Smartphone cameras have been on a roll in the past two years. OnePlus launches their OnePlus 9 flagship series in partnership with Hasselblad, OPPO’s Find X3 Pro comes with a microscopic lens, Samsung pushing technology with 108-Megapixel sensors, Sony even pushing the limits of their 12-Megapixel sensors with their Alpha camera knowhow. These are nothing new, to be fair. Co-branding smartphone cameras with big camera brand names started with Nokia and Zeiss. The phenomenon hit the main stage with HUAWEI and Leica’s big partnership since the HUAWEI P9.
With the advancement in camera technology on smartphones though, has these brands made proper cameras obsolete? While nothing bigger sensor still has its own advantages in terms of low-light performance and detail, smartphone cameras have progressed so much with the software that they are paired with that even low-light photography is a breeze with a smartphone. The advancement of smartphone technology also made it easier for you to get the shots you want in less time and less work than a DSLR or mirrorless.
What does this mean for dedicated cameras though? Does this mean we can replace these kinds of stuff with the small slate in our pockets? Or, should you still spend your hard-earned money on a proper camera that could set you back anywhere between half the price of a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra to multiple flagship smartphones? We discuss this in this episode of Tech & Tonic.
The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro launched alongside a certain OnePlus Watch. There was a third OnePlus smartphone that launched on the side though. This was not part of the global launch for a simple reason. It will only be available mid-April onward in India and China for now. That device is the OnePlus 9R.
We talked about the cheaper variant of the OnePlus 9 series before. It is expected to be the least powerful version of the OnePlus 9 series, but still pack enough power to match most other flagships. We also expected it to be a 5G device, but not pack the state-of-the-art Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G System on a chip (SoC).
It packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 for that matter. It is still a very powerful flagship level chip with 5G capability derived from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 7nm chip of last year. You can opt for up to 12GB of RAM too with 256GB of storage in tow. With 4,500mAh in battery size and 65W with Wrap Charge 65T, the device will still impress.
That is not all that you get though from the OnePlus 9R. You get one more camera than the vanilla OnePlus 9. What you have is a 48-Megapixel main shooter (Sony IMX586), a 16-Megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 5-Megapixel Macro sensor, and 2-Megapixel depth sensor. Technically, you are getting the same camera array from the OnePlus 8T. In that case, it looks more like an enhanced OnePlus 9. It even packs the same 120Hz OLED display from the vanilla OnePlus 9 at 6.55-inch Full HD+.
The OnePlus 9R, as previously mentioned, will be available in India and China in mid-April onward. The device will be available with about the same colorways as the OnePlus 9 except that it also gets an exclusive matt black colourway. The OnePlus 9R will be retailing at IN₹ 39,999 or around US$ 550 (MYR 2,276*) for the 8GB + 128GB variant and IN₹ 43,999 or around US$ 600 (MYR 2,503*) for the 12GB + 256GB variant. They are cheaper than the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. There are no mentions on whether or not the onePlus 9R will make it to markets outside China and India at the time being.
*Approximate value based on conversion rate IN₹ 100.00 = MYR 5.69 on xe.com as of 24/03/2021
It is not the first time we see iconic camera brands enter the smartphone market. You see it first with HUAWEI’s P9 smartphone with Leica’s input in the camera department. Last night you saw Vivo and Zeiss getting together launching the X60 flagship. You even see Sony’s Alpha department dabbling into Sony’s Xperia smartphones.
Today, it is a little bit different though. Today marks the night that one of the most iconic camera manufacturers taking a dive into the smartphone market. Tonight, is the night that a certain medium format icon makes its name in the smartphone camera scene. Tonight, Hasselblad has entered the smartphone camera game.
If you have not understood the significance of the launch of the OnePlus 9 series yet, put it this way; the first camera that landed on the moon was a Hasselblad. It took that iconic photo of the astronaut on the moon. So, a partnership of this magnitude could be a significant step forward to smartphone cameras.
Enough of Hasselblad for now though. We have to talk about the smartphone for a while. We start with the OnePlus 9 Pro.
OnePlus 9 Pro
Source: OnePlus
The OnePlus 9 Pro is OnePlus’ true tech flagship with the most powerful processing chip in the world so far. It packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G 5nm System on a Chip (SoC) with a new cooling system they call OnePlus Cool Play to keep the phone at comfortable temperatures. Alongside the Snapdragon 888 SoC is a healthily sized RAM at 12GB. You get up to 256GB of storage with that RAM but with no MicroSD expansion slot.
All those things contribute to showing the minimalistic and simplistic OxygenOS, now based on Android 11. The Oxygen OS is paraded on the large 6.78-inch display that refreshes at 120Hz (up to) and pushes QHD+ resolution. They call it the Fluid Display 2.0. It is an LTPO variable refresh rate (1Hz – 120Hz) display that boast 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut for even more true-to-life colours on the device. You also get a maximum of 240Hz in touch sampling rate for a near instant response time from touch to display.
Before we move on to the back, we can take the time to appreciate the one thing OnePlus devices have that no other Android device has. We can take our time to appreciate the silent and vibrate switch above the powerbutton. Once you have admired that switch, it is time to move to the back, the main package everyone wants to see.
You get a power bulge that is the camera array module. Under the metal plate that spells the icon that is Hasselblad are four impressive cameras. You have one 48-Megapixel Sony IMX789 sensor as the main hitter in the camera array. Alongside the 48-Megapixel sensor is a very powerful Sony IMX766 50-Megapixel that shoots out of an ultra-wide lens. The ultra-wide sensor is supposed to be about three times the size of the sensor you can find on the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max. The ultra-wide lens is a free-form lens too to ensure there is less distortion on your photos. There is also a powerful 13-Megapixel 3.3x optical zoom sensor. There will also be one 3-Megapixel macro lens on the Pro variant of the OnePlus 9 series.
The Hasselblad input on OnePlus 9 Pro’s camera supposedly improves colour science. Hasselblad cameras are known for their excellent and highly accurate colour science. That is what OnePlus 9 Pro will get from Hasselblad’s investment. That, and up to 12-bit RAW photos. The result is photos that looks like they come from actual DSLRs.
The cameras now can also shoot videos at 8K 30p. while 8K is a bit of a stretch today still, you can dial that down and shoot videos at 4K 120p to create even more stunning videos or create slow-mo videos. For even better looking videos, the OnePlus 9 Pro features something called DOL-HDR mode for better and more detailed exposures on your captured videos.
The OnePlus 9 Pro comes with a punch hole on the front. That punch hole houses the front-facing camera obviously. You get 16-Megapixel out the front that can also record videos at 4K resolution.
Under all of that glass and metal is a 4,500mAh battery that should guarantee the device lasting all day. If the OnePlus 9 Pro’s battery drains though, the battery can Wrap Charge at 65W (Wrap Charge 65T) via its USB Type-C port. Of course, the OnePlus 9 Pro can be charged wirelessly too at 50W for a quick 43-minute pit-stop.
OnePlus 9
Source: OnePlus
The vanilla OnePlus 9 is not a completely different story from the OnePlus 9 Pro. You still get the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 platform to work with. You get less RAM and storage at 8GB and 128GB though. No, you do not get a MicroSD card expansion slot here still.
Instead of a large 6.78-inch display though you are getting a 6.5-inch Full HD+ OLED display. 6.55-inch is not exactly small though. You still get 120Hz too, which will still make the OnePlus 9 feels extra smooth.
You also will still get the powerful 48-Megapixel Sony IMX689 and 50-Megapixel Sony IMX766 sensors as the biggest feature on the camera array module. You get the Hasselblad branding too, of course. You still get the telephoto lens too but lose the macro lens to make this a triple lens camera set-up.
You still get the same 4,500mAh battery from the OnePlus 9 Pro too with 65W charging capabilities. The vanilla OnePlus 9 still gets wireless charging, but not the full 50W beans that charges the device in 43 minutes. Instead it wirelessly charges at 15W that should still wirelessly charge the device in less than 3 hours.
OnePlus Watch
Source: OnePlus
Alongside the OnePlus 9 series smartphones, OnePlus also introduced their new Watch. It measures in at 46mm and is made with 316L standard stainless steel. It boasts a glass protected 1.39-inch round AMOLED display that boasts 326ppi. Of course, to ensure that you can customise the OnePlus Watch to your tastes and style, it features a regular 22mm lug. That also means you are not stuck to buying proprietary straps.
It is a smartwatch of course. That is why you will find the regular array of sensors you can expect from a smartwatch or fitness tracker. You can find GPS, altimeter, and also blood oxygen sensor on the wristwatch. It even recognises over 110 exercise modes for maximum flexibility in your workouts.
To keep your smartphone away when you go for a run, the OnePlus Watch can store up to 500 songs (mp3, we assume). To keep it safe and working after a rigorous workout, a swim, and even extreme activities that involved plenty of dirt, it is IP68 and 5ATM certified. All of that, and you get a whole week of battery life in a 20 minute charge. At full charge, the OnePlus Watch lasts 14 days, longer than almost all the available smartwatches that packs the same features.
It is clever at home too. You can use it as a remote for the OnePlus TV. It will automatically lower the TV’s volume when you receive a phone call. It even turns off the TV for you when you fall asleep in front of the OnePlus TV. You need a OnePlus TV for all these functions to work though.
Pricing and Availability
The OnePlus 9 Pro will be available in three colour variants. You can get it in Stellar Black, Pine Green, and Morning Mist. The vanilla OnePlus 9 will be available in Winter Mist, Astro Black and Arctic Sky colour options. Alongside the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, they introduced a bunch of bumper cases and a trigger buttons you can attach to any OnePlus smartphones. The OnePlus 9 will be available at US$ 729 (MYR 3,005*) while the OnePlus 9 Pro starts at US$ 1,069 (MYR 4,407*).
The OnePlus Watch will be available in two Classic variants and one Limited Edition variant. The classic variant boasts either Moonlight Silver or Midnight Black colour schemes. That will start at US$ 159 (MYR 656*). The Limited Cobalt Edition comes with leather straps and Sapphire Glass material alongside its Cobalt body. No mentions yet on its pricing and availability.
*Approximate value based on conversion rate US$ 1.00 = MYR 4.12 on xe.com as of 23/03/2021
UPDATE (11/03/21): OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 9 will come with a Sony IMX766 50-Megapixel ultra-wide camera. They also say that the Ultra-Wide camera should deliver distortion free ultra-wide shots thanks to the free-form lens technology OnePlus 9 features. The OnePlus 9 is also confirmed to come with a Sony IMX789 for its main camera.
HUAWEI has Leica right behind them, but they will not be the only one smartphone manufacturer with a large imaging giant behind their camera technology anymore in the market. Technically, since Sony’s Alpha integration with their smartphones, HUAWEI has not been the only one. Then again, Sony’s integration should have been natural in the first place. No matter.
Now OnePlus is the next smartphone player to add a big imaging solution manufacturer in their list of solution partners. That big name is Hasselblad. Of course, you see the benefits in the camera.
If you have not heard of Hasselblad, it is okay. Hasselblad is a name that is familiar only to enthusiast photographers and is a brand that you see in large studios. That is because their camera trade is unlike Sony, Canon, Nikon, and even Leica. They make Medium Format cameras, cameras with sensors as large as your face (that is an exaggeration).
If you put a Sony mirrorless camera beside a Hasselblad camera, the Sony will look like a child’s camera. But that is mostly thanks to the fact that the body of a Hasselblad needs to house a much larger sensor. You rarely see a Hasselblad out in the wild because of the heft. But they are also mostly used for studio photography to be made to large prints, like the ones you see on billboards or your magazines.
In that case, OnePlus is getting one of the world’s top imaging solutions provider as a partner and that can only mean one thing. The OnePlus 9 will come with a Hasselblad engineered camera. That, or at least a camera that is co-developed and engineered with Hasselblad, a world leader in imaging technology. That also means that OnePlus might take the camera top spot fight to the likes of Apple, HUAWEI, Samsung, Xiaomi, and even OPPO with the US$ 150 million that Hasselblad is planning to commit in the three-year partnership deal.
The OnePlus 9 is said to sport a custom Sony IMX789 sensor that is capable of shooting photos at 12-bit RAW. It is also rumoured that the OnePlus 9 can shoot videos at up to 8K (30fps), which also means that the camera is no less than 34-Megapixel. It is also supposed to be the first smartphone to be able to shoot 4K videos at 120fps, the slow-motion territory. The new camera supposedly packed into the OnePlus 9 also has a new autofocus mechanism that locks in a lot faster than traditional smartphone cameras.
There are no confirmations yet on the resolution of the camera currently. But at least we now know that the OnePlus 9 will come with an excellent low-light performance too thanks to dual native ISO. With some clever knowhow too, the OnePlus 9 should be able to shoot amazing looking panorama shots at 140o field of view.
There are a few things that we know about the OnePlus 9 though. The top-of-the-line variant should come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 SoC. It could also come with up to 12GB of RAM and an OLED display with up to 120Hz in refresh rate. These are things we have seen before on the flagship though. The OnePlus 9 should also come with 65W fast-charging on a 4,500mAh battery pack too. Wireless charging is expected to be up to 45W for what will most likely be the OnePlus 9 Pro.
Unlike Samsung and Apple though, OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 9 will come with a charger. Many of today’s smartphone chargers barely hits 45W in charging speeds. In that case, for OnePlus to fully capitalise on their own 65W charging capability, its best that OnePlus includes their own proprietary charger that chargers at that speed, very much like OPPO and their VOOC technology.
The OnePlus 9 will be launched on the 23rd of March 2021 at 10.00 a.m. EDT (11.00 p.m. +0800GMT, Kuala Lumpur). We pretty much know how it will look like when it launches thanks to OnePlus’ own video teasing the Hasselblad camera. There are no mentions yet on its availability and official pricing.
