The OnePlus 9 is very, very similar to the OnePlus 9 Pro. Today we’re going to decide if it’s worth buying one over the other – and if it’s time to upgrade from
The OnePlus 9 is very, very similar to the OnePlus 9 Pro. Today we’re going to decide if it’s worth buying one over the other – and if it’s time to upgrade from an older OnePlus device. The OnePlus 9 Pro is approximately $240 more than the non-Pro device, comparing both devices with their lowest-tier base pricing. Both have the same display, Hassleblad branding, and a similar camera setup – so what’s the difference? The OnePlus 9 has a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display panel with 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution, giving it a 402ppi pixel density. This device has a single punch-hole in its upper left-hand corner for a forward-facing camera to peek through. The panel has rounded corners and a flat face. The OnePlus 9 Pro has a slightly larger display at 6.7-inches, but its left and right side are curved. The display resolution on the OnePlus 9 Pro is 1440 x 3216, giving it a 525ppi pixel density. The OnePlus 9 Pro is both taller and wider (but not thicker) than the OnePlus 9, but because the OnePlus 9 has a flat display, the two devices feel more similar to one another than they would if both devices had the same flatness (or amount of curve). Because both devices have AMOLED displays, they should be capable of both extreme brightness and extreme dimness. OnePlus suggests that the OnePlus 9 is capable of 1100 nits peak brightness, while the Pro should be able to reach 1300 nits at its peak. We’re not using any scientific instruments to judge the actual light levels here – but it would appear that both devices can reach almost identical dimness. The peak brightness in the OnePlus 9 Pro is ever-so-slightly noticeably more intense than that of the non-Pro. The touch polling on the OnePlus 9 isn’t quite as top-tier as it is on the Pro. The Pro has what OnePlus calls “Hyper Touch”, which means we’re getting up to 360Hz touch polling in certain instances, and 240Hz most of the time. The OnePlus 9 has a max 240Hz touch sample rate. NOTE: Simple touch testing suggests we’re certainly MAXED out at 240Hz touch sample rate on OnePlus 9, while OnePlus 9 Pro reaches above 240Hz, unless limited by the active game/app. Both OnePlus 9 devices have the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and the same amount of internal data storage – either 128 or 256GB. Both devices have the same LPDDR5 RAM – either 8 or 12GB. Both devices run the same software – save the few features that appear on the OnePlus 9 Pro that do not appear on the non-Pro 9 (mostly dealing with display/touchscreen refresh rates).
