【Watch Live TV】

Prior to its event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Watch Live TVMonday, China's Oppo -- currently the fourth largest smartphone maker in the world -- promised to shake the world of smartphone photography with its "5x" technology.

Now, we know what Oppo was referring to: A 5x lossless zoom, previously unheard of on a smartphone (unless it had a huge, bulging lens on the back).

SEE ALSO: Oppo is China's top-selling smartphone maker, while Apple sales slow

Oppo's technology consists of two lenses. One is fairly standard, and another is what Oppo calls a "periscope" lens — a horizontally-positioned telescope lens that gets its light through a prism, similar to the way a submarine periscope works. The entire setup is only 5.7mm thick, meaning it could easily fit on a smartphone with a tiny bump.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The 5x zoom, which Oppo does not call "optical" but claims is "lossless," is not the only breakthrough here. The other tech is a new optical image-stabilization feature, which Oppo says will achieve 40 percent better performance than "previous solutions."

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

In practice, this should result in a phone camera that can zoom in far beyond even the iPhone 7 Plus' 2x secondary camera and get non-blurry photos even if your hands are shaking. That's important, because every little movement will be picked up at that magnification level.

Oppo claims it filed more than 50 patents for this technology, which took more than a year to develop.

But while the company had a non-branded device showcasing the tech, there were no announcements as to when we'll actually see it in a phone we can buy.

If it works as advertised, it'll be an interesting development for smartphone photography. Lack of optical zoom has long been one of the bigger differentiating factors between a smartphone camera and a standalone camera; with Oppo's tech, point-and-shoot cameras might just die out completely.

---

Featured Video For You

---

Smartphone cameras now have the power to detect anemia with this brilliant app

---

Topics Mobile World Congress

• Digital Culture
• Science
• Social Good
• Tech
• Life
• Entertainment
• Deals
• Games

• Mary Shows Up
• Prime members: Get a free $10 Amazon gift card with a $25+ Grubhub order
• Taobao and Tmall deepen partnership with Xiaohongshu to power seamless cross
• Prime Day deal: Up to 50% off Yeti coolers and more
• President Trump says semiconductor tariffs are next
• iQIYI launches content e
• MediaTek Q1 revenue up 14.9% y
• Alibaba chairman points to AI as core growth engine for e
• Seven Steam games whose reviews have changed a lot
• Alibaba CEO urges re

• Best Lego deal: Get the Lego Icons Tiny Plants set on pre
• White House announces new AI initiatives at Global Summit on AI Safety
• How to temporarily deactivate your Facebook account
• In Memoriam: William Christenberry’s South
• Mariah Carey announces the official start of the holiday season on TikTok
• TikTok users put their partners to 'The Beckham Test' inspired by David and Victoria
• M3 MacBook 14 vs. M3 Pro MacBook 14
• Is the Great American Lawn “Camp”?
• Legs are coming to the Metaverse and everyone is...underwhelmed
• Australia’s Word of the Year Is Very Different from “Post

• Apple is reportedly still working on smart glasses of some kind
• CATL says it is first to meet China’s new battery safety standards · TechNode
• Ele.me deploys Unitree humanoid robots to promote flash delivery · TechNode
• NYT's The Mini crossword answers for July 16
• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $200 on Eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum
• Prime Day deals: 11 things you should buy, and 3 to avoid
• JD.com expands offline footprint with new Beijing mega mall · TechNode
• JD Food Delivery plans to hire 100,000 full
• Amazon Spring Sale 2025: Best Apple AirPods 4 deal
• Best AirPods Max deal: Early Prime Day Apple AiPods Max deal

• Best smartwatch deal: Save $40 on the Fitbit Versa 4
• DJI launches Mavic 4 Pro with 360° camera rotation and 100MP Hasselblad sensor · TechNode
• Prime Day 2024: Get Sony's creator
• NVIDIA denies reports of splitting off China business into independent firm · TechNode
• New panda mom doesn't know she has twins thanks to sneaky zookeepers
• JD Food Delivery plans to hire 100,000 full
• Alibaba launches and open
• Taobao and Ele.me race into China’s instant retail battlefield · TechNode
• Elon Musk makes request to Reddit CEO to take down posts he didn't like
• NVIDIA denies reports of splitting off China business into independent firm · TechNode