Oppo already copied the iPhone 16’s biggest new feature

Even as a die-hard Android fanboy, I have to give Apple props when the company gets it right. I seethe with jealousy when I see how many MagSafe accessories are out there, and I’ve begged Android manufacturers to get on the Qi2 wagon. On that note, the iPhone 16’s touch-sensitive Camera Control button is undeniably cool…and it seems like Oppo agrees, because the company slapped it on the new Find X8 Pro.

The Find X8 Pro has a pretty big focus (pardon the pun) on photography all on its own, with the four rear cameras sporting Hasselblad branding right at the top of Oppo’s Chinese promotional page. All four of these are 50 megapixels each at various zooms and apertures, but even the front-facing camera is an impressive 32MP.

But most relevant for the sake of comparison is that shutter button. Just like the most visible change in the newest iPhone, the Find X8 Pro gets a dedicated button for shooting, which can also detect swipes to zoom in and out (switching between the relevant camera sensors in the background) and handle more controls with different taps. Apple’s implementation is pretty darn neat — if you’re not familiar with it, you can check out all the stuff it does on our sister site, Macworld.

Oppo’s version of the button is hiding on the right edge of the phone, just like the Camera Control button. So if you’re holding it in your hands with the rear lenses on the left, your right index finger will rest on the shutter position in the fashion of a full-sized camera. Double-tapping it will start the camera immediately, something that’s already built into the primary power button on most Android phones.

You can see a YouTuber checking out the capacitive button’s options at the 2:30 mark below. According to the auto-translated captions, it’s surprisingly central to the body of the phone, making it a little less comfy than you might hope.

It’s worth pointing out that the idea of a dedicated camera or shutter button for a phone isn’t anything new. Physical controls for the camera go back to the early days when they were first being integrated into “dumb” phones, and some experimental photo-heavy designs like Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom series from 2013 leaned heavily on integrating point-and-shoot camera features into smartphones.

Extra action buttons can be seen on designs like the Galaxy S Active or Lenovo/Motorola’s ThinkPhone, and some “gaming” phone designs use capacitive or even physical buttons on the side for game triggers. Many Android phones will let you take photos in the camera app by using the volume buttons as a makeshift shutter button, so manufacturers know that a lot of people crave some tactility for their shots.

The Find X8 Pro is loaded up with tons of other high-end features, notably a MediaTek Dimensity 9400 processor, crazy-fast 50-watt wireless charging (80 watts wired) for its 5910mah battery, a 6.78-inch screen, and all the software bells and whistles Oppo can throw at it. Yes, “AI” is mentioned quite a lot. The phone launches on October 30th in China with worldwide rollout expected later, according to Phone Arena, costing 5300 yuan (about $745 USD) for the base 12GB/256GB version.

The less expensive Find X8, sans Pro, shares a lot of hardware with its more premium sibling, but notably omits the capacitive camera control button and one of its rear camera modules. Like Samsung and Google, Oppo is reserving the most powerful camera options for its headliner.

Oppo, like many manufacturers in China, doesn’t seem too concerned about lifting design elements from Apple. Without wishing to get too political, it seems that the Chinese market is pretty forgiving of its domestic companies when it comes to this sort of thing. Global competitors might feel a little more gunshy about replicating the Camera Control button — Apple is notoriously litigious, and losing that fight can come with a billion-dollar price tag.

That said, the Camera Control button is using principles that have been around in cameras for longer than Apple has been a company, so it can’t copyright or patent the idea of physical camera controls. While it’s unlikely that phone shoppers outside of China will get access to something quite so brazen a copy as the Find X8 Pro’s button, we could certainly see a wider embrace of more robust physical control options.

I think that phone users, like drivers, are discovering that there’s a point at which an all-touch interface has diminishing returns.