Future OnePlus phones will not have Hasselblad technology inside the camera, as the device maker has announced it’s working on its own camera imaging engine, which it calls DetailMax. The news comes directly from OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, who explained the situation in an extensive blog post on the OnePlus community forum.
What is the DetailMax Engine?
Here’s how Lau has describes the DetailMax Engine:
Designed from the ground up to deliver the clearest and most real photos on a smartphone, it harnesses the full potential of computational imaging to present scenes as they truly are, without over-beautification or distortion. The moment you zoom in on a photo, you’ll understand why I’m confident you’ll love the results.
Lau says the DetailMax Engine is built around feedback from its users and community, with the CEO personally joining focus groups to better understand what people want from a OnePlus camera.
He mentions the zoom capability more than once, so expect this to be a top feature, and notes in particular the pinch-to-zoom gesture acting as a benchmark for people’s satisfaction with their camera’s performance. He also says the DetailMax Engine won’t be about computational trickery, but instead focus on capturing the world in “entirely real and clear ways.”
What happened with Hasselblad?
The DetailMax Engine will replace Hasselblad’s color technology, tuning, and branding on the cameras in future OnePlus phones. OnePlus and Hasselblad first partnered in 2021, and Lau says the years that followed were, “more than a partnership, they were a masterclass.”
Ensuring there’s no hint of bad blood between the two brands, Lau says the DetailMax Engine’s introduction is, “the next phase of our imaging evolution,” and describes the end of its partnership with Hasselblad as a, “planned chapter complete.”
However, it won’t come as a surprise to industry watchers. There have been rumors about the end of Hasselblad and OnePlus since 2024, and solo news of Hasselblad’s renewed partnership with Oppo — both Oppo and OnePlus share research and development, and Pete Lau is Oppo’s chief product officer — in July 2025 further hinted things were about to change for OnePlus.
When will DetailMax Engine arrive?
The OnePlus 13 will almost certainly be the last flagship OnePlus phone with a Hasselblad camera on the back. Lau says he’s already testing a prototype of the DetailMax Engine, but adds it’s still early days and more tuning is needed before it’s ready. Where does this leave future OnePlus phones?
OnePlus says the DetailMax Engine will be used on the next flagship phone onwards, which does indicate the OnePlus 14/15 will use the new imaging technology, despite Lau only currently using an early prototype.
The OnePlus 14 or OnePlus 15, whichever name is used for the company’s next flagship phone, is expected to launch in China before the end of 2025, and see a global release in early 2026. With it, Hasselblad will be a thing of the past for OnePlus, and it will begin its new DetailMax era.
