Oppo’s got something major planned for this year’s Mobile World Congress. The China-based smartphone maker released an ambiguous teaser image promising such technological showstoppers as a “groundbreaking power solution” and an “unprecedented smartphone camera innovation,” among other as-yet undisclosed surprises.
The language may be hyperbolic, but Oppo’s managed to deliver in the past. One example: its latest smartphones feature the company’s proprietary VOOC Flash Charge, which is battery recharging tech that can deliver up to 66 percent more power than Qualcomm’s comparable Quick Charge 2.0. The Oppo Find 7’s battery takes just 30 minutes to reach 75 percent capacity, or 5 minutes to reach 2 hours.
Where phone photography inventions are concerned, it’s safe to say Oppo’s an industry leader. It kicked off its selfie-centered F Series earlier this year with the F1, a mid-range handset that features a front-facing shooter capable of taking in around “44 percent more light” and “30 percent clearer selfies” than most smartphone cameras. Last year’s N1 and N3 sported motorized swivel cameras that could capture photos and track objects at different angles. And the Find 7 featured a software photo-stitching mode that could produce a 50-megapixel image from several separate pictures.
As for what awaits at Mobile World Congress, it’s anyone’s guess. A VOOC-based wireless charging solution isn’t out of the question, nor is a follow-up to Oppo’s NFC-based discrete optical zoom accessory it launched last year. We, like everyone else, will be anxiously awaiting the details.
One thing’s for certain: Oppo’s flying high. It sold 50 million devices — right behind electronics behemoth LG — in 2015 on year over year growth of 67 percent. That secured it an eighth-place spot among the top ten smartphone manufacturers in the world, according to market analytics company TrendForce.
But Oppo’s ambitious. We’ll see just how ambitious in a few months, when the company reveals its new innovations.
