Leaks suggest the OnePlus 9 will be landing in early 2021, and here’s what we know and what we want to see in the new phone.
We could see the OnePlus 9 series of phones (including probably a OnePlus 9 Pro, and perhaps a OnePlus 9 Lite too) very soon, as OnePlus is one of the phone makers which puts out its first batch of smartphones in the first few months of each year. Now that the Samsung Galaxy S21 has been revealed, the OnePlus 9 is one of the next big events in smartphone fan calendars, so it’s understandable that you’d want to know everything that’s leaked about the phones so far. OnePlus had a busy 2020 with the OnePlus 8T, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G, and the OnePlus Nord N100 in the last few months of the year, and before that the OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus Nord. Perhaps the OnePlus 9 line will be a synthesis of all the best parts of its previous phones; now that the company has a mid-range line, it doesn’t need to court that price segment with its main series of devices, so the OnePlus 9 line could have some seriously premium phones. That’s why we’ve come up with this constantly updated collection of official news and unofficial rumors around the OnePlus 9 phones – and we’ve also added our own wish list of features and changes we’d like to see in the new model. The leaks and rumors are only just starting to come through for the device, but we also wanted to put out a few requests of our own, so we can see if the OnePlus 9 manages to live up to our expectations. When more information becomes available about the OnePlus 9, we’ll update this article, and we’re going to put our release and pricing speculation below as well, to give you some context. Latest news: A leaker has claimed that the OnePlus 9 range won’t include a periscope camera. Plus, a new leak suggests the OnePlus 9 Pro will feature a QHD display while the OnePlus 9 will have a Full HD display. We haven’t heard much release information for the OnePlus 9, but like many phone makers OnePlus is a company of habit, so we’d expect the launch to be around April or May. OnePlus typically teases its phones in advance of the launch though, so maybe we’ll hear something about the launch date in March. The release date of the phone will likely be a week or two after the launch. That said, one source has told Android Central that the OnePlus 9 will be launching earlier than expected in March 2021. An exact date isn’t clear from that source, but this is our best information yet. We’ve also now heard from a second source that March might be on the cards. In terms of price, that’s hard to tell, especially because each successive OnePlus phone creeps into the premium pricing territory more and more, and because the OnePlus Nord means the OnePlus 9 doesn’t need to cater to people on a smaller budget. The OnePlus 8 started at $699 / £599 (around AU$1,100) and went up to $799 / £699 (around $1,372) for more RAM and storage, and the OnePlus 8 Pro started at $899 / £799 and went up to $999 / £899. Those are some high prices – not Samsung Galaxy S-level eye-watering costs, but pricier than OnePlus phones used to be. And given the Nord wasn’t a thing when the 8-series was launched, we could see the OnePlus 9 phones get pricier than that. There’s growing talk that a OnePlus 9 Lite or a OnePlus 9E model is going to be introduced at some point too, which would perhaps offer a more affordable way into the 2021 range from OnePlus. We’ve heard quite a few leaks and rumors on the OnePlus 9, enough that we’ve split this section into two sub-sections. The first OnePlus 9 leak was around the codename – ‚Lemonade‘. A reference to the popular sugary drink, the Beyonce album, the Adam Friedman song, or just a random word chosen by someone at OnePlus to refer to the new phone? Probably the latter. One recent leak to reach us involves a set of real world photos and captured screenshots showing off the look of the OnePlus 9 – these would appear to be the genuine article, so see what you think of them.
