OnePlus 9 Pro Review – Everything you need to know

The OnePlus 9 Professional (starting up at $969.99) provides a streamlined flagship knowledge to T-Mobile and Verizon subscribers, lastly catching up to its competition. The phone alone is light in the hand, and the consumer working experience is weightless as nicely. The cameras take knockout shots in rather substantially all situations and the built-in quickly charging is the ideal we’ve seen. The Galaxy S21 Ultra scores a little bit far better in our battery and wi-fi radio testing, operates with Samsung’s exceptional S Pen stylus, and its digicam delivers killer optical zoom, so it just edges out the nine Professional to be our Editors’ Selection amongst flagship smartphones. Even now, the OnePlus 9 Professional is excellent. If you want a major-notch, loaded mobile phone that would make your heart sing, you happen to be now spoiled for choice.

The OnePlus Assure Is At last Understood
OnePlus was when a firm that designed a one terrific mobile phone at a time. Now it has a total line of phones at T-Mobile (and suppliers these types of as Google Fi, Metro, and Mint Mobile that use T-Mobile’s networks): the $969.99 OnePlus 9 Pro, the $729.ninety nine OnePlus nine, the $299.99 OnePlus Nord N10, and the $179.ninety nine OnePlus Nord N100. They all share the OnePlus philosophy, which suggests speedy, exquisite application and a streamlined bodily style and design.

Cameras have normally been the a single area OnePlus tended to tumble driving Samsung and Apple, so OnePlus created a deal with Hasselblad for color tuning and bought a new sensor from Sony. As a consequence, the 9 Pro’s rear digicam stack stands out from the competitors. It may not have unbelievable optical zoom like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely, but it gives numerous much more choices for artistic expression. In addition to the regular wide and ultra-vast lenses you’ll discover on most phones, OnePlus extra an XPan mode that produces photographs in a sixty five:24 structure.

The OnePlus 9 provides comparable in general functionality to the nine Professional but actions down a little bit on display, digicam, and radio high quality, and it does not integrate tremendous-speedy wireless charging. If you do not thoughts individuals downgrades, you can help you save $240 and get an even smaller sized and lighter phone. See our evaluation of the OnePlus nine for all the facts.

Mild, Sleek Style and design
The 9 Pro’s base design has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The 12GB/256GB design costs an additional $100. There is no memory card slot. The telephone is perfectly sized, measuring six.forty two by 2.89 by .34 inches (HWD) and weighing six.9 ounces. my website ‘s a minimal wider than the two.8 inches we use as the cutoff width measurement for little phones, but it is noticeably scaled-down and lighter than the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and narrower than the OnePlus eight Professional. Of the three, the 9 Pro is the easiest to use with a one hand.

A few sights of the OnePlus nine Pro, exhibiting the inexperienced and silver circumstance selections.
The OnePlus nine Pro will come in environmentally friendly or silver.
The structure, incredibly in tune with OnePlus’ “burdenless design” philosophy, is slim and exquisite. The phone’s physique is rounded, with the traditional OnePlus mute swap on the left aspect and the Hasselblad-branded digicam module on the again. The camera does not stick out just about as a lot as latest Samsung digicam bumps do (for the reason that it does not have a big periscopic zoom lens in it). The front-experiencing camera is a gap-punch on the higher still left corner, just like on the eight Pro.

The cell phone has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, and arrives in two hues. If you’re not likely to set your cellular phone in a circumstance, we like the matte pine environmentally friendly improved than the mirrored silver morning mist glass back again, which attracts greasy fingerprints. Our critique unit arrived with a black carbon-fiber case that designed that situation moot. (You will find a 3rd, black cellphone, but OnePlus tells us it would not be offered in the US.)

The again of the OnePlus nine Pro in silver
The mirrored again of the silver circumstance is a fingerprint magnet.
Compared with the Galaxy S21 Extremely and new iPhones, your OnePlus cell phone arrives with a cable and a 65W charger. Luxury! You will find a purpose: OnePlus takes advantage of proprietary USB-C chargers. However the cellular phone will cost from any USB-C supply, it’s going to only achieve its best charging speeds with the involved adapter.

There is certainly no headphone jack or USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter in the box. That stated, the nine Pro sports activities aptX, aptX Hd, LHDC, and Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth codecs for great wireless audio. If you opt for OnePlus’ Buds Pro earphones, you’ll get custom made faucet functions together with 24-bit/96kHz audio at up to 900kbits/s. If you are seeking at other wi-fi earbuds, look for a pair with LDAC because it can be additional widely available and delivers the highest-resolution audio delivered in excess of Bluetooth.

As for the onboard speakers, the audio high quality is great. Dual stereo speakers provide audio with a peak quantity of 98dB and a stunning little bit of mid-bass. For voice calls, which have a highest volume of 81dB, the telephone supports the ideal voice codec at this time readily available, High definition voice with EVS.

A Brilliant, However Battery-Conserving Show
The vibrant and crisp 6.seven-inch, 525ppi, three,216-by-one,440-pixel monitor can be dialed back to 1080p in the phone’s options if you want to preserve battery life. The display screen uses a rather new technological innovation named small-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) that lessens power consumption and provides cellular phone makers extra handle over refresh rates. It can be the exact same know-how that powers Apple’s Iphone thirteen Professional versions as properly as the Samsung Galaxy S21 sequence.

The LTPO exhibit of the OnePlus 9 Professional, exhibiting an impression of clouds
The LTPO exhibit allows preserve power.
This is a best-of-the-line OLED display with a bonus: It really is really noticeable in direct sunlight. A display screen protector is preinstalled we failed to eliminate it from our test device. In accordance to DisplayMate Labs checks, the 9 Pro’s show established to Auto Brightness manner beats the 8 Pro, the Galaxy S20 series, and the newest iPhones in ambient light, but not the Galaxy Observe twenty Extremely. The 9 Professional also increases the utmost coloration gamut in its vivid display mode, which aids it retain coloration saturation in outdoor lighting.

Large brightness mode outcomes
Other than in brightness and coloration, the nine Pro’s exhibit is just not effortlessly distinguishable from other modern top rated-of-the-line OLED panels. The true news is electrical power optimization, as the LTPO panel dynamically—and imperceptibly—changes its refresh charge from 120Hz all the way down to 1Hz to help save energy. Verify out our in-depth exclusive for additional on the screen.

Color change results
Remarkable Velocity and Relieve of Use
OnePlus phones are normally rapidly, and the OnePlus 9 Professional is no exception. It’s run by a leading-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. It scored a little bit far better than the Galaxy S21 Extremely on Geekbench, with solitary-core scores all over 1125 and multi-main scores close to 3700. That’s a 24% increase on single-main outcomes and a 12% boost on multi-main success in excess of the OnePlus eight Professional. None of these phones can surpass the Iphone twelve, although, which scored 1596 SC and 4049 MC with its Apple A14 processor.

The Snapdragon 888 offers a raise in graphics overall performance, also. On the GFXBench Automobile Chase offscreen benchmark, the nine Pro scored around 70fps, with 37fps onscreen in WQHD mode and 58fps onscreen in Hd method. That’s a main soar up from the eight Pro, which scored 51fps offscreen and possibly 26 or 45fps onscreen relying on display screen resolution.

See How We Take a look at Phones

These benchmarks never get into account OnePlus’ software program, which incorporates a bunch of efficiency enhancements. In our knowledge with OnePlus telephones, they feel like the speediest Android phones, even a lot quicker than Google Pixels (particularly due to the fact Google started using midrange chipsets in its flagships with the launch of the Pixel five).

The cellular phone runs Android 11 with OnePlus’ OxygenOS enhancements, and OnePlus claims it’ll get updates as much as Android 13 alongside with bi-month to month protection updates for three decades. For a flagship, which is a little disappointing, particularly because Samsung provides at minimum three several years of computer software updates on its price range A sequence designs.

The 9 Professional in a charging cradle displaying a video game.
Large-close video games participate in properly on the 9 Pro.
OxygenOS has often had a bunch of pleasant touches, this sort of as the potential to set up two copies of social-media applications for diverse accounts, a setting to alter display screen coloration primarily based on ambient light, and a Zen manner that temporarily disables the phone’s most distracting capabilities. With this edition, OnePlus adds RAM compression that it suggests raises the number of apps that can continue to be in memory with saved condition. Our exam unit experienced no difficulty maintaining 7 apps in memory, even with the large RAM-hog Genshin Impact at the back of the line.

To test cooling, which OnePlus claims it is improved more than past designs, we ran a processor-pumping app identified as CPU Throttling Test on the 9 Professional, the Galaxy S21, and the eight Professional for 15 minutes. At the 10-minute position, the 8 Pro’s overall performance took a sharp dive to about 80% of peak. Both of the newer phones were however retaining closer to 90% performance at that time. Immediately after 13 minutes of pumping the processor, the Galaxy S21’s performance efficiently declined to a very little more than eighty% of peak, whilst the nine Pro remained in the 90% array. Eventually, the nine Pro’s general performance declined appreciably at just about accurately fifteen minutes as the cellular phone tried to cool alone down. For the duration of the exam as a total, the nine Pro and Galaxy S21 performed at 87–88% of max efficiency, whilst the eight Professional was down at 78%.

Gaming functionality is amped up with a 360Hz touch reaction amount, but only in 4 apps: PUBG Mobile, Phone of Responsibility, League of Legends, and Brawl Stars. OnePlus suggests it will work on incorporating 360Hz contact assistance to a lot more video games. That would undoubtedly aid this element rise from a curiosity to a differentiator. The Samsung Galaxy S20 telephones present a 240Hz touch sampling fee Samsung doesn’t give a spec on the Galaxy S21, but we believe it really is the same.

Ultra-Super-Mega-Rapidly Charging
The pair of batteries in the nine Pro complete four,500mAh. Which is shorter of the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 5,000mAh, but OnePlus has a assortment of software package tricks up its sleeve to hold the telephone charged—so a lot of that we are not even positive all of them came into use through our testing.

On our typical battery check, managing a YouTube movie above Wi-Fi at whole screen brightness, the mobile phone lasted for eight hours, 50 minutes in WQHD resolution and 9 several hours, 40 minutes in Hd. Exhibit brightness matters a large amount to battery lifestyle: Acquire the brightness down to 75% and people figures leap to twelve several hours, forty minutes on WQHD and thirteen hrs on High definition. That is a lot shorter than the Galaxy S21 Ultra (11 hours 20 minutes) and the Galaxy S20 FE (twelve hours thirty minutes), but you must have no issues finding by a day of reasonable use.

But there is extra to this battery than meets the eye. To get started with, the display screen slows down to 1Hz when you might be seeking at static material, these as an e-mail you happen to be mulling more than or a web site of an e-reserve. That can be a huge energy saver. OnePlus also has a reputation for losing fewer electrical power to track record processes than Samsung does. If you use 75% display screen brightness most of the time, you may in all probability get additional than a working day of battery life from a person charge.

OnePlus 9 Professional with USB-C Port in concentrate
The Warp Charge 65T charger can entirely recharge the nine Professional in about 30 minutes.
The 9 Professional also has by far the fastest charging speeds of any cellular phone we’ve ever tested. It arrives with a Warp Charge 65T USB-C charger, which prices the 9 Professional from % to twenty% in six minutes and to a hundred% in just 36 minutes. That is 2 times as rapidly as any current Samsung cell phone prices. If you use a third-get together charger, the cell phone will cost at up to 18 watts, with correspondingly lengthier charge occasions.

The actual breakthrough is in OnePlus’ new Warp Demand fifty wi-fi charger, a $69.99 accessory cradle that plugs into your existing Warp Demand sixty five adapter to give fifty-watt wi-fi charging for the 9 Professional, or 15-watt Qi charging for any other machine. In screening with the Warp Cost 50, the nine Professional went to 29% in 11 minutes and one hundred% in 46 minutes. Other telephones, such as the nine, choose concerning 90 minutes and two hrs to wirelessly charge totally.


This all matches with OnePlus’ solution to cellular phone electric power: It may not have the greatest batteries in town, but it can refill them the speediest.

All the 5G Trimmings, for T-Mobile and Verizon
Like other Snapdragon 888 telephones, the 9 Professional uses a Qualcomm X60 modem, which performs with all of the features T-Cell and Verizon intend to use in the following number of many years, which includes new airwaves and aggregation strategies. It has Bluetooth five.2 and Wi-Fi six as properly, but not Wi-Fi 6E (unlike the Galaxy S21 Extremely).

T-Mobile is the only carrier promoting the 9 Pro, but if you buy an unlocked model from OnePlus or a retailer, it will also operate on Verizon. If you test to use it on AT&T, OnePlus states it will only join to 4G.

OnePlus nine (still left) and OnePlus 9 Pro (ideal).
OnePlus 9 (left) and OnePlus 9 Pro (correct)
The OnePlus 9 Pro has all of the new technologies becoming built-in into T-Cell and Verizon’s networks, including CBRS, C-band, and millimeter wave.

This is a one-SIM telephone, with no eSIM selection. With a T-Cellular SIM in, the cell phone enabled Wi-Fi contacting, “intelligent 5G” (which turns 5G on and off to help you save battery), and twin-channel network acceleration (which utilizes Wi-Fi and 5G at the same time if necessary). With an AT&T SIM in, as expected, the cell phone utilised only 4G and lacked Wi-Fi calling.

The massive spec distinction involving the 9 and the 9 Professional is that the nine Professional has mmWave. T-Cellular now only works by using mmWave in 7 towns, and is most probable to roll it out in tremendous-crowded locations: athletics stadiums, live performance halls, convention facilities, and the like. It really is a may possibly-be-great, not a must-have. It truly is is more fascinating on Verizon, which has mmWave in the centers of additional than 70 cities now.


We tested the nine and the nine Pro in opposition to the Samsung Galaxy S21 with 86 rounds of checks making use of Ookla Speedtest software in New York Town, in a variety of community circumstances. (Editors’ Take note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag’s publisher.) In excess of seventeen checks, the Galaxy S21 turned in the finest general performance, the nine Pro obtained a improve from mmWave to occur in next, and the nine dropped to third. Across a selection of non-mmWave assessments with blended signal quality, the Galaxy S21 came in very first place yet again. In a standalone T-Cell mid-band “ultra potential” place, on the other hand, the a few telephones done practically identically.

If you might be outside the house a important town, you are probably most concerned about weak-sign general performance. In our exams, the Galaxy S21 confirmed the strongest 4G RSRP sign 29 situations the nine Pro was strongest 26 occasions, and the nine was strongest 22 times. So the Galaxy S21 wins the moment once more, nevertheless not by substantially. Around six rounds of tests in a weak-signal region, the Galaxy S21 confirmed much better signal only three of the times, but the nine Professional had two sign dropouts. The Galaxy S21’s edge is slight but recognizable.

Blinding You With (Color) Science
Imaging collaborations are not new for smartphone suppliers. Huawei has partnered with Leica for many years the Zeiss identify is plastered on the back of smartphones from Nokia, Sony, and Vivo. Hasselblad’s only previous US partnership was with Motorola on its clunky but able Real Zoom Moto Mod, but the nine series provides Hasselblad back to the smartphone market in triumphant type. The nine Professional is capable of having extraordinary images with just about every lens.

The 48MP most important lens has an f/1.8 aperture, optical graphic stabilization (OIS), and digital image stabilization (EIS). There’s also a 50MP extremely-wide lens with an f/two.2 aperture, and a 8MP telephoto lens with an f/2.four aperture, as perfectly as a 2MP monochrome sensor. You’ll obtain all the common flagship bells and whistles on the nine Pro: dual LED flash, multi-autofocus with omnidirectional Stage Detection AF (PDAF), Laser AF (LAF), and Contrast AF (CAF). A massive 50-megapixel ultra-extensive lens usually takes lovely reduced-mild photos. There is also 8K video at 30fps and 4K at up to 120fps, and super-gradual motion at up to 480fps in 720p.

Back again of OnePlus 9 Pro with digital camera in emphasis
A huge 50-megapixel ultra-large lens takes lovely minimal-light-weight shots.
For the most component, the camera application is intuitive and quick to use. The shutter button is a Hasselblad-branded orange, and it would make a distinctive Hasselblad shutter audio. Our only criticism is that we identified Tilt Change method a little bit clunky and tough to use.

Photograph of rooftop with eco foliage
The OnePlus nine Pro’s slide update enhanced reduced-light-weight efficiency.
Some of the 9 Pro’s most important camera characteristics are in the program. Hasselblad labored intently with OnePlus to update its color science and produce additional functions for professional smartphone shooters. In auto and Professional modes, colors are warm, with reds and blues obtaining a wholesome saturation boost though yellows and greens to be a little undersaturated. Since OnePlus and Hasselblad set a major emphasis on the nine series’ coloration science, we when compared the nine Professional to a couple of other flagships and discovered it stood up extremely effectively to the opposition.

Apple very seriously improved its shade science with iOS 14 and the Iphone 12. Exactly where the 9 Pro tends to saturate reds and blues, Apple focuses additional on boosting luminance, so the Iphone 12’s photos have a tendency to look a tiny extra correct to life than the nine Pro’s.

Position shots from the nine Pro and the Galaxy S21 Ultra side by side and you can promptly recognize the distinction in between the two cameras. OnePlus normally takes a lighter hand with boosting saturation and other computational adjustments Samsung is significantly more aggressive. In just one of our take a look at photos, a dreary March sky captured on the Galaxy S21 Extremely quickly grew to become blue. The nine Pro was significantly much more accurate in its overall illustration of the scene.

Facet-by-aspect photos of a making below a cloudy sky in the photograph on the left, the sky appears to be like blue
The photo colours from the 9 Pro (right) are much more correct than the ones sent by the Galaxy S21 Extremely (left).
In Professional mode, you can modify ISO, focus exposure time, white equilibrium, and a selection of other configurations. There’s also the alternative to shoot in twelve-little bit Uncooked format, which delivers sixty four occasions the colour info of the ten-little bit Raw on other flagships.

The ultra-vast 50MP lens is a Sony IMX 766 sensor that’s considerably more substantial than the one particular in the Iphone twelve Professional Max. In our checks the lens did a terrific work in equally bright and very low gentle. Pictures are crisp with excellent depth of field and reliable history element.

Aspect-by-aspect ultra-extensive-angle images of a constructing
Extremely-huge-angle pictures are a important advantage for the 9 Pro (right), which results in a lot fewer edge distortion than the Galaxy S21 Extremely (remaining).
Our pictures taken with the key lens were spectacular as nicely. In superior light, the 9 Professional holds its own from other flagships, with sensible depth of area and hardly any decline of great depth.

In the drop of 2021, OnePlus delivered a major update to the camera’s software program. Exam photographs display far more accurate white harmony and are crisp without having getting oversharpened, a widespread dilemma with most smartphone cameras. When we reviewed the photographs at entire dimension, the photos remained crisp and experienced a lot less sound.

The app is also faster in typical and there is considerably less shutter lag. It can be a minimal transform, but it helps make a significant difference when having photographs with movement.

A snowy rooftop with various sculptures and other objects
The major lens takes top rated-notch images even in muted mild.
But wherever the digital camera definitely excels is in lower light-weight. The primary lens did effectively, as expected. Our test photographs with the slide update remained crisp with an improved texture-to-sounds ratio. The big enhancement, however, was with dynamic vary and all round scene accuracy. The two labored in conjunction to develop a far more honest reflection of the instant.

And while we were specially bowled in excess of by the ultra-vast lens’ efficiency in our original assessments, the digital camera update just manufactured points greater. All of the enhancements we discovered in the major lenses ended up apparent in our ultra-wide test photographs. Individuals improvements, put together with the absence of distortion, would make the OnePlus 9 Pro’s extremely-broad lens the very best we have tested.

A cityscape at night, with lights reflecting off a moist avenue
Extremely-extensive very low-light photographs are lovely, with astonishingly minor distortion.
We failed to recognize substantially improvement in our photographs with the telephoto lens immediately after the application update. The OnePlus 9 Pro’s telephoto lens is better than what you are going to discover on its predecessor, but it continue to does not review with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s. At decreased zoom levels, our test pictures had loads of depth, although there was some anticipated loss of depth in the length.

Aspect-by-facet pics of illustrated signs at 30x zoom.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely does a significantly much better career at 30x zoom.
As we bumped up the zoom, even so, we started to notice major blur and sounds when when compared with the identical image taken on the Galaxy S21 Extremely. The unnatural sharpening we observed in our original examination photographs, however, has been noticeably improved.

Aspect-by-side 10x zoom images of a stop sign
Though the Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely has an edge at 10x zoom, the nine Professional does a strong work with its recent slide digital camera update.
Smartphone macro lenses are hardly ever value using, but listed here the 9 Pro actually stands out. Our macro pictures were being considerably sharper than predicted, and leagues superior than photos taken with the 8’s 2MP macro lens.

A photograph of red and green macarons on a white plate
Macarons, in macro.
The monochrome sensor functions in tandem with the most important sensor to just take wonderful black-and-white images with loads of depth and inky blacks. Huawei incorporated a similar feature for yrs and then out of the blue eliminated it, producing an outcry from smartphone shutterbugs. If you realized and beloved that feature, the nine Pro’s resurrection of it will delight you.

Black-and-white image of community artwork installation in which a big white sculpture of a hand grabs a tree trunk
The monochrome lens usually takes stable black-and-white photographs.
The major, and most remarkable, alter to the OnePlus 9’s digital camera, nevertheless, is the addition of XPan mode. It is a characteristic that mimics Hasselblad’s now-discontinued XPan cameras to create an image that’s reminiscent of those you would choose with its 30mm and 45mm lenses.

The photos are cropped to a 65:24 part ratio. It really is a spectacular glimpse that provides you a whole new way to explain to tales, and evokes pictures of film stills. There are alternatives to shoot in color as well as black and white.

It truly is tough to overstate just how considerably place XPan gives for creativeness. 4:three and 16:9 aspect ratios are so ubiquitous, that it requires a conquer to get utilised to all the distinctive things you can do in the format.

Panoramic shot of a Catholic rectory at evening.
XPan method lets you to consider remarkable photographs in a distinctive facet ratio.

We tested XPan in many lighting situations and it performed completely. Our take a look at shots ended up immersive and crisp, with outstanding dynamic array. Depth of field is outstanding as properly.

Black and white impression of a mid-century creating
Monochrome images in XPan method glimpse spectacular.
Hasselblad’s exceptional color science for XPan also creates an entirely distinctive feel that is related to photographs shot on Kodak Ektachrome or Fuji Provia slide film. Our photos showed fewer distinction and far more organic shades that almost seem to be slightly undersaturated due to the fact we’ve turn into so accustomed to over-saturation on smartphones.

Decommissioned switching station with festive lights
Portraits and lesser scenes seem much better with the 30mm focal-length environment in XPan method.
On the front of the nine Professional, you will locate a 32MP lens. It performs really properly in any lighting problem. There’s a small history blur in our pics, which is to be predicted. Foreground element and depth of discipline, on the other hand, are place on. Portrait mode functions with out a hitch as very well. Our test photographs experienced a normal bokeh and great depth mapping in each shot.

A selfie of a bearded white person in glasses and a cap
Selfies are detailed and distinct.
One Little Phase Shy of the Crown
The OnePlus 9 Pro is an great telephone. At $970, it holds its personal towards the a little bit far more highly-priced Galaxy S21 Ultra and Apple iphone 12 Professional. It doesn’t fairly match the Galaxy S21 Extremely on digital camera zoom or community overall performance, but it really is lighter and sleeker, it has some exclusive digital camera tricks, and there is that renowned OnePlus pace and sophisticated software program. That remarkable rapid charging and the battery-preserving show also make a massive distinction in working day-to-day use. The nine Pro is far better than the OnePlus eight series in each individual way, so the update is quickly warranted. It only fails to nab our Editors’ Decision award because the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is even extra excellent and can be used on any provider. The nine Pro and the Galaxy S21 Ultra jointly at the moment outline the Android condition of the artwork. Based on your priorities, either will serve you really nicely for the upcoming couple years.