OnePlus 5 and 5T set to receive same great selfie upgrade as OnePlus 6

Following on from the OnePlus 6's excellent portrait mode update for the front-facing selfie camera, the company has announced that the same functionality will soon be coming to the previous two models of the phone, the 5 and the 5T.

The OnePlus 6’s selfie portrait mode implementation is interesting. While the rear-facing camera is equipped with dual-sensors, which it uses to optimise its portrait shots, the front-facing camera is a single-sensor affair.

Read more: OnePlus 6

This means that the trickery OnePlus uses to make your selfies look great has to be entirely software-based.

But somehow the company has made the functionality work, and it’s great to hear that it will come to more handsets (as reported by XDA-Developers).

New software on old hardware

OnePlus has done a great job recently at supporting its existing customers, rather than trying to get everyone to upgrade to the latest and greatest handset.

Face Unlock is one such feature that has rolled out to older handsets, as is Project Treble.

Tech companies always tread a fine line with updating their old hardware. On the one hand, if their older products receive all the same functionality as new products then there’s little reason to upgrade.

However, the potential benefits of looking after existing customers are great. Knowing that a phone is going to receive updates for years to come makes it a much better investment, and generally improves people’s perceptions of a brand.

Related: Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Apple is one of the best manufacturers around at keeping its old hardware updated. Its upcoming iOS 12 software will run on phones going all the way back to the iPhone 5s. Meanwhile, Android manufacturers aren’t quite as quick to get the latest software on their handsets.

Are there any pieces of OnePlus 6 functionality that you’d like to see come to the 5 and 5T? Let us know @TrustedReviews.