Testing the Oppo Find X3 Pro's Microscope Camera Lens

[MacRumors]

MacRumors is an Apple-focused site, but sometimes we like to share notable new features that Apple's competitors add to their devices, as a look at what Apple might explore in the future and just to keep tabs on what other companies are up to. Oppo recently released a smartphone with a microscope lens, and we thought it would be fun to check it out and see how it works in our latest YouTube video.

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The Oppo Find X3 Pro isn't a phone that's sold in the United States and it's rather expensive at 1,149 euros (~$1350), but it has an included 3-megapixel "Microlens," which may be a first for a smartphone.

The Find X3 Pro's Microlens offers 60x magnification and a ring light, so you can see things up close, as you can see in the video. It's an incredibly niche feature, but it definitely makes the Find X3 Pro stand out and it's fun to play with.

You can see the weave of the AirPods Max mesh headband, a strand of hair, the veins of a plant leaf, and more. You're going to need a steady hand or a tripod to get most items in focus, which is one downside.

Aside from the Microlens camera, Oppo's Find X3 Pro is a top-tier flagship smartphone that easily competes with other Android smartphones out on the market. It also features a 50-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera, a 50-megapixel wide-angle camera, and a 13-megapixel telephoto camera, so it's still offering what most competitors have, just with the bonus microscope lens.

You can get high-magnification microscopes that are able to wirelessly connect to a smartphone for less than $50 so this is functionality that you can replicate rather affordably, but it's certainly fun to have it right at your fingertips for your on-the-go magnification needs.

Since this smartphone isn't sold in the United States at this time it has to be imported, and even with the high-end features and microlens, it's probably not worth paying the $1300 asking price along with shipping fees to get one. A built-in microscope probably isn't something we're going to see in the iPhone in the near future, but it's an interesting concept.

Article Link: Testing the Oppo Find X3 Pro's Microscope Camera Lens

 

[zachz]

Very neat feature, not sure how much practical use I'd get out of it but it definitely looks like a fun addition to play around with

 

[nickawhite]

Need the lens to find the market for this feature, no?

 

[cjboffoli97]

Competitors is a very generous word. I construe them as seamlessly copying parasites. I mean....just the name Oppo. C'mon.

 

[atsang]

maybe great for forensic crime scene investigators?

 

[Jaybee75]

"...high-magnification microphones.."

I know you guys have to type "microphone" far more often than "microscope"

Other than that: i do a lot of macro work with my real camera, so basically interested in this topic, but don't know if I would like to "spend" that space on a phone for that.

J.

 

[Mike_Trivisonno]

Any microscopists out there wanna chime in?

 

[Piggie]

Finally I might be able to see the pay rise from my boss I should have gotten..............
So far I've not been able to find it!

 

[mtneer]

Very exciting to see this bubbling of innovation happening all over the place. Shame that these aren't sold in the United States.

 

[69Mustang]

Pixels on the display of the iPhone were yuge. This would be a nice feature to play around with every now and then. I'd say it's definitely not a quirk but an interesting feature.

 

[SAIRUS]

The Oppo 203 4k Blu Ray Player is probably one of my favorite pieces of reliable tech I have...and if the finger print scanner on this phone is is good, and Apple drops the bar again, it'll be nice to know I could switch to something else besides Samsung.

 

[subjonas]

I wouldn’t mind using this feature to look at the tiny white flies on my tomato plant, and bugs in general. But it’s too expensive for something I would probably stop using after awhile. Now if it was powerful enough to see tardigrades, that might convince me.

 

[velocityg4]

Pretty neat. There are times I do need to really zoom in on something. Sometimes doing stuff like using two magnifying glasses in a row or phone camera through a magnifying glass.

It would be really handy when trying to find an annoying and tiny sliver in your finger.

Not that any of that is enough to get me to buy one. If I really wanted something. I'd just get one of those cheap microscope cameras.

 

[kwikdeth]

Its worth noting that Oppo has the same parent company as OnePlus and features often cross between the brands. So there's always a chance this might pop up on a OnePlus phone available in the states in the future.

 

[Culman100]

Three great uses:
1. Kids and learning
2. I'm an engineer: crack surfaces, corrosion, beach marks on fatigued components, etc.
3. House plants and photos of fungus/parasites that are plaguing a plant...

 

[jayducharme]

I saw this phone reviewed by MKBHD last week. Dan's review is more concise. He raises the same issue: the microscope is really neat and fun to play with. But it doesn't seem to have much going for it beyond that. It doesn't contribute to overall photo quality. It seems like one of those "we did it because we could" additions.

 

[RemE]

As an engineer type, I would love a microscope lens! Tons of uses when tinkering with things and finding flaws etc. I have a WiFi based unit but integrated would be great, as would a thermal cam!

 

[Realityck]

Competitors is a very generous word. I construe them as seamlessly copying parasites. I mean....just the name Oppo. C'mon.

Joke all you like but Oppo Electronics (Oppo) has been around for years. Owned by BBK which also owns OnePlus, Vivo, RealMe phone providers.

The brand name "Oppo" was registered in China in 2001 and launched in 2004. Since then, they have expanded to more than 40 countries.

In June 2016, Oppo became the biggest smartphone manufacturer in China, selling its phones at more than 200,000 retail outlets. Oppo was the top smartphone brand in China in 2019 and was ranked No. 5, in market share, worldwide.

 

[Realityck]

maybe great for forensic crime scene investigators?

Yeah that's a good example. I would say if your technical type, IT, QA, engineer, there are times where you want to document aspects of what you are examining with Macro & Close-Up Photography techniques.

 

[Hammerd]

Do you have to zoom in that much? Or is it possible to take macro but from a greater distance

 

[qoop]

Duan Yongping thanks the comrades of MacRumors for a glowing review.

 

[Greyland]

Micro photography is fun and if you're good at it (get good pictures) you can make some decent money.

 

[anthogag]

This "microscope" feature would be good for iPhones. Many people use iPhones in professional roles; I've seen it. There are times when 60x magnification would be useful for investigation or research or...it is also cool to see things at 60x

Yes, you did sell this Android phone on this Apple website. You could have talked only about the microscope feature.

People need to relax about fingerprints on the phone. If it's such a concern sandpaper you fingertips.

 

[Biglethal69]

I’m just really sick and tired of seeing what phones do with cameras I’d really like to see the iPhone do something with the iPhone as they’re so far behind the rest of the market on their display on their notch on the screen resolution they spend so much RND on the cameras don’t forget about the rest of the phone but Dan you did a great job To get your wife to let you take a photo of her hair man you must be a monster. Lol.

 

[I7guy]

Interesting feature for sure.