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My new neighbor looks at me with big and frightened eyes as he heaves a huge square package from his apartment hall into my arms.
“Just a smartphone for testing,” I say with a grin, while the neighbour's eyes widen a bit.
I can see how he imagines such scenes to take place in his apartment every day in the future.
He slams the door with a "goodbye" look.
When I get to my own apartment three floors later, I can understand my neighbour's fears.
The package is really big - at least for a smartphone.
What's more, it's the largest smartphone test box I've ever unpacked.
And not even from Apple or Samsung, but from the Chinese company OnePlus, which has secretly risen from a niche manufacturer to a top-class competitor in recent years.
And this year, the manufacturer not only wants to challenge the really big players, but rather defeat them right away - a cardboard box can quickly become a statement.
Only unpacked does it reveal its true destiny and reveals a picture of the astronaut Neil Armstrong, who on July 20, 1969, with a camera strapped to his stomach, posed on the moon.
And it wasn't just any camera.
Big picture, small box: The OnePlus 9 Pro is hidden in a huge cardboard box - at least in the WELT test.
The retail packaging is smaller
Source: Florian Gehm
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This picture is the real statement of the giant box: For the Series 9, OnePlus has teamed up with the traditional Swedish company Hasselblad.
The goal: within three years, 150 million dollars should flow into a cooperation to build the perfect smartphone camera.
And so the camera manufacturer's logo is emblazoned on the new OnePlus devices for the first time.
This step is a small revolution for the smartphone world.
The cooperation had been rumored for weeks.
It is not surprising, because the cameras are probably the only feature that cell phone manufacturers can use to differentiate themselves.
The devices are now so fast that consumers hardly notice a difference, and the screens are so brilliant that they all look the same to the untrained eye.
That is precisely why I am saving myself a detailed summary of all the individual parts in this report.
Because of course: OnePlus conjures up the fast processor and the high-resolution display with a lot of marketing talk.
But the heart of the new cell phone, which WELT was able to test extensively a week before the world premiere, is the Hasselblad camera.
Anyone who opts for an independent device from the Swedes could alternatively almost afford a small car.
Now the technology comes in a cell phone - and that for as little as 899 euros.
Tastes good: The OnePlus 9 Pro scores with high color accuracy - for example with this crumble cheese cake based on a secret family recipe
Source: Florian Gehm
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My photo safari starts at the kitchen table: I photograph a piece of crumble cheese cake and am happy about the details.
The colors are as juicy as the cake, but pleasantly realistic.
Manufacturers such as Samsung or Xiaomi, however, tend to pump their images full of contrast with automatic filters.
OnePlus does it better.
The 9 Pro also proves this on Berlin's Museum Island: portraits score with a great bokeh effect, lots of details and good lighting.
Pictures in daylight succeed without any problems, even photos in dark rooms hardly have any noise.
A total of four cameras and the so-called "Natural Color Calibration" from the pen of the Swedish company, which is supposed to ensure unexpectedly natural colors, are responsible for this.
In addition, OnePlus perfectly satisfies my secret passion for photography: ultra-wide-angle pictures.
According to the company, they are particularly popular with users.
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The OnePlus 9 Pro is a real all-purpose weapon
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The device virtually “zooms” into the negative area and, with 0.6x magnification, gets significantly more burned onto an image than with a normal lens.
But these photos usually have a problem: At the edges, unsightly distortions are usually formed, the images appear unnaturally curved.
OnePlus provides a remedy here with a so-called freeform lens.
It is polished in such a way that incident light is corrected and distortions at the edge of images are minimized to around one percent.
With the competition, the distortion is usually between ten and 20 percent.
At the same time, the ultra-wide angle camera can also take macro photos - with a distance of just four centimeters.
Almost distortion-free: Thanks to the freeform lens, the distortion of ultra-wide-angle images in the OnePlus 9 Pro is corrected to a minimum
Source: Florian Gehm
This makes the OnePlus 9 Pro a real all-purpose weapon, even if the 8-megapixel zoom lens with 3.3x magnification drops significantly in the test.
The 30x digital zoom is almost unusable.
But smartphones are usually not intended for this either, and if you have a 9 Pro in your pocket, you can do without an extra camera.
If you like to film with your smartphone, you will also enjoy 8K recordings with 30 frames per second and 4K recordings with up to 120 frames per second.
However, both the 48-megapixel main lens and the 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera come from the tech company Sony.
So what is the Hasselblad cooperation all about?
This is initially limited to the software.
In the museum test in the Pergamon Museum, the OnePlus 9 Pro also scores indoors and in difficult lighting conditions
Source: Florian Gehm
This should come into its own particularly in "Pro mode".
The result is actually very accurate and natural colors as a solid basis for post-processing.
Hobby clippers are addressed here, because exposure time, white balance and Co. can be determined manually.
In the test, however, the mode still proved to be stubborn.
While outdoor images fulfill the Hasselblad promise, some indoor images are barely usable.
Here the manufacturer could still make corrections with an update.
I was generally more satisfied with the results of the "normal" photo mode.
But now back to the rest of the device.
The workmanship is flawless, the smartphone is still comfortable to hold at 197 grams and 2.2 millimeters thick, and the workmanship is of the usual high quality.
In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is a real chunk.
Manufacturers would do well to stay below the magical 200 gram limit.
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If you can handle large cell phones, you won't have any problems with the 9 Pro.
Once again on board is the practical "alert slider", with which the mobile phone can be switched to a silent, vibrating or ringing mode with a physical controller without unlocking the device.
But that is where the list of unique design features ends.
One could maliciously say that OnePlus has gotten boring.
Because apart from its Hasselblad lettering, the 9 Pro now looks like any other smartphone.
While cell phones used to be celebrated for their extravagant design, OnePlus has adapted to the mainstream.
Better than Apple's iOS software
And the boredom factor also applies to the operation.
But be careful: boredom has seldom felt so good.
Because whoever puts the OnePlus 9 Pro into operation feels like on a couch on which he has been lying since his youth.
The reason for this is the OxygenOS operating system, which, apart from a few changes, is the same as the original Android.
That means: In contrast to many other manufacturers, OnePlus delivers its devices as Android programmer Google imagines.
Without a brightly colored user interface or pumped full of superfluous additional software.
The operation is so calm, intuitive and simple that I come to a daring conclusion: This Android variant is even better than Apple's highly acclaimed iOS software.
OnePlus has also given its smartphone high-quality hardware on which the operating system can let off steam.
This is particularly true of the display and processor.
A 6.7-inch touchscreen that works with LTPO technology is used as the screen.
This means that images can be repeated between one and 120 times per second.
The mobile phone decides for itself which frequency is required at the moment.
This saves the battery and offers users a particularly smooth picture when required.
So far, no smartphone can do something like this and looks extraordinary in practice.
All details are clearly visible, and after a few minutes a screen that does not have 120 Hertz technology feels uncomfortably slow.
However, this is also due to the fact that OnePlus is stuffing its device under the display with the latest technology - for example with the Snapdragon processor 888. This is probably the fastest processor on the market this mobile phone season.
In direct comparison to its predecessor, applications and menus are opened even faster.
The OnePlus 9 Pro even clearly puts a mid-range Google Pixel 5 in its pocket.
Nevertheless, the device does not get uncomfortably warm during use.
However, leisurely smartphone users will hardly notice these speed differences.
However, if you open several programs at the same time and try out high-resolution games, you can't get past the latest Snapdragon processor - regardless of the mobile phone.
"Warp Charge" technology is installed again
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The fingerprint sensor under the display and face recognition work just as quickly and flawlessly.
The device also supports the 5G network standard.
In the outskirts of Berlin, I get download speeds of well over 150 Mbit per second with a Vodafone SIM card.
OnePlus has also re-installed its "Warp Charge" technology.
It pumps the smartphone battery full again in record time.
In the test, I keep thinking to myself: “I can still charge a few percent while I'm in the shower.” When I come out of the bathroom, the cell phone is full again - and I shower quickly, mind you.
OnePlus has also re-installed its "Warp Charge" technology.
It pumps the smartphone battery full again in record time
Source: OnePlus
The 9 Pro charges from “zero to one hundred” in 29 minutes.
The principle also works wirelessly - with 50 watts of charging power.
For so much energy, however, the separate charging station needs a fan, which sometimes roars louder than my notebook.
In addition, the charging station is delivered without an additional power supply unit.
It is not so easy to permanently install it on a desk - a minus point.
Devices have become 200 percent more expensive
When OnePlus launched the OnePlus One in April 2014, the company presented itself as a “flagship killer”.
They wanted to put Apple, Samsung and Co. under pressure with their high-priced devices.
The first smartphone was launched for 299 euros.
Since then, the devices have become 200 percent more expensive.
It's no longer a "killer" price, but at 899 euros the OnePlus 9 Pro is still cheaper than the competition.
I would compare it with an iPhone 12 Pro (1149 euros) or with a Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus (999 euros).
If you are currently looking for a cell phone with a large display and are looking around in the upper class, you will hardly get past OnePlus this year either.
The OnePlus 9 Pro is an outstanding feel-good smartphone.
Four things speak for it: the significantly improved camera, the cutting-edge hardware, the lightning-fast battery technology and the well thought-out operating system.
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If you like it a little smaller and more compact, you can choose the OnePlus 9 without the "Pro" addition.
There are only three cameras there, but at least the ultra-wide-angle camera is the same as the more expensive model - including Hasselblad cooperation.
Buyers have to do without a telephoto camera entirely.
If you like it a little smaller and more compact, you can use the OnePlus 9 (left) without the "Pro" addition
Source: OnePlus
A 5G-capable Snapdragon 888 tinkers beneath the surface. The 120 Hertz display is marginally smaller at 6.55 inches and does not support variable image repetition.
But the prices here start from 699 euros.
That is really a competitive price.
Incidentally, I can reassure your neighbors: For the end customer, the 9 series is delivered in a sleek and slim standard box.
It weighs 760 grams with all the accessories, but looks almost as elegant as Neil Armstrong on the moon.
Your neighbors will be happy to accept this package, believe me.