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What is Oppo?
Headquartered in Dongguan, Oppo is a Chinese electronics brand founded by Chen Mingyong in 2001. Incorporated in 2004, the company made a name for itself by selling high-quality Blu-ray players, amplifiers and headphones in its early days. It forayed into phones in 2008 with the launch of Smile Phone, the sale of which was limited only to the China region. The company entered India’s smartphone market in 2014 with the launch the Oppo N1, the world’s first smartphone to feature a swivel camera. Like the OnePlus and Vivo, Oppo is a subsidiary of BKK Electronics.
The history of Oppo smartphones has so far been full of camera-related innovations. The Oppo N1 introduced a swivel camera module that could rotate full 180 degrees. This helped the phone to use a single camera for both rear and front. This phone was followed by the Oppo N3, which also had a rotating camera, but this time it was powered by a motor. Oppo was among the first to launch a selfie-centric phone with dual front cameras, the Oppo F3 Plus. It was also one of the first smartphone brands to launch dual rear cameras in a mobile phone. In 2018, Oppo introduced the Find X smartphone, becoming the first phone brand to use a mechanical pop-up camera module.
Though Oppo’s smartphone portfolio covers a wide price spectrum, the company launched its subsidiary, Realme Mobiles, to cover the budget and midrange segments. Later, Realme snapped its ties with parent Oppo and became an independent mobile phone brand. However, it remained a subsidiary of BKK Electronics, like Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus.
In 2019, the company announced the Oppo Reno-series with the launch of the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom and Oppo Reno. The Reno 10X Zoom became the second smartphone after Huawei P30 Pro to use the periscope telephoto lens, capable of up to 10x hybrid lossless zoom. Besides, the Reno 10x Zoom and Reno became the first smartphones with a sharp fin-shaped pop-up camera module that comes out from the top.