Turning an Unused Phone into an Extra Digital Camera

The OnePlus 12 XPAN mode is really cool

Jan 06, 2026

First some background …

In the summer of 2024, I dropped my Pixel 7 Pro on the ground while pumping gas at the start of 2,000-mile road trip to Florida. The screen shattered from edge to edge. My teen daughter was with me, so we weren’t phoneless, but when we stopped in Texas, I panicked and decided I needed a phone for the rest of the trip.

After a quick stop at Best Buy, I was the proud owner of a OnePlus 12.

It was a good phone; I liked it a lot. For example, how fast the battery charged was a pleasant surprise. But like anything with a learning curve, I continually noticed that it wasn’t my Pixel, especially the camera (at least what I knew of the camera at the time … we’ll come back to this).

So, I did what I should have done in the first place and got my Pixel’s screen repaired. The One Plus was relegated to a spot on the back of my nightstand.

I’d still keep it charged and occasionally use it to play a game or check social media. But since it didn’t have a sim card, it rarely left the house.

Funny thing is, I only used the repaired Pixel 7 Pro for a couple more months anyway. This is a story for another time, but when T-Mobile offers you $800 to trade in a Pixel 6 that was also sitting on your nightstand and hadn’t even been turned on for about 18 months, you get a new Pixel 9 Pro XL, whether you actually “needed” it or not.

So for about a year (Dec 24 - Dec 25) I was quite content to have my Pixel 9 phone in my pocket at all times, and my “real” camera (Canon 80D) for when I wanted to go out in search of birds or other wildlife. I had no need for a 3rd camera.

Then just before New Year’s Day I decided I wanted to do a B&W photo a day project this year, and I remembered that the OnePlus has a mode called XPAN that I’d played around with a few times but hadn’t really learned much about.

It turned out this would be a perfect tool for my B&W photo project.

OnePlus had teamed with Hasselblad to simulate their old XPAN cameras, which combined two 35mm frames into a wide panorama. The Black & White option mimics classic Ilford Delta 400 film.

I really like the idea that a least some of the pictures for my project will just be exactly what I capture with the camera, no editing, or even cropping.

So now, before I head out in the morning, I make sure the OnePlus 12 is fully charged and in either my pocket or my backpack. I have no intention of using it as a phone. But it will definitely see some use as dedicated B&W camera.

Have ever repurposed an old phone or camera for a specific project?

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