KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — OnePlus is gearing up to launch its new flagship for 2021 with its upcoming OnePlus 9 series.

Ahead of its official announcement, PhoneArena has obtained live photos of the new phone that would be running on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 processor with 5G.

Here’s a clear look at the OnePlus 9 5G.

What you’re seeing here is a prototype device and the rear uses a placeholder logo instead of a typical OnePlus branding.

As shown below, the OnePlus 9 now gets a rather thick camera bump that houses 2 large cameras, 1 smaller sensor and one LED flash.

There’s a prominent "Ultrashot” branding but it isn’t clear if this is just a placeholder label for the prototype device.

Since this is a non-Pro model, it is likely to feature a main sensor and an ultra-wide-angle unit similar to the OnePlus 8.

Ahead of its official announcement, PhoneArena has obtained live photos of the new phone that would be running on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 processor with 5G. — Pictures by PhoneArena via SoyaCincau

The third small camera could be a macro lens or possibly a 3D ToF sensor for better depth effects.

If you look closely, the camera layout does look like a stretch version of the iPhone 12‘s camera bump with an additional small sensor at the bottom.

Based on the phone’s system info, PhoneArena said it is likely that the main camera uses a 48MP sensor while the secondary shooter uses a 16MP sensor.

Interestingly, Xiaomi’s upcoming Mi 11 is also seen with a similar 2 big + 1 small camera layout.

The OnePlus 9 still doesn’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack and it still retains a notification slider on the right along with the power button.

Meanwhile, the volume rocker is still placed on the left. The SIM card tray appears to come with rubber seals which indicates that it will have some form of water resistance. — SoyaCincau