OnePlus has officially announced a three-year partnership with legendary camera manufacturer Hasselblad to co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems for future OnePlus flagship devices. The two companies have already been cooperating on the revamped camera system – Hasselblad Camera for Mobile – for the new OnePlus 9 Series, set to launch globally on March 23.

In addition, OnePlus also announced its plans to invest more than USD 150 million over the next three years to further build out its mobile imaging capabilities in its ongoing pursuit of delivering the best smartphone camera experience for its users.

“OnePlus has always prioritized a premium user experience over everything else. Beginning in 2021, we are making a concerted effort to significantly improve the smartphone camera experience for our users, with the expertise of a truly legendary partner in Hasselblad,” said Pete Lau, Founder, and CEO of OnePlus. “With OnePlus’ top-of-the-line hardware and computational photography and Hasselblad’s rich aesthetic knowledge in traditional photography, I am confident that the OnePlus 9 Series will be a major leap forward in our ability to deliver a premium, flagship camera.

“Hasselblad believe in the power of images and our mission is to continue pushing the boundaries on imaging technology. With this in mind, Hasselblad is determined to work together with OnePlus, an innovative company that shares the same vision and passion for technology. By partnering with OnePlus, we hope to put Hasselblad’s iconic design and outstanding image quality in the hands of more people and share our passion for incredible photography,” said Jon Diele, Vice President, Hasselblad.

For 80 years, Hasselblad has pioneered high-performance camera technology to become recognized as the world leader in digital medium format cameras and lenses. Their products are known for their uncompromising image quality, Scandinavian design, and precision mechanics, which have earned the trust of some of the greatest photographers in the world and captured some of the world’s most iconic images – including man’s first steps on the moon.

Now, through close R&D collaboration, OnePlus and Hasselblad will work together to deliver vastly improved camera systems on future OnePlus smartphones, including the upcoming OnePlus 9 Series.

The partnership will continuously develop over the next three years, starting with software improvements including color tuning and sensor calibration, and extending to more dimensions in the future. The two parties will jointly define the technology standards of the mobile camera experience and develop innovative imaging technologies, continuing to improve the Hasselblad Camera for Mobile. Both companies are committed to delivering immediate benefits for OnePlus users, while continuously collaborating to further improve the user experience and quality for the long-term.

Here a couple of sample pictures:

The first, and most technically challenging, outcome of this collaboration is advanced color calibration. Jointly developed by OnePlus and Hasselblad over months of thorough verification and fine-tuning, this new color solution – Natural Color Calibration with Hasselblad – aims to bring more perceptually accurate and natural-looking colors to photos taken with OnePlus flagship cameras. It also will serve as OnePlus’ new standard for color calibration for its future smartphone cameras.

The new Hasselblad Pro Mode brings Hasselblad’s class-leading sensor calibration to a smartphone for the first time, resulting in incredibly accurate and natural color for a solid foundation for post-editing. Hasselblad Pro Mode has been revamped with a new user interface based on Hasselblad’s image processing software to give users an authentic Hasselblad look and feel. It also allows for an unprecedented amount of control for professional photographers to fine-tune their photos, with the ability to adjust ISO, focus, exposure times, white balance and more. Users can also use 12-bit RAW format for even richer color and higher dynamic range.

In addition to co-developing the Hasselblad Camera for Mobile on future OnePlus flagship smartphones with Hasselblad, OnePlus is also embarking on a three-year strategy to further strengthen its camera capabilities. This multi-faceted investment will go towards a number of areas to improve OnePlus’ ability to deliver premium, cutting-edge camera technology to its users, including but not limited to:

• Further developing four major research and development labs around the world, including two innovative imaging labs based in the United States and Japan.
• Pioneering new areas of smartphone imaging technology for future OnePlus camera systems, such as a panoramic camera with a 140-degree field of view, T-lens technology for lightning-fast focus in the front-facing camera, and a freeform lens – to be first introduced on the OnePlus 9 Series – that practically eliminates edge distortion in ultra-wide photos.

“Today marks the most notable day ever for OnePlus cameras – and more importantly, for OnePlus users around the world. With our long-term commitment to investing in more advanced R&D and cutting-edge imaging technologies, we look forward to firmly establishing ourselves as a new leader in mobile photography,” said Kinder Liu, OnePlus COO and Head of Research and Development.

The OnePlus 9 Series global launch event will be streamed online on March 23 at 10:00 AM ET at https://www.oneplus.com/launch.