OnePlus 9T: Here are the upgrades we want

(Image credit: Future)

With the OnePlus 9T, OnePlus has the opportunity to take the best phone around. However, information technology won't be able to manage that without a few key improvements.

The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro are both fantastic phones, with the Pro becoming our new tiptop pick among the best Android phones. However, the terminal 'T' series telephone — the OnePlus 8T — was disappointing, lacking enough upgrades over the OnePlus 8 to make it worthwhile.

OnePlus' unusual six-month phone cycle gives it the unique gamble to get another go at taking the top spot, but information technology needs to do something special if it wants to overtake Apple and Samsung.

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It won't be until the autumn that OnePlus launches the 9T, and at that place aren't whatever big leaks to proceed just yet. So until nosotros have a clearer thought of what'south coming, these are our suggestions for what we desire to see, combining fixes to current issues with the 9 series, every bit well equally new or improved features that OnePlus would exist smart to include.

Improved Nightscape mode

OnePlus 9T: OnePlus 9 rear cameras — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Thank you to its Hasselblad partnership, OnePlus took a huge leap forward in photo quality with the 9 series, and especially the ix Pro. However, in that location are a few parts of the picture-taking experience that are property OnePlus back from knocking Apple tree and Samsung off the superlative spots on the all-time camera phones listing.

The big 1 to ready is the inconsistency with Nightscape, OnePlus' low-calorie-free photo mode. In some scenarios, such as in our camera face-off with the iPhone 12 Pro and Pixel 4a 5G, the OnePlus 9 Pro produced the best shot. Even so, it tin can't manage this all the time, as seen in the comparison with the Google Pixel 5 in our full review.

Taking photos at nighttime or in night environments is i of the most common use cases for smartphone cameras, so effective night way software is a must for a flagship phone. The OnePlus 9T could become a peak camera phone if OnePlus tin can tweak Nightscape to deliver good shots on a consequent basis.

Longer battery life

OnePlus 9T: OnePlus 9 charging — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The OnePlus 9 and nine Pro both offering decent bombardment life, simply more would be better. There are a couple of means that OnePlus could manage this.

Obviously, it could make the 9T'southward battery larger. OnePlus used the same dual-prison cell battery in the 8T, ix and nine Pro in order to take advantage of the 65W wired fast charging, but at iv,500 mAh, it'south not huge given the size of the phones and the quality of their displays and chipsets. Calculation a bit more capacity (mayhap 5,000 mAh) while retaining the charging speed would be an obvious upgrade.

Some other possibility would be adding the adaptive refresh charge per unit of the OnePlus 9 Pro to the OnePlus 9's smaller brandish. Calculation this adaptive organisation would permit the telephone to consume less power when the display didn't need to use its full 120Hz.

IP rating on all models

OnePlus 9T: OnePlus 9 — (Prototype credit: Tom'south Guide)

An official IP rating gives yous peace of mind that your new expensive phone won't end upwards useless if you drop it in water. Unfortunately, that's something OnePlus hasn't always offered.

The OnePlus 8 Pro, launched last year, was the start OnePlus phone to be officially rated IP68, the typical resistance standard for flagship phones. After skipping the OnePlus 8T, the OnePlus 9 Pro also received official IP68 certification, while the basic OnePlus 9 missed out. While you lot expect a Pro handset to accept more features than the vanilla model, being IP rated is normally standard across a whole telephone series.

IP rating is an expensive process, and manufacturers like OnePlus still make their phones waterproof and dustproof even without official ratings. But if OnePlus is serious almost making the OnePlus 9T capable of fighting iPhones and Galaxy phones, information technology needs to offering the same assurances.

A killer cost

OnePlus 9T: OnePlus 9 Pro colors — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Because all the other features nosotros've asked for and then far, this one might be the trickiest for OnePlus to manage. The OnePlus 9 and ix Pro have starting prices of $729 and $969, respectively, which undercut the equivalent iPhone 12 and Samsung Galaxy S21 models by a small amount.

Unfortunately for OnePlus, this year'due south batch of phones from Apple and Samsung happened to lower the price of their base models compared to last year. If the OnePlus 9T used the OnePlus 8T'southward cost point of $750, it would wait like a skillful deal compared to the $800 iPhone 12 or Galaxy S21.

Calculation on extra features is probable to make the 9T price around the aforementioned equally Apple and Samsung's phones, if not a touch more. That's non a spot you desire to be in when you're a bottom-known make. That said, an $800-850 cost would make the perfect mid-bespeak betwixt the 9 and 9 Pro's toll, and offer a college upkeep for the other upgrades we want to run into.

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Richard is a Tom'due south Guide staff writer based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, sound and any else people need communication on. Post-obit on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's as well written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect loving cup of specialty coffee.