(Credit: PCMag/Sarah Lord)
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Smartphone brand OnePlus is ending its five-year partnership with Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad, ahead of the planned release of the OnePlus 15 next year.
Since the 2021 release of the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro flagship smartphones, Hasselblad has provided OnePlus (and its parent firm Oppo) with its digital imaging technology, which refines and improves the images taken on its smartphones' cameras. They've attracted broadly positive reviews from critics for their images.
OnePlus is now developing and testing its own imaging engine, the OnePlus DetailMax Engine. The new engine will use the “full potential of computational imaging to present scenes as they truly are, without over-beautification or distortion," the company says.
"Computational photography has evolved significantly. It’s no longer about creating artificial enhancements or showing you a ‘fake’ moon that never existed," says CEO Pete Lau.
The CEO's statement may well be a sly dig at Samsung, which was the target of online criticism in 2023 after allegations came to light that its smartphones were adding detail to users’ photos of the moon using AI. Samsung later officially addressed these rumors "to reduce any potential confusion."
OnePlus didn’t provide much detail on the reasons behind the split, praising Hasselblad’s “craft” and “trust,” and saying the “partnership has delivered on every promise.”
The switch could also lead to some visual changes on OnePlus phones; Hasselblad's "H" trademark appears on the back of all new OnePlus models, The Verge notes. Meanwhile, parent company Oppo is taking its relationship with Hasselblad in a different direction by renewing its partnership with the Swedish firm in July.