Forget notches, punch holes and under-display cameras. OnePlus is upping the style stakes by introducing a phone with a disappearing camera at CES 2020. Meet the OnePlus Concept One.
The company just dropped a 10 second teaser vid of the new design:
We’re bringing the #OnePlusConceptOne to #CES2020, but you don’t have to wait: you can get a sneak peek at it right here, along with its groundbreaking “invisible camera” and color-shifting glass technology. pic.twitter.com/elsV9DKctn
— OnePlus (@oneplus) January 3, 2020
This doesn’t give us a lot of info, but we do see the camera flash up on the rear of the phone then disappear completely. It looks like it’s made up of three sensors, which are placed smack bang in the middle-rear of the handset.
Related: Read our review of the OnePlus 7 Pro
OnePlus says that the vanishing act is all down to “colour-shifting glass technology”. This makes it sound like the company’s just whacked a tinted window on the rear of the phone, but it’s actually a bit more complicated than that.
The glass is electrochromic, which means that you can control the level of tint electronically. When the tint is active, the cameras are completely hidden behind the strip of glass. Activate the camera app and the tint level drops, revealing the outline of those triple sensors.
In OnePlus’ own words, the Concept One handset uses “electrochromic glass, an electronically tintable glass, to cloak the rear camera lenses behind a clean glass body and reveal them only when they’re in use”.
The phone maker has previously teamed up with McLaren to create special-edition models, and OnePlus says that this electrochromic glass technology is currently used in the aviation and high-end automobile industries to greatly reduce glare, such as on the windows of the Boeing 787s and the McLaren 720s.
Related: CES 2020 − everything you need to know
This is, however, a concept, so it’s not yet ready for the market. Though OnePlus will no doubt be trying to gauge the reaction to it when the Concept One is shown off at CES.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.