What is a smartphone periscope camera? The Oppo Find X6 could have one
Oppo’s next flagship looks very promising for photography
Oppo’s next flagship, the Find X6, which is expected to launch in the first quarter of next year, has been leaked online, with noteworthy leaker, Evan Blass @evleaks sharing a render on Twitter. Excitingly, it looks like the Find X5 predecessor will feature a reworked design and feature a periscope lens.
It's not the first camera phone to feature a periscope camera – also called a periscope zoom lens. But what does it mean, and how does a periscope differ from a telephoto lens? Normally, when light enters the camera, it goes through the lens array straight to the sensor. But with a periscope camera, the camera's zoom lens and the sensor are turned sideways, to offer greater optical zoom.
The periscope design means that the lens doesn't protrude out too far from the phone, the design remains thin, yet the camera can zoom much further optically.
The image shared by @evleaks shows the Oppo Find X6 to be a little different from the Opop Find X5. AS you can see, the leaked Find X6 render shows a much larger rectangular camera bump, which looks to house something the Find X5 doesn’t have – a periscope lens!
The leak also shows the phone as having “co-engineered with Hasselblad” loud and proud across the back – clearly, a partnership Oppo is proud of, and rightly so.
Oppo Find X6: Expected specifications
The leaked image courtesy of Evan Blass is the biggest Oppo Find X6 leak so far – leaks have actually been pretty scarce around the new flagship. While the leaked image is of the vanilla Find X6, prolific leaker, Yogesh Brar, has shared expected specs for the Pro model, which includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (would be in all models), up to 512GB storage and 5,000mAh battery with 100W fast charging and 50W wireless charging.
Perhaps most exciting specs-wise, from Brar’s list, is the Sony’s one-inch IMX989 sensor for the phone’s main 50MP camera, as seen in the Xiaomi 12s Ultra.
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OPPO Find X6 Pro- 6.7" 2K LTPO E6- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2- 8/12GB RAM- 128/256/512GB storage- Rear Cam: 50MP (1" IMX989) + 50MP (UW) + 50MP (zoom)- Front Cam: 32MP- Android 13, ColorOS- 5,000mAh battery, 100W- 50W wireless- MariSiliiconX 2- Hasselblad TuningNovember 4, 2022
Oppo Find X6: Price and availability
Nothing official has been released regarding the Oppo Find X6, including price and availability. However, we expect the new flagship to launch in either February or March next year to tally up with the launch of the Find X3 in March 2021 and the Find X5 launched in February this year (there was no Find X4 launched).
Why not check out our expert guides to the best camera phone, the best budget camera phones and the best gimbals for phones and cameras.
Rachael is a British journalist with 18 years experience in the publishing industry. Since working on www.digitalcameraworld.com, she’s been freelancing, and contributing to some of the world’s best-loved websites and magazines including T3.com and TechRadar.com and has also had a book, iPad for Photographers, published. She's currently acting as editor of 5GRadar.com - a website specializing in the latest cellular technology.
- Lauren ScottFreelance contributor/former Managing Editor