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So, what could a "OnePlus 12 Ultra" have that a Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn't already have?

By Iskra Petrova

Published: Feb 14, 2024, 8:30 AM

3comments

Oppo

So, what could a "OnePlus 12 Ultra" have that a Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn't already have?

Recently we've heard that people have gotten excited over a new phone that's currently on pre-order. We're talking about the Oppo Find X7 Ultra, and unfortunately, we're not talking about a global release after that pre-order period. Some Oppo fans have made a curious statement that actually sparked this article: "Why doesn't Oppo release this phone globally as a OnePlus 12 Ultra"? Apparently, there's something here that gets people on their toes: I mean, the phone got 1 million pre-bookings, after all.

So, in a parallel universe, Oppo does release the Find X7 Ultra as a OnePlus 12 Ultra globally. Let's talk about what this phone has that other flagships on the global market currently don't have, and let's try to figure out where this excitement is coming from.

The camera

The Find X7 Ultra (or, in our parallel universe, the OnePlus 12 Ultra) brags extensively about its camera prowess. And it sure does have stuff to brag about. We have the world's first double-periscope telephoto cameras with large sensors (14mm-270mm quality zoom) on this bad boy. The phone also boasts an advanced 1-inch Sony LYT-900 sensor. The partnership with Hasselblad (a leading manufacturer of digital medium format cameras and lenses) is also present.

Zoom in, zoom out

Smartphone camera zoom has never been especially spectacular, but the likes of Galaxy S Ultra devices have kicked things up a notch when it comes to zoom. Generally, if you know zoom lenses out there (not these on phones, but serious ones!): they're enormous, bulky, and well, don't exactly fit on a smartphone body.

That's a regular zoom lens for you, folks! (Image Source - Pixabay)

Of course, tech is always evolving, and even without delving into the sophisticated history of smartphone zoom lenses, I can tell you this: we now have quite a satisfactory zoom range on phones like the Galaxy S24 Ultra. We'll now explore how the images from flagship smartphone zoom lenses look, and what can Oppo bring to the table.

Let's start with the S24 Ultra. The Samsung flagship is capable of going up to 5x zoom optically, and up to 100x zoom digitally (meaning, it crops the image).

Let's look at some examples of the zooming capabilities of the Galaxy:

Upon first look, these photos are great. But when we zoom in to 10x, we see some noise in the sky, and the 30x's has gone into Galaxy look land.

Now, the iPhone 15 Pro Max:

The iPhone contender comes with something called a Tetraprism telephoto camera, which is almost like a periscope lens. It's available if you want to zoom up to 5x, and the rest is, once again, cropping. In the 10x shot, you can see some noise in the background - most noticeable on the tiles at the bottom. The text is readable though, but the quality isn't exactly the greatest out there.

Now, another phone that can contend with zoom abilities is the Pixel 8 Pro. Google's champion also has a periscope lens (it can give you 5x optical zoom, further zooming is achieved with crop-AI-magic). The camera has 48MP though, so a bit less than the 50MP on the Oppo.

The Pixel 8 Pro:

As you can see, we have some random things happening with the details on the 10x shot. Some things are not in focus (like the base of the lamp), and we do have some noise going on.

Now, let's talk about the wolf. The big bad Oppo wolf.

The Find X7 Ultra is equipped with two periscope cameras, each sporting a resolution of 50MP. The first one is a 3x periscope zoom camera - equivalent to a 65mm for those of you fancy photographers. It also has a big sensor so it gathers a lot of light information for a clearer shot.

If you want to zoom more, you get the second 6x periscope telephoto camera, equivalent to a 135mm lens. That's pretty substantial given the fact the Ultra's 5x periscope zoom lens is equivalent to 115mm. Basically, 135mm zooms in further than 115mm.

(Image Source - Oppo) Captured with the 3x zoom camera

(Image Source - Oppo) 6x and 12x zoom. Just look at the level of detail and clarity the Oppo Find X7 Ultra captured. And mind you, the second photo is 12x zoom, so it's zoomed in even further than the 10x examples we have from the other phones!

All in all, the Oppo is the only one having a 6x periscope telephoto lens. And that's not all: the Oppo is the only one where the two telephoto cameras have 50MP resolutions, which basically hints at higher-quality zoom shots. That practically means the Oppo offers more possibilities for zoom shots that can actually be used for something: be it social media, creative photography, and what have you.

All in all, giving you more options to shoot zoom shots gives you the creative freedom to do what you want without worrying that much about the photo quality. As you may probably know, the zoom camera can also be used for portraiture. And creative freedom is what people want, it seems, or at least, it's so according to Oppo.

Design: we're all looking, Oppo Find X7 Ultra on the runway

You may notice that flagships nowadays have become like twins. More or less. From different mothers, but still. Seriously speaking, we have the same overall design, the glass sandwich look - it's polished, it's pretty, but it gets redundant.

Our review units happen to sport the same (okay, similar) colors as well. Seriously, that's not on purpose! Do you see the glass-sandwich brotherhood though?

The Oppo (or the potential OnePlus 12 Ultra in our parallel universe) gives us something else. It's got a dual-tone leather-y design going for it, a large and non-ignorable camera island, and a look that says it all. Basically, Oppo offers something that looks like a camera and a phone in one. Although some may not like this design, I can't say it's not unique.

The phone offers all this... plus, the flagship basics

Of course, we'll briefly discuss the things that we already have in flagship phones, that the Oppo matches. We have the premium processor (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), the 1-120Hz display refresh rate, and 16 gigs of RAM for multitasking. These things are standard for flagship phones, and they're here as well.

So, as you can see the main points that the Find X7 Ultra offers something different than the other flagships are the camera and the design. Even if Oppo doesn't release the Find X7 Ultra as a 'OnePlus 12 Ultra' (it's probably not going to), we can clearly see what flagship phone buyers are interested in.

All in all, we appear to need new designs. And even more creative freedom with cameras. Pay attention, Samsungs and Apples of the world.

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Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.