OnePlus 9 review: the flagship tickler?

In 2023, OnePlus seems to be changing its smartphone strategy. See, at the time when the 2021 OnePlus 9 series launched, we had two phones — the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. Then, in H1 of 2022, there was only the OnePlus 10 Pro. Now, we are about to get a OnePlus 11 — no Pro moniker, no nothing, but the company states that this is its top-tier phone. Essentially, it's dropping the "Pro", at least for now, but its flagship for the first half of the year is the one to get.

So, let's look back one last time at the "cheap" OnePlus 9 — a pretty good deal back when it was new. Now that it will be clearing off the shelves at bargain prices, is it worth getting? It's thin, light, has a classy look, and offers plenty good performance for someone who's paying mid-range money for their phone. And the Hasselblad-branded camera is pretty OK, despite not being cream of the crop.

OnePlus 9 intro

OnePlus 9 specs

OnePlus 9 models

OnePlus 9 design and colors

OnePlus 9 display

The regular OnePlus 9 has a fully flat screen this year — unlike last year when both the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro had curved displays. It’s up to you whether you care about that or not — some people like curved screens, some don’t mind them, others hate them with a passion.

In any case, it’s a 6.5-inch screen with a 20:9 ratio and a resolution of 2400 x 1080. It’s an OLED panel with vivid colors and a 120 Hz refresh rate. With a few color profiles to pick from and extra settings to change the color temperature based on ambient light — OnePlus basically knocked it out of the park here. The screen on the OnePlus 9 is an absolute gem.

There is a fingerprint scanner under that display as well — it's the optical type and we dare say it works quickly and accurately.

OnePlus 9 camera

OK, but what do these two big cameras do exactly? Well, the main snapper is a 48 MP camera and the one above it is a 50 MP ultra-wide camera. There is no telephoto lens here, sorry, but the software of the OnePlus 9 still has the very flexible zoom controls. It makes use of digital zoom with that high-res 48 MP sensor to “simulate” a telephoto camera, if you will.

The camera UI is fast, responsive, and nicely laid out. There's a full on Manual Mode that gives you access to ISO, shutter speed and manual focus with my favorite feature on board — focus peaking.

OK, how do the photos look? In terms of detail, they are very pleasing. Nice and sharp, without a lot of evidence of software oversharpening ruining the look. The colors are, indeed, pretty close to real life.

But the photos kind of lack a good punch. Most come out with a consistent cold-ish cast and the camera’s dynamic range is not great. You can see the samples look a bit dull and lack some pop, despite there being some colorful subjects in the scenes.


In comparison, the OnePlus 9 Pro’s camera has a slightly warmer cast and just a bit more dynamic range, and the photos instantly look brighter, deeper, and more cheerful if you will.

Nevertheless, the OnePlus 9 photos are “OK-looking” and leave a distinct midranger aftertaste.

Portrait Mode is pretty good at separating subject from background, as long as it’s not too busy back there. You can use wide-angle view or go in for a 2x zoom to simulate the telephoto effect. Since it’s a digital zoom, facial features will come out a bit too soft, though.

The main camera starts struggling at low light and we ended up getting a lot of soft or blurry photos, as the shutter stayed open for prolonged periods. Portrait Mode shots in the night mostly come out fuzzy.


You can use Nightscape (night mode) to alleviate some of those issues, but it’s still a bit of a hit and miss.

The ultra-wide camera really does look good. It’s calibrated to match the color profile of the main camera and its high-res sensor makes sure that you don’t get softer images when switching to ultra-wide.


But, it’s worth noting that using the ultra-wide camera for video crops in hard, basically negating the ultra-wide effect. Nope, no action footage with this phone.

That aside, the videos look sharp enough, but suffer from the main camera’s drawbacks — a low dynamic range and a cold cast dull up the scene.

OnePlus 9 performance and benchmarks

OnePlus phones are known to be lightning-fast and the 9 series does not disappoint. See, OnePlus only does minor reskinning and tweaks to the stock Android, then it stuffs the latest top-tier hardware in its phones. 

Whether you are whizzing through apps, playing the latest games, or taking photos — the OnePlus 9 is fast. We know this sounds like a 90s TV ad, but hey — it is just how happy we were with the phone’s responsiveness.

So, on to the boring stuff — the processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and the OnePlus 9 can come with either 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, or 12 GB of RAM with 256 GB of storage. No microSD slot on board.

OnePlus 9 Android version

OnePlus 9 battery life

The OnePlus 9 is powered by a meaty 4,500 mAh battery. Yeah, we’ve seen bigger ones, but this cell gets the job done. It can last you through a day of mixed usage without raising your percentage phobia.

But, even if you end up in a tight spot, the new Warp Charge 65T is super-fast and can top up your phone in 30 minutes. No, really — from 0% to 100% in half an hour.

It’s worth noting that the OnePlus 9 has a set of stereo speakers — the familiar bottom driver plus earpiece combo. They get the job done and can get loud, but they can sound harsh and lack depth. The OnePlus 9 Pro’s stereo speakers certainly sound much better.

But the good news — the OnePlus 9 has fantastic haptics. A precise, tick-type vibration that can underline your keystrokes and button presses for a very, very pleasing feedback.

OnePlus 9 competitors

So, in 2023, you can buy the OnePlus 9 for as low as $300 brand-new. That's a pretty good deal and it's hard to beat. Google's 2021 Pixel 6 can be spotted for $400 and offers a similar clean Android experience, but with much faster updates, for a longer period, and a better camera performance. So, that's the one to watch out for.

The Pixel 6a is a newer offering from Google that can also go down to $400 on deals events — this one was meant as a midranger, but has Google's excellent camera performance.

The Galaxy A53 is much cheaper, with an MSRP of $449.99 that often drops to $400 as well, and can also offer a stellar camera performance for even less money than the OnePlus 9.

What the OnePlus 9 has to offer is a lower price than any of those (during deals periods), a unique look, and interesting take on the Android phone formula — for those that are looking for something a bit more... exotic.

The OnePlus 9 may be getting long in the tooth, but it's still not an easy phone to outshine. Specifically, the price point at which it is offered keeps it viable. It still has more support left in it — it should continue getting security patches up to early 2024. So, if you are looking for something different, cheap, but don't want to compromise in terms of performance or charging speeds — the OnePlus 9 might be just what you want.