OnePlus needs to get camera software right BEFORE the phone ships - Android

Opinion post by

Dhruv Bhutani

Quality hardware with a focus on performance and clean software, yet lacking in one key area — the camera. It seems to be a recurring theme with OnePlus.

Time and time again, OnePlus phones have come under scrutiny for the less-than-stellar photography, despite having good hardware on paper. Even with the steadily upward trajectory in pricing, the company has simply not delivered an equivalent improvement in camera quality, a key aspect of premium hardware.

Now, I’m not saying that the camera hardware on all OnePlus phones is bad. Far from it! OnePlus has been using tried-and-tested sensors across its portfolio. And yet, somehow, out-of-the-box results leave a lot to be desired. This needs to change.

The latest victim of OnePlus’ seemingly lackadaisical attitude towards cameras is the OnePlus Nord. I’ve been using the phone for the last two weeks, and as much as I like the phone, the camera simply doesn’t deliver on the “flagship-like” experience OnePlus promised. Instead, it looks like OnePlus has thrown more hardware at a problem that actually needs a software solution.

The OnePlus Nord’s primary camera lacks dynamic range, exhibiting crushed highlights and washed-out colors. Meanwhile, the ultra-wide camera falls short on detail and sharpness, and displays inconsistent noise reduction. In our review, Ryan didn’t find the portrait mode particularly convincing either. And don’t get me started on the poor 2MP macro lens.

Building a phone is hard. Delivering top-notch image quality is harder still. Between the camera lab in Taiwan and the OnePlus R&D center in India, the company has devoted significant resources to building a team that should be able to deliver on the promise of consistently high image quality. However, as we’ve seen with OnePlus Nord, the software just doesn’t matches the capabilities of its main 48MP camera sensor.

Read more: OnePlus 8 Pro buyer’s guide: Everything you need to know

This isn’t an ongoing trend with OnePlus. All the way back to the OnePlus 6T, the company’s phones have been known to reduce noise aggressively, resulting in a paint-li