OPPO could unveil phone with 10x hybrid optical zoom on January 16

As the battle for the best camera smartphone heats up, Oppo is bringing a new contender to the battleground. A leaked invitation for an upcoming event highlights the number 10, which appears to be an indicator for 10x optical zoom. The event is scheduled for January 16 in Beijing, China.

Back at Mobile World Congress 2017, we took a close look at the 5x hybrid optical zoom arrangement OPPO showed off on a prototype device. While that arrangement never found its way into a production device, it looks like OPPO might be about to one-up its own achievement!

We expect the camera hardware to include an enhanced version of the Precision Optical Zoom technology we first saw in 2017. It is likely OPPO will use a periscope-style layout for the camera assembly. The assembly uses a prism to bend light by 90 degrees. Mounting the camera on the side should give OPPO more than enough space to accommodate the longer focal length. With OIS at the telephoto end, it should be possible to get stable shots even with the image fully zoomed in.

MySmartPrice suggests the first phones to integrate the technology will be the OPPO F19 and the F19 Pro. There are further suggestions that the two phones might have a punch-hole display. Additional specifications include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor. We expect to hear a lot more about this in the coming days with the launch event right around the corner.

Personally, I would rather have a wide-angle lens that lets me capture a lot more of the scene than high optical zoom. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments section.