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OnePlus 9 release date, price, features and news

Published: Mar 23, 2021, 10:21 AM

OnePlus' next flagship series, the OnePlus 9, has been in the rumor mill for quite a while now, and now, the phones are finally here. Powered by the ultra-fast Snapdragon 888, equipped with improved cameras and blazing-fast charging, the two phones come to fight in the flagship arena with a bang. Alongside them, the “Never Settle” company unveiled its first-ever smartwatch as well.

In this article, we have everything we know about the OnePlus 9 series in terms of specs, design, features, and news, and we have plenty of articles regarding the two new flagship phones to look around if you’re interested.

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What is OnePlus bringing to the table this year? Will the company manage to reserve its "flagship killer" title? Well, let's explore.

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OnePlus 9 Price
OnePlus 9 Release date
OnePlus 9 Specifications
OnePlus 9 Design and Display
OnePlus 9 Camera
OnePlus 9 Battery

OnePlus 9 Price

Although OnePlus has always had a predictable release schedule, the prices of its phones have been changing constantly, slowly moving up. Now, the OnePlus 9 starts at $729 for the base storage of 128GB, and the 256GB with 12GB of RAM costs $100 more: $829. On the other hand, the beast OnePlus 9 Pro starts at $969 for 128GB with 8GB of RAM, while the 256GB with 12GB of RAM can be yours for $1,069.

OnePlus 9 Release date

The OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro were just announced today, March 23, in an online unveiling. Preorders from OnePlus.com will start on March 26, and the official release date of the two flagship phones will be on April 2. Both phones will be available for purchase from OnePlus.com, as well as from big retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H. T-Mobile will be the carrier offering them with a carrier contract.

OnePlus 9 Specifications

The OnePlus 9 series are some mighty phones, packed with awesome features and flagship specs. Here’s a quick rundown of all the specs the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro feature:

Snapdragon 888
8 or 12 GB of RAM
128 or 256GB of storage
4,500mAh battery with Warp Charge 65W
IP68 rating for the Pro
120Hz fast display refresh rate
OxygenOS 11
5G support

It’s important to note, the Snapdragon 888 has a built-in 5G modem, which makes it much more power-efficient than its predecessor. That results in a nice bump in battery life apart from the obvious increase in data speeds for the OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9. But more about batteries later. Needless to say, these specs show the OnePlus 9 phones are indeed performance beasts.

OnePlus 9 Design and Display

OnePlus 9 release date, price, features and news

After loads of leaks, leaked renders, rumors and speculation, OnePlus revealed today, March 23, the burdenless design of the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro. The OnePlus 9 has a flat 6,55-inch screen and a slightly curved back, assuring a comfortable hold, while the Pro has a bigger, 6.7-inch curved screen.

This design is reminiscent of that of the OnePlus 7T with the corners of the display curved more tightly but with a hole-punch instead of the now dated-looking teardrop notch. The signature OnePlus slider for switching between regular, silent and do-not-disturb mode is also present. The camera bump is quite different from what we've seen so far on OnePlus phones, with the now popular rings around the lenses to signify the camera prowess that hides within.

As for the OnePlus 9, the design looks familiar: at the front, it's almost identical to the OnePlus 8 Pro.

OnePlus appears to be going back to its 2019 strategy of having the regular model with a flat display and the Pro with a curved-edge display.

As for the colors, the phones come in three color options: Astral Black, Arctic Sky (not available in the States as of now), and Winter Mist for the OnePlus 9, and Morning Mist, Pine Green, and Stellar Black (not available in the US) for the OnePlus 9 Pro.

As for displays, both phones feature 120Hz, with the one difference being the Pro version has LTPO, which assures the display will adjust its refresh rate based on the content that’s being shown to save battery life, a technology seen in the likes of the S21 Ultra and the Note 20 Ultra.

Display	OnePlus 9 Pro	OnePlus 9
Size	6.78 inches	6.55 inches
Resolution	3168 x 1440	2400 x 1080
Type	LTPO OLED	OLED
Refresh rate	120Hz	120Hz
Shape	Curved	Flat

OnePlus 9 Camera

In previous years, OnePlus has been shying away from going all out on cameras, unlike other aspects of the phone. However, this is changing now that the company has officially announced its plans for going all-in in the camera department. OnePlus has started a partnership with Hasselblad, which will go for three years and is bringing its first results with the OnePlus 9 series.

OnePlus has shared that the partnership with Hasselblad has brought a lot of improvements to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro camera capabilities. One of the notable improvements, mentioned by OnePlus, comes in the color profile of the images. Natural Color Calibration with Hasselblad should assure the phones can produce more real-life-like photos, with more natural-looking colors. Additionally, users will have more control over their photos in terms of ISO, exposure times, white balance, and other professional photography settings. Users will also be able to use a 12-bit RAW format for richer color and better dynamic range.

What's more, the OnePlus 9 series has a custom Sony IMX789 sensor for the main camera. The larger sensor allows more light to enter the lens and can therefore bring improvements in low-light photos, HDR processing, better portrait shots, better movement shots, and even slow-motion videos.

Camera	OnePlus 9 Pro	OnePlus 9
Main	48MP	48MP
Second	50MP ultrawide	50MP ultrawide
Third	8MP zoom	monochrome sensor
Fourth	monochrome sensor	N/A
Front	16MP	16MP

The OnePlus 9 Pro rocks a quad-camera setup. The main sensor, as we mentioned earlier, is 48MP, while the ultra-wide camera is a 50MP sensor. The third sensor is an 8MP camera offering 3.3x zoom with OIS. The fourth sensor is a monochrome cam.

The vanilla OnePlus 9 has three cameras, the main one a 48MP camera, complemented by the 50MP ultra-wide as on the Pro, and a monochrome camera.

OnePlus 9 Battery

Both phones come with generous 4,500mAh battery cells, which, thanks to the ultra-fast Warp Charge, will be charged and ready to go in around 30 minutes, according to OnePlus. They both support up to 65W fast wired charging.

On top of that, the OnePlus 9 Pro comes with the stunning 50W fast wireless charging support. That's faster than most phones' wired charging, mind you! Naturally, you'll need a charger that can output the required wattage, which might not come cheap. But hey, it's a great and very convenient feature to have on your smartphone!

The OnePlus 9 Pro also has reverse-wireless charging, so you can give some of its juice to other phones or wireless earbuds with a case that's Qi-compatible.