CES 2020: OnePlus Concept One phone unveiled with a disappearing camera

OnePlus just took the lid off its concept phone at the company’s first-ever Consumer Electronics Show. The Chinese smartphone maker already teased the main feature of its Concept One phone before CES 2020, but there’s another detail about the phone you may not know.

The OnePlus Concept One phone is a true prototype device that might never be commercially released. The hardware on this concept handset resembles a OnePlus 7T Pro down to the placement of its cameras, keys, etc.

In terms of design, the Concept One device is wrapped in a Papaya Orange coloured leather inspired by McLaren and PVD-treated aluminium to give it that shiny gold finish.

However, the OnePlus Concept One phone exists to demonstrate a single feature. The triple camera setup on the back is covered by a glass that can become opaque to hide the sensors when not in use.

The camera lenses disappear behind the glass that protects them because of the electrochromic glass. Once the camera app is turned on, the camera lenses appear on the glass strip and go dark again when the app is turned off.

Inspiration for the concept came from McLaren’s sports cars, which turns the sunroof opaque to block out the sun. Beyond the “invisible cameras”, there’s one more interesting feature of the Concept One phone.

While the disappearing camera is a pretty cool feature, the glass does more than just be opaque or transparent; it also becomes semi-transparent. This turns it into a neutral density filter, letting you take photos and videos in extremely bright sunlight.

On paper, the Concept One phone looks and seems pretty cool. But that’s just it, like many concept cars; it is hard to imagine this being any more than a concept, especially considering, OnePlus is known to exclude features on its phones whose cost outweighs the advantages. One can argue that the ND filter might have more potential than the “invisible camera”.