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While OnePlus has been getting really good at creating smartphones that everyone wants to use, there’s something that the company arguably does even better than that. It’s all about building up hype for its upcoming products, but with the OnePlus 9, this one feels a little bit different.
Before diving deeper, let’s take a look at what happened with the Pixel 4 ahead of its launch. The phone was being leaked relentlessly, providing us more than just a look at what Google’s 2019 flagship would include, along with the general design. Then, Google decided to “stop” playing games and just showed off the phone in some official renders. But instead of just dropping all of the information at once, we were still forced to wait until the company’s pre-determined launch date where the rest of the spec-sheet was officially shared, along with pricing.
It seems that OnePlus is taking a similar approach with the OnePlus 9, after seeing the device leaked all over the place. From Twitter leakers to YouTubers, and everywhere in between, there have been leaks surrounding OnePlus’ latest device.
Yesterday, the company confirmed a partnership it has made with Hasselblad for the camera sensors and some software features to improve the camera experience. But instead of just confirming a partnership, OnePlus also shared some information about what the upcoming camera will be capable of. This includes taking 12-bit RAW photos, user-control over different aspects of the image such as ISO and exposure time, along with a new editing interface. Plus, OnePlus confirmed that the OnePlus 9 will be capable of providing “improved HDR video recording”, along with 4K @ 120FPS and 8K @ 30FPS video recording.
It all begins with a simple thought. Discover the #OnePlus9Series, co-developed with Hasselblad, on March 23.
Get notified: https://t.co/8HQZu9LLbl pic.twitter.com/fIajmlM2Lg
— OnePlus➕ (@OnePlus_USA) March 8, 2021
While the company stopped short of sharing all of the details regarding the camera specs for these upcoming devices, it did share a teaser video sharing the design of the OnePlus 9. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what will be powering these phones, with the Snapdragon 888 acting as the flagship chip for 2021, and that will likely be coupled with at least 8GB of RAM and 128GB of non-expandable storage. There will be some differences between the standard OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro, and it could just be a difference of battery size and wireless charging (or not).
Then there’s another elephant in the room. Over the past few weeks, we have been seeing more rumors suggesting that Apple will be holding an event on the same day as the OnePlus 9 announcement. This will largely overshadow anything that OnePlus plans to announce, and could end up drowning out the launch altogether.
Instead of playing the “let’s keep teasing for weeks” game, OnePlus should have just taken the opportunity to reveal everything about its upcoming flagship lineup. OnePlus could have even provided the announcement and teasers, and state that the phones will go on sale on March 23rd. But instead, we aren’t even sure if the OnePlus 9 will be available for purchase on the 23rd, or if that’s just the announcement date before needing to wait even longer to get these phones into our hands.
To be honest and fair, it’s not like this is a tactic used by OnePlus, as we see companies announce a device or product is coming but hold the announcement. We’ve seen this with the likes of the ASUS ROG Phone and the OPPO Find X3, and the biggest reason is to help keep your attention leading up to the official release. Whether it’s due to another partnership or an agreed-upon release date with new hardware, there could be plenty of reasons why there’s a gap. But there’s the obvious chance of losing the attention of the media if the initial teaser is released too far ahead of the final device launch.
The hype train is a useful tool, but this time it may have backfired.
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