OnePlus 9 Pro

The OnePlus 9 Pro is the culmination of the company's efforts over the past two years, and it is the first time that we have felt the presence of a smartphone from the company that comes with the full package of leading specifications.

This phone offers superior power, a great camera experience and all the specs and features you would expect from a leading smartphone today. This is a phone that can compete strongly with the best phones from the biggest brands.

However, it also comes at a high price compared to the previous generations, and there is no denying that the OnePlus 9 Pro is a very expensive option if you are considering a new phone.

Nothing is missing here, as the lack of microSD support is one of the few features that this smartphone does not offer when compared to other phones.

OnePlus 9 Pro Specs

The OnePlus 9 Pro has a premium design, with a 6.7-inch QHD display that delivers powerful brightness levels and great color quality, while an ultra-smooth 120Hz refresh rate adds even more flexibility.

The phone itself may be a little too big for some, but the design deserves to be commended, with a glass back and three color options because the company is keen that the new OnePlus phone matches your taste.

The OnePlus 9 Pro's biggest upgrade is in the camera department. The company focuses heavily on photography here, which includes partnering with legendary camera brand Hasselblad to improve how color is processed.

In terms of photography, it may not be the best option ever for everyone, but OnePlus has made notable improvements and is now a good phone that can compete with the likes of iPhone 12 or Samsung Galaxy S21.

The Pro version is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, and the phone is fully capable of doing everything you need to. The battery life isn't the best we've ever seen in a smartphone, but it'll probably last an entire day, and there's support for two fast charging options.

The OnePlus 9 Pro is the best smartphone the brand has ever made, and while it is an expensive phone, it can comfortably compete with other high-end options, such as the Galaxy S21 Ultra or iPhone 12 Pro Max.

OnePlus 9 Pro price

The OnePlus 9 Pro was unveiled on March 23, 2021 in a virtual event that was streamed online, and pre-orders began right after the event ended. The release date varies depending on where you live, but the phone went on sale on March 31, and hit some markets in April.

The phone comes at a price of $ 850, equivalent to 13,000 Egyptian pounds, for the higher version 12 + 256 GB, while the smaller version is sold 8 + 128 GB for $ 710, or more than 11 thousand pounds, which is a good price for sure considering that it is a pioneering phone, the phone is available in the market European and in the Middle East in the UAE only.

Design

The OnePlus 9 Pro isn't a huge departure from the company's past few phones, and if you've owned a phone from the company since the OnePlus 7, you wouldn't be particularly surprised by the design here.

It looks excellent, and when you handle the device, it feels special. OnePlus 9 Pro has a glass back, the phone has metal edges. On the right edge is the power button, and above it there is a silent slider that enables you to quickly mute your phone when you want to. The volume button is located on the left edge.

The bottom edge of the phone is home to the USB-C charging slot, along with the SIM card tray and speaker grille.

OnePlus has reduced the camera bump on this phone compared to previous phones, but it still protrudes from the back of the phone. You'll find the Hasselblad logo emblazoned on the camera along with four sensors.

Overall, the OnePlus 9 Pro has a premium look and design that can rival any other high-end phone you'll find in the market right now. Not much has changed here compared to previous OnePlus Pro phones, and that's fine for us.

Display

OnePlus 9 Pro comes with a large, high-resolution screen that matches being the Pro version. It measures 6.7 inches and comes with a resolution of QHD and a quality of 1440 x 3216 pixels with a pixel density of 525 pixels per inch.

Brightness is good, although auto-brightness mode may sometimes struggle to become bright enough in some scenarios. If you're in direct sunlight, you'll likely want to play around with the brightness features to make sure you can see the screen clearly.

The screen has a refresh rate of 120Hz, which is starting to become the common standard across all leading Android phones. This means that the screen refreshes 120 times per second, instead of 60 times on older smartphones and some current flagships, like the iPhone 12, which comes with a 60Hz refresh rate.

There's also an in-display fingerprint scanner, and we've found that this technology works at a similar speed to most other flagships coming with this technology in 2021.

Camera

OnePlus smartphones have struggled to keep up with other Android flagships in the camera department, but the OnePlus 9 Pro has the best camera we've seen on a phone from the company.

OnePlus has upgraded the photography experience by including new sensors in combination with SonyAnd by collaborating with the famous camera manufacturer Hasselblad to improve color processing, so that the captured images are reproduced as accurately as possible.

The main camera is a 48MP sensor, which is the Sony IMX789 sensor that was designed in collaboration with Sony. There are three other cameras on the back, including a 50MP ultra-wide lens and a Sony IMX766 sensor.

There is also an 8MP telephoto sensor that supports true optical zoom up to 3x, while the last camera is a 2MP depth sensor which basically allows you to capture high quality black and white photos.

The main sensor on the OnePlus 9 Pro is the best main camera we've seen on any OnePlus phone before, and we've found that it can take great photos that are saturated with colour, great looking and full of detail.

If you compare the images with those taken with previous OnePlus phones, you will find that the colors look more natural, which we assume is the result of the aforementioned collaboration with Hasselblad. The image quality here is similar to what you get from Apple's iPhones, not what you see from a Samsung phone, for example.

Pictures taken with the telephoto sensor look good and can be used to send to your friends via social media apps. As you'd probably expect, things get worse the further you zoom in, with the images appearing to be significantly less detailed than those of the great telephoto camera at Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

For video, you can record in 8K at up to 30 frames per second, which is one of the best video recording quality we've seen on any Android phone. This quality is pretty much unnecessary if it's a video you're going to watch again on the phone, as you have to keep in mind that recording videos in that resolution will take up a lot of internal storage.

We have a single 16MP front camera which is a Sony IMX741 sensor. This isn't the best selfie camera we've seen on a smartphone, but we were happy enough with the photos and videos it took.

Internal hardware

The OnePlus 9 Pro is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, and as was the case with other Android phones that use this processor, we were impressed with the outstanding performance it enables, as the phone runs apps with almost the utmost ease and smoothness.

You get either 8 or 12 GB of RAM depending on which version you decide to buy, and while the extra 4 GB won't make much difference for most users, you'll get double the internal storage as well.

The base model comes with 8 + 128 GB, while we have the higher version which is 12 + 256 GB.

As with other OnePlus devices, there's no support for an external memory card, so you'll be limited to the internal storage space you buy. If you think you'll be using your phone for a few years, we recommend choosing the 256GB version.

The OnePlus 9 Pro is also a 5G phone, so you'll be equipped to take advantage of the next generation of internet connectivity even if you don't expect to use it in the near future.

The phone comes with Android 11 operating system pre-installed, with the OxygenOS user interface which brings with it a variety of features such as the always-on display.

Battery

The OnePlus 9 Pro certainly won't offer the best battery life, but it will still get you through a full day of typical use on just one charge. On only one or two occasions during our testing time did we need to give the OnePlus 9 Pro a phone credit boost at around 10pm.

The fact that the battery is definitely big can't be ignored, but don't let the numbers fool you as the phone won't last for two days if you use the phone regularly.

With particularly heavy use we've found that the phone won't last a full day on a single charge, but it helps here that we have excellent fast charging support so you can quickly charge your phone when you need to.

There is 65W wired charging, and perhaps the most impressive feature is that the OnePlus 9 Pro supports 50W wireless charging, which is one of the highest speeds we've seen for this technology.

Unlike competing phones from Samsung and Apple, the OnePlus 9 Pro comes with a charger in the box. Many manufacturers have removed chargers from the case, citing the need to reduce electronic waste, but OnePlus has deemed it appropriate to include a charger in this phone's case.

OnePlus 9 Pro Pros and Cons

OnePlus 9 Pro comparison with other flagship phones

Phone pictures and colors

OnePlus 9 Pro Review

Specifications and price