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OPPO to reveal first phone with under-display selfie camera next week? (Update)
Update, June 19, 2019 (7:52AM ET): We still haven’t heard back from OPPO just yet, but it looks like tech YouTuber TechAltar has some details regarding the firm’s June 26 event.
The YouTuber notes that OPPO will be showing off a prototype phone with an under-display selfie camera next week. He adds that the real (i.e. commercially available) phone isn’t expected for several months at the very least.
Confirmed: OPPO will show a prototype phone with an under-screen selfie camera at MWC Shanghai. I hear they’ll have demo units. Real device not expected for a few months at least (my guess would be 1 year min., similar to how they launched SuperVOOC and 5x zoom) pic.twitter.com/0PHzhQd66p— TechAltar (@TechAltar) June 19, 2019
In other words, it looks like the Chinese manufacturer is taking the same route it did with its 5x zoom periscope cameras. We first saw periscope zoom shooters at MWC 2017, but it took roughly two years for Oppo (and Huawei) to actually launch the tech in a commercial device.
Original article, June 19, 2019 (4:16AM ET): Oppo and Xiaomi both caused a stir earlier this month when they posted videos showing phones with under-display selfie cameras. The former company might be gearing up to reveal more about the tech in question as soon as next week.
An official OPPO post on Weibo (spotted by MySmartPrice) confirms a June 26 event at the MWC Shanghai expo. The machine-translated text doesn’t seem to mention an under-display selfie camera though.
The image on the poster does however show a circle of light on a screen, with what appears to be an earpiece at the top. This would likely be the position for an under-display selfie camera on a smartphone, then. The circle and position also seems to match up well with Oppo’s video earlier this month, showing the tech in action.
Will we see a commercially available smartphone with the tech or will OPPO merely be showcasing the tech at this event? The teaser poster doesn’t answer the question, but it would make for an impressive turnaround time. Samsung previously suggested that the tech was roughly a year away from release.
A selfie camera under the screen would allow manufacturers to ditch notches, pop-up selfie cameras, and slider designs. But picture quality via these cameras is still a concern, with OPPO VP Brian Shen previously stating that there will be a drop in picture quality at this stage.
We’ve contacted OPPO for confirmation that we will indeed see under-display selfie camera tech next week. We’ll update the article with their response if/when they get back to us. Would you buy the first phone with an under-display selfie camera? Let us know in the comments!
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