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00:00Nope, stop everything.
00:09This is not a TikTok video, but this is the OnePlus 9 Pro and it's in this very fancy
00:14morning mist color, which is supposed to look like the fog on a mirror fading away.
00:20To be fair, I think that's pretty spot on.
00:22So I've got both new OnePlus 9 phones with me here in their unique tall red boxes.
00:27And you can see they're both 5G and have the new Hasselblad camera branding.
00:31I've got the 9 in this winter mist color, which has a really nice purple-y gradient
00:35to it.
00:36Each phone has three color options, but I think they both look really good.
00:47In the box, we get the usual gubbins of some paperwork, a simple case, USB-C cable, and
00:52I'm happy to say we're still getting a power adapter bundled in the box.
00:56And it's the latest Warp Charge 65T charger.
01:00How much do you ask?
01:01Well, the OnePlus 9 costs this much and the 9 Pro will set you back this much, which is
01:09not bad actually.
01:10Yes, OnePlus phones keep getting more expensive and the 9 Pro is about £30 more than last
01:15year's 8 Pro, but this is their flagship phone and it's in the same ballpark as the standard
01:20iPhone 12 and the S21.
01:23And if you consider the Galaxy S21 Ultra costs £320 more than this, while it is expensive
01:30for a traditional OnePlus, I think it's really good value for money, although I'll
01:35get to this at the end, I think the OnePlus 9 may actually be the one to go for.
01:40So for this video, I'm focusing on the 9 Pro and I think there's four big upgrades
01:44really.
01:45Firstly, it's faster with the latest Snapdragon 888 processor and together with OxygenOS 11
01:51on top of Android 11, I think this may actually be my favourite phone to use.
01:56It's just so slick and fast while still offering a good amount of customisation.
02:00It's kind of like stock Android, but with the extra bits that you want.
02:03Oh, and you can also now turn a photo into a canvas drawing for your always on display.
02:09It is a bit weird if you use your own face though, and it also doesn't like cats for
02:13some reason.
02:14Secondly, we've got this new design.
02:16As I say, I've got this morning mist version, but it also comes in pine green and stellar
02:21black.
02:22We get Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back, not the latest Victus, unfortunately.
02:26Aluminium frame, IP68 water resistance, there's a corner hole punch selfie camera with a notification
02:31light next to it, which also helps you see where to look at when you're taking selfies.
02:35We're still getting OnePlus's handy alert slider on the right hand side, dual SIM card
02:40tray on the bottom, 5G of course, although no micro SD support, and we're also getting
02:44improved stereo speakers.
02:46Actually if I bring in last year's 8 Pro, you can see this is quite a departure from
02:50what we're used to.
02:51We're back to a glossy finish, and now with a much beefier camera module in the corner.
02:56The 9 Pro is actually a little bit smaller as well, with a 6.7 inch screen versus 6.78
03:01inches.
03:02Although I think a more significant change is the curved screen is now, well, less curved,
03:07which I know a lot of people will prefer.
03:10The third big upgrade is this screen.
03:12It is still a QHD plus 120 hertz AMOLED, same as the 8 Pro, but it's now using an LTPO panel,
03:19which not only gives us faster response times for gaming, but crucially it also supports
03:23variable refresh rates between 1 and 120 hertz.
03:27So it can dynamically adjust based on what's on screen, and OnePlus says this cuts the
03:31screen's power use by up to 50%.
03:35But actually, I think the biggest upgrade with the 9 series, particularly the Pro, is
03:39the camera, and also this, OnePlus's partnership with Hasselblad.
03:44Now every year we say how great the OnePlus phones are, but again and again they just
03:49can never quite keep up with the latest Pixel, Galaxy or iPhone.
03:53Now OnePlus knows this, so they've finally put some proper effort into stepping up their
03:58camera game, and so they got into bed with Hasselblad.
04:02Hopefully Mrs. Hasselblad is okay with that, but it's exactly the right move, and not just
04:07because we now have an orange shutter button that makes this classic Hasselblad camera
04:11sound.
04:13The million pound question though is what makes a good photo?
04:16Now I'm not a professional, I will admit that, and I think you guys probably know,
04:20but what I do know is that it's the combination of hardware, so megapixels, sensor size, and
04:25the software, the processing and the colour science.
04:28Let's do an experiment, let's see in a blind test if you'll be able to pick out the difference
04:33between the OnePlus 8 Pro and the 9 Pro.
04:36So here's a couple of photos, no edits or filters, straight out of the camera, one from
04:40the 8 Pro and the other from the 9 Pro.
04:42But which one do you prefer?
04:44How about this one in tricky lighting?
04:46I mean there's pretty big differences between them.
04:48And finally a selfie, now to be clear A and B are the same camera throughout here, I'm
04:52not switching them up, but do you reckon you know which is which?
04:56Well let me know if you got this right in the comments, but A is the 8 Pro and B is
05:00the 9 Pro.
05:01I think for this portrait shot it's a pretty clear win for the 9, sharper, much more natural
05:06colours, and you can also see we're getting a slightly wider field of view as well.
05:10This nightscape photo was a little harder to call, but I think aside from a slightly
05:14flatter look it is the more realistic white balance and colours that stand out.
05:18And finally the selfie, and I think there's definitely a pattern emerging that the biggest
05:22difference between them is the colour, from the green t-shirt to my skin tones.
05:27Now if you said you preferred A on all of them then maybe OnePlus and Hasselblad need
05:31to go back to the drawing board, but if you're like me then B was the clear winner.
05:36So what's different?
05:37Well on a hardware level we're getting an all new 48 megapixel main lens, which is pixel
05:41binned down to 12 megapixels, but it uses a brand new custom Sony IMX789 sensor.
05:48And that's alongside a 50 megapixel IMX766 ultrawide lens, which also doubles as a macro.
05:54We're also getting an 8 megapixel telephoto with a 3.3x optical zoom.
05:59And finally a 2 megapixel monochrome sensor, which gives you better quality native black
06:04and white shots, if you're feeling a bit artsy.
06:07And this new sensor brings with it faster focusing, dual native ISO, 12-bit RAW photo
06:12support, and together with the new ISP in the Snapdragon chip, when it comes to video
06:17we're now getting 8K at 30 frames per second, and my personal favourite, 4K 120, which is
06:23the first time I've seen this on a phone.
06:26But the new hardware is only half the story, and actually it's the software processing
06:30that's just as important, and a big reason why the Pixels and the iPhones are so good.
06:34Although they do also have millions of photos uploaded to Google Photos and iCloud that
06:39they can train their algorithms from, OnePlus doesn't, but by asking Hasselblad to help
06:44and developing a new natural colour calibration as they're calling it, the idea released
06:48is we'll get more, well, natural photos.
06:51Now OnePlus have said that this is a 3 year partnership, and with the 9 and 9 Pro, Hasselblad
06:56have helped tune the software, but there's no hardware changes.
06:59So I am excited to see what comes next, but for now, I can certainly see an improvement.
07:04And you can see here with my super professional colour scene setup, the 8 Pro is a little
07:09bit oversaturated, especially the red box, and actually if I bring in a photo from my
07:14Sony A7S III camera, while there are still differences, looking at the table and the
07:18banana, the colours on the 9 Pro are closer to the more professional camera.
07:23And then in low light shots, not only are we getting better dynamic range, but the whole
07:27scene is better exposed, and the cooler white balance is more true to life.
07:32And it's not just the main lens that's had an upgrade, the 50 megapixel ultra wide
07:36has an all new sensor, and it uses a new freeform lens which reduces distortion, so you get
07:41less of that fisheye look.
07:43For me, the only thing the camera's missing, other than maybe a second zoom lens like we
07:47get on the S21 Ultra, is night mode for selfies.
07:51Now speaking of modes, we're also getting a revamped Pro mode, with that Hasselblad
07:55look and feel where you can tinker and get that fine control over the camera.
07:59And there's also this new tilt shift mode, which gives you a cool miniature feel to photos.
08:05What I'm more excited about though, is swiping over to video, you'll see we get 8K 30 and
08:104K 120.
08:12So what's the point of 4K at 120?
08:15Well firstly, because we have a 120Hz screen, you can watch it back on the phone in hyper
08:19smooth 120fps.
08:22Or what I like to do is slow it down to 25% speed in your video editing app of choice,
08:27I use Premiere Rush, and then you get this really cool 4K slow motion.
08:32It's not something you'll use everyday, but it's a nice extra, as is the support for 8K
08:3630, which is handy if you want to pull out a high res 32MP still.
08:44So the camera is definitely a step up, although I am working on a big 9 Pro vs S21 Ultra vs
08:50iPhone 12 Pro Max camera comparison to see how it really stacks up against those guys,
08:55so make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss it.
08:57OK, moving on, and let's talk about battery life, because usually the Pro model gives
09:02you the best of everything, right?
09:04But in this case, since they both have the same size 4500mAh battery, actually the standard
09:11OnePlus 9 lasts a little bit longer.
09:13After an hour of gaming, YouTube and Instagram, the 9 had 57% of its battery left vs 55 on
09:19the Pro, that's at full HD with 120Hz.
09:22So the 9 does benefit from the smaller screen, although it doesn't have the LTPO panel on
09:27the 9 Pro, which offsets the difference a little bit, and also reduces the impact of
09:31switching up to Quad HD.
09:33I wouldn't say it's best in class battery, but it's still pretty good, and at Quad HD
09:38and 120Hz, which is how I tend to use it, I'm finishing the day at 11pm with about 30%
09:43of my battery left, and we're looking at about 6 hours, 15 minutes or so of screen on time.
09:48But we are also getting faster charging.
09:50The 8 Pro from last year only offered 30W charging, although the 8T introduced 65W,
09:56but both the 9 and the 9 Pro support Warp Charge 65T, which has the same maximum speed
10:01as the 8T, but it can sustain it for longer, because the battery is now a dual cell design.
10:06So 0-100 takes 29 minutes, plus on the Pro we get 50W wireless charging, which is faster
10:12than most wired charging on a lot of phones, and it takes 43 minutes to go from 0-100.
10:20So there's lots to like here, but as with anything, there's always room for improvement,
10:24and I guess it would have been nice to see the latest Gorilla Glass Victus, as I say
10:28we've got 5 on the front and back.
10:30This also doesn't support WiFi 6E, which is a shame.
10:33Also this isn't something I'd normally talk about, but the screen protector, which is
10:37on this by default, is a lot thicker than I'm used to.
10:41With your nail, you can really feel it's a bit squidgy compared to other phones, and I
10:46have found it's made me miss a key press or two on the edge of the phone.
10:49As I mentioned earlier, a night mode for the selfie camera would be good to see, and
10:53also selfie video still tops out at 1080p, we're not getting a 4K option.
10:58And I've also found the auto brightness a bit frustrating, it always seems to be a little
11:01bit too dim, so I've found myself manually upping the brightness during the day.
11:06But this is mostly nitpicking, none of these are deal breakers.
11:09So that's the 9 Pro, but what about it's little brother, the standard OnePlus 9, which one
11:14should you go for?
11:15Well I think this deserves a full video by itself, but the main differences are it's
11:20a little bit smaller, with a 6.55 inch screen, which is also flat rather than slightly curved.
11:25It is still 120Hz, but we don't get the QHD resolution or the LTPO panel.
11:31Importantly though, they share the same RAM, same storage, processor and battery, and also
11:35the same fast wired charging.
11:37But I think the biggest difference is the camera.
11:40It's still a 48MP main lens, but it's using last year's IMX689 sensor.
11:45Although we are still getting the Hasselblad software and colour improvements.
11:49But we are also missing out on the telephoto lens.
11:56But I think considering the standard 9 is £200 less than the 9 Pro, starting at £629,
12:03if I was going to recommend one of these to a friend, or you guys, you're my friends,
12:07that sounds very lonely, but I would probably suggest going with the OnePlus 9.
12:11Yes, QHD is nice, as is the slightly newer main sensor, the telephoto lens, faster wireless
12:15charging, but none of those I think fundamentally changes the way you use your phone.
12:19So for me, I would go with the OnePlus 9, but because OnePlus kindly sent both, I'm
12:24probably going to stick with the 9 Pro.
12:26But what about you?
12:27Which one would you go for?
12:28The 9 or the 9 Pro, or none of the above?
12:30Let me know in the comments below.
12:32But I do still think that the likes of the S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which
12:36of course are a lot more expensive, do still outperform the 9 Pro when it comes to the
12:41camera.
12:42So there you have it.
12:43That's my opinion on that big camera comparison, also a full battery rundown test, so make
12:46sure you have subscribed and stay tuned for that.
12:48If you've got any questions or anything you'd like me to test, let me know in the comments
12:51below, and I'll see you guys next time right here on The Tech Chap.
12:54Thanks for watching.