OnePlus 9 review: our full review - Smartphones - Frandroid

Data sheet Design Screen Software Performance Audio Photo Battery Communications Price and release date ConclusionCommentsView product sheetAvailable at €719

Launched alongside the "Pro" version, the OnePlus 9 skips a few ultra-premium elements to focus on the high-end user experience. Is it a success? The answer in our comprehensive test.

The OnePlus 9 and its Hasselblad photo module // Source: Anthony Wonner – Frandroid

Launched a month after its "Pro" version, the OnePlus 9 finally arrives with a lower price, but also a few fewer technical characteristics. On paper very attractive, he will have to demonstrate his interest in the face of a Xiaomi Mi 11 faster than ever and a OnePlus 8T, still fresh and offered cheaper. The rest in this complete test.

This test was carried out with a OnePlus 9 12+256 GB which was lent to us by the brand.

OnePlus 9 spec sheet

Between OnePlus 8T and OnePlus 9 Pro

If we had to summarize the design of the OnePlus 9, the simplest would be to say that it is a OnePlus 8T with a photo module close to that of the OnePlus 9 Pro and better positioning of the volume buttons. At first glance, it is clearly difficult to differentiate an 8T from an OP 9 and yet, a few notable points should be noted.

The OnePlus 9 alongside the OnePlus 9 Pro // Source: Arnaud Gelineau – Frandroid

The frame, for example, swaps aluminum for shiny plastic. This will have several advantages such as absorbing more shocks, better letting the waves pass through or even offering a warmer and therefore more pleasant grip (the difference can be felt right away). The downside is that plastic is more prone to scratches. We did not have the opportunity to notice it during this test, but in the long term it could affect the aesthetics of the phone. We can note that the phone is a bit thicker (8.7 against 8.4 mm), but takes the opportunity to round off a little, which makes strong pressure much more pleasant. This small gain in thickness is also felt slightly on the weight with 192 grams on the scale, or 4 grams more than the 8T.

The rest of the design of the OnePlus 9 is well known and does not grant itself any madness: you do not change a winning team. The back is in glossy or matt glass depending on the color chosen. In our case, we were treated to the Winter Myst, a prettier shiny purple that becomes opaque on the top of the phone… and which has the misfortune of catching fingerprints very quickly. You have been warned...

The photo module is a little more prominent than on the 8T, approaching what is found on the 9 Pro. As it is lodged in a corner, this will tend to make the phone a bit more unstable on a flat surface.

In terms of ergonomics, we appreciate that the volume keys are slightly lower than on the 2020 models, making them more accessible, but the fingerprint sensor, integrated into the screen, is also lower, which makes its use more random in the early days. This is a usual question. The power key and the alert slider, both on the right edge, have not moved and remain easily accessible with one hand.

The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro fingerprint sensor is a little low // Source: Arnaud Gelineau – Frandroid

To end this quick tour of the owner, note that the front camera is integrated in a discreet bubble at the top right of the screen and that there are two speakers, one for calls above for the screen and the other for the multimedia on the lower edge alongside a USB-C port and a dual SIM card drawer. The Jack port and the microSD port have disappeared for several generations already.

A very nice 120 Hz screen

On the front, there is a nice flat screen with almost uniform borders. It is a Full HD+ Amoled panel (2400 x 1080 pixels) with a 20:9 ratio and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Unlike the 9 Pro, it is not an adaptive panel, but this will have more of an impact on battery life than on display quality.

The quality is there. We expected no less from OnePlus, which managed to rise in 2020 to the level of the best on the market on this point. And the brand continues to dazzle this year with one of the best calibrated slabs we have ever tested.

Under our probe, the CalMAN software reveals a luminosity ranging from 2.6 to 770 cd/m². For the minimum, some smartphones manage to go below 2, but the OnePlus 9 will not burn your retina in the middle of the night, while its peak promises to be able to consult content even in direct sunlight, unless the image is really dark and very low in contrast, in which case reflections will take over.

But it is above all at the level of calibration that OnePlus has struck a blow. With a temperature of 6580 K, the screen of the OnePlus 9 is close to perfection and this is reflected in its color transcription. Not only is the sharpness exceedingly good with 178% of the DCI-P3 spectrum and 120% of the very demanding BT2020 spectrum (our best score measured to date), but the delta E measuring the average difference between the colors displayed and the colors expected n is only 3.64… despite a measurement problem – linked to our probe – on pure red at more than 54. Understand by this that the average delta E of the OnePlus 9 on the colors of the DCI-P3 spectrum revolves approximately around 2.5 if this anomaly is removed. Again, that's excellent.

In a nutshell, it's the best Full HD display you'll find on the market right now.

Android 11 and OxygenOS

Like the 9 Pro, the OnePlus 9 runs natively on Android 11 with the OxygenOS interface. At the time of writing, it also benefits from the March security patch and is therefore skipping the April patch for the moment. Formerly among the most responsive manufacturers when it comes to updates, OnePlus seems to be struggling to keep its schedule since the diversification of its catalog. We have seen, for example, on the OnePlus 8T, which is very recent, periods of 3 months without a security update. The brand nevertheless remains rather reactive when it comes to major system updates.

OxygenOS remains one of the most pleasant interfaces to use because of its responsiveness, its animations providing a very great impression of fluidity and its many customization options. However, there have been no major changes since last year.

Broadly, OnePlus uses Google's codes with the official icons, the Google Discover feed on the left of the home screen, or the presence of the Power Menu allowing you to manage your home automation and your means of Google Pay payment. Similarly, there are only a few additional applications, two of which are redundant: a file manager and the image gallery. Apart from that, there is a community application (uninstallable) and Netflix (can only be deactivated).

Aside from that, there are many features and multiple customizable elements. Jumbled up, we can cite the hidden applications pane, the management of the size of the application grid and icon packs, the integrated screen recorder, the enlarged screen capture, a improvement of videos, the always-on display, a game mode, parallel applications to have two sessions of the same service or quick gestures.

As for accessibility, OnePlus is content with the features offered by Google, hidden in the “System” submenu.

The Snapdragon 888 always delivers

You don't need to be "Pro" to be equipped with the best. The OnePlus 9, like the 9 Pro, is equipped with a Snapdragon 888 SoC coupled with 8 or 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage space. 2-lane. Unsurprisingly, therefore, its performance is therefore aligned with that of the brand's ultra premium model.

You can feel it on a daily basis as the use is pleasant and the animations fluid. Note that OnePlus has greatly improved its RAM management, which was very aggressive before, forcing certain important applications to be reopened to receive notifications, a point which was particularly annoying for private messaging. In some cases, however, it is still necessary to set up an exception in the phone settings to properly receive all of its messages.

For games, same fight. Whether on Fortnite, CoD Mobile or LoL Wild Rift, the Snapdragon 888 once again shows performance that meets expectations. On the most famous Battle Royale, playing in Epic quality with the models set to 100% allows you to oscillate between 50 and 60 FPS with good stability overall. Lower the quality to 75% (default setting) and your counter should no longer drop below 58 FPS.

A sound signed OnePlus

For the audio part, OnePlus does not change its formula with the OnePlus 9. There are two speakers: a main one on the lower edge of the phone and a second on the above the screen, also used for calls. As always, there is an imbalance between these two transducers: the first is powerful and of good quality while the second is less strong and less powerful, creating a slight imbalance in the stereo effect.

On this point, few phones do really better, however. We therefore find a largely acceptable sound, even at full volume, with all the same some slight distortions in the treble at 100% and bass which can lack depth, which is not surprising on such small speakers. .

There is therefore no noticeable change, but still a decent quality which will be more than enough for listening to podcasts or videos, or for listening to music to a lesser extent if you do not focus too much on the accuracy of the different frequencies.

Hasselblad at the controls in the photo

Like the OnePlus 9 Pro, the camera of the OnePlus 9 is signed Hasselblad. This photo giant, having equipped the astronauts who walked on the Moon in 1969, therefore brings its expertise to the Chinese manufacturer, in particular on the calibration of the sensor and the management of colorimetry. Next to that, we find a rather standard configuration composed of three modules:

If the ultra wide-angle is identical to that of the OnePlus 9 Pro, it should be noted however that the wide-angle is different. Not only is the sensor no longer personalized, but the module also loses its optical stabilization (OIS), which is present on the OnePlus 8T. The sensor is however larger than on the latter, which should affect the quality of the shots. Compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro, we mainly lose the telephoto, forcing the digital zoom when we want to magnify our target.

In practice, the absence of OIS is not really felt and even by voluntarily shaking the phone during the capture, I was able to obtain very satisfactory and far from blurry results:

During the day, outdoors and indoors, the sharpness is good and the management of depth blur (in normal as in portrait) is natural and well managed. We notice a little noise in the corners, but nothing alarming on this kind of sensor. Similarly, the movement is perfectly frozen and the colors well transcribed, but we would have appreciated a bit more contrast on certain scenes to better highlight the elements of the composition.

On the ultra wide-angle, the effect of the freeform lens remains as impressive as on the OnePlus 9 Pro: the deformations are almost non-existent. Note, however, that the colorimetry is not quite equal between the different modules and that the HDR mode always tends to sometimes produce effects that are a little too marked.

At night, the sharpness naturally takes a hit, but the management of light and colors remains really very good. We feel that this year OnePlus has really put the package on the photo and has improved significantly. Thank you Hasselblad?

As for selfies, there are still some difficulties with color management in HDR mode and focusing when there are many elements in the image, but effective cropping in portrait mode . Sometimes you have to try several times to get a really perfect result, but the result is never bad.

Finally, for video, we note a configuration similar to that of the OnePlus 9 Pro. You can enjoy 8K at 30 IPS, but we would still recommend this definition, which struggles a little more to focus. In 4K, at 30 or 60 IPS, however, there is nothing to complain about, with not only a very good quality image, but also particularly effective stabilization. The Super Stable mode is still not recommended, creating artifacts in the image during excessive movements. Prefer a physical stabilizer.

Adequate autonomy and fast charging

The OnePlus 9 has a 4500 mAh battery divided into two 2250 mAh accumulators each to facilitate fast charging. This is as much as the OnePlus 9 Pro, but the absence of an adaptive screen consumes more, so in practice we can expect a lower autonomy.

This is also obvious on our automated SmartViser test simulating continuous use of the phone. While the 9 Pro drained in 15 hours and 17 minutes, the OnePlus 9 only lasted 10 hours and 27 minutes. That's about an hour longer than the OnePlus 8T, but still within the low average of smartphones tested this year.

The OnePlus wireless charger // Source: Arnaud Gelineau – Frandroid

This is also felt on a daily basis. Out of the box, the OnePlus 9 lasts the day with average use and can even last a day and a half if you don't use it too intensively. Very large consumers may nevertheless find themselves a little limited, especially in the long term when the accumulator will inevitably have lost some of its capacity. A point to keep in mind if you are the type to compulsively check your phone all day long.

Luckily, this point is saved by the particularly fast Warp Charge 65T fast charge. As the marketing of the brand points out, it is indeed possible to recover almost a day of use in just 15 minutes of recharging, while 30 minutes allows a full recharge. Those who prefer wireless will also appreciate the really efficient 15W Qi compatibility.

Overall, the OnePlus 9's battery life isn't disappointing, but it's far from a marathon runner, so you'll largely have to rely on its fast charging.

Network and communications of the OnePlus 9

On the communications side, the OnePlus 9 is technically compatible with all 4G and 5G bands in France, but updates will be necessary to take advantage of the latest network generation among all operators. There is also on board WiFi 6 (but no WiFi 6E) and Bluetooth 5.2. The GPS signal is also complete and quickly finds the position with high accuracy. The compass is slightly off, an unfortunately recurring problem on Android smartphones.

For phone calls, there is nothing in particular to complain about, we remain within current standards with voices that remain intelligible in all circumstances, both in transmission and reception, and ambient noise generally good attenuated without being muted. We still hear a slight background noise, but it will take a particularly noisy environment for this to interfere with communications.

Price and availability of the OnePlus 9

The OnePlus 9 is available from April 26, 2021 at 719 euros for the 8+128 GB version and 819 euros for the 12+256 GB version. its official store, OnePlus regularly makes offers, in particular with free accessories.

At this price, it will notably find itself in competition with the Xiaomi Mi 11 and the Samsung Galaxy S21, but also the OnePlus 8T which is still a very good reference. If in doubt, find our guide to the best smartphones to choose the one that best suits your needs.