OnePlus made a lot of headlines with the DxOMark review of the OnePlus 7 Pro camera. However, when the smartphone got into people’s hands they were less than impressed. So they began looking for a proper Google Camera port and today I will show you how to install the best port (& which XML file to import for optimal settings).
Most of the smartphones on the market today will use the same camera sensors as others that are currently in the same price bracket. So for example, most high-end flagship smartphones are going to be using the same camera sensors from Sony. Small details may be different but many are the same.
So why is image quality so different from smartphone to smartphone?
The answer lies within the post-processing that is done within the camera application itself. All these sensors do is capture light that’s reflected off of whatever you are pointing it at. This means any differences in the quality of the photographs between smartphones is down to the post-processing aspects.
This happens after a photo has been taken and it’s how the application interprets and adjusts the raw data of your photo. What you end up seeing from your smartphone is the result of multiple algorithms (in most cases) that will comb through the image data and optimize things.
The thing is, a company like Google can afford better (or more) photography experts than a company like OnePlus can.
And this is why so many people want to use the Google Camera port on their smartphone. I will be doing this for the OnePlus 7 Pro first (since it’s the smartphone I own), but I will be researching the best solution for regular OnePlus 7 owners as well.
Time needed: 10 minutes
How to Install the Best OnePlus 7 & 7 Pro Google Camera Port
- Download the Google Camera .APK file – OnePlus 7 – OnePlus 7 Pro
- Download the optimal .XML settings file – OnePlus 7 – OnePlus 7 Pro
- Move both of these files to the OnePlus 7 or the OnePlus 7 Pro
- Manually install the Google Camera port application
I used my favorite file explorer to do this, but there are other ways to sideload an APK file.
- Open up the Google Camera application once it has been installed
- Go into the Settings of the Google Camera app on the OnePlus 7 or OnePlus 7 Pro
- Scroll down to the General section and tap on the Save Configs option
It will prompt you for a name, type in anything and then tap on the Save button.
- Now, open up a file explorer app and move/copy the .XML file to the /GCam/Configs/ folder
You could do this over a USB cable as well.
- Close out the Google Camera app and then open it up again
- Double tap on the empty black area directly below the shutter button
This will open up a prompt asking you to import an .XML file.
- Go ahead and choose our preset .XML file that we downloaded and copied/moved over
Then tap the Restore button to load the optimal settings into the app.
Those who are not familiar with Google Camera ports may not know all of the ins and outs of them. For example, I was shocked when I learned that an XML import/export option had been added to the ports for QoL purposes. Developers have done this because a single setting change can stop something in the app from working.
Let me explain this in further detail because it can be confusing for some people.
So, you already know there are hundreds of Google Camera ports available for dozens of smartphones right now. These are developed by a number of developers with each one excelling in their own ways. Some are known for making ports for specific OEMs, others are known for saturating the images so the colors pop more).
A developer can actually release a Google Camera application port that ends up working perfectly on two different smartphones (such as the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro). However, it’s the different settings within the application itself that enables certain ports to work with other devices.
And this is why importing an XML file with predetermined settings is so useful.
I can’t say for sure if it will work out this way, but we could end up having the same Google Camera port for the OnePlus 7 as we have for the OnePlus 7 Pro. It’s possible that the port will not fully work on both devices right after it is installed though. Instead, you will need to import an XML file that was made specifically for one of these smartphones.
Google Camera Port with Multi Lens Support for the OnePlus 7 Pro
The current tutorial shows you how to get the core features of the Google Camera application working on the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro. However, the Google Camera natively only supports a single camera sensor since (as of writing this) the latest Pixel smartphones only have one camera sensor.
But community developers have worked to add support for additional sensors of multiple smartphones. So, there is a way to get all of the camera sensors of the OnePlus 7 Pro working in this port of the Google Camera. However, this requires root access and I have yet to test the process.
So, I will be digging into this in further detail so be sure to bookmark this tutorial since I will be adding a way to use multiple lenses of the OnePlus 7 smartphones.
