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.
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.
