OnePlus 9 Pro will also be Stellar Black: the historic Sandstone variant returns

Apparently the top of the range of 2021 will arrive earlier than expected and among these there are also OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro . Codenamed ” lemonade “, the manufacturer is preparing to renew its offer for the top of the range. It is no coincidence that he has already been talking about it for some time, a sign of how the presentation is not so far away. For this reason we have decided to collect all the rumors and leaks published so far, in view of its debut on the market. Instead, here you will find all the details about OnePlus 9 Lite , an alleged variant that will compose a triptych.

Update 09/03 : news arrives for the design of OnePlus 9 Pro and its photographic sector. Find all the details within the respective sections, namely “Design and display” and “Camera”.

OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro: everything we know so far

As anticipated, the internal code name for the OnePlus 9 series is signed as ” lemonade “. I’m talking about series because, for some time now, OnePlus has accustomed us to at least two versions of its annual flagship. It was rumored that in this round there could be even three, a hypothesis that has been remarked by the leaks on OnePlus 9 Lite . Nothing to do, however, for a possible OnePlus 9 Ultra, although competitors such as Xiaomi, Samsung and Huawei have undertaken this strategy.

Design and display

OnePlus 9

Dimensionally speaking, OnePlus 9 would be a 6.55 ″ Full HD + (2400 x 1080 pixels) smartphone with a 20: 9 ratio. The panel will certainly be of the Fluid AMOLED type with HDR10 + support, Gorilla Glass 6 protection. The refresh rate will be 120 Hz , with dynamic management to push it only when necessary to preserve autonomy. The leaks also reveal that the punch-hole will have a diameter of 3.8 mm, for both 9 and 9 Pro. Speaking of size, OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro would have a thickness of 8 / 8.5 mm , in both cases with a weight over 200 g .

Between renderings and live photos, we can look at it from all angles. Let’s see the previous rumors confirmed, as in the case of the perforated screen. It seems quite clear that we will be dealing with a flat display , identical to that of the OnePlus 8T .

On the back we see the glass back cover with the new “ Ultrashot “ photographic module . It is very similar to that of OnePlus 8T, at least in the shapes and in its positioning, in the upper left and no longer in the center. The difference also lies in the introduction of a metal ring to prevent the protective glass from being scratched.

After many rumors, the Chinese company has seen fit to definitively confirm the design of the new top of the range, through a short video clip that ends with an overview of the back.

Another aesthetic novelty that will be introduced with OnePlus 9 Pro will be a new variant. It will be called Stellar Black and, as revealed by the live photos leaked online, it will have a strong reference to the iconic Sandstone variant of the old top of the range.

OnePlus 9 Pro

On OnePlus 9 Pro it goes from 6.55 ″ to 6.78 ″ Quad HD + and with a more precious curved screen . One of its peculiarities would be the adoption of an LTPO type panel , a variable refresh rate technology that you find illustrated in detail in this article .

Live images have appeared on the net that could “confirm” the design of OnePlus 9 Pro. The smartphone would have been spotted in the metro and seems to reflect what was seen in the renderings, with two main sensors of larger dimensions, accompanied by two other additional ones. Speaking of general look, the similarities with OPPO’s Reno 5 series are really many.

However, it is good not to take these images as an absolute truth about the design of OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro. Even CEO Pete Lau took the field, who through a tweet announced that no design is ever set in stone . And in fact a few days later someone decided to preview what appears to be the definitive OnePlus 9 Pro.

The design is similar but not identical, especially with the photographic module , here signed in collaboration with the historic Hasselblad . The sensors are always four, but with a different arrangement, as well as for LED flash, laser autofocus and microphone. Among the details that stand out there is a different processing of the side frame, which narrows at the physical keys.

Between images and videos, many are wondering: this time too, will we have a waterproof device in our hands? Well, as anticipated also at the beginning of the section, it seems that OnePlus 9 Pro will be the only one in the family equipped with water and dust resistance with IP68 certification . As for the 9 and 9 Lite models, no improvement would be expected in this regard.

Finally, let’s talk about colors , with a leak that reveals all the variants with which they would be proposed. OnePlus 9 will be available in Astral Black, Arctic Sky and Winter Mist shades, in addition to those Gloss Black and Gloss Gradient Purple which may be limited. OnePlus 9 Pro, on the other hand, will be available in Stellar Black, Forest Green and Morning Mist.

Hardware

OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro will be part of the 2021 top-of-the-range lineup based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 . The 5nm SoC is expected to carry a revamped CPU featuring the new 2.84GHz Cortex-X1 core , along with 3 2.42GHz Cortex-A78 cores and 4 1.8GHz Cortex-A55 cores. graphics component would be managed by the Adreno 660 GPU, while on the memory side we should have a minimum cut from 8/128 GB with LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1 support (but no microSD). 5G support will not be missing thanks to the renewed Snapdragon X60 modem with mmWave and sub-6 GHz support.

Speaking of battery, the leaker Max Jambor “confirms” the presence of a 4,500 mAh battery (dual cell), both for OnePlus 9 and for the Pro model. An important detail concerns the charger in the package: after the various controversies of the last period it seems that the Chinese company will keep the accessory as part of the equipment, at least according to what was reported by the leaker by responding to a comment from a user.

It will be interesting to discover the management of fast charging, even if the latest Warp Charge 65 with 65W power should be maintained. We will also find wireless charging (also reverse, for accessories) with an increased power of 45W on OnePlus 9 Pro . For the first time, then, wireless charging will also be available on the base model and no longer only on the Pro. There are no clear indications yet, but on OnePlus 9 it should stop at 30W .

Benchmark

Both OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, signed as LE2113 and LE2117, have appeared in the Geekbench database. For both we see the same technical specifications indicated: Snapdragon 875, 8 GB of RAM and Android 11 operating system. We do not dwell on the scores, paradoxically higher and not a little on the base model, since often the preliminary GeekBench scores do not coincide with the final ones .

Camera

It will be interesting to evaluate what will be the news of the photographic sector of the 9 series, after the statements of Pete Lau . As for OnePlus 9 base, the presence of a triple camera arranged in a box at the top left is revealed similarly to OnePlus 8T. The rumors speak of a 48 MP Sony IMX689 primary sensor with 4-in-1 Pixel Binning with which 12 MP output is obtained. This should be supported by a wide-angle 20 MP sensor and a telephoto 12 MP with OIS.

As for the photographic sector of OnePlus 9 Pro , the smartphone will have a quad camera from it , as also revealed by the same company. We do not yet have certain information on the specifications of the sensors adopted but various rumors have emerged. What’s practically certain is that we won’t be reviewing the controversial Color Filter sensor, so we’ll see which sensor takes its place.

According to what was unveiled by the well-known leaker Rodent , OnePlus 9 Pro will have a 16 MP Sony IMX471 selfie camera from its while the main compartment will be entrusted to a 48 MP Sony IMX789 sensor in collaboration with Hasselblad , a 50 MP FFL IMX766 solution and OmniVision 8MP a telephoto lens with a 3.3X optical zoom; all this will be accompanied by a 2 MP module dedicated to depth of field.

If you are expecting a periscopial system, however, you may be disappointed: the leakers deny its presence on the entire series, including the Pro. Furthermore, confirmations arrive precisely regarding this last speech, this time from Max Jambor . On Twitter, in fact, the leaker has once again revealed the absence of the periscope on OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, confirming the previous leaks.

On the contrary, as already pointed out above, OnePlus has started a collaboration with another famous company in the sector: Hasselblad . This is what can be seen from the preview photos, with the company logo standing out on the photographic module; the confirmation came with the official announcement by the Chinese company. It is not the first time that the company has collaborated with someone, as it happened in 2016 with Motorola and in 2014 with the not mourned Vertu.

In short, the stakes seem to rise but we will see if it will be a concrete collaboration or for mere marketing. Always the leaked photos reveal two other details: the telephoto lens of OnePlus 9 Pro would have a 3.3x optical zoom and there would also be the tilt shift mode. If you don’t know what the latter is, here’s a demonstration .

OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro – Price and release date

Thanks to a faster production chain than usual, the launch window of the OnePlus 9 series has been brought forward than usual, in line with the various leaks of the past few weeks. The Chinese company has officially confirmed that the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro launch event will be held on March 23 (one month earlier than the 8 series presented in mid-April 2020). In addition, the company has also confirmed its collaboration with Hasselblad for the development of cameras on board the top of the range. OP has raised the curtain on an investment of over $ 150 million over the next 3 years, with the aim of further enhancing its imaging capabilities with support from Hasselblad.

To talk about the price, however, we are waiting for some more concrete rumors given that at the moment no relevant details seem to have been leaked.

In the meantime, the one who put around the photos of the OnePlus 9 prototype has well thought of putting it up for sale on eBay . After removing the listing to remove sensitive data, it was relisted and someone actually bought it for a whopping $ 6,000 .

However, this is apparently not a smart move, as OnePlus could trace the seller’s account and figure out who posted this information. And perhaps the same management of OnePlus could be hiding behind this expensive sale, as Max Jambor suggests.