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The OnePlus 9 is now official, bringing the company's "flagship killer" experience to 2021. But if you own a OnePlus 8T, which was released in late 2020, will the OnePlus 9 offer enough over it, warranting an upgrade? Or should you just stay with the 8T? Alternatively, if you're planning to get the 8T, should you just go with the newer OnePlus 9 instead?
Let's compare the two OnePlus phones side by side, in order to find out how they measure up against each other and whether you should "never settle" on the 8T, or it will hold up just fine to the OnePlus 9 in 2021.
The OnePlus 9 starts at the price of $729 for the 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage option. Alternatively, there's a $829 variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
The OnePlus 8T was also released with 8GB / 12GB of RAM variants, but those had less storage, 128GB / 256GB respectively. In the US OnePlus store, the 12GB of RAM OnePlus 8T still sells for $599.
In terms of design, the OnePlus 9 features a Gorilla Glass-covered back and an aluminum frame, just like the OnePlus 8T.
Both phones share a similar modern design with curved edges, a rectangular camera module on the back, and about the same small, unobtrusive hole punch selfie camera embedded into the top-left corner of their displays.
As for color options, the OnePlus 9 is offered in three color variants:
Winter Mist
Astral Black
Arctic Sky (not available in North America)
The OnePlus 8T is available in:
Lunar Silver
Aquamarine Green
In terms of feel in the hand, both phones are about equally thin and light, and look the same in terms of width and height. When looked from the front they're almost indistinguishable, as both have the same size hole punch selfie camera and display with curved corners.
Unlike the 8T, the OnePlus 9 doesn't have visible antenna lines on top, and its power key is slightly raised closer to the lock switch, but again, those are minimal differences nobody would be able to notice unless comparing them side by side.
From the back is where the real visual difference stands, as the camera module of the OnePlus 9 is larger, with larger sensors, but blends more into the body of the phone due to its color matching the back color. The camera module of the 8T is all dark and stands out.
The OnePlus 9 has a glossy back, while the OnePlus 8T has a matte back, which does better at hiding fingerprints.
OnePlus 9 vs OnePlus 8T: displays
The two phones share the same 6.55-inch display size and exactly the same pixel resolution of 2400 x 1080. Both phones' screens are also AMOLED, offering superior contrast and colors as compared to the average LCD phone screen. Both are also protected with Gorilla Glass.
The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8T's displays also support Ambient Display (aways-on display), and both can either run at 120Hz screen refresh rate or the more traditional 60Hz.
The screen sharpness between the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8T isn't visibly different, as both have 402 PPI (pixels per inch).
It's worth noting that the OnePlus 9 supports Comfort Tone / Adaptive Display, which can change the screen color temperature based on the lighting conditions in the user's environment, similar to True Tone on iPhones. The OnePlus 8T doesn't have that feature.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x: CIE31' and 'y: CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red, green and blue) across different levels of grey (from dark to bright). The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones, the better.
The OnePlus 9 (top) and the OnePlus 8T (bottom), with the latter having visible antenna lines
The OnePlus 9 packs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor (which has a built-in 5G modem) and comes in 8GB and 12GB of RAM variants. The OnePlus 8T uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, it is also a 5G phone and it too comes with 8GB / 12GB of RAM.
The lesser RAM variant on either OnePlus phone isn't normally something most users would notice or should worry about. Technically, less RAM suggests that during usage less apps will be able to remain open in the background, with some restarting when the user switches back to them after a while. But even power users who multitask all the time likely won't see this happen too often.
Regardless, both the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8T are great performers. Users shouldn't face performance-related issues, such as stutters, during both gaming and general usage.
The only noticeable difference in terms of speed between the two phones is due to the OnePlus 9 having faster interface animations over the 8T, making the OnePlus 9 feel snappier.
Both the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8T are running Android 11 and Oxygen OS 11 at the time of writing this comparison.
If the T-Rex HD component of GFXBench is demanding, then the Manhattan test is downright gruelling. It's a GPU-centric test that simulates an extremely graphically intensive gaming environment that is meant to push the GPU to the max. that simulates a graphically-intensive gaming environment on the screen. The results achieved are measured in frames per second, with more frames being better.
AnTuTu is a multi-layered, comprehensive mobile benchmark app that assesses various aspects of a device, including CPU, GPU, RAM, I/O, and UX performance. A higher score means an overall faster device.
The OnePlus 9 camera module with Hasselblad branding (left) and the OnePlus 8T camera module
The OnePlus 9 comes with a 48MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera and an additional 2MP monochrome camera. As for its front-facing selfie camera, it's 16MP. Those camera sensors are larger than on previous OnePlus phones, in order to capture more light for clearer photos, and were designed in partnership with iconic camera maker Hasselblad.
The OnePlus 8T also sports a 48MP main camera, a 16MP ultra-wide camera and a 5MP macro camera, in addition to a fourth 2MP monochrome sensor. On the front, its holepunch selfie camera is 16MP, like the one on the OnePlus 9.
Both the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8T have up to 10X digital zoom. In addition, both phones have Pro camera modes and can take Portrait shots with both their main and front cameras.
OnePlus 9 main camera
As can be seen above, the OnePlus 9 takes visibly brighter photos over the OnePlus 8T, while you could argue that the 8T produces more realistic-looking photos, particularly when it comes to the lighting.
OnePlus 9 wide angle camera
We see similar results when comparing the OnePlus 9's wide angle camera against the one on the OnePlus 8T. The OnePlus 9 again has brighter colors and a generally clearer image, while the OnePlus 8T's wide angle camera produces darker images with stronger contrast in some areas.
OnePlus 9 main camera portrait
Portrait (bokeh) shots from the 8T's main camera appear to be better in terms of keeping the subject in focus and only blurring the background. Note how in the OnePlus 9 portrait photo part of the hat is wrongly blurred and the face of the subject is less detailed too. We also see a big difference in color vibrancy between the two phones, particularly in the shirt.
OnePlus 9 front camera
Selfie shots look a bit too artificially over-sharpened on the OnePlus 8T, while the OnePlus 9 produces more natural selfies with less aggressive sharpness.
OnePlus 9 front camera portrait
And lastly, when comparing portrait selfies from the OnePlus 9 against the OnePlus 8T, we can conclude that besides the difference in brightness, both phones arguably produce satisfactory selfie portraits that successfully separate the subject from the background. Again the OnePlus 8T's photo is a bit too over-sharpened, but whether that looks better or not is up to the individual user's preference.
OnePlus 9 video sample
OnePlus 8T video sample
When it comes to video, the OnePlus 9 can record at up to 8K at 30 frames per second, or 4K at 60. The OnePlus 8T on the other hand can only shoot at up to 4K, 60 frames per second. While both phones have solid video stabilization, we can easily see a difference in colors and detail between the two, with the OnePlus 9 producing overall more realistic-looking and detailed videos. This is to be expected, in part due to its larger sensors and higher video recording resolution, should the user choose to film at 8K.
OnePlus 9 vs OnePlus 8T: battery life
The OnePlus 9 packs a 4,500 mAh battery and supports the impressive 65W Warp Charging, plus it even comes with a Warp Charge 65 Power Adapter out the box. With that charging brick, the OnePlus 9 can charge from zero to 100% in just 30 minutes. The European and US versions of the OnePlus 9 also support 15W Qi wireless charging.
As for the OnePlus 8T, it has the same size 4,500 mAh battery and also comes with a 65W charger, which can charge the OnePlus 8T completely in just about 32 minutes. No wireless charging support on the OnePlus 8T, though.
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