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  • OnePlus just released the OnePlus 7 with some pretty impressive specs, but most importantly,

  • it has a hidden internal mechanical front facing camera.

  • Today we're going to delve deep inside the OnePlus 7, find that camera, and see how the

  • robotic contraption functions from the inside.

  • And we'll see what a totally transparent OnePlus 7 would look like.

  • This video is sponsored by Audible.

  • Let's get started.

  • [Intro]

  • Not gonna lie, I kind of like this Nebula Blue colored back glass.

  • It's got that frosty matte finish on top which will probably cloud the internal components

  • a bit when we remove the coloring from the glass, but we'll have to see.

  • The back glass comes off like most modern smartphones.

  • A lot of heat softens the adhesive, and then my thin pry tools can slip in and slice through

  • the black sticky stuff holding everything down.

  • OnePlus doesn't have a specific IP rating for the OnePlus 7.

  • We'll have to delve into that a bit more during the full tear down.

  • Right now I'm just being super gentle with the glass, because glass is glass, and glass

  • can break.

  • I'm also being super gentle with my fingers around that razor blade because fingers are

  • fingers, and fingers can take...take apart cellphones.

  • This is a bit harder than it looks, so I should probably definitely suggest not attempting

  • this on your own.

  • I'll slide off the back panel, the final top line of adhesive stretching loose, and we

  • get our first look at the battery.

  • It's, you know, still not red, but the pull tab is.

  • I've been asking OnePlus to bring back the epic red battery ever since the last one appeared

  • on the OnePlus 2.

  • [Flashback 2015] “And this is the best looking phone I've ever been inside.”

  • [Flashback 2016] “The biggest disappointment of this phone is that the battery is not red.”

  • [Flashback 2017] “We get our first glimpse at the non-red battery.

  • I guess OnePlus didn't get the memo that internal beauty is just as important as external beauty.”

  • [Flashback 2017] “This also exposes the totally not red battery.

  • Kind of disappointing.”

  • [Flashback 2018] “It's not red.”

  • [Flashback 2018] “Finally lifting open the OnePlus 6T reveals no red battery.”

  • I've been doing this for a really long time, but I do believe that the squeaky wheel gets

  • the grease, and we'll have a red battery again soon.

  • This time around the battery is black, and with the red pull tab, I still think it looks

  • pretty aesthetic, so I think I'll leave it alone for this OnePlus 7 clear edition.

  • The motorized camera is up here at the top, hidden underneath the black plastics, so we'll

  • have to unbury that component still.

  • Unfortunately it looks like in my excitement to take apart the 7, I forgot about the wire

  • cable attached to the rear sensors and LED flash, and I kind of decapitated the Lego-style

  • connector.

  • (Nobody tell OnePlus.)

  • I'll use a bit of heat and my razor to pop off the camera lens housing.

  • This is it's own separate unit which I think is a bit better design than LG's idea of using

  • the entire back panel as a camera lens on the G8.

  • Big pieces of glass have more of a chance of breaking than smaller pieces of glass.

  • The OnePlus 7 Pro has 10 Philips head screws holding down the top plastics.

  • Then the black plastic panel can come off.

  • It looks like the NCF coil's positioned right above the motorized front camera.

  • This camera looks very similar to the one we saw inside the Vevo Nex S. It also had

  • a motorized pop up camera.

  • Let's see how it operates.

  • I can turn the phone on at this point.

  • Even in it's undressed state, it will still function.

  • I'll make sure not to touch the exposed circuits.

  • The camera looks like it's operating on a stepper motor system, spinning it's threaded

  • shaft to raise and lower the camera in and out of the phone.

  • The camera itself has a flexible ribbon that moves up and down alongside the camera when

  • the selfie taking is activated.

  • Eventually, if the OnePlus 7 Pro camera is constantly moving, a warning will pop up saying

  • to protect the front camera, we need to not activate it so frequently.

  • Probably because the electric motors generate heat, and if the constant raising and lowering

  • loads heat the motor up too much, it will burn itself out sooner.

  • Where was I?

  • Oh yeah.

  • Raising and lowering the camera too much.

  • OnePlus said that in their own testing, this camera is capable of raising and lowering

  • 300,000 which is rather impressive.

  • Manually pressing down on top of the camera when it's in the open position does engage

  • a safety mechanism that pulls the camera in automatically.

  • Mechanical moving parts inside of a cellphone are pretty much my favorite hardware feature

  • of all time.

  • One of my favorite software features though, that OnePlus has added to the top pull down

  • menu, is Zen Mode, which allows you to put your phone in a notification free totally

  • locked down mode for 20 minutes.

  • Disconnected from social media notifications and the Internet, and you can't access anything

  • for those 20 minutes.

  • Only phone calls and the camera app will work when Zen Mode is enabled.

  • It physically restricts yourself from accessing the distractions on your smartphone.

  • This goes hand in hand with a recent audio book I've been listening to on Audible.

  • And thanks to Audible for sponsoring this video.

  • It's called The ShallowsWhat the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr.

  • He talks about neuroscience and the plasticity of our brain, and the way our brains are adapting

  • to receive information.

  • He says that the littlehitsthat social media and news headlines blips give us are

  • actually changing our ability to concentrate on larger projects, and inhibit our ability

  • to develop those longer term connections in our brain.

  • It's a super interesting listen.

  • You can get this or any other audio book for free, plus two Audible Originals when you

  • try Audible for 30 days.

  • Visit audible.com/jerryrig or text the wordjerryrigto 500-500.

  • Normally I like to bump up the speaking speed a bit when I'm listening.

  • The Audible Originals are exclusive audio titles created by story tellers that sound

  • way more like an immersive production instead of just a narration.

  • It's pretty interesting.

  • Audible is one of the many ways to develop those longer term brain connections, and enable

  • better concentration abilities...you know...the important stuff.

  • Grab your free audio book at audible.com/jerryrig or by textingjerryrigto 500-500.

  • The free books are always yours to keep, even if you cancel your membership.

  • I've personally been limiting my own social media intake, and it's good to see OnePlus

  • providing a built in option for their users with Zen Mode.

  • I think every phone should do this.

  • Let's get back to making a clear OnePlus 7.

  • The color on glass smartphones isn't dyed into the glass like on a stained glass window.

  • It's coated on the underside of the glass, and shines through the glass to give the phone

  • color.

  • Sometimes it's a powder coat, sometimes it's a weird paint, but more often than not, it's

  • just a laminate layer that's adhered to the glass.

  • And that's the case with this Nebula Blue OnePlus 7 Pro.

  • I can use my heat gun once again to soften the adhesive layer, and then peel it up in

  • one large chunk.

  • It's a tedious process since the adhesive layer is pretty strong, and I don't want to

  • flex the glass too much or it might shatter into a million pieces.

  • But it is rather satisfying to see the blue coloring come up in one massive piece.

  • Thumbs up for that.

  • The logo and text are still etched into the glass itself, so honestly, it really wouldn't

  • be hard for OnePlus to make a clear version of the phone themselves.

  • Just saying.

  • It's already ready.

  • The glass itself is clouded, so from a distance it kind of blurs out objects, but closer up

  • things are clear, just with a little matte finish.

  • It's not totally transparent, but should still look pretty cool when finished.

  • Since the NFC coil on the black plastics will be blocking our view, I'm going to unwrap

  • it from the panel and set it off to the side.

  • The NFC won't work anymore of course, but I'm willing to make some sacrifices for the

  • cooler hardware.

  • And then with a couple of carefully planned snips from my scissors, we can keep the rest

  • of the plastics, which have some integrated antennas and shielding for the motherboard,

  • but still provide us with a window to the insides of the phone.

  • I'll screw everything else back into place so it's as close to stock as possible.

  • And then I can clean off the underside of the rear glass panel to get rid of any fingerprints

  • and minor adhesive residue.

  • The laminate coloring did come off pretty clean.

  • The rest of the install is pretty simple.

  • I'll add some thin strong double-sided tape all around the 4 sides.

  • I'll link this tape in the description, and I'll put some on the back of the camera lens,

  • making sure it's surrounding the entirety of the edge so that dust won't ever start

  • to seep in.

  • Not too shabby.

  • And that's what the OnePlus 7 looks like totally naked.

  • No coloring, hardware exposed, with a see-through glass panel and a tiny window in the corner

  • for the coolest part.

  • The motorized front facing camera is visible.

  • If OnePlus has gone through all the effort of adding cool hardware, I think they should

  • at least want to show it off with a clear addition, right?

  • What do you think about about it?

  • Should I have changed the battery to red, or do you like the stealthy black?

  • Should I add the red battery when we delve deeper into the 10 layer thermal heat pipe

  • OnePlus has been talking about?

  • Let me know down in the comments.

  • Come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter.

  • I only post a few times a week...you know...keeping the healthy balance with social media and

  • real life.

  • And make sure to grab your free audio book with the Audible link in the description.

  • And thanks a ton for watching.

  • I'll see you around.

OnePlus just released the OnePlus 7 with some pretty impressive specs, but most importantly,

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