Watch the OnePlus 9 event live stream here

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By now, it's clear that OnePlus is prepping one of the biggest launches in its short but eventful history as an underdog phone maker. No less than three or four new devices are expected to be announced - OnePlus 9 series phones, and a smartwatch - making this the richest set of gear announcements in the company's history.

When is the OnePlus 9 series announcement event?


  • Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 10AM ET / 2PM GMT

Just when we heard that the new OnePlus 9 gear will be made official some time in mid-March, and a leak tipped next Monday, March 8, as a possible announcement event date, cames a hard confirmation by OnePlus itself on the date of the event. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 23, but today OnePlus teased more ways to watch the 9 series event.


How to watch the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro event live stream


Last year, OnePlus streamed its OnePlus 8 series event on April 14, and the coronavirus scare hasn't gone anywhere since, so the OnePlus 9 announcement will be a virtual event, too, and we embed it here below when time comes for your viewing pleasure.



What devices will be announced at the OnePlus 9 March event?


  • OnePlus 9 Pro: 6.7" 120Hz@1440p 10-bit color Fluid AMOLED LTPO display, SD888, 48MP main/50MP ultrawide/8MP zoom/2MP cameras, 4500mAh battery
  • OnePlus 9: 6.55" 120Hz Fluid AMOLED display, SD888, 48MP main/50MP ultrawide/2MP cameras, 4500mAh battery
  • OnePlus 9R: 6.5" 1080p 90Hz display, SD690, 64MP main/8MP ultrawide cameras, 5000mAh battery
  • OnePlus Watch

There will be the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, just like last year there were 8 and 8 Pro phones, but also one scrappy little 6.5" fighter with 90Hz display and a giant battery that will be called 9R/9E/9 Lite, depending on whose rumors one is inclined to believe. In addition, a OnePlus Watch will be on display, rounding up the number of new devices to be announced to the record four.

The OnePlus 9 Pro camera specs and Hasselblad 'Moonshot'



OnePlus is now confirming that it will use a tailor-made Sony IMX789 sensor for the main camera on its 9 series, and will be investing $150 million over the next few years to work with the legendary Hasselblad brand to improve the OnePlus phones photography chops. "Four major research and development labs around the world, including two innovative imaging labs based in the United States and Japan" will be delivering new camera technologies to OnePlus phone fans:


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This is something that its fans have been clamoring about for a while now, and the camera push starts immediately with the OnePlus 9 models:


While a 50MP ultrawide camera on the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro may sound like a downgrade compared to the 64MP one initially rumored, it is most likely the Sony IMX766 sensor rumored for the ultrawide camera of the Oppo Find X3 Pro (common R&D and all), so we are glad to report that there will be some positive developments on the ultrawide camera front as well, adding to the attractiveness of the overall package. Here's what OnePlus has to say about this new ultrawide camera: 



As if to reiterate this notion, the OnePlus CEO Pete Lau set the March 8 announcement teaser in the "Moonshot" section of the company's website, and some digital sleuths solved the puzzle informing us that this famous “Earthrise” image below is from the Apollo 8 mission, taken with a Hasselblad camera. 

Coincidentally, a partnership between the storied Hasselblad photography company and OnePlus is now official, and OnePlus even released this Lunarland teaser video below to celebrate the tie-up.

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There's barely an iconic old-school name in photography that hasn't hitched their wagon to the new mobile camera kids on the block, what with Nokia and Zeiss, Huawei and Leica, and, now, OnePlus and Hasselblad. 

Needless to say, the aforementioned partnerships didn't save the companies they were attached to, and can even be considered a curse, given what happened with Nokia and Huawei, yet they did produce some of the most innovative and jaw-dropping camera sets of all times in the realm of mobile photography. Just remember the Nokia Lumia PureView technology, or Huawei's RYYB pixels and dual-zoom combo of late. Not that Leica or Zeiss were the sole forces behind those ideas, but they certainly lent more credence to the phone makers' camera enterprises.

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