OnePlus 9 Pro vs iPhone 12 Pro Max

 

Display:

With a fast, 120Hz refresh rate the OnePlus has the smoother moves

Both the OnePlus 9 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max have extra large screens measuring 6.7 inches. However, the OnePlus 9 Pro display is tapered ever so slightly around the sides, while the screen on the iPhone is completely flat. If you ask us, a flat screen is the better experience, but it also makes the iPhone a noticeably wider phone than the OnePlus, and unless you have hands the size of an NBA player, the OnePlus will be more comfortable to handle.

The iPhone also retains the notch, which houses its complex Face ID sensors and front camera, while the OnePlus features a much more discrete punch hole camera on the side that doesn't obstruct your view. You get used to the notch on the iPhone in daily use, but it remains an annoyance while watching videos and playing games.

The big advantage of the OnePlus 9 Pro is its support for 120Hz adaptive refresh rate for buttery smooth scrolling, while the iPhone maxes out at 60Hz.

Performance:

The OnePlus 9 Pro comes equipped with the latest and most powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max uses Apple's home-grown A14 Bionic chip.

Both are the most powerful solutions for each platform, using the most advanced manufacturing technology available: 5nm, millions of transistors, and both just... crash the benchmarks!

Still, the cross-platform GeekBench shows a noticeable advantage for the A14:

While important for specs nerds, this is probably not something that the average user should be overly concerned with as both phones will provide sufficient speed for most tasks. In fact, the faster 120Hz screen refresh rate on the OnePlus might actually be the deciding factor in perceived smoothness, and not the processor.

5G Connectivity

The big question around the OnePlus 9 Pro is whether it will be available on all US carriers or not. Currently, T-Mobile is the only carrier to offer the phone, which likely means that the 9 Pro will not support the mmWave flavor of 5G used by Verizon and to some extent, by AT&T. If this is indeed true, the iPhone will have the advantage of being available for all three US carriers AND supporting mmWave 5G. Is that something you should care about? If you are among the 1% that have mmWave coverage AND you really need those super fast speeds, than yes, but for most users this shouldn't be a deciding factor.

Camera

Can a OnePlus phone match the camera quality of the iPhone?

For years, the number one complaint against OnePlus is that the company just wasn't able to make a camera that would be on par with the very best. Well, last year's OnePlus 8 Pro challenged that assumption, it was the first truly great camera by the brand, and we have high expectations for the OnePlus 9 Pro as well.

Battery Life and Charging Speeds

• 4,500mAh battery for OnePlus 9 Pro vs 3,687mAh battery on iPhone 12 Pro Max
• OnePlus 65W fast charging vs iPhone 20W fast charge
• OnePlus has fastest ever wireless charge at 50W vs 15W

Finally, these two will have different battery sizes. Android phones like the OnePlus 9 Pro typically come with larger batteries than iPhones, and the OnePlus 9 Pro is another such phone, with a 4,500mAh battery, significantly larger than the 3,687mAh battery on the iPhone. That's a nearly 20% bigger battery on the OnePlus.

In our daily routine, we noticed the OnePlus 9 Pro draining a bit faster than the iPhone. On a typical day, starting at around 8am with a fully charged phone, I would need to top up the OnePlus at about 8pm, while the iPhone would usually last all the way until the morning or even into the next day.