OnePlus takes its invisible camera phone on a world tour

While OnePlus didn’t have a new model to show us at CES in early January, it did build a concept phone. One that rocks a sleek and stylish design with a leather back and an electrochromic glass cover for the cameras.

A what, now?

The electrochromic glass stays completely opaque while the phone’s camera is not in use. But once you open the camera app, the glass receives an electric impulse and magically becomes transparent. All that in 0.7 seconds — faster than the camera itself activates.

The device is called the OnePlus Concept One and — as the name suggests — is a concept phone. It’s not something that OnePlus wants to put into mass production and sell just yet, just a testbed to show off the new feature and sleek build.

And show off it will

OnePlus has just announced that it will be taking the Concept One on a “world tour”. Throughout February, different hands-on events will be hosted in major cities around the world. The company insists that the phone is so awesome that people need to see it and touch it in person to appreciate it.

OnePlus staff will be present at said events to discuss the benefits that electrochromic glass can have on future smartphones.

Besides the beautiful looks and futuristic feel, we know of one:

A Neutral Density filter

Such lenses are used in photography when you have way too much light to work with. It reduces the exposure and prevents highlights from burning out, while allowing the shutter speed to be slower so the camera can take in more information from the scene.

Environmentally friendly

While OnePlus is very proud of the look and feel of the leather-clad Concept One, the company has stated that it’s looking for ways to not use leather on its mass-production phones of the future. Instead, it will try to simulate the soft feel and pretty texture with some kind of synthetic material.



And yes, the fact that the company said that makes us believe that while the Concept One isn’t for sale, the actual OnePlus 8 might very well look like it. Fingers crossed?

OnePlus Concept One World Tour:

North America