OnePlus 9 vs Apple iPhone 11
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.55-inch OnePlus 9 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G) that was released on March 23, 2021, against the Apple iPhone 11, which is powered by Apple A13 Bionic and came out 19 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the OnePlus 9
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1390 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 3110 mAh
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 18W)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Has a 0.45 inch larger screen size
- Fingerprint scanner
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Delivers 23% higher peak brightness (827 against 675 nits)
- Thinner bezels – 8.6% more screen real estate
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- 23% higher pixel density (402 vs 326 PPI)
- AMOLED display (versus competitor''s IPS LCD)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 11
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Shows 22% longer battery life (34:46 vs 28:34 hours)
- 42% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (808K versus 568K)
- Optical image stabilization
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than OnePlus
- 8% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1619 and 1500 points
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | IPS LCD |
| Size | 6.55 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 828 x 1792 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 402 ppi | 326 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 625 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1100 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.6% | 79% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 323 Hz | Not detected |
| Response time | 13 ms | 24.8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | 999:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 160 mm (6.3 inches) | 150.9 mm (5.94 inches) |
| Width | 74.2 mm (2.92 inches) | 75.7 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.7 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 192 g (6.77 oz) | 194 g (6.84 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Purple | White, Black, Green, Red, Purple, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G | Apple A13 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2650 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
- 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder
- 2 cores at 2.65 GHz: Lightning |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Apple A13 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 1230 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS | ~629.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 172607 | 188856 |
| GPU | 115432 | 305641 |
| Memory | 118133 | 136959 |
| UX | 160667 | 177223 |
| Total score | 568602 | 808922 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 48.8 °C | 43.6 °C |
| Stability | 55% | 72% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 45 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5761 | 7532 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10625 | - |
| Video editing | 6059 | - |
| Photo editing | 25728 | - |
| Data manipulation | 11092 | - |
| Writing score | 15632 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 13 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | OxygenOS 13 | - |
| OS size | 35 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 3110 mAh |
| Max charge power | 65 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (100% in 29 min) | Yes (50% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:29 hr | 1:45 hr |
| Web browsing | 10:27 hr | 11:39 hr |
| Watching video | 12:25 hr | 15:16 hr |
| Gaming | 04:06 hr | 05:05 hr |
| Standby | 92 hr | 121 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 140° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (48 MP + 50 MP + 2 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/1.43", Sony IMX689 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Apple iSight Camera (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 14 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm |
| Monochrome lens |
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 |
- |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of OnePlus 9 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 11 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4920 x 3264 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1 microns | - |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | BSI CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" | - |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 3.1 | 2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, SBAS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2021 | September 2019 |
| Release date | March 2021 | September 2019 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.95 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the OnePlus 9 . But if the gaming, software, and design are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 11 .