Why OnePlus 7's radical design change is a dangerous move?
While last year was all about display notches, 2019 is going to be about getting around them. And for OnePlus, renders suggest that the company has taken yet another brave move to opt for a pop-up selfie camera on the OnePlus 7. However, there are concerns around this radical design change that can hamper the experience you've come to expect from a OnePlus flagship.
A slower face unlock mechanism
One of the best features of OnePlus 6T is face unlock. Perhaps, it's the fastest on any phone out there. However, on OnePlus 7, the much-appreciated feature will get considerably slower. With a pop-up camera module, the lens will have to rise up, scan your face and then unlock as against a simple glance and unlock on OnePlus 6T.
And while being slow, Face Unlock will remain less secure
Not only will the face unlock feature be slower on OnePlus 7, but it will also remain less secure (than, say, Apple's Face ID) and unpleasant to use in low-light. The pop-up camera module won't house an IR sensor or 3D dot projector. Hence, the image scanning will still be in 2D and in low-light, the screen will flash blindingly to scan your face.
The half-baked in-display fingerprint sensor
The slower face unlock feature on OnePlus 7 will push you to use the company's half-baked in-screen fingerprint sensor. The technology depends on a beam of light to scan fingerprint and hence, requires you to keep your finger on a particular spot. Moreover, wet or greasy fingers don't get read well. So, you'll face enough misses to miss OnePlus 6T's fast face unlock.
The woes of a pop-up slider camera
While the pop-camera mechanism allows for increased screen-to-body ratio, it will not be water-resistant that OnePlus offers on its unibody phones like OnePlus 6T. Secondly, OnePlus 7 may become marginally thicker to accommodate the slider. Notably, the movable parts will also be prone to damages in case of odd falls and may even get stuck due to the accumulation of dust and gunk.
Additional costs would translate to increased prices
Apart from the aforementioned arguments, a pop-up camera mechanism would also require additional manufacturing processes that, might as well, lead to additional costs. And given OnePlus enjoys stunning popularity owing to its price-value proposition, OnePlus 7 will have a lot to prove to convince users to choose it over competitors like Galaxy S10e, Honor View 20 and other upcoming lower-cost premium phones.
