OnePlus brought in an exciting smartphone concept at the CES 2020, and it’s named the Concept One. It looks amazing. Probably the best that OnePlus has ever made, but sadly, this might not even make it to the market. The prime reason for OnePlus to showcase this phone was to show their advancement into the technology and the work they are doing in different aspects, but Concept One won’t come as the OnePlus 8 or the 8T if you were wondering about it.
How does this thing differ from others? It’s the disappearing camera that is special here. All it took was an effort of over 18 months, partnership with McLaren, and their expertise with the glass sunroof to make that glass over the camera setup on the back. It is an electrochromic glass that turns transparent to opaque when there is electricity passed through it. So, the entire process of charge passing and changing the property of the glass to expose the camera module takes about 0.7 seconds, which is not long, but I am still wondering about the reason to hide the camera module area.
I liked the way the camera shows up from nowhere. But I don’t like the way OnePlus thought it should have a leather back around those cameras to still keep it differentiated as an area for the camera. Imagine the phone being full of glass on the back, and the user not even realizing the camera area hiding somewhere in that. That’s what would have looked cooler. And yeah, we are talking about only the looks here because practically, this doesn’t change anything except for the addition of the ND filter option in the camera app.
OnePlus also says that with the number of cameras increasing on the back, it doesn’t look good and that’s one of the reasons to look for measures that make it look better, by hiding it completely unless when in use. But it should come at a good cost, and with the OnePlus phones’ pricing getting higher with every generation, feature additions like these, although pathbreaking, would be heavier on pocket as well.
The only positive thing I felt here was the ND filter which we see on the DSLRs, and that’s possible here due to the dark glass, and it helps to control the exposure in captures when you are taking a picture with sun in the background.
So, that’s my early thoughts about the OnePlus Concept One. Of course, nothing about the device apart from this was shared because this concept was showcased only for the electrochromic glass, disappearing cameras, and that new look.
