Smartphone cameras have improved significantly over the past few years. Today, iPhone, Google Pixel, or Samsung Galaxy, all phones deliver excellent photo quality for the average user. The special thing is that this improvement has now reached mid-range devices. This is why smartphone companies are now experimenting with new features. In this race, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Oppo are adopting a new approach, they are now adding external lenses to premium smartphones.
Xiaomi – Offering Moving Camera Inside the Phone Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra has a camera system that moves internally, meaning you get more control while taking photos. It has a 67mm mount, meaning you can use different camera lenses by attaching a converter. The phone’s price in India starts from Rs 1.40 lakh. The photography kit costs Rs 20,000. Oppo – Giving camera-like control Oppo’s Find X9 Pro comes with a 200 megapixel telephoto camera, while the Find X9 Ultra has two 200 MP cameras. When external lenses are attached, separate rings are provided for zoom and focus. Oppo has partnered with camera brand Hasselblad, which provides better quality. The price starts from Rs 1.10 lakh. Vivo – Phone will have digital zoom up to 105x Vivo X300 Ultra has two 200MP cameras. One primary and the second telephoto (zoom) camera, which has up to 105x digital zoom. External lenses can also be attached to it, which increases the zoom capability by 20x more. This lens has been made in collaboration with German company ZEISS. The phone will launch on May 6. How do external lenses work? These external lenses are mounted directly on top of the phone’s telephoto camera and work like a telescope. They magnify the phone’s base zoom several times. Typically, this can increase optical zoom from 10x to 20x. With the button provided in the kit, users can click photos, control zoom, and also adjust settings like manual focus. Apple-Samsung and Google are focusing on AI Samsung – No major hardware update since S23 Ultra. iPhone – No major camera changes after iPhone 14 Pro. The 15 Pro and 16 Pro also have the same 48MP main sensor. Pixel – Still providing 50MP sensor in their phones, which was also given in Pixel 6. Google is providing updates in software and camera AI features.
