Even as a die-hard Android fan, I have to give props to Apple when the company succeeds. I seethe with jealousy when I see how many MagSafe accessories exist, and I’ve been begging Android makers to get on the Qi2 wagon. On that note, the iPhone 16’s camera control touch button is undeniably cool… and it seems Oppo agrees, as the company has applied it to the new Find X8 Pro.
The Find All four are 50 megapixels each with different zooms and apertures, but even the front camera is an impressive 32MP.
But the most relevant for comparison purposes is this trigger. Just like the latest iPhone’s most visible change, the Find X8 Pro has a dedicated shooting button, which can also detect swipes to zoom in and out (switching between relevant camera sensors in the background) and manage more commands with different taps. . Apple’s implementation is really neat. If you’re not familiar with her, you can check out everything she does on our sister site, Macworld.
Oppo’s version of the button hides on the right edge of the phone, just like the camera control button. So if you hold it in your hands with the rear lenses on the left, your right index finger will rest on the shutter position like a full-size camera. Double-tapping it will start the camera immediately, which is already built into the main power button on most Android phones.
You can see a YouTuber checking out the capacitive button options at the 2:30 mark below. According to the auto-translated subtitles, it’s surprisingly central to the body of the phone, making it a little less comfortable than you might hope.
It’s worth pointing out that the idea of a dedicated camera or trigger for a phone is not new. Physical camera controls date back to the early days when they were first integrated into “dumb” phones, and some photo-intensive experimental models, like Samsung’s 2013 Galaxy Zoom series, relied heavily on integrating point-and-shoot camera features into smartphones. .
Additional action buttons can be seen on models like the Galaxy S Active or Lenovo/Motorola’s ThinkPhone, and some “gaming” phone models use capacitive or even physical buttons on the side for gaming triggers. Many Android phones let you take photos in the Camera app using the volume buttons as a makeshift shutter release. So manufacturers know that many people need some tactility for their photos.
Xiaomi’s Black Shark 4 Pro features its physical trigger buttons, but these are intended for gaming, not photography.
Lewis Painter/Foundry
The Find 78 inches and everything you need. the software bells and whistles that Oppo can throw at it. Yes, “AI” is mentioned a lot. The phone will launch on October 30 in China and its global rollout is expected later, according to Phone Arena, priced at 5,300 yuan (about $745) for the base 12GB/256GB version.
The cheaper, non-Pro Find X8 shares a lot of hardware with its more premium sibling, but notably omits the capacitive camera control button and one of its rear camera modules. Like Samsung and Google, Oppo reserves the most powerful camera options for its headliner.
Oppo, like many manufacturers in China, doesn’t seem too concerned about removing design elements from Apple. Without wanting to get too political, it seems that the Chinese market is quite forgiving of its domestic companies in this sort of thing. Global competitors might feel a little more hesitant about replicating the camera control button – Apple is notoriously litigious, and losing this fight could cost a billion dollars.
That said, the camera control button uses principles that have existed in cameras longer than Apple has been a company, so it can’t copyright or patent the idea of physical camera controls. While phone buyers outside of China are unlikely to have access to something as brazen as the Find X8 Pro’s button, we could certainly see wider adoption of more robust physical control options .
I think phone users, like drivers, are discovering that there is a point at which an all-touch interface has diminishing returns.
