OnePlus 7 is undoubtedly one of the most awaited smartphones of this year. The Chinese company has mastered the art of building up hype around its upcoming phones. After tasting major success with the OnePlus 6T which introduced an in-display fingerprint sensor, OnePlus is working to add exciting new features to the upcoming OnePlus 7 smartphone. The device is expected to hit the store shelves in May or June this year.
Would you want HDR streaming on the OnePlus 7 smartphone?
With the device still a few months away, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei is seeking feedback (via Piunikaweb) from the OnePlus community about HDR streaming. Currently, popular streaming services such as Netflix don’t support HDR streaming on OnePlus phones. Netflix supports HDR on flagship devices from Apple, Samsung, Huawei, LG Electronics, Google, and Sony. OnePlus appears to be interested in joining the bandwagon.
At first, you might think that HDR streaming is a cool feature that should definitely be added to the OnePlus 7 smartphone. What’s the need to vote? It’s more complex than that. OnePlus has always been open and transparent with its community. So, it needed to know whether users will be OK with preloaded bloatware on their devices that they can’t uninstall. Most users don’t like bloatware, so Carl Pei presented the pros and cons of preloading an app stub for HDR streaming.
An app stub is basically an icon with a link to the Google Play Store. You can launch it to download the actual app. OnePlus would load it on its future devices as part of a tie-up with developers such as Netflix and others. Users can’t uninstall it from their phones, which is the only con described by Carl Pei.
So, what are the pros of the app stub for HDR streaming? Well, it will be able to take full advantage of “our future smartphone hardware.” The reference to the “future smartphone hardware” indicates that Pei was talking about the OnePlus 7 or the upcoming 5G phone.
In the same thread, OnePlus Community Manager David Y said, “Here we are talking about whether our future smartphone should support HDR streaming in this popular app.” The feature is highly likely to find its way into the OnePlus 7 smartphone, which would have at least 8GB RAM and Qualcomm’s mighty Snapdragon 855 processor. HDR streaming could take full advantage of the phone’s gorgeous AMOLED display and processing power to offer better streaming experience.
Another advantage is that you’ll be able to stream movies and TV shows in HDR, resulting in a much better experience. As OnePlus community member YRJ explained in the same thread, HDR creates a high contrast between the lightest and darkest parts of an image or scene. It means the bright parts look more bright while the dark portions look dimmer.
Other rumored OnePlus 7 features
A few days ago, folks at SlashLeaks shared an image showing two OnePlus devices side-by-side. One of them had a waterdrop notch. According to the rumor mill, this device could be the OnePlus 5G phone. The Chinese company has clarified that it would launch 5G phones as a separate line instead of integrating 5G technology in the OnePlus 7 smartphone. Recent reports claim it could be called OnePlus 6T 5G or OnePlus 7 Lite at launch. But we expect it to have an entirely new branding.
#OnePlus – #OnePlus7 – OnePlus 7 leaked https://t.co/STBcjEJiKe pic.twitter.com/SqMG6WJPwV
— /LEAKS (@Slashleaks) January 12, 2019
The second device has a slider form factor with a curved edge display to minimize bezels and offer maximum screen real estate. We have already seen the slider form factor in Oppo Find X, where the camera lenses slide up when you launch the camera app. The sliding mechanism eliminates the need for a notch. Notably, OnePlus and Oppo both brands are owned by the same Chinese company BBK Electronics.
Just like OnePlus 6T, the upcoming phone would have an in-display fingerprint sensor for authentication and security. The Chinese company is unlikely to use a 3D infrared sensor for facial recognition, even though most of its competitors have rushed to adopt this feature. The leaked images show the Alert Slier has been relocated to just above the power/lock button, making it easier to reach for people with smaller hands. The device would run OxygenOS on top of Android 9 Pie.
