OnePlus 9 5G Unboxing, First Impression, and Hasselblad Camera Samples

The OnePlus 9 5G finally arrives in the Philippines recently. So, this is our unboxing and first impressions.

OnePlus 9

Announced globally in early 2021, the OnePlus 9 5G has finally arrived and is now available in the Philippines at Digital Walker stores nationwide.

It features a large 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, FHD+ resolution, and Gorilla Glass protection. Inside is the flagship 7nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G SoC, Adreno 660 GPU, LPDDR4X/5 RAM, UFS 3.1 ROM, 4,500mAh battery with Warp Charge 65T and with 15W Wireless Charging. At the back is a 48MP triple-camera set-up while in front is a 16MP selfie shooter.

In the Philippines, it is priced at PHP 38,990.

Let's dive into the unboxing.

Unboxing/Accessories

OnePlus 9 5G packaging

The OnePlus 9 5G comes in the signature tall rectangular red box with the OnePlus 9 5G and Hasselblad branding in front.

At the bottom are the specifications and regulatory information of the device.

In the box

Inside is the box is the OnePlus 9, 65W wall charger, red USB-C to USB Type-C cable, SIM ejector tool, documentation, and silicone bumper case. On the display is a pre-installed screen protector.

Unfortunately, there are no included wired earphones.

Build Quality/Design

Back design

OnePlus has made several interesting decisions with the new OnePlus 9 5G. It is primarily made up of a Gorilla Glass front panel, metal frame, and a back glass panel. It looks and feels solid even though the phone is relatively lightweight.

Metal frame, glass back, glass front!

Instead of the matte, sandstone, or frosted glass finish, it has a slippery and glossy glass back panel with a dark gray color for the Astral Black variant. The OnePlus and Hasselblad logos at the back are colored in a slightly dark tint of gray but disappear depending on the angle and amount of light is hitting the back panel.

This gives it a sleek look that is eye-catching and unique, but we hope that OnePlus brings back the frosted back for a less slippery experience.

Note: OnePlus 9 is also available in Winter Mist and Arctic Sky colors in other parts of the world. Arctic Sky has the matte frosted finish we wanted.

Upon ejecting the SIM tray, it has a red rubber gasket for water resistance and the tray can hold two nano SIMs. 

The phone measures 160 x 73.9 x 8.1 mm and weighs 183 grams only. The curved back makes it easy to hold. It feels durable but is slippery. We recommend wearing the included silicone bumper case right away.

Massive display

In front is a 6.55-inch 120Hz Fluid AMOLED display with 2400 x 1080 resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass Protection. All four bezels are super slim with the top and chin bezel being slightly thicker than the left and right bezels.

Super slim bezels, large enough screen!

On top of the display is a super slim earpiece that disappears into the bezel while on the top left corner of the display is the punch hole with the front-facing camera.

top and bottom

The glossy dark gray finished frame is reflective and slippery but feels solid. On top is the single microphone port while at the bottom is the SIM tray, microphone port, USB-C port and the speaker grill.

Left and right

On the left is the volume rocker while on the right is the power button and ringer/vibrate toggle switch.

Rear camera set-up

At the back is the large 48MP f/1.8 main camera with the 1/1.43-inch Sony IMX689 sensor, 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with the 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX766, and free-form lens, 2MP monochrome camera, and Dual LED Flash. With all that spec, it is surprising that the camera bump does not protrude too much. On the camera module is the Hasselblad logo.

The stock camera app includes modes like Photo, Video, Portrait, Nightscape, Slowmotion, Panorama, Time-lapse, Pro, and Tilt-Shift. The Pro mode allows for control of ISO (100-6400), White Balance, Shutter Speed (1/8000 to 30 secs), EV (+- 2), and Auto Focus. It has also been revamped with the signature Hasselblad colors, font face, and shutter sound.

We will check all of these camera modes for our full review.

Rear Camera Samples

Daylight rear 1x

Daylight rear 2x

Daylight rear ultra-wide

Indoor rear 1x

Indoor rear 2x

Indoor rear ultra-wide

Low light rear 1x

Low light rear ultra-wide

Night mode rear 1x

Night mode ultra-wide

We were able to try the new Hasselblad enhanced rear cameras. Unsurprisingly, the ultra-wide and main camera produced sharp, detailed, and contrasty images. What impressed us out of the box are the colors. The colors have this deep and eye-catching quality to them that is consistent even if you view the images other than the phone's display. 

The phone just gets the color right. It's not dull nor is it too saturated. 

The Night mode is available for the ultra-wide and the main camera and it does improve the low light images by making it brighter while reducing the grain and noise. The color is more vibrant as well. 

Our only concern is that we noticed that the main camera has a very long minimum focusing distance which made it difficult to take close-up shots.

Selfie Camera Samples

Daylight selfie

Daylight portrait mode

Indoor selfie

Low light selfie

As for the selfie camera, it takes sharp, detailed, and contrasty selfies. What surprised us is the Portrait mode. At first glance, you wouldn't notice that the bokeh was not real. In fact, the bokeh is super pleasing and it does resemble the bokeh of a true Hasselblad lens.

Aside from this, the edge detection of the selfie camera is pretty good. It did not struggle with hair fibers and even though I was wearing a mask and face shield, it still found my face and apply the bokeh correctly.

We will have to do more testing to see how the camera performs in more situations.

OnePlus 9 Specs

Display: 6.55-inch 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass protected Fluid AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution at 402 ppi

CPU: 2.84GHz 5nm Snapdragon 888 octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno 660

RAM: 12GB LPDDR4X

ROM: 256GB UFS 3.1

Back Camera: 48MP f/1.8 Sony IMX689 sensor w/ PDAF, EIS + 50MP f/2.2 Sony IMX766 ultra-wide-angle w/ 4cm macro + 2MP mono + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.4 Sony IMX471 w/ EIS

Battery: 4,500mAh w/ 65W Warp Charge 65 + 15W Qi wireless charging

OS: Android 11 w/ OxygenOS 11

Connectivity: WiFi 6, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2 OTG, NFC, GPS (L1 + L5), GLONASS, dual SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, face unlock, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, 5-layer cooling system, USB-C, Colors: Winter Mist, Arctic Sky, Astral Black

Dimensions: 160 x 73.9 x 8.1 mm

Weight: 183 g

Price: PHP 38,990

As of the moment

Out of the box, the Oneplus 9 is looking to be an interesting pick as it features high-quality build materials, eye-catching design, and capable specs.

It doesn't have the bleeding edge of hardware but it does have the internals that is more than capable in its price range. What is surprising is that OnePlus was able to keep the price somewhat affordable given that it has all of the aforementioned going for it.

We also can not ignore the rubber gasket on the SIM tray which means that it has water and dust resistance. Our only concern is the lack of the 3.5mm audio jack and the lack of included wired headphones.

Stay tuned for our full review.

What do you guys think?