A handful of new OnePlus 9 renders appeared online earlier today, courtesy of concept designer Waqar Khan. The images are accompanied by a 360-degree video of the upcoming device, all of which can be seen below. These unofficial illustrations are said to be based on finalized dimensions, i.e. factory specifications of the OnePlus 9.
And yes, that camera setup that leaked recently is apparently real. As difficult as that may be to believe. Its actual specifications remain unclear, though the OnePlus 9 Pro is expected to include one extra sensor on the back. A super tiny one, at that, if previous leaks are to be believed. Which they probably are, based on how consistent they’ve been. In lack of more concrete details, the safest bet is to assume the two main sensors will be a typical combination of a wide-angle camera and a telephoto one.
The OnePlus 9 series is actually expected to consist of three devices instead of two. As per a surprise report from earlier this week.
The OnePlus 9 will seemingly feature a rather peculiar camera setup on the back
The OnePlus 9 series is expected to launch early next year. Exactly how early remains to be seen, however. As no amount of urgency from the manufacturer will see it announced prior to the Galaxy S21 range, for example. Unless OnePlus wants to unveil its next smartphones months before it’s able to mass-produce them. Which it doesn’t.
Ultimately, the timing of the OnePlus 9 launch will come down to Qualcomm’s ability to fulfill the first batch of Snapdragon 888 orders. As is tradition, those are essentially reserved for its largest customer – Samsung. And so, while the new OnePlus generation would typically arrive around June, this upcoming one is currently expected in mid-March. This timeframe points to late March for global retail availability.
And while we’re on the subject of high-end chipsets, the aforementioned Snapdragon 888 launched yesterday. Qualcomm even confirmed OnePlus is one of 14 customers already waiting to receive the new silicon. Its list of improvements includes the usual suspects: more power, lower battery consumption, faster on-device AI computing, etc.
We’re still waiting for some concrete performance figures illustrating these upgrades, mind you. Because Qualcomm is actually unveiling it across several days’ worth of online showcases. The first of which just wrapped up on Tuesday.