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Oppo's next phone can be fully charged in just 30 minutes
While a handful of recent flagship phones -- namely Samsung's Note 10+ (with the optional 45W adapter) and Vivo's NEX 3 5G -- can be fully charged in a little over an hour, Oppo's upcoming tech will soon render such "fast" charging speeds obsolete. We're talking about juicing up a 4,000mAh battery in just 30 minutes! That's the claim for Oppo's 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 feature, which will debut on the gaming-centric Reno Ace due October 10th, according to the company's Shenzhen event yesterday.
Oppo eliminates side bezels with its 'waterfall screen'
It's only been a year since Vivo and Oppo kicked off the all-screen, notch-less smartphone race, and now, the latter is literally pushing the boundaries with a new type of curved display. Earlier today, Oppo showed off a prototype device packing a "waterfall screen," which features an aggressive 88-degree fold on both the left and right sides. When viewed directly from the front, the bezels are practically invisible, which gives the device an even more premium look than today's curved-screen phones -- namely Oppo's very own Find X.
Oppo's under-screen camera is real and taking photos in Shanghai
Earlier this month, Oppo teased its upcoming under-screen camera tech with a quick and dirty video, and Xiaomi was quick to announce that it was working on something similar. Neither company explained how the tech worked back then, but today, our colleagues over at Engadget Chinese were able to give this new feature a spin at MWC Shanghai, and Oppo was also willing to shed some light on the how.
Oppo and Xiaomi show off their under-display selfie cameras (updated)
We've seen phone makers coming up with creative ways to avoid the front-camera notch or hole, with the pop-up camera being an increasingly common option amongst Chinese phones, along with the flip-up camera on the more recent ASUS ZenFone 6. Vivo and Nubia even just went with a secondary display on the back at one point. But now, it appears that Oppo has found a non-mechanical solution -- an under-display selfie camera.
Oppo's mid-range Realme X is inspired by garlic and onions
We don't often highlight mid-range smartphones these days, but when we do, there's a good reason. Following yesterday's flagship OnePlus 7 Pro, today we have yet another Chinese phone, the Realme X, with a pop-up selfie camera. But it was actually the design that caught our attention: the X comes in a "Garlic Edition" and an "Onion Edition," both of which are the work of Muji's iconic designer, Naoto Fukasawa, who is also known for his quirky Infobar phones. According to Realme, these final looks came after 72 gradient tests plus over 300 prototypes.
How Oppo fit a 10x zoom camera into its 5G phone
Oppo may have already teased its first 5G smartphone in Zurich earlier this month, but today, the company is bringing its entire Reno family -- including the mid-range Reno and the flagship Reno 10x Zoom -- to Europe. This means the Chinese brand will be going head to head with Huawei using its very own 10x hybrid zoom camera outside of its home territory. With the $1,000 Reno 5G leading the party ahead of its May launch, the Reno 10x Zoom follows with a €799 (about $890) base price due in early June, whereas the Reno lands at a more modest €499 ($560) on May 10th.
Oppo's Reno 5G flagship has a pop-up camera wedge and 10x hybrid zoom
If you thought the leak from two weeks ago had given the game away for Oppo's new Reno smartphone series, don't worry, as the real deal has more to offer. At the Shanghai launch event today, Oppo finally unveiled its first two Reno devices -- the Reno Standard Edition and the Reno 10x Zoom Edition -- while also teasing the Reno 5G which will be shown off in Zurich later today.
Oppo's next phone has a wedge-shaped pop-up camera
Manufacturers have been coming up with creative ways to design bezel-free phones since the iPhone X arrived. After a parade of one notched phone after another, they've started releasing fully bezel-free devices with pop-up selfie cameras instead. One of the companies is Oppo, which has at least two phones like that under its belt. Now, a couple of leaks (by Slashleaks) show that the Chinese manufacturer is working on another device under an upcoming series named Reno with a pop-up cam that's not quite like its previous offerings: it's wedge-shaped and slides out from one end only.
Oppo's F11 Pro features 48-megapixel and pop-up selfie cameras
Chinese electronics manufacturer Oppo announced today its latest smartphone, the F11 Pro. The company went all in on cameras with its new midrange handset. The F11 Pro is the latest smartphone to feature a 48-megapixel primary camera. As for the front-facing lens, Oppo tapped another emerging trend and equipped the device with a pop-up camera.
Oppo's prototype foldable phone looks a lot like the Huawei Mate X
Nope, we're not quite done with foldable phones from MWC just yet. Following its 10x camera zoom technology unveil over the weekend, today Oppo surprised us with its very own foldable phone, but in a not-so-official way. The company's vice president, Brian Shen, took to Weibo to show off said device which, much like the ones from Royole and Huawei, folds outwards. What's awkward is that Oppo's prototype bears a striking resemblance to Huawei's Mate X, especially with this hinge design and also that camera strip on the back when folded.
Oppo phone with 10x zoom camera will launch this spring
Following the teaser from mid-January, today Oppo held an event just ahead of MWC to talk more about its upcoming 10x "lossless" camera zoom technology. This will still be enabled by a triple-camera module, but now we know that from top to bottom, it'll start with a 48-megapixel high-resolution main camera, followed by a 120-degree ultra-wide camera and a stealthy periscopic telephoto camera. Together, these cameras cover a range of 16mm to 160mm, hence the 10x zoom rating.
What to expect at MWC 2019
There's always plenty of news from MWC, and it's either entirely expected or word gets out early. This year is shaping up to be slightly different, though, as companies are preparing their version of the future of smartphones. From foldable designs to 5G and more, this year's Mobile World Congress won't only be jam-packed with news, but it should also be exciting once again.
Apple wasn't the only smartphone brand struggling in China this fall
Apple wasn't joking around when it warned that the Chinese smartphone market gave it grief in the fall. IDC estimated that iPhone shipments fell just shy of 20 percent year-over-year toward the end of 2018, hitting 11.8 million. It's the third consecutive year of declines, the analyst group said, blaming this year's drop on a combination of higher prices and relatively modest updates. Customers just weren't in as much of a rush to upgrade as they were in years past. Throw in China's economic woes and stiff competition from local rivals and it's not shocking that iPhone sales took a dive.
Oppo teases smartphone cameras with 10x hybrid zoom
Even though Oppo showed off a 5x "lossless" zoom dual camera back at MWC 2017, the system never showed up on any of the phones afterwards. But don't worry, the company hasn't given up on this precious tech. In fact, earlier today, Oppo teased a new and improved design that offers 10x hybrid zoom, ranging from an equivalent of 15.9mm all the way to 159mm. This is all thanks to a new triple-camera setup, starting from an ultra-wide camera, then a main camera in the middle, and then a periscope to top it off with some sweet optical zoom action -- likely the same 3x optical zoom in the previous design, based on the render.
Oppo is the latest to be caught cheating on phone benchmarks
You can add another big name to the list of phone makers found cheating on benchmarks. UL Benchmarks has delisted Oppo's Find X and F7 phones from its 3DMark charts after testing from itself and Tech2 revealed that both devices were artificially ramping up processor performance when they detected the test by name. Oppo acknowledged that it always stepped things up when it detected "games or 3D Benchmarks that required high performance," but claimed that any app would run full bore if you tapped on the screen every few seconds to signal your actions.
Oppo's Find X could be the first phone with 10GB of RAM
Considering all the attention that's been heaped on the Oppo Find X's pop-up selfie camera, you'd be forgiven for thinking the upcoming handset is a one-trick pony. But a new variant of the flagship has popped up on Chinese phone regulator Tenaa's site with another ace up its sleeve: a whopping 10GB of RAM and 256 GB of ROM.
Oppo's all-screen Find X hides a pop-up selfie camera
Almost every phone manufacturer is trying to develop a handset with a truly edge-to-edge display. Most end up with a small notch, but others are finding new and unusual ways to hide the front-facing camera. Oppo, for instance, has packed a tiny motorized mechanism into its brand new Find X flagship. At a glance, it looks like a regular phone with a 6.4-inch, 1080p display -- but as soon as you launch the camera app, the top section slides up to reveal a 25-megapixel selfie shooter and a dual-camera system on the back. Close the application and the cameras will automatically disappear again.
Oppo will revive its Find smartphone line on June 19th
Just recently, Oppo launched a dedicated website for the Find series, hinting at its return after four years of hibernation. Now, the Chinese phonemaker has confirmed that the line is coming back: Oppo will launch its new flagship, the Find X, at the Louvre Museum in Paris on June 19th. It's keeping details under wraps until the event, but in the press materials it sent out, the company listed all the technologies it launched since it launched the last Find phone back in 2014. It mentioned the 5x dual camera zoom it debuted at MWC 2017, its fast charging tech that can fully charge a 2,500 mAH battery in 15 minutes, as well that time it demoed a 5G video call using 3D structured light technology.
Senator probes Alphabet and Twitter on data-sharing with Chinese firms
The New York Times recently revealed that Facebook entered into agreements with at least 60 mobile device companies, giving them access to Facebook user data so that the companies could recreate Facebook-like features. Among those companies are four Chinese firms -- Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo and TCL -- which has spurred some concern among US lawmakers. Today, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) sent letters to both Alphabet and Twitter, inquiring as to whether they entered into similar data-sharing agreements with any mobile device companies based in China.
Senator wants Mark Zuckerberg to testify on Huawei data sharing
Mark Zuckerberg could be in for another Senate hearing if Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) has his way. Today, Markey sent a letter to Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) -- chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively -- requesting they call the Facebook CEO to testify about Facebook's practice of sharing private user data with mobile phone companies. Specifically, Markey is concerned about the data provided to four Chinese companies -- Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo and TCL.
