What could a retractable camera bring to smartphone shooting?

Ahead of its Inno Day event, running December 14 and 15, 2021, in Shenzhen, Chinese manufacturer Oppo has offered a glimpse of some new features that could be coming as soon as 2022 to some of its upcoming smartphones. Among them are a retractable camera and ultra-fast charging.

Ahead of the event, Oppo has already presented several innovations, starting with an amazing retractable camera on the back of a smartphone. The manufacturer (and others) previously proposed a retractable front camera a few years ago but, regarding the main camera, this is a first. So what can such an invention be used for?

The first images unveiled by Oppo show a camera that comes out of the casing and then retracts after use, like a zoom lens on a conventional camera. This feature could pave the way for Oppo to integrate its new exclusive continuous optical zoom technology, presented earlier this year. This system lets users zoom in smoothly, with great precision and without any digital assistance, thus opening up new potential capabilities. The module consists of a total of seven lens elements, with the promise of being able to capture sharp images at every level of zoom, regardless of the type of subject, be it portraits or landscapes. With this new technology, Oppo is breaking down the barriers between smartphones and professional cameras.

Note that in addition to the camera, Oppo is also working on 120W ultra-fast charging technologies. With this level of power, a smartphone with a 4,000 mAh battery could be fully charged in 15 minutes. It could even be charged to 50% in just five minutes.

The Inno Day event will be an opportunity for Oppo to give updates on all these new products and innovations. It can be followed live online from a dedicated site: oppo.com/en/events/innoday2021. The event could also be an opportunity for the manufacturer to unveil its very first handset equipped with the new ultra-powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 system-on-chip.

Oppo is now the world's fourth-biggest smartphone vendor, behind Samsung, Xiaomi and Apple, according to the latest data from IDC.

© Agence France-Presse