OnePlus 9 launch, Hasselblad partnership confirmed
- OnePlus will officially launch the OnePlus 9 series on March 23, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.CET.
- In addition, the company confirmed the long-rumored partnership with the photo company Hasselblad.
- According to reports, OnePlus will invest $ 150 million in its photo systems in partnership with Hasselblad over the next three years.
The day OnePlus fans have been waiting for is finally here. Today the company officially confirmed the launch date of its next flagship line of phones. We can now happily report that the OnePlus 9 series will be launched on March 23, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.CET. Mark your calendar! You can follow the event here.
Connected: OnePlus 9 Series: Everything We Know So Far
The company also confirmed what has been rumored for weeks: OnePlus is now working directly with Hasselblad on camera functions in its phones. This partnership will result in the upcoming 9-series phones having photo capabilities developed by the two organizations.
Hasselblad is one of the world’s most revered photography companies. In addition to developing highly regarded modern camera systems, the company is also responsible for the camera hardware used to record the legendary recordings of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
This partnership reflects the earlier statements made by OnePlus CEO Pete Lau. Earlier this year, he said that OnePlus would strive to be the number one smartphone photo brand.
Technical data and functions of OnePlus 9
OnePlus will very likely wait until the March 23 launch to fully explain the photo capabilities of the 9-series devices. However, it did reveal some information today.
In terms of hardware, the OnePlus 9 series will use a custom Sony IMX789 sensor. This would make it the largest main camera sensor on a OnePlus phone to date. It enables 12-bit RAW recording as well as recording videos in 4K with 120 FPS or in 8K with 30 FPS.
Some software features created with Hasselblad will also be available on the 9-series phones. The most important of these is natural color calibration with Hasselblad. As the name suggests, photos and videos taken with OnePlus phones are said to have more precise colors. The company says this is the “most technically demanding” feature, so it will focus on it first.
See also: We asked, you told us, here’s how much cameras affect your phone purchase
With the 9 series, OnePlus will also introduce a free-form lens. It could “virtually eliminate” edge distortion in ultra-wide photos.
In the future there will be a co-developed experience called Hasselblad Camera for Mobile. This would appear on future OnePlus flagships (but unfortunately not on the OnePlus 9 series). The company plans to invest $ 150 million over the next three years to develop this system and its associated features.
After all, OnePlus hopes to create innovative new picture experiences for its phones at some point. These include a panoramic camera with a 140-degree FoV, T-Lens technology for faster autofocus in the front-facing camera, and much more.
Look forward to March 23rd when more are announced!
