Previous OnePlus phones have been successful enough to make the annual product refresh a highly anticipated event, and we now have the company's first flagship phones of 2021: the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro.
As previously confirmed, one of the highlights of the new handsets is the partnership with Hasselblad on the rear cameras, which should mean photos and videos that are better than ever. Advanced on-board color tuning and a Hasselblad Pro Mode in the software are two of the first fruits of the partnership.
Under the hood, the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro come running the top-tier Snapdragon 888 processor from Qualcomm, and that can be paired with either 8 GB or 12 GB of RAM and either 128 GB or 256 GB of internal storage. 5G support is available on both these handsets.
The extras you get with the Pro model are mostly related to the screen and the camera. It comes with a larger 6.7-inch, 3,216 x 1,440 pixel AMOLED display. As for the rear camera, there's a quad-lens 48-MP wide + 50-MP ultrawide + 8-MP telephoto + 2-MP monochrome rear camera, and that's capable of up to 3.3x optical zoom. Video recording goes up to 8K at 30 frames per second.
Compare that to a 6.55-inch, 2,400 x 1,080 pixel AMOLED screen, and a triple-lens 48-MP wide + 50-MP ultrawide + 2-MP monochrome rear camera on the standard OnePlus 9. There's no optical zoom, but video recording still goes up to 8K at 30 fps, and the display on both handsets boasts a super-speedy 120-Hz refresh rate.
Rounding out the specs, both the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro pack in a 4,500-mAh capacity battery with 65-W wired charging, though the Pro model offers 50-W wireless charging as well, compared with 15-W wireless charging on the standard model. It's another little extra that might make the upgrade worth it.
Apart from the sizes, there's not much to choose between the design when it comes to these two models: both have a small punch hole notch in the top left-hand corner of the display, housing a single-lens 16-MP selfie camera. Both have a fingerprint sensor embedded under the display.
While there are no real surprises with the OnePlus 9 or OnePlus 9 Pro, they're undoubtedly going to be two of the phones to beat in 2021. Pricing starts at US$729 for the OnePlus 9 (available in a blue-ish Arctic Sky, an Astral Black, or a purple-ish Winter Mist color), and at $1,069 for the OnePlus 9 Pro (available in a Stellar Black, a Pine Green or a silvery Morning Mist color). Pre-orders are open now, with shipping scheduled for March 26.
Product page: OnePlus 9