As the leaks and rumors suggested, OnePlus is officially partnering with Hasselblad to improve the quality of its Android smartphone cameras — starting with the OnePlus 9 series. Talk about this partnership first began in February when a OnePlus 9 Pro prototype leaked with Hasselblad branding on the rear camera housing. Given the weight and respect the Hasselblad name carries in the camera industry, a partnership like this got a lot of people excited.
Hasselblad has been around since the 1940s, and over the years, the company has developed a wide array of camera tech. Among all of its photography achievements, however, the company stands out the most for its cameras being responsible for capturing some of the most iconic photos from space — hence the space-themed branding OnePlus is using for this partnership.
Going back to that partnership, it's a bigger deal than what was initially expected. Rather than being a one-off arrangement for the OnePlus 9, OnePlus will be working with Hasselblad over the next three years to keep improving and developing its smartphone camera tech. At the heart of all this is the Hasselblad Camera for Mobile, which will debut on the OnePlus 9 series when it launches on March 23. A big focus for OnePlus is on improving the colors and processing of its images, with OnePlus saying that it's "been collaborating very closely with Hasselblad R&D – spending countless hours working together to re-imagine and re-define the approach to color accuracy on OnePlus smartphones." The result of this work is the Natural Color Calibration with Hasselblad, which is the new color calibration standard users will see on OnePlus smartphones — resulting in more natural and true-to-life colors compared to past OnePlus releases.
What To Expect From The OnePlus 9's Camera
OnePlus is using a custom Sony IMX789 for the primary camera on the OnePlus 9 series, with OnePlus touting it as being the "largest and most advanced main camera sensor ever on a OnePlus device." It'll allow for things like 12-bit RAW, better HDR video, and support for 4K at 120fps and 8K at 30fps video recording. As for the secondary sensors on the OnePlus 9 series, OnePlus has confirmed a panoramic camera with 140-degree field-of-view, improved autofocus on the front-facing camera, and a freeform lens for the ultra-wide sensor that "practically eliminates edge distortion." As if that wasn't enough, OnePlus has also announced that it's creating two "innovative imaging labs" in the United States and Japan to continue developing camera tech down the road.
All of this begs the ultimate question — will the OnePlus 9's camera be any good? That's not something anyone can answer until the OnePlus 9 actually gets in people's hands, but based on everything that's been announced today, it certainly seems like OnePlus has made substantial progress compared to last year's OnePlus 8 series. OnePlus could have very easily slapped the Hasselblad logo on the OnePlus 9 and called it a day, but taking the company at its word, there's a lot more happening than just that. The OnePlus 9 series has plenty of stiff camera competition to go up against when it launches on March 23, but from the look of things, it'll be well-equipped for that challenge.
Source: OnePlus