On April 14, OnePlus unveiled the OnePlus 8, the brand’s “newest addition to its ultra-premium flagship lineup,” as OnePlus CEO Pete Lau puts it. But not everyone can get up close to the device due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and quarantines. That said, OnePlus India has introduced an Augmented Reality effect on Instagram to let people unbox the device in their own homes.
The AR filter or effect can be found using the search function in the effects section of an Instagram user’s story creation facility. One has to simply position their camera’s focus on a surface and the red OnePlus logo appears. A series of taps on the screen has the box first dropping on the logo spot, then opening and finally raising animated versions of each component in the box: a manual, a phone case, the OnePlus 8 smartphone, the USB-C charging cable and the plug-in adaptor for the cable. Tapping on each of the components raises it for a closer look.
A screenshot of OnePlus India’s ‘Unbox OnePlus 8’ AR effect
There’s the option to share the resulting video on your Instagram Story, but you obviously cannot turn the ‘device’ on or use it, as it is simply an animation, rendered.
About the device
The AR effect does not detail specs or a specific launch date for the Indian market. But the device is rumoured to launch in India in June 2020. The device boasts the an advanced 6.78-inch QHD+ Fluid Display with a 120Hz refresh rate. One can also look forward to advanced motion estimation, motion compensation (MEMC) algorithms, so that users can enjoy an increased frame rate of up to 120 frames-per-second on more content, for reduced motion blur and crisper clarity.
The brand continues to keep up with the latest chipsets from Qualcomm; the OnePlus 8 is powered by the Snapdragon 865 mobile platform with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System, which enables staggering multi-gigabit 5G connectivity and advanced Wi-Fi 6 performance. It also comes equipped with up to 12GB of cutting-edge LPDDR5 RAM for unparalleled transfer rates of 6,400 megabytes per second, and improved power efficiency by up to 20%.
The OnePlus 8 comes with a 4300mAh battery, as well as a triple camera set up at the rear. The main camera features Sony’s 48 megapixel IMX586 sensor. It also has a 16 megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens.
The AR effect by OnePlus India can be accessed here.
