The day we’ve all been waiting for, the OnePlus moonshot announcement, and it’s what we have heard from the last few days. The moonshot’s main highlight was OnePlus, and Hasselblad’s partnership which means that the Chinese smartphone brand will be working along with the iconic Swedish camera-maker Hasselblad for its upcoming flagship smartphones. We also got a launch date for the OnePlus 9 series, and it’s arriving on March 23.
OnePlus X Hasselblad: What’s in Store?
First, the OnePlus Hasselblad partnership is not a major surprise since it was rumored for quite a long time, and teasers told a lot. Well, OnePlus will be working alongside Sweden-based Hasselblad towards improving camera systems on the upcoming OnePlus flagship in the next three years, starting with the OnePlus 9.
“Hasselblad believes in the power of images and our mission is to continue pushing the boundaries on imaging technology. With this in mind, Hasselblad is determined to work together with OnePlus, an innovative company that shares the same vision and passion for technology. By partnering with OnePlus, we hope to put Hasselblad’s iconic design and outstanding image quality in the hands of more people and share our passion for incredible photography.” – Jon Diele, Vice President, Hasselblad.
With its next flagship, OnePlus is utilizing Hasselblad’s expertise in improving color tuning and sensor calibration. The Natural Color Calibration with Hasselblad is expected to bring more accurate and natural-looking colors to photos taken with OnePlus 9 cameras. Then we have the new Hasselblad Pro Mode, which will bring Hasselblad’s sensor calibration expertise to a smartphone for the first time, resulting in more accurate and natural colors and a new interface for the Pro mode allowing users to tweak around with ISO, white balance, exposure and focus along with support for the 12-bit RAW format for more natural and richer colors, and higher dynamic range.
“Today marks the most notable day ever for OnePlus cameras – and more importantly, for OnePlus users around the world. With our long-term commitment to investing in more advanced R&D and cutting-edge imaging technologies, we look forward to firmly establishing ourselves as a new leader in mobile photography,” – Kinder Liu, Oneplus COO and Head of Research and Development.
Apart from the Hasselblad partnership, OnePlus is investing $150 million towards improving its camera for coming OnePlus flagships. As a part of this initiative, OnePlus will be funding four major R&D labs located in the US and Japan.
What’s in for OnePlus 9?
The OnePlus 9 will be featuring a custom Sony IMX 789 sensor with dual native ISO, full-pixel omnidirectional focusing, and capable of recording real-time HDR videos while also recording videos in 4K@120fps and 8K@30fps. The new custom Sony IMX 789 sensor will be up to 64-times more colorful than sensors used in previous OnePlus flagships, with support for 12-bit RAW, which allows users to have more control over the photographs during the post-editing. The OnePlus 9 series will also feature a freeform lens that will eliminate edge distortion in ultra-wide photos.
“With OnePlus’ top-of-the-line hardware and computational photography and Hasselblad’s rich aesthetic knowledge in traditional photography, I am confident that the OnePlus 9 Series will be a major leap forward in our ability to deliver a premium, flagship camera.” – Pete Lau, Founder and CEO of OnePlus.
There is some more cool stuff that we can expect to make its way to the future OnePlus flagships, including a panoramic camera with a 140-degree field of view and T-lens technology with a lightning-fast focus in the front-facing camera.
As far as the OnePlus 9 series is concerned, OnePlus’ next flagship smartphones, including OnePlus 9, 9 Pro, and 9R, will be debuting on the March 23. The launch event will be streaming live at 10 AM ET / 2 PM GMT / 7:30 PM IST.
With almost everything served on our plates, it will be interesting to see what OnePlus has left for us on March 23.