OnePlus 9 Camera Samples
Featured in this article
OnePlus 9 Pro, Nightscape with main camera. Using Nightscape mode, you can get brighten up low-light scenes like this one. The colors are nice here, especially when compared to some of the competition, even if details might not be *as* sharp. Compare this photo with the following.
Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with main camera. Look at the right side of the booth and you'll see a piece of paper with some writing on it. This is much sharper in the Pixel photo than it is on the OnePlus 9 Pro. However, I think the overall color tones aren't as accurate. They're a little too green. Plus, the Pixel photo is filled with grain in the sky.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, Night mode with main camera. The color tones are very similar between this photo and the OnePlus, though my hands must have shaken slightly during capture as things aren't completely in focus here. With all dedicated night modes, you need to stay as very still as possible for a clear image.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu01OnePlus 9 Pro, Nightscape with main camera. Using Nightscape mode, you can get brighten up low-light scenes like this one. The colors are nice here, especially when compared to some of the competition, even if details might not be *as* sharp. Compare this photo with the following.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu02Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with main camera. Look at the right side of the booth and you'll see a piece of paper with some writing on it. This is much sharper in the Pixel photo than it is on the OnePlus 9 Pro. However, I think the overall color tones aren't as accurate. They're a little too green. Plus, the Pixel photo is filled with grain in the sky.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu03Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, Night mode with main camera. The color tones are very similar between this photo and the OnePlus, though my hands must have shaken slightly during capture as things aren't completely in focus here. With all dedicated night modes, you need to stay as very still as possible for a clear image.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu04OnePlus 9 Pro, 3.3x optical zoom camera. The telephoto zoom camera can be handy when you need to get a close-up of your subject, but often the image quality is blotchy. It fares a little better here.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu05OnePlus 9 Pro, 3.3x optical zoom camera. Here's another with the zoom camera. It looks great, but zoom in and you'll see a ton of grain with the buildings in the back and even with the boat. It's not as sharp as what you'll get with competing phones like the S21 Ultra, though you really need to zoom in to see this flaw. It's still a perfectly good shot.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu06OnePlus 9, main camera. The standard OnePlus 9 has a slightly lesser main camera sensor, but it can still capture good daylight shots. The colors look nice here, and details are tack sharp. You can even see the building number on the black roof quite clearly.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu07OnePlus 9 Pro, main camera. I love this shot. The phone handles the dynamic range really well—nothing is overblown and nothing is mired in shadow. Colors are also mostly accurate, except for the sky, which is still a little too blue than real life. Zoom in and you'll see a ton of grain, which is the phone trying to compensate for the high-contrast scene. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu08OnePlus 9 Pro, Nightscape with main camera. Compare this photo with the following two. The 9 Pro's shot is the sharpest of the lot, with great contrast, natural-looking color tones, and the highlights aren't overblown.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu09Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with main camera. Here is where the Pixel's aging sensor is starting to show its age. Colors, such as the greens of the bush, are a little too green; the lighting is a little too bright; and the details are soft. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu10Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, Night mode with main camera. Samsung does a better job than the Pixel, but the OnePlus still comes out on top. The sky isn't as evenly lit, the details aren't as crisp, and color tones are slightly off.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu11OnePlus 9, main camera. You can see a great deal of detail here if you zoom in on my dog's smushed face. The colors look really nice, too\!
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu12OnePlus 9 Pro, Pro mode 12-bit RAW photo. This RAW photo was edited into a JPEG via Adobe Lightroom. Using the Pro mode, you can capture 12-bit photos, which means a range of greater colors in your shots. You'll just need to edit it in an app that supports RAW files, but the results are pretty great if you take the time to learn how to use the manual controls.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu13OnePlus 9 Pro, Super Macro. Put the phone camera up close to a subject (like *really* up close) and it'll switch to Super Macro mode via the ultrawide camera. It lets you get ultra close-ups like this in focus. I like how it gets automatically triggered if you get too close to a subject. It's best used when there's lots of light, but the results can be spectacular. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu14OnePlus 9 Pro, Portrait mode. This is one of the more disappointing areas of the camera. Portraits just don't look all that great on these phones. The colors are off here, especially the sky. The blur effect is also messed up around the girl's hair.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu15OnePlus 9 Pro, ultrawide camera. The ultrawide camera, which is the same on both the OnePlus 9 and the 9 Pro, is one of the best around. It's crisp, has minimal distortion, and delivers great colors. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu16OnePlus 9 Pro, selfie camera. The 16-megapixel selfie camera is solid, though I found colors to be a little off here sometimes. Generally, in my comparisons, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra often edged out the OnePlus in selfies with sharper details and more natural tones.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu17OnePlus 9 Pro, 3.3x zoom camera. The orange flare on the left isn't actually a flare—just the edge of a fence. I really like this shot, but you can sort of see my complaints about the telephoto camera's output quality in full effect. Just zoom in a little and you'll start seeing grain everywhere. Samsung's telephoto lenses are often sharper. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu18OnePlus 9 Pro, ultrawide camera. The 50-megapixel ultrawide really is great. It works better than most ultrawides in low light, but it's exceptional during the day, with crisp details and pretty colors.
Comments
Back to top
Wired Coupons
Squarespace Promo Code
10% Off Exclusive Squarespace Promo Code 2026
T-Mobile Promo Code
10 lines for $200 & $20 per new line on CoreMobile
Home Depot Promo Code
10% Off Home Depot Promo Code With Sign-up
LG Promo Code
LG Promo Code: 20% Off Your First Order
Dell Coupon Code
Dell Promo Code 20% Off
.png){kind=logo}
Samsung Promo Code
30% Samsung Coupon - Offer Program 2026