This is the moment that will either be remembered as the time when OnePlus took the leap towards a no-compromises flagship experience or when it made a mistake by leaving what it already had in hope for greener pastures. The smartphone maker has made its most ambitious move ever with the launch of OnePlus 9 Pro a smartphone that comes with the best of display, charging, camera, and software experience that OnePlus has to offer.

At this point, it seems a far better option than the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra which costs a lot more than the OnePlus flagship and comes with an Exynos processor in India. Not just this, with the improvements in camera, lot of potential buyers might look at the OnePlus 9 Pro as an Android alternative to Apple’s iPhone 12.

The latter turned out to be the best ‘value for money’ iPhone of 2020, even though it can cost up to Rs 95,000 in India. Competing with iPhones has never been easy and it won’t be for OnePlus too. But, an attempt has been made and it deserves a closer look.

It’s pace vs pace

The similarities start with what both these smartphones have to offer in terms of performance. Both OnePlus 9 Pro and Apple iPhone 12 Pro are incredibly fast. Apple equipped the iPhone 12 with the A14 Bionic chipset which is also used on the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max. Technically, this is superior to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor on the OnePlus 9 Pro but these are still the fastest smartphones you can buy in their respective ecosystems.

OnePlus 9 Pro gets slight advantage over iPhone 12 with its larger, sharper and smoother display. The new OnePlus smartphone features a 6.7-inch LTPO display with 3216 x 1440 resolution with 120Hz of refresh rate. The iPhone 12, on the other hand, features a 6.1-inch AMOLED screen with 2778 x 1284 resolution and 60Hz refresh rate.

In general use, iPhone’s display is as good as you get. The colour accuracy is better than what you usually get on AMOLED panels.

The OnePlus 9 Pro also gets an advantage when it comes to battery and charging capability. It comes with 65W wired charging and 50W wireless charging in comparison to iPhone 12’s 20W wired and 7.5W wireless speeds. Plus, you don’t get an adaptor with the iPhones. So, OnePlus has done a great job to gain advantage over Apple in terms of specifications.

Software matters

Apple smartphones have thrived over the years because of their superior software experience. That works in favour of the iPhone 12 as well. It’s a fact that iOS is, and will always be a better operating system than Android. It is more convenient, clean and secure. It’s also a fact that if there is any custom Android skin that comes closest to delivering all three, it’s OnePlus’ Oxygen OS.

A CMR (CyberMedia Research) survey last year had shown that smartphone OS is one of the key factors for overall consumer experience. Interestingly, the same survey had also showed that Indian customers are more satisfied with OxygenOS than iOS. In fact, OxygenOS emerged as the most preferred smartphone OS with the highest degree of consumer satisfaction at 74%. This was closely followed by Apple iOS at 72%.

So, eventually the choice will come down to Android vs iOS for most users. And, this can be very subjective and will vary from user to user.

The camera battle

If there is one thing that was holding OnePlus back was the camera system on its smartphones. The smartphone maker deserves a pat on the back for realising that and entering in a partnership with Hasselblad to make improvements. Result? You get a quad rear camera setup which includes a 48-megapixel primary Sony IMX789 sensor with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, and EIS, a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 ultra-wide camera with a freeform lens, an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor and a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor.

The camera partnership has helped OnePlus narrow the gap on iPhones but there is still some and a significant one. The images on OnePlus 9 Pro are better but still not as colour accurate as on iPhones.

The iPhone 12, on the other hand, continues to rule with its two 12-megapxiel lens both of which are capable to capturing stunning details. Even though OnePlus 9 Pro records 8K videos, the iPhone’s 4K videos have better stabilisation and sharpness.

Cash is king

I couldn’t help but quote Lewis Hamilton on this Cash is definitely the king. And, that’s what it will come down to while choosing between two smartphones. The iPhone 12 is priced at Rs 79,990 for the 64GB internal storage variant, Rs 84,990 for the 128GB storage variant and Rs 94,990 for the 256GB storage variant.

Both of OnePlus 9 Pro’s variants offer greater value. The 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant of the phone costs Rs 64,999 while the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant costs Rs 69,999.

Yes, these prices sound expensive. In fact, they are. OnePlus has become successful by pricing its phones aggressively. But, it’s not the flagship killer anymore. It’s the flagship and probably the closest competitor to Apple at the moment. With a great display, design and improved cameras, the OnePlus 9 Pro makes for a great buy for most users, apart from those already invested in Apple’s ecosystem.