oneplus always manages to slip some
interesting tech into their flagship
phones and the oneplus 9 pro
is no exception while the oneplus 9 pro
is loaded with upgraded features like
its 6.7 inch ltpo amoled display
capable of running anywhere between 1
and 120 hertz the most notable upgrade
is the new camera system
developed in cooperation with swedish
camera manufacturer hasselblad
we'll let the reviewers handle the
camera test though because today we've
got our own job to do
we find out whether oneplus has made any
tweaks to their mediocre repairability
design
there is no denying that the oneplus 9
pro bears a striking resemblance to
samsung's galaxy s21 ultra
and that resemblance extends to the
opening procedure the rear panel is
glued firmly in place and the 9 pro even
shares the ultra's tough adhesive near
the camera bump
with the back cover removed we're faced
with a wall of black mid frame and
wireless charging get up held in place
by uniform phillips screws
including some hidden ones one behind
the camera's flash
and a couple behind white stickers these
aren't moisture sensors but it sure
looks like oneplus wants to use them as
evidence of tampering
luckily they can't void your warranty
for that with our mid frames dispatched
we're on the hunt for the battery
connector which as
always we try and disconnect as soon as
possible not finding it immediately we
dig right in disconnecting cables and
ultimately find that oneplus has
unfortunately run the battery connector
underneath the board interconnect cable
thankfully it's still disconnectable
within the first few disassembly steps
just like in the other 5g devices we've
seen this year the oneplus 9 pro is
loaded with 5g antennas that crisscross
the phone we find a large green
millimeter wave antenna attached to the
motherboard
and two more in the sides of the frame
these rectangular green caterpillars
allow the oneplus 9 pro to support both
the
sub 6 and ultra fast millimeter wave
flavors of 5g
the main camera system is in our sights
but a sneaky cable prevents us from
getting them all the way out
so we decide to make some room by
removing the battery oneplus has pretty
consistently used large pull tabs
on their batteries making their removal
slightly easier than some other
manufacturers
and thankfully the 9 pro continues that
streak the oneplus 9 pro's massive 4500
milliamp battery is
actually two 8.59 watt hour cells
this dual cell design is the secret to
oneplus 65 watt warp charge capabilities
with each cell sipping half of the
current resulting in faster
cooler charging now that the battery is
out of the way the solution to the stuck
camera system reveals itself
there's a cable routing bracket glued
over the two megapixel monochrome
cameras connector at the bottom of the
group
we've got a total of four cameras in the
rear-facing group there's a 48 megapixel
main camera
a 50 megapixel ultra wide an 8 megapixel
telephoto
and the runt of the litter the 2
megapixel monochrome camera
the oneplus 9 pro's main camera sensor
is a custom sony imx 789
it's an impressive sensor supporting
dual native iso for less grainy photos
and some fancy new hdr technology that
allows the sensor to take multiple
exposures at once
to combine for an hdr image reducing the
need for subjects to hold still in order
to get a great hdr
shot only one more cable to disconnect
and the motherboard is free
hidden under this massive thermal paste
is the oneplus 9 pro snapdragon 888
processor
down at the bottom of the phone is our
last remaining board and underneath that
we find the in-display fingerprint
sensor and the display's cable connector
that only leaves us with the huge 6.7
inch ltpo amoled display which is firmly
glued to the frame
while the oneplus 9 pro gained some
exciting tech this year its
repairability remains
unchanged just like the a pro before it
the oneplus 9 pro scores a four out of
ten
its easily removable battery and
relatively modular construction are
always great to see
but its glued on rear panel is a barrier
to entry and repair
making matters worse its display
requires a lot of disassembly to access
and will be a pain to remove if it
breaks thanks to tenacious adhesive
and curved edges