Oppo is gearing up to announce the world’s first 10x optical zoom system for a smartphone, according to My Drivers (via GSMArena). The company is holding an event on January 16th with the tagline “十所为见,” which roughly translates to “ten times the view, see you soon.” A few weeks ago, Twitter leaker Ice Universe cited an unnamed “Oppo official” who said that we’d see the 10x technology launched at either the Consumer Electronics Show or the upcoming Mobile World Congress, and it failed to materialize at the former.
Even if Oppo does show off a prototype of the technology, there’s no guarantee that it will actually get released in a consumer device. Back in 2017, the company announced a 5x optical zoom prototype that used a periscope to angle light sideways across a lens array. Although the technology worked, and worked well, it never saw the light of day in a consumer handset.
However, with Oppo more willing to experiment with new features in a smartphone market that seems in dire need of some new ideas, 2019 might be the year for a technology like this to actually be released.
