08-05-2025
Oppo's New Ultra Flagship Has Two Periscope Zoom That Work Well
The Oppo Find X8 Ultra with two Periscope zoom lenses
Almost eight years ago I reported on a new mobile zoom camera technology being developed by Shenzhen headquartered Oppo. In the report, I wondered when the tech will be ready for prime time. Well, Oppo released the lens in a commercial device by 2019, but I'd argue now, in 2025, Oppo has finally mastered it, because the company's newest highest-tier flagship phone, the Find X8 Ultra, features not one but two optical zoom lenses using this "Periscope" technology, and it works very well.
The Find X8 Ultra, which was launched for the mainland China market only last week in Xi'an, is not the first Oppo device to support dual Periscope cameras, but I'd argue this is the first real implementation that makes sense, because the previous two devices that did so had a rather mediocre long 135mm zoom that I deemed almost pointless in my reviews due to its small sensor and slow f/4.3 aperture. This time, that longer telephoto lens is improved thanks to a larger sensor and faster f-stop, which combined drastically improves light intake ability.
The shorter zoom lens, a 70mm camera with macro focusing capabilities, is also slightly improved from the last generation with a faster aperture, thus giving the Find X7 Ultra two very capable zoom lenses that make the zoom camera hardware seen in phones from Apple and Samsung look outdated.
The other cameras onboard include a 1-inch type main camera with a 23mm focal length, a 15mm ultra-wide camera, and a 32-megapixel front-facing selfie camera.
The rest of the hardware is top notch, as to be expected from a phone with an Ultra moniker out of China: the newest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip from Qualcomm, and a 6.8-inch display with thin bezels and gets over 3,000 nits of brightness.
