Starting with the OnePlus 1, the brand has maintained its image over the years: high-performance phones, comparatively low prices, clean software, and a mediocre camera. The sub-par cameras have always been that one factor that separated OnePlus phones from the flagship competitors. Surely, OnePlus has stepped up their game and narrowed the distance to the top. Especially, the OnePlus 8 Pro received phenomenal reviews and was compared to phones with much higher launch prices.
This is why the collaboration with the Swedish high-end camera manufacturer Hasselblad created such hype. OnePlus claimed that the camera capabilities of the OnePlus 9 series are on another level now. Outstanding high-dynamic range, true-to-life colors, and an ultrawide lens with loss-free distortion-correction.
Sounds amazing? Well, let's see if the OnePlus 9 can live up to its expectations. I tested the features that I find important as a hobby photographer. If there are still open questions, I'm happy to answer them in the comments!
So let's check out the cameras. On the back of the OnePlus 9, we find
- a 48MP main camera (23mm f/1.8, 1/1.43" Sony IMX689 sensor),
- a 50MP ultrawide (14mm, f/2.2, 1/1.56" Sony IMX766 sensor),
- and a 2MP monochrome camera.
When I saw the specs for the cameras, I was pleasantly surprised. This time, OnePlus decided to equip both the main and ultrawide camera with high-quality 48MP and 50MP sensors, respectively. That means that we don't sacrifice detail when switching to the wider lens - amazing! Also, both the lens and the sensor of the ultrawide camera are identical to the one of the 9 Pro. Only the main camera has a slightly "worse" sensor, and we're missing the telephoto camera. If you ask me, this was a great decision to reduce the cost while maintaining the most important features.
Monochrome Camera
The only thing I was very skeptical about was the 2MP monochrome camera that is used to improve black and white shots. Like what can a 2MP sensor possibly add to the detail or dynamic range?
Let's get this out of the way first. In the following image, I took a regular picture and edited it to black and white by setting the saturation to zero, the other picture was taken with the monochrome filter. I'll let you be the judge first:
left: monochrome mode, right: regular picture + edit
If you ask me, there are hardly any differences. In fact, if we were to pixel-peep, the picture taken in monochrome mode looks like it has a slightly smaller dynamic range! I don't want to waste your time here: In my opinion, the negligible differences render the third camera useless. The money would have been more wisely spent on something different.
Ultrawide Camera
But now to something more positive - the ultrawide camera is amazing. It has a great dynamic range and is full of detail if you give it enough light. With this camera, you can capture dramatic images, especially landscapes and architectural shots look truly benefit from it. The colors look true-to-life, nothing looks over-saturated or over-sharpened.
Ultrawide shots were taken from the OnePlus 9 (left) and OnePlus 7 Pro (right)
If you compare the two images, the OnePlus 9 remains a lot more detail in the dark windows of the buildings and the trees in the background. Also, the overall image quality is much better on the OnePlus 9. Of course, this comparison is pretty unfair, since the 7 Pro is a two-year-old phone. I just want to point out, how far the image quality has become with the ultrawide camera. Regarding distortion in the two images, I can't see any drastic differences.
Similar to the OnePlus 8 Pro's ultrawide, the OnePlus 9 has a super macro mode that uses the ultrawide. You can get really close to the subject and the image quality is pretty good, too! However, you need some patience to find the right focus point.
Macro mode using the ultrawide lens
Main Camera
In contrast to the ultrawide camera, the main camera's sensor is different from the Pro model. The sensor is slightly smaller and it is missing OIS. Similar to the ultrawide camera, the main camera produces sharp and detailed images when enough light is present. In comparison to previous OnePlus cameras, the colors are more accurate and realistic. In the past, OnePlus phones struggled with white balance. The 9 series addressed this problem with their new color processing and I am quite happy with the results!
left: OnePlus 9 main camera, right: OnePlus 7 Pro main camera, both cropped
As you can see, the orange in the building and from the construction workers are over-saturated in the image shot by the 7 Pro. The comparison is supposed to showcase how the white balance changed in the new device.
While white balance has improved in this model, the cameras struggle with exposure in some cases. Even when I took the same shots back to back, the phone would expose differently each time. I'm confident that this will be fixed in an update. OnePlus has been very consistent in improving the post-processing with updates and I'm sure this time it won't be different! Again, I am quite happy with the image quality of the main camera in good lighting conditions.
But this camera system still lacks two things to make it an amazing camera system: OIS and laser autofocus. Due to the missing OIS, low light shots suffer from camera shakes and hence nightscape mode can't show its full potential. Also, autofocus is very inconsistent and misses focus occasionally. This will be hopefully fixed with an update.
Short Summary of other features
Since the camera review is getting quite long and I don't want to waste your time, here are some of my thoughts regarding some features, that you might find important:
- Low-light photography: The large sensors really shine, when the sun starts to set. Since a lot of light can be gathered, nightscape is often not needed. Both the ultrawide and the main camera can struggle with exposure in these cases. Also, both cameras don't handle direct light well: lens-flaring can be quite bad.
- Nightscape: In my opinion, without OIS nightscape is only half as good. You lose a significant amount of detail due to the camera shakes. If well-lit objects such as LED's or lit buildings are in the frame, pictures look good.
- Portrait mode: This is a hit-or-miss situation. Sometimes, edge detection is really good, sometimes even faces are mistaken for the background. Furthermore, I am not a big fan of the background blur, that comes with the portrait mode. I think portraits on Pixel phones still look more natural.
- Pro mode: Here, you have complete manual control over the ISO, shutter speed, focus, white balance, and exposure. It is certainly fun to shoot with, but you have to keep in mind that there is no HDR correction. Therefore, in harsh lighting conditions, the dynamic range is much worse than in full auto mode. You can of course shoot in RAW and bring back some detail, but to be honest, I don't see the point in this compared to full auto mode. The following is probably tightly bound to the autofocus issues: Focus-peaking doesn't work too well. Parts of the image that are clearly out of focus are marked orange.
- Selfie camera: The front-facing camera is quite mediocre. It is fine in most well-lit conditions but becomes significantly softer in darker situations. Also, the dynamic range is not exactly amazing. All in all, it is okay but nothing more.
- Video: The video both on the ultrawide and main camera looks quite good. EIS does a great job with stabilizing and the transitions look natural in most cases. Rolling-shutter was not too noticeable, even with 4k recording! Slow-motion is only available in 1080p 240fps or 720p 480fps. The video quality is fine, for my taste, however, oversharpened.
Some more images:
The Hasselblad promise
The OnePlus 9 Series is the first product that was co-developed with Hasselblad. As it seems, so far Hasselblad's knowledge was used only to improve the color-science. I can definitely see (positive) differences and appreciate that OnePlus addressed their camera issues with this first step. However, there is more to be done to beat the competition. I hope in the future, this collaboration will further improve the image quality, especially in low-light situations. OnePlus now has the potential and undeniably the knowledge to produce truly outstanding smartphone cameras.
Conclusion
OnePlus has made a big promise to improve the cameras on the OnePlus 9 Series. And surely, we can see major improvements compared to the last iteration. I really appreciate the ultrawide camera. With the large 50MP sensor, the ultrawide is now functioning as a second main camera instead of the occasional dramatic angle shooter.
Also, the overall quality of the main camera is good in most conditions. Most of my criticism such as bad autofocus and exposure can and will be hopefully fixed with a software update. The missing OIS for photos will be hard to compensate with software.
It is quite sad to see a useless monochrome camera just for the sake of having three cameras instead of proper image stabilization.
I hope that in the future OnePlus realizes that not the number of cameras but image quality is relevant for most of their customers.
In general, I enjoy taking pictures with this camera system. I know that I barely scratched the surface here, so if you still have questions regarding the cameras, feel free to leave a comment!
