Apple announced the iPhone 16 series last month, with minimal upgrades over the last year"s iPhone 15 series. However, one of the standout features of the iPhone 16 series (no not Apple Intelligence, as it is still not available) was the Camera Control button.
The usefulness of the button is debatable, but despite not being a new thing to the smartphone world, Apple"s adoption gave the spotlight to the dedicated camera shutter button. Now, OPPO has confirmed that its upcoming Find X8 series will include a similar camera button.
In a video posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Zhou Yibao confirmed that the OPPO Find X8 series will come with a pressure-sensitive camera button, in the same position as the iPhone 16 series. Notably, you can double-tap the button to launch the camera app and press lightly to take photos.
Apple"s iPhone 16 Camera Control button supports swipe-based gestures for zooming and toggling between different camera functions. It appears that the OPPO Find X8 series" camera shutter button also supports the same functionality as the iPhone 16"s Camera Control button.
One of the highlights of the video (via Android Authority) was that the camera shutter button on the OPPO Find X8 series also works underwater without a hiccup, including the swipe functionality. OPPO Find series product manager Zhou Yibao also revealed the reason for including the camera button on the upcoming smartphone series.
The executive used the underwater use case to illustrate that since touchscreens don"t function underwater, the dedicated button will make it easier to take photos. Swipe gestures will also allow users to zoom in on objects underwater using the Find X8 series. He further claimed that while volume buttons on almost all smartphones let users take photos, "more than 95% of people" aren"t aware of this option.
The figure quoted by Zhou is debatable, but he added that volume buttons do not support both photo capture and zoom functionality simultaneously, forcing users to choose one feature over the other. Regardless, the Find X8 series, particularly the Find X8 Pro, is expected to be a strong contender as a camera smartphone. OPPO is expected to launch the Find X8 series globally in 2025.