OnePlus 9 128 GB / 8 GB

Hasselblad Camera

OnePlus' 2021 flagship lineup is the first fruit of a collaboration between the manufacturer and Swedish photography equipment company Hasselblad. This is a premium brand in the camera market with a rich history, which is why OnePlus made a bet on the camera in the ninth generation of top smartphones. However it seems that in the first year of cooperation, Hasselblad did not participate much in the development, only calibrating natural light for realistic colours and natural skin tones. If you close your eyes to the brand logo, the OnePlus 9 camera has numerous nuances, apparently in order to emphasize the advantages of the older OnePlus 9 Pro model against their background. Three modules are available, including a 48MP main sensor, a 50MP wide-angle camera, and a secondary 2MP black and white lens. Unfortunately, there is no optical stabilization or a telephoto lens here — only the older brother got all this. Therefore, only the “width” deserves praise, but in general, the camera shoots well, but not as well as we would like, especially in light of the advertised partnership with Hasselblad.

Not without compromise

If you look at the smartphone in general, then a line of those same compromises that the manufacturer made, apparently, for the sake of reducing the cost and demonstrating the benefits of OnePlus 9 Pro, runs like a thick thread through the characteristics. First of all, the impression is spoiled by a plastic rather than a metal frame, although the design of the smartphone itself is quite nice. Fortunately, the back cover was not made of plastic and glass was chosen after all. Also, OnePlus should be scolded for the under-screen fingerprint scanner: it works quite quickly, but its location is as inconvenient as possible. The sensor was placed closer to the bottom frame, so every time you have to pull your finger to it, often holding the gadget with your second hand.

As for the display, it's excellent here. The 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED panel with 2400x1080 resolution and flat edges is the perfect solution for opponents of curved screens. But there was an ill-fated “but”: although the image refresh rate was increased to 120 Hz, it is not adaptive here, that is, there is only a standard 60 Hz scan or a 120 Hz mode to choose from.

Performance and battery life

The flagship receives another medal in the overall standings for battery life: the battery consists of two parts and has a total capacity of 4500 mAh. It supports 65W fast charging: just 15 minutes at the outlet will provide a whole day of battery life, and it takes 29 minutes to fully charge. In addition, this is the first non-Pro model in the family to receive wireless charging. However it is only available in versions for the US and European markets.

Responsible for performance is a win-win combination of the top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, Adreno 660 graphics and 8 GB of RAM. It's not even worth saying that their power is enough for both everyday tasks and demanding games. The Cool Play liquid cooling system is designed to control the temperature, but sometimes it can not tame the hot temper of the Snapdragon 888 — this chip is known for its high heat, so OnePlus should not be blamed for this. Complementing the picture are the attributes inherent in many modern flagships: support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6, NFC (in the global version), stereo speakers, as well as the lack of a memory card slot and a 3.5 mm audio jack.