Review | OnePlus 9 Pro 5G, OnePlus 9 5G review: great cameras, superfast charging on new flagship phones from the Chinese brand
- OnePlus says its new phones can go from an empty battery to a full charge in 29 minutes with the included Warp charger
- The 9 Pro 5G has a great screen, tons of RAM, storage and high-quality camera lenses by Hasselblad, which has a three-year partnership with the phone company
Back in 2014, OnePlus introduced the OnePlus One, which was only available by invitation. This created a bit of buzz from the Android community, and it increased the demand for the new phone. The OnePlus One had a price of US$299 and was touted as a flagship killer.
Design and hardware
Like Apple, OnePlus uses the “Pro” designation for its higher-end phones. The 9 Pro features a 6.7-inch Amoled screen that curves down at the sides. It has a resolution of 3,216 by 1,440 pixels.
The screen has a 120-hertz refresh rate that changes dynamically depending on need. This means the screen refreshes up to 120 times per second, but only if the current task requires it. If your phone is sitting on your desk open to the home screen, the refresh rate slows down to save battery power.
Software and features
The 9 Pro runs Android 11 with Oxygen OS on top (Oxygen is OnePlus’ Android customisation). The processor is the very speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 with 5G, and it runs an Audreno 660 graphics processor.
The 9 Pro comes in two configurations: 8 gigabytes of RAM and 128 GB of storage or 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. It has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2., and an in-display fingerprint sensor that worked quickly.
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Performance and battery life
The first thing you’ll notice as you look around the phone is the large camera bump with the Hasselblad name in silver. The 9 Pro has four camera lenses on the back and one on the front.
The rear lenses include a 48-megapixel main lens (wide angle), a 50-megapixel ultrawide-angle lens, an 8-megapixel telephoto lens (3.3x) and a 2-megapixel monochrome depth camera.
You can capture 8K video at 30 frames per second and 4K video at up to 120 frames per second, which creates stunning slow-motion clips. The selfie camera has a 16-megapixel sensor with a wide-angle lens.
The camera app has a Pro mode that lets the shooter change the ISO, white balance, shutter speed, exposure compensation and switch to manual focus. The Pro mode only works with the main wide-angle lens.
The ultrawide-angle camera has a new feature called a Freeform Lens that removes distortion from your wide shots as you shoot. The Hasselblad collaboration is said to bring industry-leading colour performance with natural colour calibration. The 9 Pro takes some really nice photos. I have no doubt the 9 and 9 Pro can compete with any smartphone camera.
If you’d like a slightly less expensive option, the OnePlus 9 5G shares many of the important features of the 9 Pro 5G for a few hundred dollars less.
Conclusion
OnePlus has a loyal following, but it is nowhere near the size of the following of Samsung and Apple.
The Chinese manufacturer won’t be overtaking them any time soon, but it keeps coming out with great phones. The 9 Pro 5G has all the features I look for in a phone. It is fast and has a great screen, superfast charging, tons of RAM and storage and high-quality camera lenses. The 9 5G is also good and worth your time, especially if you want to save some money.
The 9 Pro 5G costs US$969 for the 8/128 GB model and US$1,069 for the 12/256 GB model. Colours for the 9 Pro include grey and green. The OnePlus 9 5G is priced at US$729 for the 8/128 model and US$829 for the 12/256 model. Colours are black and grey.
