So far, Sony is the only major manufacturer to provide a smartphone with genuine optical zoom, but Oppo is also developing one. The 3.5-5.2x lens on Sony’s Xperia 1 IV is comparable to 85-125mm, which is far shorter than the new telephoto module LG is demonstrating — it might span an equivalent range of 100mm to more than 200mm. In my testing, the Xperia 1 IV’s narrower zoom range reduced that zoom lens’s utility significantly. Participants in MKBHD’s annual blind smartphone camera test concurred that Sony’s picture quality is only behind the competition.
