TL;DR
- OPPO has revealed that the Find X8 series of phones indeed offers a camera shutter button.
- The button also supports swipe gestures to zoom, much like Apple’s Camera Control key.
Apple announced the iPhone 16 series last month, and one of the standout features is its so-called Camera Control shutter button. Now, OPPO has confirmed that its upcoming Find X8 series will support a similar camera button.
OPPO Find series product manager Zhou Yibao confirmed on Weibo that the Find X8 series supports a pressure-sensitive camera shutter button, posting a video (seen above) to show it in action. The executive said you can double-tap the button to quickly launch the camera app and that the key’s pressure-sensitive nature means you don’t need to press the button hard to take photos.
What else can you do with this camera button?
Apple’s button also supports swipe-based gestures for controlling camera zoom and other functions, and it turns out OPPO’s button supports swiping to zoom as well. Interestingly, OPPO’s video shows that all the Find X8 camera button features work underwater too, including the swipe functionality.
Zhou also explained OPPO’s reasons for including a camera shutter button in the first place. The executive pointed to the aforementioned underwater use case, explaining that you can’t use your phone screen underwater. So having this camera button will allow you to easily take underwater snaps and control zoom.
He also acknowledged that virtually every smartphone lets you take photos with the volume buttons, but claimed that “more than 95% of people” don’t know about this option. I’m not sure about that figure, though. He added that the volume button doesn’t support taking photos and camera zoom, forcing you to choose between the two features.
In any event, we’re expecting the OPPO Find X8 Pro, in particular, to be a strong contender for the best camera phone when it launches later this month. The phone is tipped to offer a quad rear camera system, featuring four 50MP cameras. Much like the Find X7 Ultra, the X8 Pro is expected to offer a 50MP 3x camera and a 50MP 6x periscope lens. The Find X8 series is also expected to launch in global markets in 2025, so we’re definitely keen to get our hands on these devices and try out that camera button too.
