The OnePlus 9 brings a new level of camera performance to the table. Its new imaging modules, combined with a partnership with Hasselblad for color tuning, give it the tools to compete against the best Android phones out there.
The main camera is an impressive 48MP setup that captures great photos in daylight conditions. You can also take decent photos at night without flash thanks to the main sensor’s improved low-light capabilities.
Camera
The OnePlus 9 is a top-tier phone that comes in at $20 less than last year’s OnePlus 8. It upholds the company’s value-for-money promise with an impressive camera setup, wireless charging, and an assortment of high-end technologies.
The main camera sensor is a 48-megapixel Sony IMX689 borrowed from the OnePlus 8 Pro. The wide-angle sensor is a Sony IMX766 that’s also found in the OnePlus 9 Pro and OPPO Find X3 Pro.
OnePlus has also included a dedicated monochrome camera that helps add layering and detail to black-and-white photos. The result is quite pleasing.
Video
OnePlus has never been known for its camera performance, but this year’s partnership with Hasselblad seems to have worked in its favor. A combination of a 48-megapixel main Sony IMX689 sensor, 50MP wide-angle Sony IMX766 sensor, and 2MP monochrome sensor allow it to take some seriously good-looking shots in certain situations.
The results are quite impressive, with good detail and exposure in the majority of scenarios. Switching to Nightscape mode, meanwhile, yields some really nice images, with excellent detail and very little noise.
Video capture is also a strong suit for the OnePlus 9 Pro. The 48-megapixel resolution lets it take sharp images, even in low light, and the 3-HDR feature works really well. It captures three exposures at different values and then merges them for a wider dynamic range.
Display
The display on the OnePlus 9 is a high-refresh 120Hz OLED screen. This makes scrolling through menus and images silky smooth, even at full screen.
OnePlus’s display technology also supports 10-bit colors, which can increase the display’s gamut, so you can achieve deeper colors. You can manually adjust the color temperature, too.
One of the things that set OnePlus phones apart from most other Android devices is their custom interface, Oxygen OS. This is a simple reskin of Android, designed to be easy to use and quick to perform.
The camera itself is also quite impressive, with color accuracy that’s a step up from previous OnePlus phones. Dynamic range is good and sharpness is decent too. However, a few minor issues still crop up with low light and close-up images that don’t always focus as well.
Storage
OnePlus has long been touted as a top alternative to flagship phones from Apple and Samsung. It’s a brand that offers great performance, a high-end chipset, and a great-looking screen all at a very reasonable price.
The OnePlus 9 is no exception to this rule, with top-tier hardware and an excellent display. The OnePlus 9 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, up to 12GB RAM, and 128GB storage, and it’s fast enough to handle everything you throw at it.
The main camera is a 48MP Sony IMX386 sensor, which performs very well in low light. The main lens can also shoot in 8K 30fps, and there’s a Nightscape video mode that can capture up to 16x the number of pixels of standard 1080p videos.
