OnePlus 6 gets a selfie portrait mode in OTA update: Here’s a look at the photos

The major highlight of the OnePlus 6 update is the selfie portrait. We got the update earlier and have had a chance to test out the Portrait mode selfies. Here’s what we thought based on our experience so far.

OnePlus 6: What’s the Portrait Selfie? 

Portrait selfies seem to be the new rage on all smartphones, irrespective of their price. Smartphone makers are bringing this feature for Portraits to the front camera and in most cases this is driven by software. The Portrait feature is where an object is in sharp focus and the outline is blurred to create a ‘Bokeh’ like effect.

The Portrait feature is where an object is in sharp focus and the outline is blurred to create a ‘Bokeh’ like effect.

We have seen Portrait feature was initially limited to smartphones with dual-rear cameras, where a combination of a telephoto and wide-angle lens or an RGB and monochrome sensor are used. With selfies though, not all players are offering dual cameras, especially on the front, and instead the ‘Portrait mode’ is driven by software. This is the case with the OnePlus 6 as well. With the new update, you can take a selfie now and blur out the rest of the people or the background.

OnePlus 6: How does the Portrait selfie work?  

The camera has a Video, Photo and Portrait mode. In the Portrait mode, you can now turn on the selfie camera as well. When creating a depth effect, remember, it will only work if you have a background which the camera can blur out. For instance, if you take a selfie against the wall, the depth effect will not be so prominent or sharp. However, if you have something to blur out, the OnePlus 6’s front camera does a pretty good job.

The Selfie Portrait are sharp, there’s enough detail in the photos and the colour reproduction is fairly accurate. But, the camera’s software does struggle with edges when creating this Portrait effect. For instance, in some of the selfies, my hair, the edges of ears, etc are a bit blurred and it does not get the outline of the person entirely right.

When it comes to selfies of one single person, the Portrait mode delivers quite well

So how many people can fit into these OnePlus 6 ‘Portrait selfies’? If two people are standing really close and manage to get the angle right, the selfie camera will not blur the second person out, though it does struggle with edges. If the second person is at a distance, the OnePlus 6 selfie camera will blur them out in the Portrait mode. One thing I will say is that the blur effect does seem a bit fake, especially two people are in the photos. It is driven by software, so this does look odd in some photos.

If the second person it as a distance, the OnePlus 6 selfie camera will blur them out in the Portrait mode.

But when it comes to selfies of one single person, the Portrait mode delivers quite well. It manages to get the outline mostly right, given this is a software driven feature. Hopefully OnePlus will continue to make software improvements to its selfie Portrait mode in the future and try and improve on sharpening the details.