That is the perfect smartphone digicam accent I’ve ever used

We have largely moved previous the time when flagship telephones might be differentiated solely by efficiency. Sure, some customers may face performance issues on the Pixel 10 Pro, however total, we have moved past eventualities the place flagship smartphones stand aside simply based mostly on pace, with most now providing clean day-to-day use.

Nevertheless, one key space the place smartphones nonetheless compete, and the place most firms proceed to focus, is improving camera performance with each technology. Be it Apple, Google, or Samsung, each model continues to work on and add new options to their smartphone cameras annually.

In the meantime, producers like Oppo and Vivo have taken a barely completely different route. Along with bettering their built-in cameras, the corporate now provides exterior digicam equipment that connect to the smartphone’s digicam module to reinforce performance even additional. Vivo launched this with the earlier X200 collection and continues with the brand new X300 lineup.

With the latest launch of the Oppo Discover X9 Professional, Oppo has joined this house by providing a particular attachable exterior accent developed in collaboration with Hasselblad. I have been utilizing the Discover X9 Professional and the Hasselblad Teleconverter accent for about two weeks now, and I am satisfied this tiny add-on beats any smartphone {hardware} improve I’ve tried in a very long time.

The Hasselblad Teleconverter lets me zoom in like by no means earlier than

It’s kind of of a problem to connect, however the outcomes converse for themselves

Smartphone makers have been making an attempt to enhance zoom capabilities on their units for the previous few years. Apple moved from a 3x telephoto zoom lens within the iPhone 15 Professional to 5x within the iPhone 16 Pro and now as much as 8x zoom on the iPhone 17 Pro. Google, then again, has been providing as much as 100x AI-powered zoom on the Pixel 10 Professional.

There may be, nevertheless, a bodily restrict to how a lot {hardware} a smartphone maker can match right into a digicam module. That is why some Android OEMs have began providing exterior lenses that connect to the smartphone to create a DSLR-like setup, and that is precisely what the Hasselblad Teleconverter is for the Oppo Discover X9 Professional.

Attaching it is not straightforward. You first have to snap on the aramid fiber magnetic case on the Discover X9 Professional, then slide within the steel attachment plate over the digicam module. The draw back of this, nevertheless, is that this steel plate blocks all the opposite lenses of the cellphone, so you possibly can solely shoot with the prolonged lens when it’s hooked up.

Lastly, you snap the teleconverter lens on high of the plate to lock every part in. The teleconverter itself is pretty heavy, making the setup really feel weighted towards the prolonged lens, although it feels premium and durable as soon as hooked up.

As soon as the setup is prepared, you possibly can seize photographs utilizing the Digicam app. Nevertheless, one minor inconvenience is that that you must swap to the particular Hasselblad Teleconverter mode to make use of it correctly. In any other case, the pictures come out inverted should you use the usual zoom mode — one thing I discovered the arduous manner.

All of this problem, nevertheless, pays off when you really begin utilizing the setup. Mixed with the cellphone’s telephoto zoom lens, the Hasselblad Teleconverter gives an optical zoom of as much as 230mm — one thing a standalone smartphone digicam module merely can’t obtain.

In easy phrases, this attachment permits as much as 10x optical zoom, 200x digital zoom, and even 50x zoom throughout movies. I took a number of samples with the total setup to see the way it performs, and the pictures really converse for themselves.

The second you begin utilizing it and see distant topics seem crystal clear in your cellphone’s display screen, you are immediately amazed. I took a number of photographs from my terrace of a fowl sitting on a fence above me, and the extent of element was spectacular.

40x with Hasselblad Teleconverter Package vs 1x (Predominant Digicam)

40x with Hasselblad Teleconverter Package vs 1x (Predominant Digicam)

20x with Hasselblad Teleconverter Package vs 1x (Predominant Digicam)

Zooming in to 10x and 20x delivers spectacular outcomes, with photographs showing clear and true to life, although the processing feels a tad overdone for my part. Nevertheless, photographs taken at 40x look noticeably overprocessed, with the digicam making use of an excessive amount of smoothing.

That mentioned, the pictures popping out of this setup are superb. It is arduous to consider they had been captured utilizing simply the cellphone’s digicam and an exterior lens. Check out a number of the photographs I took with the Hasselblad Teleconverter equipment right here (and above):

10x with Hasselblad Teleconverter Package vs 1x (Predominant Digicam)

10x with Hasselblad Teleconverter Package vs 1x (Predominant Digicam)

The Hasselblad Teleconverter is the perfect digicam add-on I’ve utilized in years

The accent is undeniably costly, although

On the entire, the thought of utilizing a removable lens in your cellphone is not new. Manufacturers like Xiaomi, Vivo, and even Realme have been doing it for a few years. Equally, firms like Second have supplied exterior lenses for iPhones for years, however Oppo’s implementation feels distinctive.

Because of its partnership with Hasselblad for each the lens and digicam processing, the pictures produced by this setup have genuinely amazed me.

After all, all of this comes at a value. Oppo will promote the Hasselblad equipment as an additional accent for the Discover X9 Professional, priced at €549 in Spain, with availability increasing to different areas quickly.

It is actually a steep worth for such a small digicam accent, however should you’re enthusiastic about cell images, this is likely to be the improve you’ve got been ready for.