OPPO could be about to make smartphone camera race considerably more interesting. Its next ‘Ultra’ flagship tipped to be called the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max, is said to become the world’s first phone with three 200MP cameras, putting the resolution on its main, telephoto and ultrawide shooters. The ultrawide is particularly intriguing – 200MP could give OPPO far more room for cropping, macro photography and video stabilisation than conventional ultrawide cameras, potentially turning what is usually the secondary camera into a much more versatile tool.
OPPO Find X10 Pro Max camera tipped
The claim comes from tipster Digital Chat Station, who says the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max will have a 200MP main camera, 200MP telephoto camera and 200MP ultrawide camera. The main camera is reportedly based on Samsung’s ISOCELL HPC sensor, which uses DeepPix technology to improve dynamic range and reduce noise. Details about the telephoto sensor have not yet emerged.
While 200MP cameras are becoming increasingly common on premium phones, manufacturers have generally reserved them for the main or telephoto camera. The Vivo X300 Ultra became the first phone to use two 200MP cameras earlier this year, followed by the OPPO Find X9 Ultra. A third 200MP sensor would take that idea considerably further.
The most interesting part is not actually the number of megapixels on the main camera. It is the 200MP ultrawide. No smartphone has offered one before, and the extra resolution could give OPPO considerably more flexibility with an ultrawide image after it has been captured.
For example, a 200MP ultrawide could potentially be cropped to produce roughly 1x to 3x framing while retaining more detail. It would not replace the main camera, as cropping an ultrawide still has inherent limitations, but it could make the camera more useful for subjects that are too far away for a conventional ultrawide shot. The huge sensor could also use 16-in-1 pixel binning to produce brighter, cleaner images, while the additional resolution could benefit macro photography.
Video may be where the high-resolution ultrawide becomes even more useful. Phones commonly use ultrawide cameras for electronic stabilisation because software can crop into the frame to compensate for movement. A 200MP sensor would give the phone considerably more pixels to work with before that crop becomes too aggressive.
In theory, that could make higher-resolution stabilised video possible, including 8K stabilisation. That remains speculation, however, and the hardware alone does not guarantee it. Most smartphones still do not offer 4K ultrastabilised video, so OPPO’s processing and stabilisation software will be just as important as the sensor.
Digital Chat Station previously tipped the Find X10 Pro Max to launch in September or October, potentially alongside the wider Find X10 series. OPPO hasn’t confirmed the phone or its specifications.
The three 200MP setup is worth watching for phone camera enthusiasts, but not because more megapixels automatically mean better photos. The interesting question is whether OPPO can turn that 200MP ultrawide into genuinely useful cropping, macro and stabilisation features. If it can, this could be one of the more better use cases of extreme camera resolution we’ve seen on a phone.
