The OnePlus Concept One will be coated with electrochromic glass on its rear side, which will allow its photo sensors to be completely hidden when they are not in use. The mention of McLaren in the project suggests that a version of this technology will be found in a special edition of the next OnePlus. But not only since the same type of electrochromic glass is already optional in the McLaren 720S…
–
OnePlus wants to make CES 2020 a real event with the presentation of Concept One the brand’s first smartphone concept (or prototype) which will be produced in a small quantity of copies and which the brand is developing as part of its partnership with McLaren. Here we say that it smells like the McLaren edition of the OnePlus 8 – it will nevertheless be necessary to wait a little longer to confirm it, since according to what Pete Lau said in Wired, it is still an uncertain technology in a smartphone, and it will be necessary to wait for the return of a small number of users before being able to offer it on a consumer OnePlus.
Electrochromic glass
Moreover, the reason for this partnership on this project may be simply related to the fact that the McLaren 720S has an optional electrochromic roof. In short, a sort of exchange of good practices. On Concept One we talk about the main photo sensors that OnePlus has managed to hide entirely under the rear glass of the smartphone. There is therefore no protuberance linked to the photo sensor on this prototype. This does not prevent it from offering photo sensors just as capable as on the OnePlus 7T McLaren Edition (48 Mpx + 16 Mpx). Above these sensors, there is a thin blade of electrochromic glass (one tenth of a millimeter thick) – in other words a sandwich of glass and liquid crystals that the smartphone can cloud at will by sending a slight electrical voltage .
The technology thus makes it possible to pass from a total opacity to transparency in less than a second, according to Pete Lau. When the glass is opaque, the element is completely black and leaves nothing to glimpse of what is hidden below. When the photo app is open, the glass becomes transparent, and the photo sensors appear to magically appear on the back of the smartphone. OnePlus must demonstrate several characteristics of this technology before including it on more general models. First, we must assess the energy impact of this little piece of glass on the autonomy of the smartphone.
Also read: OnePlus 8, 8 Pro and 8 Lite – discover the technical sheets of the three models
This glass must in fact receive an electrical voltage to change its state and maintain itself in the latter (depending on the choice of polarization, the energy-consuming state can be the dark state or the transparent state). There is also the responsiveness of the device and its wear – it must above all not have an impact on taking a photo, in particular. And then, as with any novelty new from other manufacturers, it will be necessary to test the feasibility of its mass production and assess the consistency of the quality of the component. OnePlus already offers some sketches and a video showing the device in action. The rest will have to wait for its presentation at CES 2020 to find out.
Source: Wired
The #OnePlusConceptOne will be revealed at # CES2020, but here is a first glimpse of its revolutionary “invisible camera” and its color changing glass technology. pic.twitter.com/V3hVWda7dW
– OnePlus France (@oneplus_fr) January 3, 2020
–
