I got my hands on the OnePlus 9 Pro in April 2021, one month after it’s official launch and incidently today is it’s anniversary when I choose to write my experience about it. How I got it, is yet another story. Covid’s Second wave was on the rise and the new rules stated that e-commerce websites were not allowed to deliver anything except for essential things. All the shops were also closed and my old phone had already given up due to it’s age. It was unable to handle the constant calls, video conferences and other activities since. I had to invest in a good quality phone which would not feel old in the next 3–4 years. I considered Samsung and Apple as well, but finally chose the OnePlus 9 Pro because of the flagship quality at a much reasonable price.
The 5 things to emphasize about the device are :-
1.Screen
The panel is a 6.7 inch edged display with QHD+ resolution and it has a slight curve, lesser than that of the OnePlus 8 Pro which significantly reduces mistouch. The screen is a 10-bit Display panel which has a wider range of colors which makes the photos and videos look more amazing. The quality of display keeps you engrossed and is good for content consumption.
2.Charging
The battery of the phone is 4500mAh which is average but what makes it better is the 65W Warp Charging which charges the phone from 1 to 100% within 35 minutes. This helps during travelling and during unplanned outings. Plug the device while you choose that tee and buckle up your sneakers and your phone is ready to support you seemlessly for hours.
3.Performance
The phone has Snapdragon 888 SoC which is good and almost completes all the tasks thrown at it smoothly. There is no lag whatsoever and this helps to manage the tasks, the memory holds the apps for a longer duration and start off exactly where you had left them.
4.Camera
This phone has quad camera setup, but the major focus is on the primary and the wide angle lens. The primary lens is 48MP Sony Sensor and the wide angle is 50MP, again a Sony Sensor.
5.OxygenOS
This phones comes with OxygenOS 11 on top of Android 11. Things have changed a bit lately which I’ll talk about later in the blog.
The Phone is an absolute beast. It has various advantages which have helped me grow and learn some new things. The Screen is great, I generally consume content on the phone itself, additionally reading documents or any books on it is very much comfortable. I have started to capture photos on a regular basis as well, just pick it out of the pocket and click what you like, you will get images so sharp and colors so punchy that it could be mistaken to be a result of being edited. I recently have started to learn photo and video editing which is another thing I do it on the phone itself and it’s very engaging because of accurate colors and no lag while editing 4k videos as well.
In terms of gaming, I am not a gamer yet I have played some games like BGMI, Real Racing, FIFA and PES and those have been very smooth for the duration I have played. The only thing that left me disappointed was the absence of setting to allow the frame rate to go above 60fps even when the phone is capable of doing it.
I use many other productive apps in addition to the work mode which is a feature of Oxygen OS, It allows one to focus on the work with only selective apps to be opened during work mode enabled, it also blocks the notifications of the apps which aren’t allowed to open, it does increase your concentration and helps to focus better. There’s a setting called Zen Mode where you can’t operate a phone for the minutes you set. It can only be cancelled in case of dialling of emergency numbers, nothing else. This helps to stay away from the phone for a certain period which is very much required in today’s time.
Last but not the least, If you use Social Media apps on this phone, you will be delighted because it’s very smooth, thanks to the 120fps, everything feels fluidic. However, you will have a tough time if you are an addict to social media.
OnePlus has confirmed that the phone will receive 3 Major Android Updates and 4 years of Security Updates which will keep it on par with it’s competitors.
The phone amidst its advantages has some disadvantages as well. I think the battery would have been better. Also, it heats up during some intensive tasks like gaming and recording video for 4k or 8k. There’s a monochrome sensor in the camera setup which is almost useless because it’s resolution is 2MP, I would rather click an image with 48MP and then apply the B/W filter.
Talking about another disadvantage, There was a recent Oppo-OnePlus merge due to which the Android 12 update has seen many features of the Oppo smartphones. The OnePlus feel has reduced by some extent. Also, shifting to Android 12 did not seem a major upgrade since many of the stock android visual features were ditched and the Oppo themes are more prominent.
To sum up, I am experiencing a Flagship phone for the first time, and the phone hasn’t changed in performance even after completing its first anniversary , a recurrent issue that I had faced in my previous two phones, which makes the experience amazing, I think the phone is as new as it was on the day I opened its package!
