OnePlus 9 Pro

OnePlus is aiming to give the big guns a fight for their money and with the performance of the OnePlus 9 Pro, this phone gives a strong fight. Right out of the box you get the superfast Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 System on Chip (SoC) which offers a snappy performance. Small tasks like closing the background applications are also very fast. A fast and supercharged experience makes playing AAA games on this a wonderful experience. The Snapdragon 888 is more than competent enough to tackle today’s games and the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G is very capable of running the usual AAA games at the highest graphics possible.

Source: OnePlus 9 Pro

There is a slight issue of the OnePlus 9 Pro overheating, after thirty minutes of hardcore gaming with the metal back feeling a tad bit warmer. Other than that, swiping lists and shifting apps are very smooth. You also get the new Oxygen OS 11 built on the Android 11 platform that is not much different than the previous models of the OnePlus flagships. The audio performance is also above average with the sound quality being enhanced by Dolby Atmos.

The display department is another region where OnePlus has done a fantastic job. The OnePlus 9 Pro 5G comes with a 6.7-inch display with a QHD+ resolution and HDR 10+ certification and a variable 120Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate is surely the talk of the town, with different applications being able to leverage different refresh rates based on their needs. Some apps can use a 60Hz refresh rate, while others can use a 90 to 120 Hz refresh rate. But the cherry on the cake is that certain AAA games can leverage up to 360 Hz refresh rate while using the Hyper Touch option. You also get an in-screen fingerprint sensor that is very responsive but awkwardly placed. You will have to do some finger acrobatics in reaching the fingerprint sensor while holding the phone. You also get a standard Gorilla Glass Protection.

Rest assured that the OnePlus 9 Pro’s screen will produce vivid colors and a bright display. 

Under the slim design and power-packed army of features, the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G also boasts of a 4500 mAh battery, that will last you for a whole day. The OnePlus 9 Pro 5G comes with a 65W fast charger that uses OnePlus’s Warp Charge that charges two smaller cells instead of one. The new 65W charger will fully charge your phone, under half an hour. Even with heavy usage, your OnePlus 9 Pro should last you an entire day. Introduced with the OnePlus 9 Pro is the 50W wireless WARP fast charging that will get juice into your phone in about 45 minutes.

The camera setup is something that we have long waited to see in the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G given its partnership with Hasselblad. You might have expected to see a Hasselblad sensor but that is not the case. OnePlus 9 Pro gets new sensors in the rear camera but those are from Sony. The rear camera setup includes a 48 MP main snapper with a Sony IMX789 sensor, a 50 MP ultra-wide-angle Sony IMX766 sensor, an 8 MP optically stabilized telephoto lens, and a 2 MP monochrome lens that can shoot in black and white only. The drawback is the selfie camera, which is yet again not updated and just borrowed from the previous model, in this case, the 8 Pro. The color tone is managed by Hasselblad software and that’s the only Hasselblad touch to this setup.

Though there are certain improvements made to the camera setup, it is unfortunate that greater involvement of Hasselblad is not seen in the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G given the hype around the partnership.

There is nothing ambitious that OnePlus has tried to implement in the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G, which is good or bad based on personal preferences. The core shape is tall but the tactile buttons are easy to use and have good feedback. There is no headphone jack but you can use the USB-C port for that. The OnePlus 9 Pro comes with Gorilla Glass protection front and back and also an IP68 rating for dust and water protection. The edges of the curved-screen are flatter than the 8 Pro which helps avoid accidental touches.