The OnePlus 9 launched, along with OnePlus Watch

  • OnePlus 9 features Hasselblad camera, new colour configurations, 50MP ultra-wide camera
  • The OnePlus Watch touts 14 day battery life, blood oxygen saturation monitoring

The OnePlus 9 launched, along with OnePlus Watch THE latest flagships from OnePlus, the OnePlus 9, has now been launched. This smartphone series promises a top-tier flagship camera experience along with high refresh rate displays and fast wireless charging. It comes in two variants: the base OnePlus 9, and the higher-end 9 Pro.  

In a statement, the company has touted the OnePlus 9 as their biggest leap forward in camera quality, achieved through their long-term partnership with camera manufacturer Hasselblad, whose cameras was said to have flown to the moon on the Apollo 11 mission.

OnePlus 9’s Hasselblad camera for mobile system focuses on colour performance, it said. Smartphone camera systems typically work very different from traditional cameras, so OnePlus and Hasselblad jointly calibrated the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro sensors to work around its limitations, it added.

The result is a new standard for colour calibration – 'Natural Colour Calibration' with Hasselblad – which aims at bringing more "perceptually accurate and natural-looking colours to photos taken with the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro."

The 9 Pro carries the more premium camera setup. Its 48MP main camera features a custom-designed IMX789 sensor, co-engineered with Sony. It is said to produce 12-bit RAW images, and can also record 8K videos at 30fps, or 4K at 120fps. There’s even a 2MP black and white camera to assist with monochrome shots.

Coupled with the main shooter is a 50MP ultra-wide camera, which uses Sony’s IMX766 sensor. OnePlus said that this camera uses a pioneering freeform lens, which uses a series of unique curves to correct incoming light, claiming to bring distortion at the edge of photos down to around 1%.

It also has an ability to focus from as close as 4cm away from a subject, allowing users to capture ultra-wide macro shots, the company said.

Unique to the OnePlus 9 Pro is the 8MP telephoto camera, which offers 3.3x zoom with OIS (digital zoom maxes out at 30x). Rounding up the camera system is a 2MP depth sensor, which is also available on the base OnePlus 9.

Display and power

The OnePlus 9 Pro comes equipped with the company’s new Fluid Display 2.0. This is a 6.7-inch LTPO panel, which promises up to 50% power savings, in general usage. It does so by adjusting the refresh rate from the top 120Hz – enabling smooth UI navigation – all the way down to 1Hz when reading text or showing the 'always on' display.

The OnePlus 9 launched, along with OnePlus Watch

The display also adapts to the phone’s content. It can, for instance, run at 90Hz when playing certain games, or 24Hz when watching movies.

The base OnePlus 9 carries the first generation Fluid Display, so you get 120Hz refresh mode but it’s not adaptive. This is also a flat 6.55-inch AMOLED Panel with 1080p+ resolution, as opposed to 9 Pro’s 1440p+ display.

Both devices are powered by a Snapdragon 888 5G chipset, which is paired with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. They both feature a 4,500mAh battery. In North American and Europe markets, the OnePlus 9 also support up to 15W Qi wireless charging. For Malaysia, we’ll have to wait and see.

Local price and availability of the OnePlus 9 series smartphones have not been announced yet. What we do know is that both devices come with two different configurations: 8GB+128GB, or 12GB+256GB. The listed price for devices in Europe start from EUR699 for the OnePlus 9, and EUR899 for the Oneplus 9 Pro.

Introducing the OnePlus Watch

The OnePlus Watch was also announced with the new smartphone and is the company’s first global wearable device. It features a 46mm case (in a round design, crafted from stainless steel) with 2.5D curved glass on the face. There’s a Cobalt Limited Edition version, which uses cobalt alloy for the watch case instead (this material is typically found on luxury watches).

The OnePlus 9 launched, along with OnePlus Watch

The OnePlus Watch can do what you'd expect a smartwatch can do, including viewing and responding to notifications, answering calls, playing music and taking photos. The device comes with 4GB of standalone storage (2GB for actual use), which OnePlus said is enough for over 500 songs.

It is also compatible with most Bluetooth earbuds, and can connect with OnePlus TV to act as a smart remote.

Encased is a 402mAh battery, the company claims is capable of powering the smartwatch for up two weeks of sustainable use, or one week for active users. The device can provide all-day power in just five minutes of charge, or one week in 20 minutes.

Also featured:  5ATM + IP68 water and dust resistance and 110+ workout types, including automatic workout detection for jogging and running. Metrics include pulse, distance, calories, speed monitoring and SWOLF, a measure of swimming efficiency, for swimmers.

It has a built-in GPS as well, for tracking your activity even when your phone is not next to you. Additionally, it offers blood oxygen saturation monitoring, stress detection, breathing training, rapid heart rate alerts and sedentary reminders, all manageable on the OnePlus Health app.

Retail price for the OnePlus Watch is listed at US$159 although there is no local availability details yet, though the watch is expected to be available starting mid-April.

 

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