Introduction:
The OnePlus 5 is the Chinese manufacturer's flagship smartphone, replacing last year's OnePlus 3T. The new model is the first OnePlus to feature a dual-camera setup and offers some enticing imaging specifications: a main camera with a 1/2.8" 16MP Sony IMX 398 sensor and fast F1.7 aperture is supported by a 2x tele-module featuring a 20MP 1/2.8" Sony IMX 350 sensor and F2.6 aperture.
The dual-camera design allows for an iPhone 8 Plus-like background-blurring portrait mode and the Smart Capture feature combines optical zoom with multi-
frame technology for improved zoom quality. The OnePlus 5 camera also comes with 4K video, a 720p/120 fps slow-motion mode and a dual-LED flash. The camera app's new Pro mode provides manual control over the most important shooting parameters and DNG Raw capture.
frame technology for improved zoom quality. The OnePlus 5 camera also comes with 4K video, a 720p/120 fps slow-motion mode and a dual-LED flash. The camera app's new Pro mode provides manual control over the most important shooting parameters and DNG Raw capture.
The OnePlus 5 uses Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 flagship chipset. Offering 8GB RAM/128GB or 6GB RAM/64GB memory options and a 3300mAh battery that supports the OnePlus Dash Charge quick charging system, the rest of the device's specifications are firmly top-shelf as well.
Key Photographic / Video Specifications
- Dual-camera
- 16MP 1/2.8" Sony IMX 398 sensor and F1.7 lens
- 20MP 1/2.8" Sony IMX 350 sensor and F2.6 lens
- Dual-LED flash
- 4K video
- 720p/120fps slow-motion
- Portrait Mode
- Manual controls
- DNG-Raw support
- 16MP / F2.0 front camera
Other Specifications
- 5.5" AMOLED 1080p display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset
- 6GB RAM/64GB storage or 8GB RAM/128GB storage
- USB Type-C
- Fingerprint reader
- 3.5mm audio jack
- 3300 mAh battery with Dash Charge
DPReview smartphone reviews are written with the needs of photographers in mind. We focus on camera features, performance, and image quality.
Design and camera operation
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| The OnePlus 5's 5.5" AMOLED 1080p display is bright and clear. |
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| The dual-cam module is located in the top left corner of the device's back. |
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| The Apple-style mute switch is uncommon in the Android world. | Headphone-jack and USB Type-C port can be found at the bottom. |
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| You can set the focus point by tapping on the preview image. A zoom button allows for quick switching between the 1x and 2x settings. |
In photo mode you switch between wide angle and 2x lenses by hitting the zoom button or zoom in up to a 8x magnification using the pinch-gesture. You can tap anywhere on the preview image to set the focus target manually. Next to the latter you'll see an exposure compensation slider which lets you fine-tune image brightness, but exposure is not linked to the focus point.
Pro mode allows for manual modification of a range of shooting parameters, such as shutter speed, white balance and ISO. Here you can also select to shoot DNG Raw images.
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| In Pro mode shooting parameters can be set using a virtual dial. A histogram is available, too. |
Features
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| Panorama and portrait modes are accessible through the mode screen. |
The OnePlus comes with a good imaging feature set. There are no filter options but manual camera controls, panorama mode and a background-blurring portrait/depth mode are all on board. On this page we take a closer look at some of the more useful functions.
Dual camera
The OnePlus 5's stand-out feature is arguably the dual-camera that provides a 2x zoom capability. That said, this zoom factor is not entirely achieved by optical engineering. The 20MP Sony IMX350 sensor in the secondary camera on the back only uses a 1.6x optical zoom. Digital zoom is then used to reach the claimed 2x zoom factor. In a final step the cropped image is then upscaled to achieve the specified 20MP image size.
Considering that the main camera only captures 16MP images the latter is a strange decision by the OnePlus engineers. Not only do the two cameras produce different images sizes, as you can see in the samples below, the zoom images also show very obvious digital artifacts which would be less noticeable at a 16MP image size.
Overall the OnePlus zoom function is a bit of a disappointment. Yes, the ability to change your angle of capture at the press of a button is nice and very useful in many situations. However, even in good light the resulting image quality isn't quite what you would expect from an optical system.
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| 1x zoom, ISO 125, 16MP |
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| 2x zoom, ISO 125, 20MP |
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| 4x zoom, ISO 125, 20MP |
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| 6x zoom, ISO 125, 20MP |
Depth effect
Like most dual-cam smartphones the OnePlus 5 offers a background-blurring portrait mode that aims to simulate the shallow depth-of-field of a fast lens on a DSLR. The OnePlus version of the function doesn't offer any adjustment over blur intensity but overall the mode works very well.
Under close inspection you'll find some minor imprecision in terms of background separation but the OnePlus does a better job than many other devices. In addition the blur factor results in fairly realistic looking results and exposure is good, even in lower light scenes.
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| ISO 1600, 1/50 sec |
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| ISO 125, 1/2317 |
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| ISO 1000, 1/50 sec |
Panorama mode
Panorama feature is selected on the mode screen and works in the same way as on many smartphones. A panorama is captured by slowly panning the camera in portrait orientation and staying within the framing target that appears on the screen. The OnePlus 5 captures full 360-degree panoramas, but you can stop anytime by hitting the shutter button.
The 360 degree panorama files are very large at over 25,000 pixels wide. In good light they show very good detail but moving subjects can lead to ghosting artifacts. The mode also has trouble dealing with brightness differences within a scene, like in the third sample image below.
In lower light, panorama mode struggles to capture good exposures and stitching errors are becoming very obvious, as you can see in the third image below. You cannot use the tele-camera for panorama capture.
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| 12098 x 3589 pixels |
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| 25398 x 3406 pixels |
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| 25392 x 3632 pixels |
Front camera
The OnePlus 5 front camera combines a 16MP sensor with an F2.0 lens. In good light this combination is capable of recording well-exposed images with good exposure and decent dynamic range.
As with the main camera, detail gets noticeably softer when auto HDR mode kicks in but the camera still captures good exposure and tonality in lower light and a display-flash function helps in very dim conditions.
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| ISO 125, 1/1129 sec |
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| ISO 640, 1/25 sec |
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| ISO 800, 1/25 sec, flash on |
Raw
When shooting in Pro mode you can activate DNG Raw capture via a button on the main screen. The app will then save a DNG file in addition to a JPEG in the camera roll. As usual, this allows you to apply your own image processing parameters and achieve image results that might be closer to your personal preference than what the camera produces by default.
For the sample below we have slightly reduced exposure and lifted the shadows to minimize highlight clipping. We also opted for more muted and natural colors. Sharpening had to be cranked up quite a bit in order to get crispy detail out the DNG file. However, by doing so you also noticeably increase fine luminance noise in the blue sky.
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| ISO 125, 1/825 sec, out-of-camera JPEG |
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| ISO 125, 1/825 sec, DNG file converted in Adobe ACR |
Gallery & editing
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| In the individual image view you get the options to share, rate, edit or delete your images. |
Like its predecessor 3T, the OnePlus 5 comes with a fairly basic gallery app. However, it provides all the features you are likely to use and Google Photos is pre-installed as well, just in case you prefer the Android default photo app.
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The app offers a basic thumbnail view and images are sorted in folders. Editing options include a range of tonal corrections, image filters, rotation and cropping and an auto enhancement function. If you want more functionality there is thankfully an abundance of editing apps available on the Google Play Store.
Still Image Quality
Daylight, Low ISO
In bright light the OnePlus 5 camera captures images with good exposure and dynamic range, nice colors and decent detail. On the downside is that some luminance noise is quite noticeable in areas of plain color. For example, the blue sky in the sample below and low-contrast detail like grass or distant foliage look pretty smeared when viewed at 100%.
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| ISO 200, 1/2015 sec |
By default the OnePlus 5 comes with the HDR mode set to Auto. In high-contrast scenes, like in the sample below, the function is capable of maintaining a lot of highlight and shadow detail. However, that comes at a cost. When doing its HDR magic the camera sometimes increases ISO sensitivity, which pushes noise levels up. In addition HDR processing can result in noticeable softness. In combination this makes for slightly unpleasant viewing at pixel-level.
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| ISO 320, 1/589 sec |
In the sample below the OnePlus 5 camera records very good detail in the focus plane. Exposure is spot-on and a very slight warm touch in the colors makes for pleasant viewing.
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| ISO 200, 1/4336 sec |
For the scene below the camera kept ISO low at 125, but again there is more noise than we'd like in the sky and some shadow areas. There is also some noticeable softness around the edges. Exposure and colors are excellent though.
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| ISO 125, 1/1426 sec |
The camera's tele lens works in an unusual way. Images are captured with a 20MP sensor and a lens with a 1.6x longer focal length than the main camera. Digital zoom is then used to achieve a 2x zoom factor. So far that makes sense. However, rather than putting out a 16MP image to match the image size of the main camera, the tele image – which at some point during processing is cropped for digital zooming – is then blown up to 20MP again.
As a result the tele images look quite soft, with little fine detail when viewed at 100%. At a 70% magnification, which would not be too far off the main camera's 16MP image size, the photos actually look much sharper. Strange processing decisions aside, the images captured with the tele lens generally show good color and exposure and are fine viewed at smaller sizes. Although image quality leaves room for improvement, the tele lens is a great option to have if you can't get close enough to your subject.
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| ISO 100, 1/622 sec |
For high-contrast scenes the tele lens applies the same HDR methodology as the main camera. The image below is nice to look at on the phone screen but when examined up-close a lot of noise and softness become visible.
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| ISO 320, 1/1060 sec |
Low light, High ISO
When shooting indoors in lower light the OnePlus 5 main camera does a very good job at getting color and exposure right. The sample below shows some luminance noise and loss of detail in shadow and mid-tone areas but hard edges in the frame are well defined and brighter areas of the image still show good fine detail.
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| ISO 400, 1/100 sec |
Luminance noise is a little more intrusive in the brighter indoor scene below, but you'd only notice when viewing at 100%. Chroma noise is very well under control. At 1/50 sec the OnePlus also keeps the shutter speed quite fast which helps reduce blur through camera-shake in lower light.
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| ISO 500, 1/50 sec |
The shot below was captured just before nightfall and the camera has done a very good job. Exposure is very good and the white balance system deals very well with the warm street lighting. Luminance noise is finely grained and there is still a lot of detail in this image.
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| ISO 2500, 1/17 sec |
Like in bright light the tele lens again does its job using a mixture of optical and digital zoom. Pixel-level image quality does not look too pretty, with a lot of large-grained noise and some artifacts. However, in lower light the tele lens still produces results that are still usable at smaller viewing sizes, making it a useful emergency tool at events and similar situations, as you can see in the sample below.
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| ISO 800, 1/50 sec |
The tele lens has to crank up ISO a lot for indoor shots, so noise does become an issue. That said, the portrait below has very good exposure and color and is nice to look at typical social media size.
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| ISO 2500, 1/33 sec |
Video mode
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In video mode you can record up to 4K video resolution with both lenses. You can set the focus and exposure target but otherwise there's no control over the recording process. Overall video mode produces very good results. Only the 720/120fps slow-motion mode is a little disappointing, with low levels of detail and constant refocusing.
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