The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro still have that new phone atmosphere, and the newly unveiled phones won’t come into stores until April 2. But that’s not going to stop us from launching look forward to the OnePlus 10.
That could be like jumping the gun to some – let’s enjoy the new phones first, buddy! – but in the world of smartphones, you are only as good as your next release. Even if you still don’t think what OnePlus should do with its phones in the future, you can bet that the phone maker.
As a rule, OnePlus does not lie on the surface for a long time, releasing a new phone every six months. With the packages coming off the OnePlus 9 series in March, that puts us on track for a new phone in the September / October schedule.
That model seems to be one of the OnePlus’ T phones, which tends to replicate many of the features introduced in the spring phone calls, but with an improvement here and a tweak or two there.
So with the OnePlus 9T likely to feature this fall and introduce a few minor improvements over the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, the real change comes a year from now, when we take a look at the OnePlus 10.
When that phone arrives, we already have a list of features we hope to see.
What the OnePlus 9 got right
OnePlus has already set a pretty high bar for its future phones with the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. We’ve reviewed both devices, and we’re pretty much gone. The OnePlus 9 Pro is now the best Android phone you can buy, while the OnePlus 9 gives you an affordable option that requires only a few trademarks.
Both phones have fast-refresh displays, with the $ 969 OnePlus 9 Pro able to dynamically adjust that refresh rate depending on what you’re doing. The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro each last a long time on cost, and OnePlus ’best-in-class WarpCharge 65T technology means you’ll be able to drain a full battery in just over half- an hour. The Snapdragon 888 silicon inside both phones delivers an experience that rivals any Android device.
But it is the cameras that stand true to the latest OnePlus phones. In the past, cameras have been the only weak point with OnePlus phones – that’s not bad, just, but nowhere near the class of the best OnePlus camera phones the hope to compete with them.
That has changed with the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro, thanks in large part to a partnership with camera maker Hasselblad that helped improve the visual appearance of these new phones.
So where does OnePlus go from here? We have a few comments.
Simplified 5G support
The OnePlus 9 works with 5G networks – well, some At least 5G networks. If you’re using the phone on T-Mobile 5G, you’re good to go, as the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro fully support that carrier’s 5G network, which is built on low spectrum and mid-band.
But the OnePlus 9 doesn’t support AT & T’s 5G network, and Verizon’s support is up in the air. While we were able to get the OnePlus 9 Pro connected to Verizon 5G across the country, using the fastest Ultra Wideband 5G network is out there so Verizon can test the phone. OnePlus says it ‘s in talks to make that happen, but so far, the new OnePlus 9 phones are officially only working with LTE on Big Red.
Some of this comes from the fact that 5G is still at a lower level in the US One year from now, 5G networks are about to be created more. If that’s the case, hopefully the OnePlus 10 works with any 5G network out of the box, just like the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S21 models do.
Official level for water resistance
Buy the OnePlus 9 from T-Mobile, and get a phone with an IP68 rating for water resistance. The unlocked version sold by OnePlus and other online retailers will not have that rating, however. (The OnePlus 9 Pro, by contrast, sports an IP68 rating wherever you buy the phone.)
OnePlus does this as a way of keeping the price of phones low – getting an official water and dust certification adds to the cost of a phone. While that kind of compromise may have been justified in the days gone by at OnePlus as a mid-priced flagship phone maker, things are different now.
OnePlus is now on the same playing field as other major smartphone makers. If he wants to stay there, he needs to be more consistent about the features he comes with with his phones.
These days, the official water protection level is the entry price for making a famous phone. Of course it should not be treated as a feature that some models and some models will have.
No more gimmicky camera lenses
One year ago, OnePlus was at the forefront of a rather unfortunate move for handsets in which phone manufacturers increased the number of cameras on their phone by introducing a special macro lens.
The OnePlus 8 featured a macro lens along with its wide-angle and ultrawide shooters. I was, for one, enough of the move, urging phone makers to stop putting macro lenses on their phones.
OnePlus listened to those claims, sort of. The OnePlus 9 does not have a macro lens. Instead, it has a special monochrome camera, which is almost redundant.
I understand that telephoto lenses are expensive features and not every phone can offer one. The introduction of a telephoto camera will allow you to differentiate your high-end phones from the basic models. (The OnePlus 9 Pro, for example, features a telephoto lens next to its main, ultrawide and – sigh – monochrome cameras.) But if OnePlus or any other phone maker doesn’t feel the need to include a telephoto lens on some models, that’s fine with me.
But the existing cameras should be there for a reason. If for any reason a smartphone with a wide application has a monochrome or macro lens, I haven’t found it yet. Let’s keep things tight with the OnePlus 10 camera range, please.
Keep developing these cameras
As mentioned above, the cameras on both the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro are lagging above anything the OnePlus has previously released. But there is still room for improvement. I noticed some color inconsistencies while testing the OnePlus 9, especially compared to other flagship camera phones.
Take this picture of a marquee outside a restaurant. The OnePlus 9’s bullet is fine, though you can see a few flaws in the image – a bit of the skies in the upper left part of the picture are overlaid, and the OnePlus struggled to keep the neon blue and green lights special. It’s not a horrible sight, but it doesn’t stand out.
Another image of the same sign, shot with a Pixel 4a 5G, does not have that problem. The blue sky is vibrant. The neon lights stand out. While the Pixel 4a 5G uses the same camera setup as the more expensive Pixel 5, I can’t shake the notion that the $ 499 phone took a better picture than the $ 729 OnePlus 9.
Making so much progress with OnePlus with the image processing software on this flagship tour, more work needs to be done before the OnePlus 10 ships.
Less obvious camera bump
Not fixing the camera, but there is one side of the new OnePlus phones that bothered me, at least on the OnePlus 9. The camera series seems to stick to obvious math.
That’s an issue facing many phones in this age of lame camera arrays, but the OnePlus 9 seems to have a more prominent set of lenses than other phones. I didn’t break out the calipers to make an extra measurement, but I know when I put the OnePlus 9 down with its screen looking up, the camera moves. That won’t happen with many of the other phones I currently have.
When designing the OnePlus 10, OnePlus would do well to draw on Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series for inspiration. These new releases use Samsung’s “contour-cut” design in which the camera array blends into the edge of the phone for a more immersive look. It’s very sharp, and a great way to make the camera area feel like part of the phone instead of something sticking out from the back.
Keep the line on prices
Phones are becoming more expensive these days. No one even pushes when a flag orders more than $ 1,000. But there seems to be some recognition that prices have gotten a little out of hand, with evidence that both Apple and Samsung are now offering cheaper versions of their brands.
OnePlus has always done a good job of offering fully bundled phones for less than the competition, even though its prices have gone up. The high-end model of the OnePlus 9 Pro – the only thing you can pre-order at OnePlus right now – will run you $ 1,069, for example. But at least the starting prices for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro range anywhere from $ 30 to $ 70 less than competing devices.
OnePlus needs to keep up with the OnePlus 10. It won’t be easy with the capabilities the company will want to introduce, not to mention the ones I wanted. But it’s a challenge OnePlus has encountered before.