OnePlus has unveiled a new concept, working in tandem with McLaren, however the handset id just minor hardware updates to an existing device.
The only new parts of the handset are a leather case and a clever glass, which can transition between transparent and opaque.
They have taken inspiration from the McLaren 720S Spider, using electrochromic glass on the rear of the handset, something McLaren used on their roof.
This technology has been added to the rear of the handset and will mean the camera lenses cannot be seen when the glass is made to be opaque.
OnePlus has said though that the glass also operates as a polarising filter for the camera to give sharper images in bright light, so it isn’t just a cool gimmick.
The handset, however contains no tech dissimilar to the OnePlus 7T Pro released last year.
The electrochromic glass works as there are two 0.1mm thick layers of glass with a colour shifting panel between them.
It seems odd that the company has released this feature on a handset they will not be releasing to the general public.
Other than the glass though there is also the orange leather backing on the handset, which is supposed to resemble the McLaren supercar colours and F1 cars.
The glass technology may be used on future OnePlus handsets that would be a nice feature, but for this showstopping concept it seems a bit lackluster, especially since the handset will never go on sale, they electrochromatic tech did supposedly take OnePlus two years to develop so it’s not that much of a suprise they want to show it off and where better to do that than CES.
