Stamp of a Legend
A Hasselblad stamp on the main camera makes this device a photographer’s delight
OnePlus has always been a value for money brand, offering devices that provide the best specs at their retail prices. Though the irst few devices starting from the OnePlus 1 offered top-of-the-line image quality of those times, other brands soon came up with better cameras that pushed the brand to a distant second line of imagers. Now OnePlus has roped in one of the best in the ield, the iconic large format camera manufacturer Hasselblad, to ine-tune their cameras to match those of the lagships. The OnePlus 9 sits a little lower than its Pro sibling in features, yet it probably offers the best value for money.
Design & Build Quality
On the design front, the OnePlus 9 does not break any new grounds. A curved back glass, a steel side band and a corner punch hole camera, all feel dated. The difference is in the vertical camera bump with a glossy Hasselblad logo. The USB Type-C port and SIM tray with slots for two nano SIM adorn the bottom along with the speaker and microphone perforations. The device is available in Winter Mist, Arctic Sky, Astral Black colours. While Winter Mist and Astral Black have glossy inishes, Arctic Sky sports matte inish.
Key Features
At the heart of the OnePlus 9 is a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 CPU with one 2.84 GHz Cortex-X1, three 2.42 GHz Cortex-A78 cores and four energy-ef icient 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 cores that balance power consumption, at the same time delivering top performance. An Adreno 660 GPU and a Hexagon 780 DSP/NPU deliver superlative image rendering at blazing speeds. The phone is available in two options of 8 or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128 or 256GB UFS 3.1 internal memory. The device does not offer expandable memory. The Fluid AMOLED screen offers two refresh rate options, 60 and 120Hz. The phone offers 5G connectivity in the sub-6Ghz band. The device uses a multi-layered cooling system consisting of thick graphite layers and a larger vapour chamber. This combination makes the phone a powerful gaming device. The dual stereo speakers offer great sound quality. The Pro Gaming mode unleashes the full power of the device for an immersive gaming performance. We wish it had variable refresh rates
Sujith Gopinath
to optimise performance and power consumption. However, we cannot complain since the 4500 mAh battery provides enough charge to last for a day even with some hard gaming. Even if the device runs out of juice, a dual cell battery, aided by the supplied Warp Charge 65 charger ensures blazing fast charging at 65W. It tops up the battery from zero percent in under 30 minutes.
The HDR10+ standard screen offers calibration feature that lets you choose from Vivid and Natural options or speci ically opt for AMOLED Wide, sRGB or Display P3 gamut options depending on your professional and personal preferences. You can also tweak the colours as per your preference. The OnePlus 9 runs on OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11, and as before, the UI felt quite nimble.
The Hasselblad-codeveloped triple camera system of the OnePlus 9 uses a Spectra 580 CV-ISP that supports up to 35 percent increased pixel processing throughout and utilises the power of AI to enhance autofocus, auto-exposure, and auto white balance. The camera system includes a 48 MP main camera, a 50 MP ultra-wide camera and a monochrome (depth) sensor.
Ergonomics
The OnePlus 9 provides the same feel as that of its predecessors, with that familiar controls and form factor. The UI is smooth with great touch response and fast refresh rate. The camera interface is intuitive and easy to navigate.
Performance
The cameras are much re ined than those of the previous OnePlus phones. The images were sharp, and colours appeared natural. These may not be the best we have seen but certainly hold up well at this price range. Low-light performance has seen a considerable improvement with the noise levels at the minimum and without too much of noise reduction artefacts spoiling the image. Nightscape mode offers great images with good contrast and colour reproduction.
While the Portrait mode offers sharp and detailed images, the bokeh effect was not as prominent as one would expect. And the camera does not allow you to adjust it post-capture. The Hasselblad Pro mode offers customisation options like ISO, exposure time, white balance, focus and other parameters. It also provides a 12-bit Raw format for those who want to post-process the images later. This mode also provides features such as live histogram and horizon level. While the ultra-wide camera was a pleasure to use, we sometimes missed the telephoto option that is in the OnePlus 9 Pro. The front camera also performed well, rendering images in with a natural feel.
The main camera can deliver smooth 8K 30p videos and Super Stable mode offers up to 4K shake-free footages even when you are shooting hand-held from an unstable platform. Though the camera does not provide optical zoom, the digital zoom proved its mettle in video mode.
The OnePlus 9 retails at an MRP of Rs. 49,999. This is excellent value for money, considering the excellent performance and image quality it delivers.