So no wireless charging on anything but what is sure to be their $1000-1200 base price device when i can get it on anything above $500 elsewhere?
Not interested, and it’s a shame. It’sa noice convenience feature that I’ve come to really appreciate and there’s no particular reason you should need to compromise on it on what will definitely be an $800+ phone.
This article was rushed and riddled with typos and ? or - in the comparison table as of 10:30 EST. I am not sure why they do not wait until the event is done and just take the time to ensure all the details are revealed, THEN release the article. I expected this from Android Authority, not Anandtech.
Andrei is by far the best smartphone reviewer, anywhere on the internet, and has been for years - if you are don't want to read his content, then don't. No one cares..
"Smartphones suck, they can't do basic multitasking that my PC could do in 1996."
Phones can multitask. My 3 year old phone would destroy any Personal Computer from 1996. It wouldn't even be close. PC's were still single core and lacked SSDs back then. Look into the DeX Pad before making silly claims about what phones can't do.
Come on, Anandtexh is still one of the most competent and in depth hardware review sites. However, I do agree that typos do take away from the overall perception of professionalism. Whoever the current owner of ATis, should spend some pennies and hire someone for publisher reader's or lectorate work (spell-checking etc).
It's gotten ridiculous. Did you notice the duplicate paragraph? Near the end, starts with: "In terms of pricing..."
Two identical paragraphs back to back. What's worse is that they don't fix their bugs. I notified them two days ago of the duplicate paragraphs and other typos. Yet, incredibly, they're still there...
That's super weird. And unprofessional. My continued readership is doubtful. They don't take their work seriously. The writing is awful even without the typos – so many ponderous phrases and unnecessary adverbs that slow down the reader. You could easily cut the word count by 10% and not lose any information, while gaining clarity and flow – think of it as lossless compression.
I completely agree, it seems that journalists everywhere needs to go back to school, it looks like writing articles is not their day job. Now we might hurt people` s feelings, I can sense lots of heat coming this way, hahaha
Agree, Its a shame every phone is Like Almost there but Never there setup. Ideal Setup . 1. Ultra wide Min 40Mp+ OnePlus got this right. 2. Around 50Mp OIS no more/no less Main camera OnePlus Got this right. 3. 24 MP 3x Zoom OIS to cover 3x to 6x. OnPlus failed with 8Mp it has no reach 4. 10x 12MP zoom OIS to those long distance shots. Less Mp will hurt Digital stabilization. 5. 12Mp Front 6. SD card 7. Dual sim ESim and nano Sim(Needed) that can function at the same time.(Would be nice) 8. FLAT SCREEN stop with the curved screen silliness 9. Plastic Back/ Removable back. 10. User Removable/Replaceable standardized Battery. 11. Variable refresh rate OLED 90Hz Max no more. 12 At lest 4500mAmp battery. 13. Atleast 8Gb ram Now is this too hard to make? rest are preferences which does not diminish/ handicap the phone. Now who is going to make the first one?
Thats your requirement. All i want is latest processor with 8gb ram, ltpo vrr 120Hz amoled panel with 1440p resolution, 5000+ mA battery, single back camera with OIS anything above 32MP, a side mounted fingerprint sensor. Removable cover would be nice to have and so would hardware switches for mic, wifi, bluetooth, gps. On software side, i absolutely want network speed monitor on statusbar and double click on power button to launch flashlight, and some similar shortcut for camera
I have no idea why that would deter you from a phone, its like people who complain about no headphone jack. Like why is that a big deal to you, every place has a charger, if you can't get to a phone charger in the time the battery needs charged, maybe time to rethink life.
I have good headphones that I want to use with the phone and other devices. I don't want to have to dick around with a dongle. I have no interest in buying expensive wireless headphones with even more e-waste crap integrated into them.
None of this was a problem before Apple discovered their "courage".
well..... why not just keep that dongle on your headphones all the time, thats what I did with my ie80s and it worked out pretty good almost never lost the dongle bit was attached to the headphones.
Putting phone on charger, when going to bed, is much more convenient than hunting for charging cable on/under my bedside table. My wife usually goes to bed a bit earlier (as she also starts her work day earlier) and I try not to turn the lights on when I sneak in. Also, if I want to pick up my phone, I don't have to worry how long cable is, or will it catch something on the table and pull it off. And I don't have to worry about phone's USB connector's wear.
I appreciate this feature more than having fastest SoC in. Currently using S20 FE with Exy 990... the way I'm using phone, extra performance would be wasted on me. To be honest, even my old phone with SD845 felt perfectly suitable, performance wise.
Besides, if current philosophy is getting rid of cables - I would expect that it is one of the sentiments for ditching audio jack, at least from marketing perspective - why limiting people to wired charging only?
Speaking of which, I did complain a bit about losing audio jack. Purely practical reason - I have been using decent wired headphones with it, quite a bit. My old LG G7 ThinQ had above average DAC, so it made sense. I have tried couple of USB-jack converters, after moving to S20FE, but didn't like extra dongle, and - more importantly - sound felt a bit less lively. Eventually moved to decent Bluetooth headset and happy with that, but also aware I could have saved that money, there was nothing wrong with my wired Momentums...
It'll be interesting to see the differences in battery life between the 9 and the 9 Pro with their different screens, considering the battery size remains the same. I see they're also not extending any official IP rating below the Pro which is a shame.
On a side note, I know this has been talked about ad nauseam before, but the fact that top of the line SoC/smartphone launching in 2021 is still stuck with A55 efficiency cores is laughable. These were likely designed in ~2015 considering the launched in 2017. If Qualcomm and the rest hope to catch up to Apple they're going to have to stop relying on ARM and its 4+ year cycle with them.
Problem is, just about everyone ejected their CPU uarch teams. Nvidia still might have theirs and are trying to buy a few, Qualcomm only just bought one (after losing their last one in a hostile takeover attempt from Broadcom), Samsung lost theirs long before winding down SARC, Apple doesn't sell their SoCs to 3rd parties, and the other major players never really did much with custom ARMv8 uarches.
NO IP68 rating below $1000, WTF is this bs ? NO 3.5mm jack, NO MicroSD slot expansion,
I paid $500 to my LG V30 and $425 with taxes for G8X Unlocked from LG both had all the features.
Why should I waste money on this Chinese garbage $1000 device, for BL unlock ? or pay that Hasselblad tax for virtually nothing, after 1.5years the battery goes into deterioration with their insane high current, high voltage batteries.
I would rather buy an iPhone at that $1000. Easier to get serviced, literally book an appointment and get it done under 1hour on top I get top class build and better OS, Yeah I cannot use iOS because of it's iTunes and Filesystem problems, but with recent killing of Android Filesystem by Google to a slow pathetic garbage Filesystem, rather buy an iPhone. Waiting for the day they remove the idiotic notch, and say goodbye to this bs Android which Google is making it into.
Wow OP9 has a plastic frame with Glass back, What an insane move...even worse than Samsung. Frame is plastic here, people this is the new Smartphone of 2021 and it will obv end up in AT list of buying, do not buy this POS. Apple uses Metal and Glass for their cheapest phone. This has to be a new low. Shameless really.
So you have $700-800+ USD phone with plastic frame ? damn.
Seriously? Man that's stupid. A plastic back would be so much better, particularly if they used matte plastic to set it apart from all these shiny glass phones.
Mobile phones have long since evolved to a point, where I really don't need additional computing power: the OnePlus 5 with the 835 was good enough and only got replaced with a 7 Pro, when a mobile shuffle was made necessary after another device died.
I aim for longevity now, mostly because the family is big and that has been the main attraction of the OnePlus devices, the fact that you could get LineageOS for them to ensure relatively safe use for five years or so. I actually still maintain a OnePlus 1 as a backup phone and it's performing well enough in that role.
And curved screens are terrible when it comes to longevity and they also add glare at those edges. I just wish they'd do a way with them already.
I don't really like them sacrificing resolution for a the flat screen. I am rather frustrated at Google giving up Daydream, now that handsets are more VR capable than ever. I've got a LeVR headset adapter for my Le Max 2, that also fits quite a few other and later phones, too, and have enjoyed using that less for VR than for 3D (or even 2D) movies on longer plane and train trips or even in hotels. It's nice to lie down on the hotel bed and watch a movie from what is generally the most comfortable place in any hotel.
With all those new Phones they have to many different models and can not deliver the OS updates fast enough. For OnePlus 6 and 7 series Android 11 still isn't released and the monthly android security updates are usually published after two month.. This is not accepable for phones with such a price tag.
There are almost monthly betas of Android 11 on the OnePlus 7. And that has been going on for more than half a year.
So clearly their focus is on making sure that *functionally* the update is as near perfect as it can be.
The *security* aspect of continously closing the latest vulnerabilities is an entirely different story and priority.
I don't like it either, but the only alternative is to go LineageOS directly.
Increasingly that seems to mean that you sacrifice the camera and perhaps some of the other "goodies" like neural processing. If that puts a wrench into some of the "social media processing" I don't want, I'd consider it a feature, but the camera... Once you've gotten used to getting silly quality from total lack of talent, it's a bit hard to go back to something distinctly "manual".
And then even LineageOS doesn't solve the issue of outdated kernels and firmware for WIFI and modem enclaves...
Today I tend to get high-end phones just before they are discontinued at maximum clear-out discounts. That's when the value is ok and I know if a device will find the favor of LineageOS. The mid range tends to offer similar basic value, but falls short on LineageOS support and thus longevity.
So the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G is roughly the same price ($1069 vs $1099) in the US as an iPhone 12 Pro Max but with only 2/3yr support compared to the 5/7yr support of the iPhone. So both amortized cost per year and resale value is much worse than the iPhone, making it effectively twice as expensive. 🤦
Yes, I agree. But with Android it's nothing great. Android 12 looks like iOS. They made the filesystem castrated completely now, it basically cannot create folders, even if you create with root. No app will use. Using any App now creates sandboxed filesystem but you have to copy those, note - SAF is mandatory, so the performance hit happens (Dolphin Emulator developers mentioned that it has to be regressed since the folder structure is not supported, so the emu is having reduced featureset) and next all the files in the app folders have to be manually copied (any application from Photoshop, EXIF editors, Movie editors, Recording apps, Database sql files, songs, pics, movies everything, then Filemanagers have to be specifically approved in a seperate GPlay form)
So yeah, basically the iPixel is fucked so bad that even with Superuser access, the Filesystem is readonly, so you cannot edit them easily, the TWRP needs a ton of work, the A/B slotting, Root and Boot partitions changed on top. Next is you don't even have MicroSD card in any flagship phone except Sony, maybe Motorola now, both have BL unlock but with Moto SW updates are bad in the sense of security updates, since OS updates are more of a downgrade like Win10.
Next up price, the cost is insanely high, resale value is piss poor, servicing is complete garbage, ubreakifix and bestbuy for iPixel and Samdung, rest you are having to ship to them essentially leaving you without a phone, battery repair after 2 years is hard since you have to backup everything without SD card, then you have shitty build quality like this OnePlus 9 with plastic frame vs iPhone's Stainless Steel, then you have Samsung S21 with plastic back.
Next is the Android apps are virtually locked down by Google, all the Phone / SMS and other basic apps need updates, plus you cannot have alternative as the radio baseband might be effected. So meaning all the Google apps are as a Service and if you lose Internet access for a long time expect bugs, then all the data is siphoned for free by Google. No restrictions or anything.
yeah now tell me which is measurable, an Apple ecosystem for $1000 vs that inferior Apple copying and fanatic braindead Goolag ? Using Android since Eclair with Bootloader unlock here, now on Oreo with BL unlocked device with MicroSD and an ESS DAC phone.
Android is garbage, after 10 it became pathetic. Samsung also shamelessly copying Apple is even rubbish. You don't even have ecosystem advantages, like Watch / iPad integration. It's all bogged down garbage for Android. A shame how Google is killing it.
@Sharma_Ji that's partly due to OnePlus jacking up their pricing in the US to match Apple pricing without matching their level of support.
On top of that India has huge import tariffs on Apple products (ie iPhone 12 Pro Max at $1099 in US is ~ $1790 in India) which has been in the news. That's why Apple has started building iPhones in India directly to at least partially bypass the tariffs.
The OnePlus 9 Pro 12/256 is ~ $100 cheaper in India than the US.
The OnePlus 9R 8/128 which is sold for the equivalent to ~ $550 USD isn't even offered in the US at all.
There are other cheaper Android flagships, outside the US, but they never include US LTE bands so are unusable in the US.
This sentence: "The star feature of the OnePlus 8 Pro is the new display..."
Should be the OnePlus 9 Pro, not 8.
The paragraph that starts with "In terms of pricing..." is duplicated back to back.
Beyond that, too many adverbs and ponderous writing sequences that slow down the reader. I think Grammarly or Writing Pro (?) or something has some functionality that catches those issues.
I'd be interested in a 9T model like the beloved 7T. The 9R is fairly close to what I'd expect from a 9T, not sure why they don't offer it in the US market. Something around $499 MSRP. It should sell really well.
The first reviews on the 9pro's camera are disappointing. Realtiveky high noise levels, oversharpened images, the much hyped color science by Hasselblad is OK but does not surpass the competition. Battery life is middling for a 2021 flagship phone, and probably the hugest nuisance is the omission of expandable storage in a phone that is advertised for use as 8k video camera.
Bottom line: the phone is not bad, but excessively overhyped.
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Drumsticks - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
So no wireless charging on anything but what is sure to be their $1000-1200 base price device when i can get it on anything above $500 elsewhere?Not interested, and it’s a shame. It’sa noice convenience feature that I’ve come to really appreciate and there’s no particular reason you should need to compromise on it on what will definitely be an $800+ phone.
quiksilvr - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
This article was rushed and riddled with typos and ? or - in the comparison table as of 10:30 EST. I am not sure why they do not wait until the event is done and just take the time to ensure all the details are revealed, THEN release the article. I expected this from Android Authority, not Anandtech.Cellar Door - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Andrei is by far the best smartphone reviewer, anywhere on the internet, and has been for years - if you are don't want to read his content, then don't. No one cares..JoeDuarte - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Disagree. I care. Lots of people expect professional quality writing.flyingpants265 - Saturday, March 27, 2021 - link
Fanboy for a smartphone reviewer?HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
Smartphones suck, they can't do basic multitasking that my PC could do in 1996. And removed audio jack to make money on wireless headphones
lakedude - Tuesday, April 6, 2021 - link
flyingpants265re:
"Smartphones suck, they can't do basic multitasking that my PC could do in 1996."
Phones can multitask. My 3 year old phone would destroy any Personal Computer from 1996. It wouldn't even be close. PC's were still single core and lacked SSDs back then. Look into the DeX Pad before making silly claims about what phones can't do.
tuxRoller - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Since I'm not paying for the grammar I don't careSpunjji - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
These people complaining never seem to have any issues understanding what's being said, so I'm never quite sure what their point is.JoeDuarte - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
The point is professionalism. AnandTech publishes too much typo-ridden and poorly written junk.ottonis - Thursday, March 25, 2021 - link
Come on, Anandtexh is still one of the most competent and in depth hardware review sites.However, I do agree that typos do take away from the overall perception of professionalism.
Whoever the current owner of ATis, should spend some pennies and hire someone for publisher reader's or lectorate work (spell-checking etc).
JoeDuarte - Friday, March 26, 2021 - link
It's gotten ridiculous. Did you notice the duplicate paragraph? Near the end, starts with: "In terms of pricing..."Two identical paragraphs back to back. What's worse is that they don't fix their bugs. I notified them two days ago of the duplicate paragraphs and other typos. Yet, incredibly, they're still there...
That's super weird. And unprofessional. My continued readership is doubtful. They don't take their work seriously. The writing is awful even without the typos – so many ponderous phrases and unnecessary adverbs that slow down the reader. You could easily cut the word count by 10% and not lose any information, while gaining clarity and flow – think of it as lossless compression.
ksheltarna69 - Monday, September 27, 2021 - link
I completely agree, it seems that journalists everywhere needs to go back to school, it looks like writing articles is not their day job. Now we might hurt people` s feelings, I can sense lots of heat coming this way, hahahaJMC2000 - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
This is what annoyed me about the OP8. Why is even basic wireless charging a 'premium' feature from OnePlus?I went from a S9+ to an OnePlus 8 late last year, and I feel like I made a mistake.
Drumsticks - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
According to Arstechnica at least, the OP9 regular still supports 15W regular Qi charging. If so, hopefully the Anandtech article gets updated.sharath.naik - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Agree, Its a shame every phone is Like Almost there but Never there setup.Ideal Setup .
1. Ultra wide Min 40Mp+ OnePlus got this right.
2. Around 50Mp OIS no more/no less Main camera OnePlus Got this right.
3. 24 MP 3x Zoom OIS to cover 3x to 6x. OnPlus failed with 8Mp it has no reach
4. 10x 12MP zoom OIS to those long distance shots. Less Mp will hurt Digital stabilization.
5. 12Mp Front
6. SD card
7. Dual sim ESim and nano Sim(Needed) that can function at the same time.(Would be nice)
8. FLAT SCREEN stop with the curved screen silliness
9. Plastic Back/ Removable back.
10. User Removable/Replaceable standardized Battery.
11. Variable refresh rate OLED 90Hz Max no more.
12 At lest 4500mAmp battery.
13. Atleast 8Gb ram
Now is this too hard to make? rest are preferences which does not diminish/ handicap the phone. Now who is going to make the first one?
Sharma_Ji - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Man, time to open your own smartphone company.leo_sk - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Thats your requirement. All i want is latest processor with 8gb ram, ltpo vrr 120Hz amoled panel with 1440p resolution, 5000+ mA battery, single back camera with OIS anything above 32MP, a side mounted fingerprint sensor. Removable cover would be nice to have and so would hardware switches for mic, wifi, bluetooth, gps.On software side, i absolutely want network speed monitor on statusbar and double click on power button to launch flashlight, and some similar shortcut for camera
imaheadcase - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
I have no idea why that would deter you from a phone, its like people who complain about no headphone jack. Like why is that a big deal to you, every place has a charger, if you can't get to a phone charger in the time the battery needs charged, maybe time to rethink life.I mean do you not sleep to charge a phone? lol
suni08 - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
like they said, it's a nice convenience - I wirelessly charge in the night and use my S8 as a night clockSpunjji - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
I have good headphones that I want to use with the phone and other devices. I don't want to have to dick around with a dongle. I have no interest in buying expensive wireless headphones with even more e-waste crap integrated into them.None of this was a problem before Apple discovered their "courage".
Linustechtips12#6900xt - Monday, April 19, 2021 - link
well..... why not just keep that dongle on your headphones all the time, thats what I did with my ie80s and it worked out pretty good almost never lost the dongle bit was attached to the headphones.Zagor Te Nay - Thursday, March 25, 2021 - link
Matter of taste and habits.I also value wireless charging - a lot.
Putting phone on charger, when going to bed, is much more convenient than hunting for charging cable on/under my bedside table. My wife usually goes to bed a bit earlier (as she also starts her work day earlier) and I try not to turn the lights on when I sneak in. Also, if I want to pick up my phone, I don't have to worry how long cable is, or will it catch something on the table and pull it off. And I don't have to worry about phone's USB connector's wear.
I appreciate this feature more than having fastest SoC in. Currently using S20 FE with Exy 990... the way I'm using phone, extra performance would be wasted on me. To be honest, even my old phone with SD845 felt perfectly suitable, performance wise.
Besides, if current philosophy is getting rid of cables - I would expect that it is one of the sentiments for ditching audio jack, at least from marketing perspective - why limiting people to wired charging only?
Speaking of which, I did complain a bit about losing audio jack. Purely practical reason - I have been using decent wired headphones with it, quite a bit. My old LG G7 ThinQ had above average DAC, so it made sense. I have tried couple of USB-jack converters, after moving to S20FE, but didn't like extra dongle, and - more importantly - sound felt a bit less lively. Eventually moved to decent Bluetooth headset and happy with that, but also aware I could have saved that money, there was nothing wrong with my wired Momentums...
Chaser - Thursday, March 25, 2021 - link
The OnePlus 9 at 729.00 offers wireless charging.BaumCamper - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
If you wanna buy the Oneplus 9 or 9 Pro you can get a voupon voucher at oneplus-voucher.com, just saw a post in the oneplus forum about itBertrandsBox - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
It'll be interesting to see the differences in battery life between the 9 and the 9 Pro with their different screens, considering the battery size remains the same. I see they're also not extending any official IP rating below the Pro which is a shame.On a side note, I know this has been talked about ad nauseam before, but the fact that top of the line SoC/smartphone launching in 2021 is still stuck with A55 efficiency cores is laughable. These were likely designed in ~2015 considering the launched in 2017. If Qualcomm and the rest hope to catch up to Apple they're going to have to stop relying on ARM and its 4+ year cycle with them.
jeremyshaw - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Problem is, just about everyone ejected their CPU uarch teams. Nvidia still might have theirs and are trying to buy a few, Qualcomm only just bought one (after losing their last one in a hostile takeover attempt from Broadcom), Samsung lost theirs long before winding down SARC, Apple doesn't sell their SoCs to 3rd parties, and the other major players never really did much with custom ARMv8 uarches.Space Jam - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Do these phones not support MicroSD memory expansion?Andrei Frumusanu - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
They do not.Space Jam - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
That's unfortunate to hear, thanks Andrei.Like others, I do wish phones wouldn't cut out features to sell more expensive models and accessories.
rocketbuddha - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
The only phone from One Plus that supports micro SD is their lowest priced NORD line.Silver5urfer - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
NO IP68 rating below $1000, WTF is this bs ?NO 3.5mm jack,
NO MicroSD slot expansion,
I paid $500 to my LG V30 and $425 with taxes for G8X Unlocked from LG both had all the features.
Why should I waste money on this Chinese garbage $1000 device, for BL unlock ? or pay that Hasselblad tax for virtually nothing, after 1.5years the battery goes into deterioration with their insane high current, high voltage batteries.
I would rather buy an iPhone at that $1000. Easier to get serviced, literally book an appointment and get it done under 1hour on top I get top class build and better OS, Yeah I cannot use iOS because of it's iTunes and Filesystem problems, but with recent killing of Android Filesystem by Google to a slow pathetic garbage Filesystem, rather buy an iPhone. Waiting for the day they remove the idiotic notch, and say goodbye to this bs Android which Google is making it into.
Silver5urfer - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Wow OP9 has a plastic frame with Glass back, What an insane move...even worse than Samsung. Frame is plastic here, people this is the new Smartphone of 2021 and it will obv end up in AT list of buying, do not buy this POS. Apple uses Metal and Glass for their cheapest phone. This has to be a new low. Shameless really.So you have $700-800+ USD phone with plastic frame ? damn.
shabby - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Can't wait for the bend test 😂Sharma_Ji - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
As if anything spectacular will happen.Calm your tits down.
nicolaim - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
What's the problem with the material?Flunk - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Seriously? Man that's stupid. A plastic back would be so much better, particularly if they used matte plastic to set it apart from all these shiny glass phones.Sharma_Ji - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Did 1+ forced you to buy, sorry to hear mate.Silver5urfer - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Is OP paying to excuse them or you are doing free shilling ? Better ask them some money before you do otherwise it's purely idiotic.abufrejoval - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Mobile phones have long since evolved to a point, where I really don't need additional computing power: the OnePlus 5 with the 835 was good enough and only got replaced with a 7 Pro, when a mobile shuffle was made necessary after another device died.I aim for longevity now, mostly because the family is big and that has been the main attraction of the OnePlus devices, the fact that you could get LineageOS for them to ensure relatively safe use for five years or so. I actually still maintain a OnePlus 1 as a backup phone and it's performing well enough in that role.
And curved screens are terrible when it comes to longevity and they also add glare at those edges. I just wish they'd do a way with them already.
I don't really like them sacrificing resolution for a the flat screen. I am rather frustrated at Google giving up Daydream, now that handsets are more VR capable than ever. I've got a LeVR headset adapter for my Le Max 2, that also fits quite a few other and later phones, too, and have enjoyed using that less for VR than for 3D (or even 2D) movies on longer plane and train trips or even in hotels. It's nice to lie down on the hotel bed and watch a movie from what is generally the most comfortable place in any hotel.
Koeppchen - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
With all those new Phones they have to many different models and can not deliver the OS updates fast enough.For OnePlus 6 and 7 series Android 11 still isn't released and the monthly android security updates are usually published after two month..
This is not accepable for phones with such a price tag.
abufrejoval - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
There are almost monthly betas of Android 11 on the OnePlus 7. And that has been going on for more than half a year.So clearly their focus is on making sure that *functionally* the update is as near perfect as it can be.
The *security* aspect of continously closing the latest vulnerabilities is an entirely different story and priority.
I don't like it either, but the only alternative is to go LineageOS directly.
Increasingly that seems to mean that you sacrifice the camera and perhaps some of the other "goodies" like neural processing. If that puts a wrench into some of the "social media processing" I don't want, I'd consider it a feature, but the camera... Once you've gotten used to getting silly quality from total lack of talent, it's a bit hard to go back to something distinctly "manual".
And then even LineageOS doesn't solve the issue of outdated kernels and firmware for WIFI and modem enclaves...
Today I tend to get high-end phones just before they are discontinued at maximum clear-out discounts. That's when the value is ok and I know if a device will find the favor of LineageOS. The mid range tends to offer similar basic value, but falls short on LineageOS support and thus longevity.
iphonebestgamephone - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
The open beta for oos11 only started in january. Now the 7t series received stable 11. Users reporting some camera problems.calc76 - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
So the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G is roughly the same price ($1069 vs $1099) in the US as an iPhone 12 Pro Max but with only 2/3yr support compared to the 5/7yr support of the iPhone. So both amortized cost per year and resale value is much worse than the iPhone, making it effectively twice as expensive. 🤦SR-71 - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
That is correct. ;)5080 - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Not being locked into the walled garden of Apple can't be measured with money.Sharma_Ji - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
AbsolutelySilver5urfer - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Yes, I agree. But with Android it's nothing great. Android 12 looks like iOS. They made the filesystem castrated completely now, it basically cannot create folders, even if you create with root. No app will use. Using any App now creates sandboxed filesystem but you have to copy those, note - SAF is mandatory, so the performance hit happens (Dolphin Emulator developers mentioned that it has to be regressed since the folder structure is not supported, so the emu is having reduced featureset) and next all the files in the app folders have to be manually copied (any application from Photoshop, EXIF editors, Movie editors, Recording apps, Database sql files, songs, pics, movies everything, then Filemanagers have to be specifically approved in a seperate GPlay form)So yeah, basically the iPixel is fucked so bad that even with Superuser access, the Filesystem is readonly, so you cannot edit them easily, the TWRP needs a ton of work, the A/B slotting, Root and Boot partitions changed on top. Next is you don't even have MicroSD card in any flagship phone except Sony, maybe Motorola now, both have BL unlock but with Moto SW updates are bad in the sense of security updates, since OS updates are more of a downgrade like Win10.
Next up price, the cost is insanely high, resale value is piss poor, servicing is complete garbage, ubreakifix and bestbuy for iPixel and Samdung, rest you are having to ship to them essentially leaving you without a phone, battery repair after 2 years is hard since you have to backup everything without SD card, then you have shitty build quality like this OnePlus 9 with plastic frame vs iPhone's Stainless Steel, then you have Samsung S21 with plastic back.
Next is the Android apps are virtually locked down by Google, all the Phone / SMS and other basic apps need updates, plus you cannot have alternative as the radio baseband might be effected. So meaning all the Google apps are as a Service and if you lose Internet access for a long time expect bugs, then all the data is siphoned for free by Google. No restrictions or anything.
yeah now tell me which is measurable, an Apple ecosystem for $1000 vs that inferior Apple copying and fanatic braindead Goolag ? Using Android since Eclair with Bootloader unlock here, now on Oreo with BL unlocked device with MicroSD and an ESS DAC phone.
Android is garbage, after 10 it became pathetic. Samsung also shamelessly copying Apple is even rubbish. You don't even have ecosystem advantages, like Watch / iPad integration. It's all bogged down garbage for Android. A shame how Google is killing it.
Sharma_Ji - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
While in india, 1+9 pro is absolutely half the price of 12Pro Max, so usa guys please buy your fruit phone.Let us asians enjoy our 1+.
Cool.
calc76 - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
@Sharma_Ji that's partly due to OnePlus jacking up their pricing in the US to match Apple pricing without matching their level of support.On top of that India has huge import tariffs on Apple products (ie iPhone 12 Pro Max at $1099 in US is ~ $1790 in India) which has been in the news. That's why Apple has started building iPhones in India directly to at least partially bypass the tariffs.
The OnePlus 9 Pro 12/256 is ~ $100 cheaper in India than the US.
The OnePlus 9R 8/128 which is sold for the equivalent to ~ $550 USD isn't even offered in the US at all.
There are other cheaper Android flagships, outside the US, but they never include US LTE bands so are unusable in the US.
Eri Hyva - Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - link
Oneplus 9 Pro wireless charging is 50W, not 30W like state in the article.Latest Menu - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
this is the best phonePacinamac - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
There are a lot of errors about basic specs in this article...JoeDuarte - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
Lots of errors in the article, as usual.This sentence: "The star feature of the OnePlus 8 Pro is the new display..."
Should be the OnePlus 9 Pro, not 8.
The paragraph that starts with "In terms of pricing..." is duplicated back to back.
Beyond that, too many adverbs and ponderous writing sequences that slow down the reader. I think Grammarly or Writing Pro (?) or something has some functionality that catches those issues.
yacoub35 - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - link
I'd be interested in a 9T model like the beloved 7T. The 9R is fairly close to what I'd expect from a 9T, not sure why they don't offer it in the US market. Something around $499 MSRP. It should sell really well.ottonis - Thursday, March 25, 2021 - link
The first reviews on the 9pro's camera are disappointing.Realtiveky high noise levels, oversharpened images, the much hyped color science by Hasselblad is OK but does not surpass the competition.
Battery life is middling for a 2021 flagship phone, and probably the hugest nuisance is the omission of expandable storage in a phone that is advertised for use as 8k video camera.
Bottom line: the phone is not bad, but excessively overhyped.
isthisavailable - Friday, March 26, 2021 - link
Is the 870 still on TSMC 7nm?maxnix - Saturday, March 27, 2021 - link
Actually, you are. Without standard grammar, syntax and conjugation there is no way to convey a&reed upon common concepts. Hence chimpanzees.G1Crazy - Saturday, April 10, 2021 - link
I am pretty sure the 9's main rear camera lacks OIS which is a travesty for a 700 EUR phone.You should correct it in your article.