OnePlus 9, 9 Pro, 9R India Launch Specs, Price, and Features (Pros and Cons)
Like every year, this year too, Oneplus has launched its new flagship phones – The OnePlus 9 and the 9 Pro at a live event on (23/03/2021).
Interestingly, Oneplus has launched a third phone called Oneplus 9R, and it is the most affordable in the Onplus 9 Series.
The Buzz created this year by Oneplus is for the Hasselblad camera system. Hasselblad is a premium camera manufacturer, and Oneplus has partnered with them by paying $150 Mn to use the brand name.
This OnePlus 9 series includes – OnePlus 9, OnePlus9R, and OnePlus 9 Pro.
Apart from the new cameras, the Oneplus 9/9 Pro comes with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor that offers the best in class performance.
Let’s get into the details for all the brand’s phones and check prices, variants, and availability information.
We will talk more about the price and how Oneplus has changed from a Flagship Killer to a Flagship brand and is now charging a premium for the devices. But first let’s check the basics.
So, Let’s start with the OnePlus 9.
OnePlus 9
OnePlus 9 is the mainstream phone from the band that has nearly everything that the Pro variant has san some of the nifty features.
Design & Display
Oneplus 9 comes with a truly eye-catching design with curved edges, a shiny glass back cover. It has a 6.55-inch fluid AMOLED left align punch-hole display and an FHD+(2400*1080) pixels resolution.
There is 1100nits of peak brightness, and even has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate screen for a smooth touch experience.
Additionally, it comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 for protection.
Performance & operating system
Powering the device is the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 octa-core processor fabricated on a 5nm chipset.
Furthermore, it comes with an Adreno 660 GPU(Graphics Processing Unit). You can enjoy the latest games such as PUBG, COD Mobile, or Fortnite in high or ultra settings.
And, it is also has a multilayer cooling system called a OnePlus Cool Play that ensures lower temps when gaming.
The OnePlus 9 comes in the following variants:
- 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB UFS 3.1 storage support.
- 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage support.
However, we don’t have an expandable storage option.
It runs on an OxygenOS 11 based on the latest Android 11 operating system and will get 2 future Android version updates.
Camera Details
The camera is the key highlight of this flagship smartphone because the OnePlus is a tie-up with HASSELBLAD(leading manufactures of digital cameras and lenses) for their OnePlus 9 series.
At the rear, the OnePlus nine comes with a Triple camera setup, including a 48MP Sony IMX689 main camera, an aperture of f/1.8, a 50MP IMX766 ultrawide lens with an ultrawide lens aperture of f/2.2, and a 2MP monochrome lens along with an aperture of f/2.4.
Oneplus is still using the three-year-old 16MP Sony IMX471(f/2.4) front-facing camera for taking selfies.
The key camera features are Nightscape, Super Macro, UltraShot HDR, Smart Scene Recognition, Portrait mode, Pro mode, and Panorama. It can also shoot videos up to 8K resolution at 30 frames per second and 4K recording at 60 frames per second.
Audio
It comes with a dual stereo speaker setup and DOLBY Atmos technology for clear and loud audio.
Additionally, for call clarity, we have got noise cancelation microphones. However, like previous Oneplus devices, this one doesn’t have a headphone jack; you will have to use a TWS Bluetooth headphone with it.
Battery
The OnePlus 9 has an above-average 4500mAH battery capacity along with 65T Warp charging support that will charge 65% battery in just 15 minutes.
Considering Oneplus still prioritize the design (sleek and not-so-heavy phone) over having a massive battery.
Other features
There is an In-display fingerprint sensor (placed near the bottom chin, not an ideal placement) and has face unlocking security support.
Its connectivity includes Bluetooth 5.2, WiFi 6, NFC, GPS, USB Type-C 3.1, and dual SIM 5G support (offers only 2 bands), but it lacks a 3.5mm earphone jack.
It weighs 183 grams, which makes it not too bulky, and the phone’s thickness is 8.1mm makes it slim and sleek too.
Price
The price of the base variant of the OnePlus 9 is INR 49,999, and the price for the high-end variant is INR 54,999 in India.
The sale for these new phones will start on 14th April 2021, and you can register on Amazon for notifications or check the launch offers that include discounts up to Rs. 4000 on purchase using the SBI Credit card.
OnePlus 9 Pro
Note – OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro specs are quite similar with some differences. Let’s check out what’s different in the OnePlus 9 Pro.
Display
The OnePlus 9 Pro offers a larger 6.7-inch fluid AMOLED left align punch hole notch display along with a QHD+(3216*1440)pixels resolution including a 1300nits peak brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate, and there is also a Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
Also, the phone has a glass back cover and has a metallic frame making it more rigid and robust.
Camera
The OnePlus 9 Pro comes with a Quad camera setup at the back, including a 48MP Sony IMX789 main camera (better than the Oneplus 9) along with an aperture of f/1.8, a 50MP ultrawide angle lens (same as Oneplus 9) with an aperture of f/2.2, an 8MP telephoto lens along with an aperture of f/2.4, and a 2MP Monochrome lens.
The OnePlus 9 Pro can shoot a video of 4K resolution at 120 frames per second. The selfie camera is the same as the One Plus 9.
Battery
The phone comes with a similar 4500 mAH capacity battery with 65 Watts fast charging support.
But there is a plus point of having 50 Watts fast wireless charging support.
Other features
It weighs 198 grams and has a thickness of 8.7mm which means that it is also a sleek and slim device.
Furthermore, it also comes with an IP68 water-resistant coating making it waterproof.
Price
The price for the base variant of the OnePlus 9 Pro is INR 64,999 (8 GB + 128 GB), and the price of the high-end variant is INR 69,999 (12 GB +256 GB) in India.
OnePlus 9R
Oneplus has raised the price for the Oneplus 9 and the 9 Pro significantly, and to still offer something to the buyers looking at Flagship devices around 40k, we have the Oneplus 9R. The base variant with 8 GB ram and 128 GB storage is available for Rs. 39,990.
Design & Display
Talking about its design, it comes with a glass back carrying a Quad camera setup and a glass front.
It offers a 6.55 fluid AMOLED left align punch-hole display with an FHD+(2400*1080) pixels resolution, including a 120Hz refresh rate for a smooth touch experience.
Furthermore, it also has a corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
Performance & operating system
The OnePlus 9R is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 octa-core processor, fabricated on a 7nm chipset.
Additionally, it comes with an Adreno 650 GPU for gaming. The Snapdragon 870 is very similar to the SD 865 used in the Oneplus 8T.
The RAM and storage variant of the OnePlus 9R is the same as the OnePlus 9, and it also runs on Android 11 with Oxygen Os.
Camera details
At the rear, it has a Quad camera setup including a 48MP Sony IMX586 main camera along with an aperture of f/1.7, a 16MP ultrawide lens along with an aperture of f/2.2; a 5MP macro lens comes along with an aperture of f/2.4 and a 2MP monochrome lens.
Additionally, the OnePlus 9R has a 16MP Sony IMX471 selfie camera.
The camera has some exciting features like Cyberpunk style filter, Video Portrait, UltraShot HDR, Nightscape, Macro, Portrait, Pro Mode, Panorama, AI Scene Detection, Video Focus Tracking, Super Stable, Video Nightscape, and a 4K video shoot support at 30/60 frames per second.
The OnePlus 9R has a support of same Audio features like other OnePlus 9 series smartphones and even has a same battery capacity along with similar fast charging support(same as OnePlus 9).
Other features
Talking about its thickness and weight, it has an 8.4mm thickness and weighs 189 grams which makes it a slim and lightweight device.
Both Connectivity and unlocking sensors are the same in the OnePlus 9.
Price
The price for the base variant of the OnePlus 9R is INR 39,999, and the price for the high-end variant is INR 43,999 in India.
Also, check out the Oneplus Nord 2 and other upcoming Oneplus phones.
Price Increase For Oneplus Phones over the Years | From Flagship Killer to a flagship.
When Oneplus started they posed as a small brand but of course, were part of Oppo or to be more precise was part of the BBK electronics.
The company did a great job and offered value for money offering and created a big base for the brand. As the brand matured they started charging more but still, they offer great products with a lot more features than when they started.
The brand has transitioned from Flagship Killer to being a Premium Flagship.
Oneplus was a perfect replacement for Google Nexus back in the days. Google Nexus was affordable and came with the best software experience. Google later decided to abandon the value for money flagship positioning and started making expensive phones. Oneplus, for years offered great phones in the 30k to 40k price range, but now all that is gone.
The company’s DNA has changed, and they have moved to premium pricing of over $1000 or Rs. 64,999 for the best phone they are making. Even the Oneplus 9 is a pretty expensive phone costing Rs. 49,999.
Oneplus is an excellent brand, and their Oxygen Os is a real differentiator in the overcrowded Android market.
But you can’t buy the best Oneplus phones at an affordable rate anymore; you will need to shell out more to have that best experience.
