in-display fingerprint sensor is also included, which works well despite its awkwardly low placement. Unlike the curved edges of the 9 Pro, the 9’s display is flat, but its borders are evenly slim all around. A hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera is located in the upper left corner.
The camera bump on the back is not very prominent and shares a similar shape with the 9 Pro, minus a few sensors. Overall, the OnePlus 9 looks quite similar to the 9 Pro, which is a good thing since it’s already a familiar design. However, the plastic frame is still a point of concern considering the price point. The box contents resemble those of the 9 Pro, except for the case, which is transparent instead of opaque.
OnePlus 9 Specifications and Software
The OnePlus 9 runs on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G SoC as the 9 Pro, but in India, it supports only two 5G bands compared to more in other regions. This is a clear example of OnePlus prioritizing the Pro model. In India, the OnePlus 9 does not have an IP rating for dust and water resistance, nor does it support wireless charging. OnePlus reserves these features for the Pro model in India, though not in all parts of the world.
The OnePlus 9 sold in Europe and North America supports 15W Qi wireless charging, making it slightly thicker and heavier than the Indian variant. If you purchase the OnePlus 9 in the US through T-Mobile, it will have an IP68 rating. The Indian model features a rubber gasket around the SIM tray, hinting at some level of water ingress protection, but the official rating is a significant omission. Given the pricing, I believe OnePlus should have included at least basic wireless charging and an IP rating in India, even if it meant a slight price increase.
Other features are similar to the 9 Pro. Both models offer Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, multiple sensors and satellite navigation systems, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, an updated haptic engine, and a better cooling system for the SoC. They share the same 4,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging.
OxygenOS 11, based on Android 11, powers the software experience. My unit received several updates after launch, and the experience has been better than with the 9 Pro, which still has some bugs to be addressed. Hyper-Touch, which boosts the display’s touch response to 360Hz in specific games, is missing from the 9, but the software is otherwise nearly identical to the 9 Pro.
OnePlus 9 Performance and Battery Life
From the start, the OnePlus 9’s performance has been impressive. It’s a more comfortable phone to use than the 9 Pro or 8T. The lighter and slimmer design contributes to a better in-hand feel, and the flat display minimizes accidental touches. The 120Hz refresh rate makes every gesture feel snappy and fluid, dropping down to 60Hz in certain apps to conserve power. The display is excellent: colors are vibrant, brightness is very good, and viewing angles are more than satisfactory.
The earpiece and bottom speaker offer a great stereo effect, with good volume levels. The sound quality is comparable to the 9 Pro, making gaming and video consumption truly enjoyable. Like the OnePlus 9 Pro, the OnePlus 9 effortlessly handles even the most demanding games on the Google Play Store. It doesn’t overheat excessively, since everything runs at full-HD+ instead of QHD+ like on the 9 Pro. Titles such as Asphalt 9: Legends and Call of Duty: Mobile looked stunning on the phone’s display.
The OnePlus 9 provides excellent battery life, even slightly better than the 9 Pro in my opinion. Our HD video battery loop test ran for almost 17 hours, an hour longer than the 9 Pro. With typical usage, including gaming, video watching, and social media and Chrome browsing, I was easily able to go one full day and more before needing to charge. Heavy camera use and intense gaming can drain the battery within a day, but most users can expect a full day’s use on a single charge. Even if you run low on power, the OnePlus 9 charges incredibly quickly thanks to the 65W charger.
OnePlus 9 Cameras
The cameras on the OnePlus 9 represent a significant upgrade over its predecessor, primarily due to superior sensors. The Hasselblad partnership is also a factor, but for the 9 series, its main benefit is seen in the color tuning of JPEGs rather than any other aspect. The primary 48-megapixel sensor is borrowed from the OnePlus 8 Pro, with the added advantage of Hasselblad’s color science. However, OnePlus has removed optical stabilization, a questionable decision. The 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera features the same sensor and lens setup as the 9 Pro, while the third camera is a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor. The OnePlus 9 lacks a telephoto camera, meaning all magnification is strictly digital.
Landscape shots taken during the day capture excellent detail and colors, often matching the quality of photos from the OnePlus 9 Pro. The ultra-wide camera produces superb detail too, with minimal distortion around the edges. However, unlike on the 9 Pro, the camera app doesn’t automatically engage the ultra-wide camera when you approach a subject; macro mode needs to be enabled manually.
Close-ups also benefit from good sharpness and colors, but occasionally, the subject appears to have soft focus or the area in focus isn’t precisely what I selected during the shot. This is a random occurrence, and hopefully, a software update can address it. Both rear cameras perform well in low light with landscape shots, but close-ups require some effort to capture effectively without stabilization to compensate for minor handshakes. Detail and colors are slightly less vibrant than those produced by the 9 Pro.
The selfie camera is the same one used for the OnePlus 9 Pro, which is decent but not exceptional. You can capture pleasing selfies during the day with the right camera angle, but overall, the images look fairly average, and the quality further deteriorates in low light.
With most OnePlus flagships, the cameras improve after several software updates, and the OnePlus 9 has already received a number of them since launch. After updating both the 9 and 9 Pro to the latest Oxygen OS 11.2.2.2 (at the time of this review), I noticed that both phones still aggressively sharpen textures, leading to some fringing along the edges of objects when images are zoomed in all the way. Despite having the same sensor, the OnePlus 9 still produces marginally better detail in landscape shots compared to the 8 Pro. However, close-ups remain somewhat inconsistent with the OnePlus 9, as sometimes, the final photo doesn’t live up to the image seen in the viewfinder.
The OnePlus 9 shares similar video capabilities with the 9 Pro. It supports 8K 30fps recording, but 4K recording is limited to 60fps, unlike the 9 Pro, which offers 120fps. Video quality is good during the day, and even low-light footage is clean with minimal noise. However, the electronic stabilization introduces some jitter in the video, which is more pronounced at night. The OnePlus 9 can shoot HDR video, but it needs to be enabled manually, unlike the 9 Pro, which automatically engages it based on the scene.
While shooting 8K video, the OnePlus 9 issued an overheating warning after recording three consecutive clips (8K videos are limited to five minutes per clip). The phone eventually stopped recording during the fourth clip, slightly better than the 9 Pro, which typically stopped midway through the second clip.
Verdict
Since the OnePlus 7 series, each non-Pro OnePlus model has been intended for mainstream buyers, while the Pro model was for those who want everything, with corresponding prices. With the 9 series starting at Rs. 50,000, it seems both models are now targeting the premium segment. OnePlus has even introduced a third model for the Indian market this year, the lower-priced OnePlus 9R, to bridge the "value" gap between the OnePlus Nord and the OnePlus 9. So, should you invest in the OnePlus 9?
If you simply desire the latest Qualcomm SoC, the pricing is reasonable. Other phones with the Snapdragon 888 SoC, such as the Asus ROG Phone 5, also start at the same price. Compared to the OnePlus 8T, the OnePlus 9 offers better ergonomics and rear cameras, which could be worth the premium for some.
Choosing between the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8 Pro for Rs. 5,000 more, I’d opt for the 8 Pro. While it might not be as slim or light as the 9, and its ultra-wide camera performance is weaker in certain situations, it features a sharper display, an aluminum body, an optically stabilized main camera, IP68 rating, and 30W wireless charging. The OnePlus 8 Pro also appears and feels more premium than the OnePlus 9.
The OnePlus 9 evokes a sense of déjà vu, similar to my experience with the OnePlus 8. While the 9 is a good smartphone in its own right, it’s difficult to recommend when you can find the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G and the OnePlus 8 Pro selling for roughly the same price. Add the OnePlus 9R to the mix, and the OnePlus 9 seems to be in a precarious position for now.
