If we are to believe a tweet from informant @rodent950, we may see a new camera partnership in the OnePlus 9 series smartphones.

According to leaker, not only will Huawei partner with German camera specialist Leica in 2021; it appears that OnePlus will also be getting expertise and branding. The tweet also notes similar agreements Zeiss has with Nokia and Vivo.

Whether this is more about branding than real-world performance remains to be seen, but it is an area where OnePlus' devices could improve. as the OnePlus 8T review shows, OnePlus has been able to set the standard for photography that flagships from Apple, Google and Samsung have slowed down compared to the high photography standards set by Apple, Google, and Samsung's flagships.

And whether correlation or causation, Huawei's longstanding partnership with Leica has certainly not harmed the company. Thanks to the ongoing trade embargo affecting Google's services, it's hard to make a recommendation for 2020, but Huawei's devices continue to shine spectacularly in camera performance. In fact, DXOMark still lists the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and P40 Pro as the #1 and #3 smartphone cameras in the world.

No devices are mentioned in this tweet, but it is hard to imagine Leica cameras being for anything other than the OnePlus 9 family. And to recap, we already know quite a lot about the upcoming OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. They will come in 6.5" and 6.7" sizes and will be powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 888 processor. Both will have screens with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which will allow for smooth scrolling and, for supported titles, 120 fps gameplay.

If past OnePlus phones are anything to go by, the differences between the Vanilla and Pro are likely to be in RAM speed, battery capacity, and the availability of wireless charging and water resistance. Both phones are said to have triple cameras, but there is plenty of room for OnePlus to raise the specs on the Pro version, especially if the partnership with Leica comes to fruition and the German company has some tricks up its sleeve.

Both models could arrive as early as March 2021, but it is still a bit early to speculate on pricing, especially given the state of the global economy. Still, a good starting point would be to look at the OnePlus 8, which starts at $699 for the regular version and $899 for the OnePlus 8 Pro.