One of the main issues facing the smartphone industry is stagnation. From generation to generation, we see the main smartphone manufacturers gunning for differentiation, and we’ve seen features such as multiple cameras, all-screen displays, and in-screen fingerprint readers become widespread among the high-end devices in the past couple of years. One of the most recent features available on a couple of new smartphones is a strong zoom, up to 5x/6x optical zoom paired with software to offer a 10x ‘lossless hybrid’ zoom and up to a 50x digital zoom. We recently got ahold of the Huawei P30 Pro and the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom for a quick showdown, given that these are the first devices to both offer this new feature.

Get Perpendicular: Mounting a New Camera

Offering zoom on a smartphone has been a difficult process. In order to enable zoom that can focus over a wide range of distances, the camera needs a sizable distance between the front lens and the camera sensor, however smartphones only offer a limited amount of z-height in order to do so. During the early part of this decade, one of the key metrics for smartphones was z-height (or thickness), and there has been a continual driving force to making a smartphone as thin as possible.

We’ve seen smartphones with these slim designs offering a mild 2x or 3x optical zoom, often with camera modules and lens that stick out of the back of the device, resulting in a non-flush rear. These basic zoom offerings were obviously launched to a big fanfare: they were differentiating at the time. But in order to go further, smartphone manufacturers have had to get sideways.

Huawei's angled lens allows for a deeper camera mechanism 

Both of the zoom cameras on the Huawei P30 Pro and Oppo Reno 10x Zoom follow the same philosophy – rather than let the light into the lenses and straight to the camera module, the light enters and hits a prism, directing the light at right angles to the entry point. This allows for a longer camera module, increasing the potential zoom of the camera.

Of course, it isn’t as simple as just adding a prism and manipulating the lenses. There are other considerations when it comes to stabilization – the lens and prisms are now moving in different planes to regular smartphone cameras, and stabilization motors need to be applied differently. In the case of Oppo, we were told that it’s actually the prism that matters the most, while Huawei may do something similar, but both devices offer OIS (optical image stabilization) on the zoom camera as well as AI-enhanced stabilization using either the Snapdragon 855 AI Engine (Oppo) or the Kirin 980 NPU (Huawei).

Oppo are keen to promote the story behind its zoom camera, working with a specialist company in order to do so. That company, since the launch of the Reno 10x Zoom, has since been acquired by Sony, making this an interesting development onto whether Oppo will offer something similar in the future. That being said, the Reno 10x Zoom offers a 6x optical zoom, with up to 10x hybrid zoom, while the Huawei only offers a 5x optical zoom, with up to 10x hybrid.

Optical vs. Hybrid vs. Digital

On smartphone cameras, especially zoom ones, there are three different types of zoom to consider: Optical, Hybrid, and Digital. Optical zoom is the natural zoom capabilities of the camera module, and depending on the module it might offer ‘1x and 5x’ optical zoom or ‘1x to 5x’ optical zoom. The difference between these two depends if the lenses can move – if the lens can move, then the optical zoom is a continuous range, otherwise it is only at the two fixed points.

Hybrid zoom, which can be described as ‘lossless hybrid zoom’, is a mixture of hardware and software based zoom. The device aims to offer a full resolution image, however software (possibly AI) algorithms are applied beyond the natural optical zoom of the camera module in order to provide a natural image at a higher zoom. Ultimately the better the natural optical zoom of the camera, and the better the software, the better the hybrid zoom.

 
Huawei P30 Pro vs Oppo Reno 10x Zoom

Digital zoom, by contrast to all of the above, is a crop of an optical image – it is a faux zoom that just results in a lower resolution image to give a sense of ‘zoom’.

So the Huawei P30 Pro offers a 1x to 5x optical zoom, a 5x to 10x lossless hybrid zoom, and a 50x digital zoom. The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom offers a 1x and 6x optical zoom, a 6x to 10x hybrid zoom, and a 30x digital zoom.

This Test

In this photo comparison, I had access to a retail version of the Huawei P30 Pro (build 9.1.148) and a pre-production model of the Chinese version of the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom (), which I must stress has non-final software. These devices play in different price brackets: the P30 Pro is an $1100 device, aiming at the high-end premium of the market, whereas the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom in the same configuration is an $850 model. The Oppo Reno also has a full screen display, and the ‘pizza slice’ pop-up selfie camera, which if it were a notched phone like the Huawei would actually make it a little bit cheaper. I had the two devices over a long weekend break in Dublin, so I used the opportunity to take a series of comparison shots.

How the test was performed involved using the standard settings in the camera app, with AI enabled (as would normally be the case). The differences between the two devices come down to the automatic zoom presets. On each interface, there is a small bubble saying ‘1x’, indicating the zoom. Users can either hold this button down, and fine tune the levels of zoom, or press it once to cycle through the zoom presets. Unfortunately, each device offers different presets:

Oppo Reno 10x Zoom: Wide, 1x, 2x, 6x, 10x
Huawei P30 Pro: Wide, 1x, 5x, 10x

Top: Huawei P30 Pro. Bottom: Reno 10x Zoom

The Oppo smartphone offers a 2x zoom, which is actually super helpful in a lot of cases where only a small zoom is needed. Andrei and I have argued as to whether these presets are valuable: for me when I want to take a quick zoomed photo, it is very valuable, and having a 2x zoom is great if you don’t need a super zoom offering. Andrei prefers sliding to zoom, and so doesn’t have much of an issue with the concept. Personally I think the Reno gets a +1 here by having that 2x zoom mode.

But because the smartphones offer a different number of preset zoom levels, it means in our comparisons that the Reno will have one more zoom picture in each comparison compared to the P30 Pro.

Camera Comparisons

Picture Set 1: A Flag

While waiting for a bus to Newgrange and Tara, above the hotel across the road was a flag flying high in the wind early in the morning. This was a great opportunity for the zoom so show its prowess against the green, white, and orange.

Photo Comparison - Flag
	1x	2x	5x	6x	10x
Huawei P30 Pro
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom
Individual images are sizable (3-5 MB) and may take time to load when clicked on

For the Reno 10x Zoom, both the 1x and 2x zoom pictures give a washed out image of the flag compared to the 6x and 10x, mostly due to the rest of the scene. Both the 6x and 10x images get good detail on the flag itself, though the pigeon and top of the flag pole are both blob-ish.

On the Huawei P30 Pro, the 1x picture has better color contrast of the flag, almost whiting out the cloud behind it, and keeps the full scene bright. Moving into 5x zoom, most of the building is blacked out however the flag definitely looks to have some depth. The 10x picture with the flag at full blown looks great for similar reasons.

In this case, I’ll give the verdict to the Huawei.

Picture Set 2: Newgrange

Newgrange is a site near Dublin and the River Boyne famous for being an ancient, 6000 year old burial ground, which was abandoned and only rediscovered a few hundred years ago. The site contains a mixture of rocks and stones from up to 100 miles away, probably transported up the River Boyne and then log rolled up on top of the hill. The whole structure is about 200,000 tons and is designed such that on one particular day of the year, the sun will rise and enter through a sun box to light the central chamber for seventeen minutes. The site is a protected world heritage venue with only limited numbers for access every day. The subject for our photo is the main entrance, focusing on the light box.

Photo Comparison - Newgrange
	1x	2x	5x	6x	10x
Huawei P30 Pro
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom
Individual images are sizable (3-5 MB) and may take time to load when clicked on

The wooden steps are a new addition, given that the site was abandoned and façade was recently rebuilt, however the central stone with the swirls is original to the site. The Newgrange site and surrounding area is actually the home to 2/3 of Europe’s stone age artwork.

In the Reno photo set, the 6x zoom looks sharp, with all the brickwork clearly visible and detailed, and gives a level of contrast that the standard 1x doesn’t provide. At 10x there’s a mix of sharper detail such as on the single brown stone above the sun box to the left, however the finer detail of the white stones to the left of the sun box is slightly out of focus, perhaps showing that the focal length of the hybrid zoom is not perfect if the subject has some depth.

This is in contrast to the P30 Pro, which shows a good amount of detail in this area in both 5x zoom and 10x zoom. The standard photo is quite clear to begin with, but it looks like on the 10x that there is some blurring going on in the finer detail in the wood by the software part of the zoom.

In this shot, from this distance at least, I prefer the 2x and 6x zoom presets of the Oppo, but the Huawei still has the edge on the 10x detail.

Picture Set 3: Cows Cows Cows

The Newgrange site is surrounded by a rolling landscape that gives a breathtaking view of the Irish countryside. Naturally with that we get to see some of the farming cattle that graze in a few fields. This was a good test of how much detail we can get at the maximum 10x zoom on both devices.

Photo Comparison - Cows
	1x	2x	5x	6x	10x
Huawei P30 Pro
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom
Individual images are sizable (3-5 MB) and may take time to load when clicked on

If we go straight in at the 10x for both smartphones, the results aren’t good. Neither of those pictures are in any way ‘instagrammable’, as shown by the blurring and lack of detail, but perhaps this also exposes some of the limitations of the stabilization at-a-distance. To be honest, going to the 5x/6x images, the Reno has this at 6x as well. The P30 Pro at 5x zoom manages the color and the detail a lot better. But the 2x preset on the Reno does give a nice scenic image, showing the trees and hills in the distance.

Picture Set 4: Slane Castle

On the road from Newgrange to Tara is Slane Castle, which also houses a distillery for Irish whiskey. These pictures were actually taken from inside a parked bus as part of the tour I was on, and in both cases was in a great position for the 10x zoom.

Photo Comparison - Slane
	1x	2x	5x	6x	10x
Huawei P30 Pro
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom
Individual images are sizable (3-5 MB) and may take time to load when clicked on

The Reno 10x zoom image is washed out and blurry, perhaps indicative of one of the complaints registered with the pre-production devices by a number of media at the time: the 10x zoom needs some software work to focus properly. But even at 6x, for whatever reason the Reno doesn’t seem to be able to pick up detail on the stone building, and lacks any detail in the trees behind the castle.

The P30 Pro at 10x is also washed out to a certain extent, although in such a way that might be correctable with color balancing. There is a lot more detail on the zoomed images from the P30 Pro, but it still isn’t great. It was slightly windy on the day, showcasing that a zoomed image that might use a mix of HDR+ technologies to help get a better photo isn’t great when the wind is blowing for trees.

Picture Set 5: Statue at Tara

Ireland’s ancestral capital, where over 170 kings were crowned, is in Tara, about 25 miles north of Dublin. The manmade mounds in the area showcase an engineering feat of the age, and on these mounds the druids would crown the next local king in line, with furrows dug for banquets and festivities. The legend says that on top of the mound, on a clear day, you can see most of the counties of Ireland from a single spot.

Situated just outside the mounds is a more modern church, with a state of the Patron Saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, just outside. This statue is weathered, to which at one point in its history it only had its middle finger left in its upright hand. The statue was sufficiently tall that a good zoom lens was necessary to see the detail.

Photo Comparison - Statue
	1x	2x	5x	6x	10x
Huawei P30 Pro
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom
Individual images are sizable (3-5 MB) and may take time to load when clicked on

In both cases, the 1x zoom wasn’t great to showcase the detail, and the 2x preset on the Reno didn’t improve that any. It was the 5x/6x and 10x zoom pictures that were ideal in this scenario.

On the Reno, the 6x image strikes me as standing out from the background – it’s very clear that the statue is in the foreground and the sky (an almost consistent blue) is the background. It makes the statue pop out a little more. The Reno is able to keep the details in the shadows on the shoulder, marking out the symbols in that area as well as on the hat. At 10x the hat and beard become a little blurry, similar to what we saw on the Slane Castle images.

For the P30 Pro, the 5x preset doesn’t feel like it has enough zoom at this distance. Without cropping the photo, the statue feels a little too far away. Perhaps as a result of this, the shadows on the P30 Pro are darker than that of the Reno, and it’s hard to see some of the detail unless we apply some post processing to the photo. At 10x I feel that the image is a little blurry again, particularly on the hat, but also the beard, and the dark shadowy areas again end up losing detail by just being too dark.

For this one, I’ll hand it to the Reno.

Picture Set 6: A Bike at Trinity College Dublin

Moving into Central Dublin, I spent some time in Trinity College Dublin. Despite being a place of education, there is tourism abound, and there are plenty of things to do both inside the college and outside and around, particularly if you like to drink. As I was taking a break on some steps, I noticed that one of the students had parked a bike some distance away, and there was a sign on the bike advertising it for sale. One of the use cases for these zoom lenses is the ability to read at a distance, so I took the opportunity to test how well these smartphones do in this regard.

Photo Comparison - Bike
	1x	2x	5x	6x	10x
Huawei P30 Pro
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom
Individual images are sizable (3-5 MB) and may take time to load when clicked on

The main photos to compare here are the 10x zoom ones. This comparison is a tale of two different visuals. The P30 Pro gets more detail on the bike itself, making it clear and providing detail to the surroundings. However the sign on the bike is not clear, and barely readable without zooming further and focusing on the text.

By contrast, the Reno 10x Zoom makes the text easily readable. It states ‘For Sale, 70’s Raleigh Scorpio’, with a phone number and email address (which I removed). However, the detail on the bike is not great. The wheels and frame are blurry, the white handlebars are blown out a bit, and the grass behind is like a green smear, lacking any sense of clarity.

In this case then, the Huawei succeeds in image quality, however the Reno was better for text black-on-white text quality.

Picture Set 7: Clock Inside St. Stephen’s Shopping Centre

One of the locations near Trinity College Dublin is St. Stephen’s Shopping Centre. While the shopping options are fairly bland and miserable, the location is unique in the fact that it feels like a giant greenhouse. From the top floor, viewing the whole of the architecture of the location is breathtaking (if you like complex architecture). It’s a shame then that it feels little more than a second rate outlet mall, and could be something better. Nonetheless, the target of my photography was the big clock inside.

Photo Comparison - Clock
	1x	2x	5x	6x	10x
Huawei P30 Pro
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom
Individual images are sizable (3-5 MB) and may take time to load when clicked on

At 1x, the automatic exposure setting of the Huawei makes the scene a lot darker than it needs to be, which follows on from a few of the comparisons made in this piece so far. Nonetheless, both cameras show some good detail here, and the 2x preset mode on the Reno provides a nice framing of the clock with some of the surrounding light fittings.

At 5x/6x zoom, the Reno unfortunately zooms in a bit too far here. The 5x of the Huawei is perfectly framed for the distance, while we end up clipping the top and the bottom on the Reno. That being said, both of the photos have their plus points – I feel like the Huawei manages to differentiate the detail in the ceiling without being too blurry, while the Reno seems to have a better contrast balance on the clockface itself.

At 10x zoom, this is ultimately too close to make a worthwhile shot. However the Huawei image does look more in focus as we’ve seen in previous comparisons.

Closing Thoughts

Ultimately my main use for zoom in the future is going to be at press events for AnandTech, just in case I don’t manage to get my usual front row seat. In those instances, where it is always a rush to get the photo and do the live blog, having presets for the zoom features is critical.

In this case, the Reno wins a point by virtue of having a 2x zoom preset. I should assume that adding a preset could be a simple addition for the Huawei device, or in fact, they could allow users to have custom zoom level presets in future. This would be ideal. But the large jump from 1x to 5x on the P30 Pro isn’t as seamless as perhaps Huawei would like it to be. Nonetheless, for me, any phone with any zoom feature in future should have a series of presets.

At a distance, in auto mode, the P30 Pro does make anything not in direct light a little darker than I would have liked. This isn’t a critical issue, given that a user can apply post processing, but ultimately I suspect only a few will. The Reno does this a little better, however the Reno certainly has difficulties in its 10x hybrid mode. A number of times we saw the images come out a little blurry, however text was easier to read compared to the P30 Pro. I’m not sure if this is a great trade off, however we were told by Oppo that the Reno 10x Zoom will be coming thick and fast with camera updates, so that may change in the future.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a tough comparison. The Reno has the slightly better interface, and the 6x optical zoom does have benefits over the 5x optical zoom in the P30 Pro. However, Huawei’s 10x mode is certainly better than Oppo’s, and it’s a mix up on which one is better with processing based on the situation of the photo at hand. One of the key differences here is going to be price, and the Oppo is nearly 30% cheaper than the Huawei P30 Pro. If one of the next battlefields of the smartphone industry is zoom cameras, then I hope these make their way into the more mainstream soon. We’re already seeing upper-mainstream phones come out with 3x optical / 5x hybrid zooms, and it will be interesting to see how the software adapts to improve the hybrid zoom modes.

Related Reading

• Hands On with the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom: 6.6-inch OLED with No Notch and Popup Selfie Camera
• OPPO Reno Series Western Launch: A Live Blog
• The Huawei P30 & P30 Pro Reviews: Photography Enhanced
• Huawei Launches the P30 and P30 Pro: P is for Photography
• Huawei P30 Series Launch in Paris: A Live Blog