OnePlus Concept One Uses McLaren Electrochromic Glass That Turns Cameras Invisible

OnePlus Concept One Design

The OnePlus Concept One will again see the partnership with McLaren. This means there's a design close to a race-car. The report shows that the Chinese company is going to use the glass technology found in high-end cars and aircraft windows in the Concept One.

What's more, the camera setup at the rear will be hidden under the glass. Plus, the tinted glass changes color triggers by electrical signals. This means the triple camera setup is visible when the user opens the camera app only and remains undisclosed when not in use. Speaking of the camera, the aspects are similar to the OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition.

There's a 48MP primary camera, a 16MP ultra-wide shooter, and lastly, a third 8MP (likely telephoto) snapper. But the key highlight is the special disappearing glass, reports say. When activated, the smartphone's rear goes completely black to hide the camera setup. Interestingly, this is the same electrochromic glass technology used in the McLaren 720S supercar.

OnePlus Concept One Launch

Adding a layer of electrochromic glass on the camera glasses is no easy task and was a major concern, said OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau. Besides, experts say that the electrochromic glass is expensive to produce and degrades over time. OnePlus hopes that the cost will drop once the technology matures. He also noted that the glass only adds 0.1mm to the overall thickness of the device.

However, as exciting as the gadget sounds, OnePlus has no plans of shipping the smartphone anytime soon. The OnePlus Concept One will be rolled out to a limited target audience first.

"With this approach, we'll be able to produce smaller amounts of the product and, with feedback from a small group of users, look at the possibility of making a device that's available for users more widely," Lau said.