Oliver Haslam on December 25, 2019, 7:52 pm

High-End Smartphones To Get Higher Optical Zoom In 2020, 10x On Huawei P40 Pro, But Probably Not On iPhone

Notorious supply chain follower Ming-Chi Kuo says that we can expect phones released in 2020 to feature a longer optical zoom than is currently possible.

In a research note for TF International Securities and picked up by MacRumors, Kuo says that phones like the Huawei P40 Pro will have a new telephoto camera that will be the first on the planet to offer a 10x optical zoom.

Oppo, another Android phone maker, has already promised a similar feature on its phones but is yet to deliver on that. It currently has a 10x hybrid zoom that also relies on some software features in order to function.

But 2020 is when things will change, according to the respected analyst.

Kuo said enhanced optical zoom will extend to more high-end smartphones next year, although he did not specify if that will include the iPhone, which currently maxes out at 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom. Optical zoom preserves the quality of a shot when zooming in, while digital zoom results in some blurriness.

With so many phone vendors preferring to focus – excuse the pun – on wide-angle lenses, it will be interesting to see a return to improvements in zoom, assuming Kuo’s assumptions are indeed correct, of course.

A 10x optical zoom, accompanied by a robust digital zoom alongside a wide-angle lens could really be the ticket in 2020.

(Via: MacRumors)