Last June we reported that the OnePlus 15 would not come with the Hasselblad camera system that was introduced since the OnePlus 9. Today Smartprix reports that the Hasselblad system will not only be used but will be replaced with a new system called Image Engine.
The original collaboration between Hasselblad and OnePlus was for a period of 4.5 years that will end this year. Since the agreement was made, Hasselblad cameras have also been used on Oppo's flagship devices such as the Find series. Oppo is believed to be researching and developing its own camera system similar to what Huawei did with Xmage.
Using its own camera system would also put them in the same league as Apple, Samsung and Google who have never collaborated with outside companies on their device cameras. It will be interesting to see if the OnePlus 15 will truly say goodbye to Hasselblad. While Hasselblad is interesting, I feel it is not unique enough when compared to Xiaomi and Vivo's cameras which have collaborated with Leica and Zeiss respectively.
Hasselblad is now more synonymous with DJI lately due to the use of better sensors and lenses compared to smartphones. If these rumors are true, OnePlus and Oppo need to ensure that the Image Engine is better than previous camera systems if they want to remain competitive.