I’ve shown an interest with OnePlus since their Oneplus 3. During the years, they’ve always put out high spec phones at a lower price than everyone else, sometimes with even better specs in areas where it matters most, such as with charging, RAM capacity, and display technology.
The OnePlus 9 Pro continues this tradition. Though it is by far the company’s most expensive phone ($1,069; its price has dropped to $900 at the moment), it’s still cheaper than its competitors whilst offering a similar or better experience. Utilizing Qualcomm’s most powerful chip, the Snapdragon 888, it has 5G capability (and WiFi 6), 12GB of the latest memory (LPDDr5) with 256GB of UFS 3.1 (the latest SSD specification for smartphones).
Since the OnePlus 7 Pro, we have seen the best displays any smartphone has had to offer. The OnePlus 9 Pro has a LTPO Quad HD+ display with a variable 120hz refresh rate display. This means the refresh rate automatically changes; 120hz when you need it, and down to 1hz to save battery life (like when viewing a static image). I’ve never viewed such a smooth and sharp screen before. More so, it’s extremely responsive, offering a 360 hz touch sampling rate, which means your touch input is sampled 360 times a second; other phones usually offer only 120 hz at most.
The cameras has seen some substantial upgrades, probably thanks to OnePlus’s partnership with the legendary Hasselblad. There are 3 significant cameras, the primary 48 megapixel (which has the largest sensor size, which is capable of improving quality), the 50 megapixel wide angle camera, which also functions as a macro camera (used for closeups), and a telephoto camera. There are some new goodies in the video department, as the 9 Pro can shoot at 8K at 30 fps, 4k at 120fps. More impressive is that there’s also low light video mode and a HDR video mode, as both features were traditionally locked to photography.
OnePlus has always had the best charging, no question about it. The 2016 OnePlus 3 offered rapid 20W charging, at a time when Apple was still bundling wimpy 5W chargers, even with their upcoming $1000 iPhone X. Now, Apple (and Samsung) don’t even include chargers anymore. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 9 Pro comes with a blistering fast 65 watt charger (proprietorially known as Warp Charge 65), capable of fully charging the phone in around 30 minutes.
But wait, there’s more, not just for OnePlus, but for others too. The included charger supports the latest universal charging standard, USB PD PPS, at up to 45 watts. This is used to charge devices like laptops (if they have a USB-C port that accepts charging), and charge faster any USB PD compliant device, like the Google Pixels. This power adapter is one for all.
Finally, let’s talk software. Though OnePlus is a smaller brand than competitors like LG or Samsung, it has a good track record with updates, and provides a great Android experience, as usual. However, for carrier branded OnePlus phones, like with T-Mobile, there traditionally has been slower updates and missing features. My experience with the OnePlus 9 Pro shows that there is no longer a discrepancy with the T-Mo variant and one purchased directly from OnePlus, which is really great. Just hope you don’t mind the “magenta” T-Mobile boot animation when you power on the phone.