Oppo N3 Smartphone Launched Boasting Motorised Camera to Track Moving Objects

One Chinese company - Oppo - is trying something a little different by launching a smartphone with a motorised, rotating and motion tracking camera.

Oppo N3

The Oppo N3 features a motorised, rotating 16-megapixel (MP) camera which can track moving objects to make it easier to take panorama shots or selfies.

The camera will be able to lock onto a subject and automatically track its movement without any user action needed.

Oppo's previous smartphone, the N1 also featured a rotating camera but it required users to manually rotate the lens from the front to the back, or vice versa.

The Oppo N3 motorised camera unit will be able to rotate in 206 degrees and will be able to produce panorama shots of up to 64MP in size - though storing these on the phone's in-built 32GB of storage may prove problematic (however, this can be expanded by up to 128GB through microSD).

The camera uses the OmniVision OV16825 sensor, and has a range of scene modes. It can handle 4K video recording at 30 frames per second (FPS), 1080p video at 60FPS, and 720p slow motion video at 120FPS.

Oppo N3 camera explosion shows the complexity of cramming a rotating camera into a small space Oppo

The phone features a 5.5in screen which is the same as Apple's iPhone 6 Plus and LG's G3, with the resolution of 1920 x 1080 being identical to the iPhone but significantly lower than the G3.

The phone is powered by the rather dated 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset but it does come paired with 2GB RAM, which should provide a smooth experience.

The N3 comes with Oppo's own VOOC battery charging tech, meaning the 3000mAh battery can recharge to 75% in just 30 minutes, or if you are in a real hurry, then it will give you two hours of use in just five minutes.

The Oppo N3 will cost $649 (£400) in the US but a UK specific price and release date, has yet to be announced.