In December, it was reported that OnePlus would get outside help from Leica for photography for the OnePlus 9 lineup. However, it turns out that the company has asked another brand to co-develop the camera.

Leica's Dave2D has now produced a legitimate image of another prototype of the 2021 OnePlus, this time the OnePlus 9 Pro. The camera hump on the back has the logo of Swedish photography specialist Hasselblad clearly between the four lenses.

Tilt-shift mode and 3.3x zoom (a slight upgrade over the 3x equivalent on the OnePlus 8 Pro). First, unlike Leica and Zeiss, Hasselblad does not do much smartphone collaboration; fans of MotoMods (modular extensions for the Motorola Z family) may remember the $299 Hasselblad add-on.

This move is somewhat unexpected, as OnePlus' sister company, Vivo, has worked with Zeiss before. One would think that because of their existing relationship, Zeiss would be a natural partner for OnePlus to improve its camera reputation, but apparently that is not the case.

Still, it is easy to see why OnePlus would seek a more premium partner. A search for Hasselblad cameras will routinely turn up mid-range cameras costing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. No one is suggesting that the OnePlus 9 Pro will be this expensive, but it is clear that OnePlus hopes that the brand association will make consumers feel more positive about the reliability of their phone's photography.

That is certainly in line with what OnePlus is making a fuss about. Just last month, the company's co-founder, Pete Lau, claimed that OnePlus would invest "enormous resources" in improving camera performance.

Of course, Hasselblad's participation does not guarantee that the OnePlus 9 Pro will soon top our list of best camera phones, but it does suggest that OnePlus is serious about photography, and that is a sign that other excellent smartphones positive, as it has historically been a mild weakness in the phone series.

We expect the OnePlus 9 Pro to launch next month along with the regular OnePlus 9 and last year's OnePlus 9 Lite using the Snapdragon 865 processor (though this model may not be available outside China and India). If the leaked information so far is solid, we are optimistic that the OnePlus handset will be on par with the best Android phones you can buy.