The OnePlus 10 Professional has lastly launched outdoors China, and the digital camera array is the centerpiece as an example how a lot it needs to be among the many greatest you may get your palms on.
Final 12 months’s flagships had been each an announcement and an experiment. On the one hand, the wonderful design and performance made it clear they belonged within the higher echelon of Android telephones. On the opposite, partnering with Hasselblad for digital camera output was to serve discover that OnePlus was critical about competing with the very best.
The ten Professional takes these two parts and pushes them ahead in ways in which really feel extra perceptible, making a stronger case that OnePlus and Hasselblad are lastly determining how they complement each other. The outcomes might actually enhance, however as is, there are issues to love with what’s right here proper now.
Design and Construct
I’ve admired OnePlus for its style going again a number of years now, and the ten Professional carries on the momentum. The distinction this time is how far more actual property the ceramic-covered rear digital camera array takes up. It’s arguably larger than simply about some other telephone on the market, although that unofficial crown could also be up for grabs as we see what else is coming this 12 months.
My assessment unit got here within the Volcanic Black variant, with Emerald Forest being the opposite (which seems nice), so OnePlus no less than provides one colourful possibility. Regardless of the extra impartial look of the black one, it nonetheless seems elegant, even when the digital camera bump is the scene-stealer at each flip. Whether or not face down or propped as much as take a photograph, it’s arduous to not discover it. The bump even has a shiny end that may be helpful as a makeshift mirror when taking selfies with the rear cameras.
The opposite design rules largely observe the earlier 9 Professional so far as the place the buttons, ports, entrance digital camera, and wi-fi charging coils are located. Whereas the show is identical 6.7-inch AMOLED QHD+, OnePlus says its refresh charge adjusts quicker between 1Hz and 120Hz, in the end serving to on the battery life facet of issues. The display was additionally calibrated at two ranges of brightness at 500 and 100 nits, with the profit being higher coloration accuracy at each excessive and low brightness.
Powering the gadget from the within is the brand new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, Qualcomm’s newest chipset constructed on 4nm structure. My unit had 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is the usual configuration OnePlus goes with, until newer variants are coming in a while.
Within the U.S., T-Cell is the unique provider promoting the telephone, although it can even be obtainable via OnePlus.com, Finest Purchase, and Amazon. The ten Professional can run on any 4G LTE community, whereas it seems to be restricted to T-Cell’s 5G community. OnePlus additionally guarantees three main Android model updates, plus 4 years of safety updates.
Digital camera Options
The ten Professional retains the identical 48-megapixel predominant digital camera (23mm equal) utilizing Sony’s IMX789 picture sensor custom-made for OnePlus. It’s the identical 1/1.43-inch measurement, peering via the lens with the identical f/1.8 aperture.
In some ways, OnePlus — maybe in coordination with Hasselblad — selected to harmonize the three rear cameras as a lot as potential. The 50-megapixel ultra-wide (14mm equal) will get a unique look by going with Samsung’s JN1 sensor, partly as a solution to increase the sector of view from 110-degrees all the best way as much as 150-degrees. The standalone 150-degree mode is the widest I’ve seen on any telephone thus far, and it features a separate fisheye setting that jogs my memory of what 360-degree cameras had been like not too way back.
The 8-megapixel telephoto (77mm equal) can also be again with 3.3x optical zoom, optical picture stabilization, and a brand new tremendous decision algorithm that’s designed to assist sharpen and clear up photographs utilizing hybrid at as much as 30x.
Regardless of the larger bump within the again, OnePlus ditched the 2-megapixel monochrome digital camera it introduced into the 9 Professional, which might be for the very best. Its bodily presence was misplaced as a result of its software program element was buried inside the filters obtainable within the digital camera app’s interface. You’ll’ve solely recognized in case you bothered capturing in black and white anyway.
All three of those rear lenses can shoot in 10-bit — very seemingly courtesy of Hasselblad’s enter. The cameras additionally seize photographs utilizing the DCI-P3 coloration gamut, which each manufacturers declare delivers 25% extra protection than sRGB in different telephones. All advised, the ten Professional is meant to course of 64 occasions extra coloration than smartphones that shoot in 8-bit coloration.
What OnePlus doesn’t make clear is that 10-bit is an elective possibility inside the digital camera app’s settings, and you’ll solely shoot in it with Picture and Night time mode. Furthermore, the telephone saves the photographs in HEIF format, and may solely show them on suitable units or apps that assist 10-bit coloration.
I also needs to point out that Hasselblad’s contribution right here extends to a few new “Grasp” filters yow will discover when tapping the filter icon. They’re referred to as radiance, safety, and emerald, providing a barely totally different tonality with each.
Aside from how good OxygenOS is as an Android overlay, the digital camera app retains its acquainted format. Settings and modes are the place they need to be, and you’ll at all times customise the mode tray by going to Extra and tapping the pencil icon so as to add or rearrange them. The aforementioned 150° mode and Lengthy Publicity are the 2 latest picture modes, and OnePlus added two new video modes, too.
Picture High quality
Principal digital camera
It’s arduous to quantify the precise metrics OnePlus talks about in the case of coloration, however my eyes advised me the ensuing photographs adopted the trail laid out final 12 months with the 9 Professional. I thought of it “impartial” when writing about it at the moment, and I feel that also suits with the ten Professional. One factor to recollect is that the primary huge digital camera shoots at 12-megapixels by default due to pixel binning. The 48-megapixel mode is a separate possibility inside the interface.
I left AI Scene Enhancement off as I examined the digital camera as a result of it might generally saturate coloration or shift white stability to cooler or hotter tones when it wasn’t mandatory to take action. The photographs I typically took impressed me for the extent of element and coloration accuracy, even when it wasn’t good on a regular basis.
HDR doesn’t get the identical consideration now as a result of it’s a staple characteristic, however its presence is necessary in a digital camera like this for balancing composition. Whether or not it was OnePlus or Hasselblad who was largely behind it, HDR enhances coloration output in good methods, be it in vivid daylight or darker nights. As at all times, although, the publicity slider is vitally necessary to assist the trigger for the easy reality the digital camera app usually skews publicity a bit brighter each time. Sliding it down just a bit normally delivered a greater shot. It appears to me the ten Professional displays higher dynamic vary, although OnePlus by no means actually mentions it in relation to this gadget.
Since that is utilizing the identical sensor as final 12 months, software program impacts output greater than the rest. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip processes and renders photographs quicker, which serves the entire digital camera array nicely.
Extremely-wide
Going with a unique sensor for this digital camera that can also be the identical measurement because the earlier one instructed that there could be no less than some distinction in output right here, and to a level, there’s. Its low-light efficiency will get a lift, solely OnePlus markets the 150-degree mode as the larger story. Positive, it’s wider than anybody else, but it surely’s additionally fraught with fringing on the perimeters, so it’s not a complete win.
The corporate’s engineers and builders addressed that with the Freeform Lens within the 9 Professional, and that also applies when capturing at the usual 110-degrees, so you continue to come away with a really succesful ultra-wide that approach. The 150-degree mode, whereas cool by itself, isn’t but a game-changer, and capturing with that huge a discipline of view isn’t at all times sensible.
Whereas not “ultra-wide” unto itself, Hasselblad’s XPan mode can also be again, capturing at a 65:21 facet ratio with huge focal lengths of 30mm and 45mm. It’s neat to play with, however in the end works the identical as when OnePlus introduced it into the 9 Professional.
Telephoto and Hybrid Zoom
I really feel like that is the place OnePlus dropped the ball a bit. On paper and in apply, the telephoto lens seems and feels the identical as what it could do from the 9 Professional. Each time I take a look at the rear digital camera array, I ponder why there wasn’t room beneath for a periscope lens that might go additional than 3.3x. I get that the main focus was extra on enhancing software program to make hybrid zoom photographs higher, however glass will at all times trump software program for zooming, in my view, so regardless of any visible enchancment right here, it appears like a missed alternative.
And by “enchancment,” I’m referring to a reasonably low bar set final 12 months with the 30x hybrid zoom. The outcomes had been horrible then, and solely a bit higher now. I discovered significantly better output when capturing at 10x, which I’d say is the candy spot for melding the optical and digital zooms collectively for a usable picture.
Professional Mode
Professional mode is among the jewels on this digital camera format, and the large addition is the power to shoot with all three lenses. A earlier software program replace introduced the identical entry to the 9 Professional, so there’s no exclusivity right here, but it surely’s nonetheless good to get each entry and improved output. You possibly can nonetheless shoot in 12-bit RAW — one more plus for OnePlus. You simply can’t shoot in 150-degrees or fisheye in Professional.
There’s additionally RAW+, a more recent mode that captures a 12-bit RAW picture that brings in computational software program to reinforce the picture. It’s, to a level, the automated Picture mode, solely with RAW output, letting you course of the picture your self in a while in your most popular enhancing instrument. You possibly can flip histogram and focus peaking on so as to add extra management over the way you shoot in Professional to go along with the usual controls you in any other case get (shutter, ISO, EV, focus, and white stability).
OnePlus and Hasselblad tried to not solely work on coloration, but additionally noise discount, and that’s the place RAW photographs usually present the very best outcomes. It’s simply not a dramatic distinction. In the event you’re so inclined, you would possibly be capable to mess around with taking photographs at totally different exposures and bracket them collectively in Photoshop, however that’s not at all times sensible until you actually care concerning the topic you’re capturing.
Nonetheless, this collaboration between the 2 manufacturers appears to be yielding some fruit, as overzealous sharpening or processing is much less apparent with the ten Professional, carrying on from what I noticed with the 9 Professional. Hopefully, future software program updates carry on enhancing that.
Night time
I received’t go too in-depth on this mode as a result of it’s largely an incremental improve. Is it higher than the 9 Professional? Positive, although I’d count on no much less from a flagship. That marginal enchancment is okay when in comparison with the identical model from a 12 months in the past, however I didn’t see sufficient from nighttime output to recommend OnePlus overtakes opponents when capturing at night time.
A part of the issue, no less than to me, is that dynamic vary isn’t delicate when it must be. Simply because a constructing is lit up, it doesn’t imply that its brightest factors must be tremendous vivid. There must be a stability in how photographs like that come out for the easy reality it’s all however unattainable to salvage overexposed pixels in a picture. Particularly one taken from a telephone.
I’ve stated it earlier than, and I’ll say it once more: I’d prefer to see OnePlus place among the management in customers’ palms. Allow us to cease the publicity at any level, or no less than supply some type of adjustment past a easy publicity slider, since not all low-light and night time situations are equal.
Lengthy Publicity mode is totally different altogether, but follows a lot of what’s been finished on different units, just like the Vivo X70 Professional+ and Xiaomi 12 Professional. OnePlus provides shifting automobiles, water and clouds, and lightweight portray as set selections, with the power to additionally set publicity time between 0.5 and 12 seconds. It’s enjoyable to experiment with, and I attempted utilizing them in numerous methods to gauge output.
Video Options
The OnePlus 10 Professional can file video in 8K at 24 frames per second (fps), whereas 4K video can go at 30, 60, or 120fps, all however mirroring what was obtainable within the 9 Professional. The place issues change is with new modes, like Movie, which is actually Professional mode for video. Twin View Video makes use of the rear and entrance cameras collectively, which might be one thing vacationers, vloggers, and TikTokers would possibly discover helpful for capturing reactions whereas capturing the surroundings round them.
OnePlus did clear up a number of issues with the interface. You possibly can not shoot video in Night time mode, as that’s now a part of the common Video mode. Similar with Portrait Blur, which is an possibility inside Video that permits you to management bokeh for footage. You are able to do these items with all of the lenses, save for some exceptions, like how blurring received’t work with the ultra-wide, for instance.
A Step within the Proper Path
The OnePlus 10 Professional focuses on the precise issues, fairly than throwing new stuff at a wall to see what sticks. The outcomes nonetheless want work, but it surely’s simpler to understand when sources go into the correct areas, and that’s largely how this gadget feels when capturing with it. Smarter processing is one thing I believe we’ll see extra of throughout the trade, and maybe on this case, Hasselblad’s affect is lastly beginning to present.
Assuming OnePlus continues to enhance the digital camera — or add new options — with subsequent software program updates, there’s actual potential right here. The corporate received’t beat out all its opponents, however this digital camera is hard competitors, and that bodes nicely for anybody utilizing it.
Are There Alternate options?
The OnePlus 9 Professional remains to be round as a inexpensive different that can really feel similar to this gadget. A lot of the digital camera array is identical, and OnePlus will proceed to assist it, so it’s not a nasty transfer to go that approach if you would like the OnePlus expertise.
The Google Pixel 6 Professional isn’t as deep in its characteristic set, however its computation software program is excellent, and a giant cause why it’s among the many greatest on the market. Different options, like Magic Eraser, solely add to it. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely additionally went the incremental route, however can also be dearer, with the S Pen having some utility for its digital camera. I discussed Vivo and Xiaomi already, however can’t miss the iPhone 13 and 13 Professional, which show to be strong shooters as nicely.
Ought to You Purchase It?
Sure, as a result of OnePlus put in a greater effort this time. Its collaboration with Hasselblad comes via extra with the ten Professional, suggesting extra is to return. The cameras can shoot nice photographs, and it’s nicely price studying all of the options obtainable to get probably the most out of it. Plus, it’s a handsome telephone that runs easily, so can’t go fallacious with that.
