According to Tipster Digital Chat Station (via AndroidAuthority), OnePlus is looking to upgrade its camera array for its next flagship release. It was the tipster who correctly revealed Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon naming plan back in 2021 before it was unveiled by the chip manufacturer. According to the report, OnePlus is testing a periscope camera on a device with the model number “SM8650.” This is rumored to be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
Qualcomm’s 2024 top-of-the-line application processor will power the device, which is expected to have a periscope camera and will be manufactured by OnePlus. OnePlus 12 is the topic of a Digital Chat Station article. A Weibo user says both OnePlus and Realme, both brands owned by Chinese manufacturer BBK Electronics, are testing phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoCs that will feature periscope cameras.
The post also mentions that not all of the phones will use the OmniVision 64B image sensor, which has backed several telephoto lenses. You can get a lot more optical zoom with a periscope camera than you can with a smartphone. It’s because the focal length of a lens can’t be longer than the handset’s thickness. It hasn’t really been a great year for OnePlus’ regular telephoto cameras. Even the OnePlus 11 only has 2x optical zoom and loses details beyond 5x. The OnePlus 12 may be able to zoom in further optically and be slimmer with a periscope lens.
It’s expected to come out early in 2024.
