OnePlus finally announced its flagship OnePlus 9 series to rival the Samsung Galaxy S21 as the best phones of 2021. In addition, we have a release date for OnePlus 9: March 23 with a launch event broadcast from the OnePlus website .
The OnePlus 9 series, which is said to be the OnePlus 9, 9 Pro and 9 Lite, has a big ace up its sleeve: the famous camera company Hasselblad cooperated with OnePlus to help renovate the camera systems of the new phones, according to a press release.
The phone manufacturer has not confirmed anything important about the next devices other than the camera details (they will use a Sony IMX789 sensor, for example), although it is rumored to have top-of-the-line specifications, such as a Snapdragon 888 chipset.
Hasselblad has an incredible reputation, on which OnePlus promotional material is supported, featuring reproductions of famous photos taken with Hasselblad cameras – such as Earthrise, a photo taken of our planet during the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Although a OnePlus 9 probably does not reach our nearest celestial neighbor for a photo opportunity, the phone manufacturer is sending a clear signal with the partnership that it is finally responding to one of the biggest criticisms of OnePlus phones: weak cameras.
Borrowing some Hasselblad credit
Whether this partnership will result in better photography will not be clear until we have the OnePlus 9 cameras in our hands. Many phone brands have partnered with notable camera manufacturers over the years, but some of these combinations have been another advertising maneuver than a productive synthesis that really raises the barrier of the camera phone, as explained by Michael Fisher of Mr. Mobile in a new video.
At least we know that this is not a unique partnership: OnePlus and Hasselblad are working together for the next three years on the handset of the phone maker, with the OnePlus 9 series as the first to be launched.
OnePlus also shed light on the extension of the partnership, claiming that Hasselblad will work with them to improve various parts of the camera system: software first, refining the color adjustment and sensor calibration to “bring out more perceptually accurate and natural-looking colors to the photos taken with flagship OnePlus cameras, ”according to a press release.
There is also a Hasselblad Pro mode on the phone’s camera that will have a new user interface based on the company’s own image processing software for better control and fine-tuning of the photos.
OnePlus has other ambitions to improve its cameras over a three-year period, including opening four more R&D labs, developing a 140-degree field-of-view camera (today’s ultra-wide angled lenses manage about 120 degrees ), faster selfie camera focus and a ‘freeform lens’ debuting on OnePlus 9 that reduces edge distortion in ultra-panoramic photos.
Another part of the teaser also states that the entire series of these devices will be ready for 5G, which may mean that the next OnePlus 9 Lite will be one of the cheapest 5G phones.
When will we know about the OnePlus 9 family? March 23 is the big day of the launch event, and is scheduled to start at 7 am PT / 10 am EST / 3 pm GMT (or March 24 at 1 am for those in AEDT).