Dear Rupesh,

OnePlus recently launched the OnePlus 5T, which is quite similar to its predecessor—the 5. Among the few changes made are the 18:9 display ratio against the 16:9 of the 5, and an “upgraded” camera setup. During the launch event of the 5T, the Chinese manufacturer hyped the phone’s all-new lens. What’s new in this camera setup is the secondary lens which now has an f/1.7 aperture that rests alongside the primary camera. OnePlus has completely ditched the telephoto lens which the OnePlus 5 had featured.

These days, manufacturers usually produce smartphones with two types of camera lenses. A “normal” primary lens sits alongside a telephoto or a monochrome lens. In simple words, telephoto lens helps capture zoomed-in images with abundant depth of field, while a monochrome lens is useful for taking pictures with higher detail under low light condition and also for applying a proper black and white filter on the images.

Rumor mills had no news regarding OnePlus’ decision to opt for a different type of lens. So, it was quite surprising when OnePlus announced and hyped its secondary lens that had a large f/1.7 aperture just like the primary lens. This move from the company clearly indicates it wants to improve the device’s night time camera performance. OnePlus has claimed the 5T to feature ‘Intelligent Pixel Technology’ which helps gobble up more light in lowlight conditions. Specs wise, the new secondary camera replaces the older telephoto lens with a 20-megapixel Sony IMX398 lens which has, like I mentioned before, f/1.7 aperture, and 1.12-micron pixels. So, if you are on the lookout for smartphones that capture “portrait mode” pictures, I suggest you look elsewhere.

The OnePlus 5T certainly outperforms its predecessor if low light photography is taken into account. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it does better than its competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. But hey, OnePlus 5T is cheaper than the aforementioned devices, so the fact that you will be getting a bang for your buck is without question.