OnePlus 9 review – a seriously sensible smartphone to rival Galaxys & iPhones

The OnePlus 9 is a seriously sensible smartphone with Hasselblad tuning

OnePlus 9
(Image: © Basil Kronfli/Digital Camera World)

Digital Camera World Verdict

The OnePlus 9 is a fantastically sensible smartphone. Costing £629 (approximately $860), it undercuts the Apple and Samsung competition, while serving up helping after helping of flagship goodness. It also feels very low on compromise in day-to-day use, with top-tier power, a fine screen and sleek design. Its camera isn’t perfect, but at wide and ultra-wide angles, it’s not too far off, and the phone also grabs mightily steady video at up to 8K resolution too.

Pros

  • +

    Excellent value across the board

  • +

    Good primary camera

  • +

    Excellent ultra-wide camera

Cons

  • -

    Plastic frame isn’t super-premium

  • -

    No telephoto camera

  • -

    No Pro mode ultra-wide support

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The OnePlus 9 competes directly with other midrange-priced, flagship-powered smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. It’s clearly cut from the same cloth as the OnePlus 9 Pro, and also benefits from Hasselblad optics, but strips things back in a few key areas to keep costs down. 

So what’s different between the top-dog OnePlus 9 Pro and the underdog OnePlus 9? For starters, the latter’s screen is a last-gen panel with a lower resolution. It’s also packing a plastic frame (albeit one infused with fiberglass), and it misses out on both Sony’s new IMX789 primary camera, capable of 4K capture at 120fps, and a telephoto module. 

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Basil Kronfli

Basil Kronfli is a freelance technology journalist and content creator with a number of specialisms. He started his career at Canon Europe, before joining Phone Arena and Recombu as a tech writer and editor. From there, he headed up and runs Tech[edit], a technology YouTube channel, and has worked alongside this role at Future as a Senior Producer, sharpening his considerable video production skills. 


His technical expertise has been called on numerous times by mainstream media, with appearances and interviews on outlets like Sky News, and he provides Digital Camera World with insight and reviews on camera phones, video editing software and laptops, on-camera monitors, camera sliders, microphones and much more.