It is official, OnePlus will be launching its next generation of smartphones on March 23. According to the company, the OnePlus 9 Series launch event will start at 10 AM EDT / 2 PM GMT / 7:30 PM IST. This series will be making history as the first OnePlus phone to be co-developed by Hasselblad (a Swedish photography company).
This partnership between OnePlus and Hasselblad will last for three years. During this time frame, OnePlus will be committing $150 million in Research and Development (R&D) to help upgrade their camera quality. According to OnePlus founder/CEO, Pete Lau, the company will be making a concerted effort starting 2021 to significantly improve its smartphone camera experience for its users.
Also, the collaboration will result in a Hasselblad Camera for Mobile for this OnePlus 9 Series. The Hasselblad camera system will include Natural Color Calibration. Its main objective is to preserve the natural look of colors in shots from phones under the OnePlus 9 Series and improve color accuracy.
The Hasselblad Pro Mode is expected to be based on the company’s image processing software with professional-level controls. The Pro Mode aims to trickle down its camera sensor calibration prowess to the smartphone world for more accurate images and colours.
From our findings, the mentioned tweaks so far include ISO adjustment, exposure, focus and white balance adjustments. The OnePlus 9 Series is expected to support a 12-bit RAW format for more true to dynamic range and life colours.
It will also debut a custom Sony IMX 789 sensor with dual native ISO, real-time HDR video shooting, full-pixel omnidirectional focusing, and 4K@120fps video capture. The series will be bringing a freeform lens, T-lens technology for fast focus results on the front-facing camera and panoramic camera with 140° FoV.
OnePlus announced that they will fund and develop four Research & Development imaging labs in the United States and Japan.