OnePlus 9 Pro secret weapon revealed — and it blows away Galaxy S21 Ultra

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The OnePlus 9 Pro’s wireless charging speeds should be game changer

OnePlus 9 Pro rear seen in official video
(Image credit: OnePlus)

Given the sheer number of OnePlus 9 leaks that have emerged in recent weeks, you might assume everything had already been revealed ahead of the March 23 launch. Apparently not: according to a new report from Pricebaba, the OnePlus 9 Pro has a surprising new feature that should make a big difference to those looking to lose the wires.

According to the site’s source — reliable leaker Ishan Agarwal — the OnePlus 9 Pro will feature 50W wireless charging. That’s quite an improvement on the 30W charging speeds supported by the OnePlus 8 Pro, which already had the fastest wireless charging around.

For reference, OnePlus promised that the previous high of 30W wireless charging could see the OnePlus 8 Pro go from 0% to 50% charge in 29 minutes. And while calculating an estimated new speed from that isn’t as easy as it sounds, any improvement seems pretty impressive to us.

Of course, no phones come with wireless chargers in the box. For buyers keen to experience top wireless charging speeds out of the box, it looks like OnePlus will be launching an updated version of its Warp Charge wireless charger alongside the OnePlus 9 Pro. No word on pricing yet, but the 30W version of the charger — currently sold out on the US site — retailed for $69.95.   

By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series is capable of only 15W wireless charging, and the iPhone 12 series can do 20W through Apple's own MagSafe charging. In fact, the S21's wired charging maxes out at 25W. 

It’s another piece in the puzzle, and we now have a pretty good idea of what the OnePlus 9 Pro will offer. The phone will arrive with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, a 6.7-inch 120Hz QHD+ screen and a generous 4,500mAh battery, but perhaps the most exciting development is expected to be in the field of photography.

Company CEO Pete Lau recently shared the biggest OnePlus 9 camera improvements, thanks to its new partnership with Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad and the included Sony IMX789 sensor. Expect greater depth to color, improved lighting, professional calibration and 4K video at 120fps, among other upgrades.

Of course, it’s easy to talk these things up in advance, and we won’t really know how well the OnePlus 9 Pro will perform until we have a review unit in our hands. Fortunately, that’s not too far away: OnePlus has announced it will unveil the new handsets at a special event on March 23. Be sure to check back in then.

Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.