OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro are now certified for use on the Verizon network, which means that Verizon customers will be able to use phones with the operator’s 5G network; without certification, phones would be limited to LTE. The news was announced today by a Verizon representative, but the timeline is a bit confusing. OnePlus said it was working with Verizon, but there were no promises that it would be done until the phone was launched.
The history of 5G has been a little confusing for OnePlus 9 series phones since the beginning. Only the Pro model has the ultra-fast mmWave and, in the announcement, the phones were listed only as compatible with 5G on the T-Mobile network. Even with today’s news, it still leaves AT&T customers who buy a OnePlus 9 paying for 5G that they can’t currently use. The OnePlus operator compatibility chart (which can be found on the OnePlus 9 or 9 Pro pre-order page) currently lists the phones as AT&T-compatible without bands.
Despite the initial confusion, it is a good thing that the phone can now be fully used by two of the top three operators in the United States. The phones are not yet listed in the Verizon store, but if you buy an unlocked OnePlus 9 or 9 Pro, you can use them with an existing or new Verizon account.